The Central Buddhist Teachings (the Middle Path)

The Three Jewels

I take refuge in the...
1) ________________________
2) ________________________
3) ________________________
The Three Marks of Existence
1) Annica (Impermanence)
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2) Dukkha (Suffering/Dissatisfaction)
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Three types of suffering:
Dukkha-Dukkha- obvious physical or mental pain___________________________________
Viparinama-Dukkha- suffering due to transformation or change________________________
Sankhara-Dukkha- suffering due to conditioned states_______________________________
3) Anatta/Anatman (Not self/No soul)
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
The five aggregates (which give the illusion of a Self):
The aggregate of matter (eye, ear, nose, throat, hand etc..)____________________________
The aggregate of feelings and sensations (sight, sound, smell, taste, thought)______________
The aggregate of perception____________________________________________________
The aggregate of volitions or mental formations____________________________________
The aggregate of consciousness (response)________________________________________
The Four Noble Truths
1) ______________________________________________________________________________
2) ______________________________________________________________________________
3) ______________________________________________________________________________
4) ______________________________________________________________________________
The Eightfold Path
Right....*
1) _____________________________________________________
2) _____________________________________________________
3) _____________________________________________________
4) _____________________________________________________
5) _____________________________________________________
6) _____________________________________________________
7) _____________________________________________________
8) _____________________________________________________
*Buddha uses the word right in the way we would say something is proper, appropriate or correct. The
use of the word right in this context does not imply that there is a wrong. Such thinking is dualistic and
not a part of the Buddhist tradition.

The Five Precepts

I undertake to refrain from...
1) ___________________________________________________
2) ___________________________________________________
3) ___________________________________________________
4) ___________________________________________________
5) ___________________________________________________
Buddhist Values
1) _______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2) _______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3) _______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4) _______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5) _______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Activities
1) What is your opinion of the Three Marks of Existence?
a) Is everything impermanent?________________________________________________________
b) Does all life involve suffering?_____________________________________________________
c) Is there such a thing as a self?______________________________________________________

2) Which of the central teachings above relate to the sayings of Buddha below?
a) The fickle, unsteady mind, difficult to guard, difficult to control, the wise man makes straight, as the

fletcher the arrow. ______________________________________________________________

b) He who, seeking his own happiness, torments with the rod creatures that are desirous of happiness,
shall not obtain happiness hereafter.____________________________________________________
c) But whosoever in this world overcomes this wretched craving so difficult to overcome, his sorrows
fall away from him like water drops from a lotus leaf._______________________________
d) He whose senses are mastered like horses well under the charioteers control, he who is purged of
pride, free from passions, such a steadfast one even the gods envy (hold dear).__________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
3) How do the five precepts compare to the Ten Commandments?

Similarities:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Differences:

an arrow maker

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
The Automobile Parable
This is a parable about an automobile. First of all, you got a guy in the automobile driving
down the street, he sees his girlfriend on the sidewalk, he waves to her and runs into the back
of a bus. There is a huge crash and what he feels is Dukkha-dukkha. The palpable physical
suffering of an automobile accident. That's easy to understand.
The second kind of suffering comes if you are attached to that car. Many people relate to this,
they have automobiles that they love. They don't have a very good time during the winter. The
winter is cruel. There is a lot of ice. People vandalize automobiles. Rust creeps into parts of the
vehicle, the front end becomes unbalanced. As you see, the car begins to disintegrate. It causes
you suffering in relation to the pleasure, to the attachment that you have invested in that
object, as it begins to slip away from you. That also is pretty clear. Viparinama-dukkha, the
suffering that comes from change is a pretty easy concept to grasp.
The third concept is a bit more difficult. And I'm not so sure much of the time that I'm really
able to convey it with this example. The way I do it is to imagine person in the car, fully
invested, with all of his ego in this powerful object. Roaring up and down the avenue, feeling
the pleasure and energy from being in this powerful embodiment of his manhood. And ask
yourself whether at that moment he is really happy. If you ask him if he is happy, of course he
is going to say yes. The pleasure of that experience is extremely satisfying. That can't be
denied. That's a physical and emotional sensation that grants reality in his own right. But is it
real happiness? I think we know enough about situations like that in our world to begin to
question whether that's the place where satisfaction really comes from. In part because it is
based on a certain kind of illusion about the nature of the object, and an illusion about the
nature of the self, and how your own ego can become invested in a physical object like that,
that will arise and pass away

An illustration of the five aggregates

I pass by a pizzeria and my nose (matter) twitches as I smell (sensation) the scent of fresh
tomatoes and cheese. I think (perception), Wow, a piece of pizza would sure taste good. My
senses are aroused and I decide (volition) to go in to buy myself a slice. I enter the pizzeria and
put some money on the counter (response). Suddenly, a dog enters the pizza store. I see (with
my eyes-matter) the dog (sensation) and I remember (perception) that I forgot to walk my
dog. I decide (volition) to go home quickly. When I arrive home, I take the dog out (response).
The person we call I is made up of these five aggregates and nothing more. These aggregates
are constantly changing. The person we call I is therefore always changing. We find there is
absolutely no fixed I. There is no permanent self, nothing to grab on to. The fixed I is an
illusion.

David Humes Reflections on the Self

For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular
perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch
myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe any thing but the perception. I may
venture to affirm of the rest of mankind, that they are nothing but a bundle or collection of different

perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and
movement.