THE WHEEL OF LIFE The Four Things the Wheel of Life Shows 1: The Inner Circle-Ignorance, Desire & Hatred; The Three Mental Poisons

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1 1 THE WHEEL OF LIFE Nowadays in schools, teachers often use visual aids. Visual aids are like pictures or diagrams that help us to understand or remember things. This is not a new idea. Christian churches often have coloured glass pictures in their windows. A long time ago, when many people couldn t read or write, these pictures were used to tell stories from the bible-even if you couldn t read the bible, once you had heard the story you could understand and remember the story just by looking at the pictures. The Four Things the Wheel of Life Shows One of the oldest and most famous Buddhist visual aids is the wheel of life. The main things that the wheel of life shows us are the things that cause rebirth in samsara, or the cycle of birth and death, and what it is that keeps beings trapped there. It also shows us all the various kinds of rebirth beings can experience along with some of their different sufferings. 1: The Inner Circle-Ignorance, Desire & Hatred; The Three Mental Poisons At the centre of the wheel are three animals: a pig, a snake, and a pigeon. The pig represents ignorance. Ignorance here means not understanding that the self we believe in is just an idea, a mental projection. Out of the mouth of the pig come a pigeon and a snake. The pigeon represents wanting or desire and the snake represents not wanting or hatred. As we already know, because we believe the self to be real, we start wanting or desiring things to make it happy, and not wanting things, wanting them to go away, to make it happy.the reason the pigeon and the snake are coming out of the pig's mouth is because it is ignorance or the belief in a self that creates desire and hatred. These three, ignorance, desire, and hatred, are sometimes known as the three mental poisons or the three fires. 2: The Second Circle-Good and Bad Karma Outside the central circle is another one. This circle is half white and half black. This shows us that after death, Buddhists believe there are two paths beings can travel: the white path of good karma that leads to good rebirth, or the black path of bad karma that leads to a bad rebirth. The three types of beings moving upwards on the white side show us the three types of good rebirth in samsara: human, demi-god, and god. The three types of beings moving downwards on the black side show us the three types of bad rebirth in samsara: animal, hungry ghost, and hell- being. 3: The Third Circle-The Sufferings of the Six Realms Outside the black and white circle is another circle that is divided into six sections, like the slices of a cake. These are called the six realms of rebirth ( realm means place) If we look at the pictures of these realms, we can see many of the different sufferings Buddhists believe we experience if we are born in these realms. Among the bad rebirths in the three lower realms, beings in hell are tortured and tormented by intense heat or cold, hungry ghosts suffer from extreme hunger and thirst, and animals suffer from being attacked by other animals and used as slaves. KS3 Buddhism, lesson 10: Wheel of Life

2 2 In the three upper realms, human beings suffer the hardships of birth, ageing, sickness, and death. Demi-gods (who are a bit like the Viking gods) suffer from jealousy and constantly fighting with, and losing to, the gods (who are a bit like the Greek or Hindu gods). The main suffering of the gods themselves comes when they die. Because they have used up so much good karma, when they die, they come back as the lowest of the low; seeing their future rebirth with their psychic powers, their torment is said to be worse than rebirth in hell! Even though it is said that the three upper realm rebirths are, in a sense, good, Buddhists say they are suffering because beings in them still believe in a self which is the root of craving, the cause of suffering. They are also suffering because, like everything in samsara, these rebirths are impermanent-even if you are reborn as a god you die and can then come back as a toad! Each of these different circles is the cause of the next one. Because of ignorance, desire and hatred, the three mental poisons (circle 1), beings create black and white karmas that drive them down or up to their next rebirth (circle 2). There, they experience the different sufferings of samsara (circle 3). 4: The Outer Circle-The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination The outer circle consists of twelve drawings that symbolize what are known as the twelve links of dependent origination. The twelve links is a very complicated philosophical idea. For now, it is enough for us to know that the twelve pictures show that all of the different suffering experiences in samsara come into existence, or originate in dependence on, or as a result of, ignorance, the belief in a real, solid self. That is why they are called links of dependent origination -because suffering originates in dependence on the belief in a self. 5: Outside the Wheel The whole of the wheel is in the grip of Yama, the Buddhist Lord of Death. This is to remind followers of the Buddha that everyone in samsara must die one day. There is usually a picture of a Buddha standing outside the wheel and pointing at a moon. The reason the Buddha is outside the wheel is to show that he has escaped samsara. The moon represents the end of suffering and by pointing at it, it is like the Buddha saying I have reached the end of suffering. KS3 Buddhism, lesson 10: Wheel of Life

3 3 TASKS??What are the four main things that the wheel of life shows us???what are the three mental poisons???why do you think the different animals are used to represent the three mental poisons???why do you think the three mental poisons are sometimes called the three fires???why do you think the moon is used to represent the end of suffering? (Clue: look at your answer to the three fires question)??where does the white path of good karma lead???where does the black path of bad karma lead???what are the three bad types of rebirth in samsara???what are the three good types of rebirth in samsara???list the main types of suffering that the six different types of being experience? With a partner, look at the picture and see if you can identify them.??what do we mean when we say that each of the first three circles is the cause of the next one???draw your own picture or diagram to show reincarnation.??why are the twelve links called links of dependent origination???the picture of Yama, the Lord of Death, reminds followers of the Buddha that everyone in samsara must die one day. Why do you think Buddhists want to remember that everyone is going to die???cover the information sheet then, using the picture, explain the meaning of the wheel of life to your neighbour.??sometimes Buddhists say that we pass through the six different rebirths everyday. What do you think they mean by this? KS3 Buddhism, lesson 10: Wheel of Life

4 1 THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH The Noble Eightfold Path consists of eight ways of thinking, speaking and behaving that the Buddha said people should follow if they want to reach the End of Suffering, Nirvana. Sometimes it is said that while the first Three Noble Truths are Buddhist philosophy, the Fourth Noble Truth makes Buddhism a religion. This is because, while the first Three Truths talk about how things are, the Fourth Truth, the Path, actually tells you how to be. The eight parts of the Path are: RIGHT UNDERSTANDING RIGHT INTENTION RIGHT SPEECH RIGHT ACTION RIGHT LIVELIHOOD RIGHT EFFORT RIGHT MINDFULNESS RIGHT CONCENTRATION RIGHT UNDERSTANDING Right Understanding understands the teachings on karma and rebirth, the Three Universal Truths, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. However, this is not just an intellectual understanding. Rather it is where you actually feel those things to be true in your heart and they influence the way you see and do things at a day-to-day level. RIGHT INTENTION Before we do anything we usually think about it; first we develop the INTENTION to do something then we do it. Sometimes our intention is a selfish one, where we decide to do things just for the sake of our own happiness. Sometimes we even do things with the negative intention of harming others. Right Intention means doing things for the right reasons. Instead of thinking about doing things for him or herself, a Buddhist thinks about doing things for others. Instead of thinking about how they can harm others, Buddhists think about how they can help others. Basically, Right Intention is stopping doing things for bad reasons and instead doing them for good ones. RIGHT SPEECH Right Speech means (1) not lying, (2) not swearing, (3) not gossiping and (4) not saying things that cause other people to fall out. A Buddhist always tries to do the opposite of these things: he or she tries to tell the truth, to speak pleasantly and about meaningful subjects. Finally, he tries to speak in ways that cause harmony between people. RIGHT ACTION Right Action means (1) not killing or injuring any living being, (2) not stealing, and (3) not committing sexual misconduct (simply put, this means not being unfaithful to your partner). KS3 Buddhism, lesson 9:Noble Eightfold Path

5 2 RIGHT LIVELIHOOD A Buddhist must never make their living in a way that is harmful to others. This means that he or she can never work selling (1) weapons, (2) meat, (3) slaves, (4) harmful drugs or (5) poisons. A Buddhist could be a chemist because the drugs he sold would not harm people. He could not own a pub though! RIGHT EFFORT Right Effort means making an effort to abandon negative ways of thinking such as proud, angry, or jealous thoughts and instead making an effort to develop positive ways of thinking such as humble, generous or compassionate thoughts. RIGHT MINDFULNESS To be mindful of something means to remember it. We all have mindfulness but it is usually mindfulness of something meaningless like the pop song we can t stop singing or the girl or boy we can t stop thinking about. Buddhists learn to be mindful of a calm and peaceful state of mind so that when something that causes a strong sense of 'self' suddenly appears to the mind, be it a thought, a feeling, a sensation, or an object, they remember or are mindful of that calm and peaceful state of mind. RIGHT CONCENTRATION Right Concentration is the ability to keep the mind totally concentrated on a calm, peaceful state without becoming distracted. It is very similar to Right Mindfulness, indeed the two work together very closely. While Right Concentration remains focussed on the calm and peaceful state, Right Mindfulness notices when the mind starts to get distracted and pulls it back to the object of concentration. By keeping the mind concentrated through Right Concentration, and preventing distraction from arising by practising Right Mindfulness, a Buddhist gradually dissolves their mind into deeper and deeper states of meditation until eventually they reach Nirvana. Here, because they have gone beyond the sense of 'self', they achieve the End of Suffering, (the Third Noble Truth). TASKS: THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH v Write a piece for a young children s book explaining each part of the Noble Eightfold Path. v Sometimes Buddhists use a drawing of an eight-spoked wheel as a symbol for the Eightfold Path. Draw the wheel then label each spoke in order, starting at the top with Right Understanding. v Why do you think Buddhists use the image of a wheel as a symbol for the Eightfold Path? v Why do people say that it is the Fourth Noble Truth that makes Buddhism a religion? v Do you think it would be easy to follow the Eightfold Path? Which part of the Path would be most difficult and why? KS3 Buddhism, lesson 9:Noble Eightfold Path

6 3 v Look at Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. Pick five of the things from under these headings and explain why you think a Buddhist wouldn t do them. v What is the difference between Right Mindfulness and right Concentration? v Why do you think thoughts and feelings cause the sense of 'self' to get stronger? v Nowadays people choose all sorts of paths to follow that they think will lead to happiness. However, much of the time they wind up suffering. Draw a cartoon strip to illustrate A path to lasting happiness or A path to happiness that doesn t last. v What sort of paths do you follow to reach happiness? How long does that happiness last? v Think of some ways in which Right Understanding might change the way you do things. Say why you think it would change your view. (For example, you might stop criticising your friends because you knew that it meant that one day your friends would criticise you [karma!]) v List eight things you could do to bring you to true, lasting happiness. These might be changes you need to make in yourself or in the world outside or a combination of the two. v In your book write: When I studied the Noble Eightfold Path I learned that... I also learned that The most interesting thing I learned was that This was very interesting because KS3 Buddhism, lesson 9:Noble Eightfold Path

7 1 The Life of the Buddha 2,500 years ago in 460 BCE, in a village called Lumbini in the Himalayan foothills, Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born. Some weeks before he had been born, his mother Queen Mayadevi dreamed that a six-tusked white elephant came down from the skies and entered her body through her right side. A holy man told the King, Shuddhodana, that this meant the child would either be a great king or a famous holy man. The King wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, so he ordered that Siddhartha be protected from seeing anything that might make him think about the meaning of life. Instead, Siddhartha was to be kept within the palace grounds and given everything he could possibly want. The Prince lived like this for all of his early life, and at sixteen he married a beautiful princess, Yasodhara. Soon after she gave birth to a son, Rahula. However, even though he had everything a person could wish for, Siddhartha still felt dissatisfied and he was haunted by a desire to see what lay beyond the palace walls. Perhaps there he would discover the satisfaction that he had as yet been unable to find. One night when he was 29 years old, while all in the palace slept, the Prince ordered his faithful charioteer Channa to take him out of the palace and into the world beyond its walls. What Siddhartha was about to see may seem quite normal to us but, because he had had lived such a sheltered life, the things he saw shocked him deeply. Leaving by the eastern gate, it was not long before he saw an old man who was experiencing the sufferings of old age. Siddhartha asked his charioteer what was wrong with the man. Channa replied that this was the misery that everyone who got old had to go through. The next night, the pair left by the southern gate and it was not long before they came across a man whose body was being eaten away by a terrible disease. The thought that this could also happen to him terrified Siddhartha. The following night they left by the western gate and soon spied a corpse. When Channa told Siddhartha that this was the body of someone who had not long ago been alive but who was now separated from their loved ones forever, and furthermore that it was the fate of everyone to experience this, the Prince decided that he had to find a way to be freed from the miseries he had seen. On the fourth night the pair left by the northern gate and saw a wandering holy man or ascetic. Channa told his master that this was a man who had given up searching for the happiness of this life alone and had instead decided to control his mind and find eternal peace. Seeing him filled Siddhartha with inspiration. He decided that he too would try to escape the sufferings he had seen by giving up his kingdom and becoming a holy man. The following night Siddhartha woke Channa and the pair sneaked past the palace guards. They rode to a river that marked the border of the land and there the Prince exchanged his royal robes for the ragged clothes of an ascetic. KS3, lesson 4: Life of Buddha

8 2 Siddhartha then went from one teacher or guru to another, quickly mastering each of their teachings. But despite all his efforts, he still couldn t find a way out of the miserable cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. After a while, he realised that no one could show him how to escape samsara and that he would have to discover the way for himself. And so he went to live in solitude with a group of five holy men who had become his followers. From then on, Siddhartha and the five holy men practiced meditation, kept silence, and survived on a diet of two seeds and a grain of rice a day.but, after nearly six years of living like this, he realised that this was not the way to freedom from suffering. In fact, he was so weak from not eating that he hardly had enough strength to meditate, and so he decided that he would eat proper food again. As soon as he told his followers what he was going to do, they lost faith in him and left. Soon after, a local shepherdess offered a bowl of milk-rice to Siddhartha. Having eaten it, his body felt strong again. A village youth then brought him a pile of kusha grass to use as a cushion. Sitting down beneath the Bodhi tree at a place called Bodh Gaya, he vowed: Even if my body dries up and my skin, flesh, and bones are swept away, I shall not move from this seat until I am enlightened. and entered into deep meditation. At this point, the demon king, Mara, sent his beautiful daughters to tempt Siddhartha away from his quest. When they failed to disturb his meditation, Mara sent a terrifying army to attack him but they also had no effect. Finally, Mara tried to frighten him by whipping up a hurricane but even this could not distract Siddhartha from his meditation. With Mara subdued, Siddhartha was able to enter into deeper and deeper states of meditation. Finally, having understood what causes the universe to exist and what causes beings to stay trapped in the suffering cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, he awakened to the truth of all things and achieved enlightenment. From then on he was known as the Buddha or Enlightened One. For the remaining forty-five years of his life the Buddha travelled throughout India, teaching the truth he had discovered to others. The teachings he gave form the basis of all of the various Buddhist traditions existent in the world today. Finally, at the age of eighty, the Buddha died or entered parinirvana at the foot of a tree in a place called Kushinagar. The year was 380 BCE and he was eighty years old. KS3, lesson 4: Life of Buddha

9 3 TASKS v Where and when was the Buddha born? v Where and when did he die and how old was he? v What was he called before he became the Buddha? v What does the word Buddha mean? v What were the four things that he saw that made him decide to start searching for truth? v Retell the story of the Buddha s enlightenment in words, pictures or as a drama. v Write a letter from Siddhartha to his father explaining why he is leaving the palace. v Re-read the letter and write a letter of advice back to Siddhartha v The things Siddhartha saw outside the palace shocked him and changed the way he thought about things forever. Describe an experience in your life that has had a similar effect. How did it affect you? v Seeing the wandering holy man inspired Siddhartha to search for a deeper meaning to life. Who inspires you? What are the qualities in them that cause you to feel like this? v Why do you think that giving everything up didn t bring enlightenment to Siddhartha? v Do you think it would be possible to reach enlightenment while living an ordinary, comfortable life? Why/why not? v Like many parents, Siddhartha s father tried to protect him from certain things. A] What sort of things do your parents try to protect you from? B] Do you think they are right to do this? Why/why not? v If you could have everything you wanted and knew nothing about sickness and death, do you think you would be satisfied? Why/why not? v Discuss: Nowadays, many people in the West try not to think about getting old and dying and spend most of their lives blinding themselves to suffering with trivial pleasures. We need to slow down and face up to the reality of old age and death if we are to have a meaningful life. KS3, lesson 4: Life of Buddha

10 1 THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS Probably the most famous of all of the Buddha s teachings is the Four Noble Truths. These are: 1: SUFFERING 2: THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING 3: THE END OF SUFFERING 4: THE PATH TO THE END OF SUFFERING Sometimes a medical example is used to explain these. The Buddha is said to be like a doctor and suffering like an illness. Finding out what has made you sick is like understanding the cause of suffering. The end of suffering is like getting better and the path to the end of suffering is like taking the medicine the doctor gives you to make you well again. Here, the medicine is the Buddha s teaching. 1: SUFFERING Buddha said that life is suffering: birth, ageing, sickness, death, mental and physical pain, not getting what we want, getting what we don t want, and separating from the things we like, all of these things are the karmas that arise from the belief in a solid self and all of them, along with the belief in that 'self' which causes them are SUFFERING, the First Noble Truth. 2: THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING The Buddha taught that the reason beings suffer is CRAVING. Craving is the constant feeling of needing things to make the self happy. Because of this, they act and create karma and this causes rebirth into suffering. So, it is craving that is THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING, the Second Noble Truth. 3:THE END OF SUFFERING Suffering happens because of craving. Buddhists believe that if you can get rid of craving it is possible to bring an end to suffering. This is said to be possible because the self that does the craving is not real, it is just an idea. If a person can live his or her life truly understanding this, then craving stops and THE END OF SUFFERING, the Third Noble Truth is achieved. Buddhists say that when someone brings suffering to an end, they have achieved NIRVANA. Nirvana means extinguishment or blowing out. This does not mean that they stop existing altogether. What it means is that they stop seeing things through the filter of the self. Because of the craving it causes, this filter of the self is like a fire that burns us-nirvana is the extinguishment or blowing out of that fire. 4: THE PATH TO THE END OF SUFFERING When a person wants to go somewhere they have to follow a path to get there. When someone wants to reach Nirvana they follow THE PATH TO THE END OF SUFFERING, the Fourth Noble Truth. (Continued overleaf) KS3 Buddhism, lesson 8: Four Noble Truths

11 2 Nowadays, when people want to escape suffering they turn on the TV or eat some chocolate or go shopping. This is called indulging in sense pleasures. Alternatively, because they realise that sense pleasures do not bring true, lasting happiness, other people try to gain happiness by giving everything up. This giving up everything is sometimes called self-mortification. ( Mors is the Latin for death, so selfmortification could be defined as killing the self ). The Buddha tried both these ways to find happiness. When he was young he led a life of luxury, surrounded by everything he could possibly want. When he was living the life of a wandering ascetic he spent five years starving himself, sleeping rough and wearing only rags for clothes. In the end, he decided that neither of these paths led to real, lasting happiness and that the real way to happiness lay in a MIDDLE WAY between these two extreme life styles. This Middle Way is known as the NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH. The Noble Eightfold Path is THE PATH TO THE END OF SUFFERING, the Fourth Noble Truth. TASKS: THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS v What are The Four Noble Truths? v What does the word Nirvana mean? v Explain The Four Noble Truths in your own words, using the medical example. v Describe the two lifestyles that the Middle Way runs between. v Down the left side of your page make a list of 10 things that make you suffer. Look at the sufferings the Buddha described and say which one they are down the right side of the page. (e.g. Eating school dinners = getting what you don t want ) v Make two lists: Sufferings I can change & Sufferings I cannot change v People often crave things and suffer or are disappointed as a result. A] Why does their craving arise? B] What effect does craving have? v Why is it that sometimes, under the same circumstances, one person is happy while another is unhappy? v Do you think it is possible to completely avoid suffering and be happy all the time? Why/why not? v What reasons for human suffering do other religions give? How do they tell you to escape those sufferings? KS3 Buddhism, lesson 8: Four Noble Truths