Buddhism by the numbers
10 worlds of Buddhism
10. Buddhahood
9. Bodhisattvas
8. Awakened ones
7. Learning
6. Heavenly Beings
5. Human Beings
4. Anger
3. Animality
2. Hungry Ghosts
1. Hell
10 Worlds of Buddhism
Buddhism
Twelve Links in the Chain of Interdependent Co-Arising
Buddhism by the Numbers
Twelve Links in the Chain of Interdependent Co-Arising
- Ignorance
- Volitional action
- Consciousness
- Mind/Body
- Six sense organs (Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind)
- Contact
- Feeling
- Craving
- Grasping/attachment
- Coming to be, being, becoming
- Birth
- Old age (decay) and death
Each link contains the other links. All teachings of Buddhism are based on interdependent co-arising. If a teaching is not in accord with interdependent co-arising it is not the teaching of the Buddha. Buddha taught that everything is both cause and effect. Interdependent co-arising goes beyond our concepts of time and space. The one contains all.
The presence of light means the absence of dark. The presence of day means the absence of night. The presence of ignorance means the absence of understanding. The Buddha said, “When ignorance comes to an end, understanding arises.”
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
The Seven Factors of Awakening
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Seven Factors of Awakening
- Mindfulness
- Investigation of phenomena
- Diligence
- Joy
- Ease
- Concentration
- Letting go
“At least once every 15 minutes, we need to practice letting go. Bear in your heart no hatred, utter no unkind words, remain always compassionate, with no hostility or ill will. The Seven Factors of Awakening are the practices of love.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
The Six Paramitas
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Six Paramitas
- Giving
- Precepts
- Inclusiveness
- Diligence
- Meditation
- Understanding
Giving
Offer to all joy, happiness, and love. The greatest gift we can offer anyone is our true presence.
Give the gift of stability. The one we love needs us to be solid and stable. We can cultivate our stability by breathing in and out, practicing mindful walking and sitting, and enjoying livening deeply in every moment.
Other gifts we can offer: Freedom, Space and Peace.
Cross over to the other shore…the other shore of peace non-fear, and liberation.
The Five Powers
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Five Powers
- Faith
- Diligence
- Mindfulness
- Concentration
- Insight
Mindfulness leads to concentration, and concentration leads to insight and to faith.
According to the Lotus Sutra, all sentient beings have the Buddha nature.
“Buddha” comes from the root verb “budh”, which means wake up.
Every moment is the opportunity to water the seeds of happiness in yourself.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Aggregates
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Five Aggregates
A human being is composed of Five aggregates (skandas): form, feelings, perception, mental formations, and consciousness.
- Form – Means our body including the five sense organs and our nervous system.
- Feelings – There is a river of feelings inside of us. Our feelings are formations, impermanent and without substance.
- Perceptions – Noticing, naming, conceptualizing, perceiver and perceived. All suffering is born from wrong perceptions. Understanding, the fruit of meditation, can dissolve our wrong perceptions and liberate us. “Where there is perception, there is deception.” -Diamond Sutra.
- Mental Formations – There are 51 mental formations present in our store consciousness in the form of seeds. Every time a seed is touched it manifests on the upper level of our consciousness as a mental formation. With daily practice we are able to nourish and develop wholesome mental formations and transform unhealthy ones. Freedom, non-fear, and peace are the result of this practice.
- Consciousness – Consciousness in this context means store consciousness, which is the basis of everything that we are, the ground of all our mental formations. Consciousness contains all other aggregates and is the basis of their existence. Consciousness is simultaneously both collective and individual.
The five aggregates are interconnected or as Thich Nhat Hahn says, “Inter-are.”
The Four Immeasurable Minds
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Four Immeasurable Minds
- Love, compassion, joy, equanimity
- If you learn how to practice love, compassion, joy, and equanimity, you will know how to heal the illness, anger, sorrow, insecurity, sadness, hatred, loneliness and unhealthy attachments.
- Whoever practices the Four Immeasurable Minds together with the Seven Factors of Awakening, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path will arrive at deep enlightenment.
- The first aspect of true love in Buddhism is friendship.
- The second aspect of true love is compassion.
- The third aspect of true love is joy. True love always brings joy to us and the ones we love.
- The fourth element of true love is equanimity: nonattachment, nondiscrimination, even mindedness, letting go. If your love has attachment, discrimination, prejudice, or clinging it is not true love. This is the wisdom of equality.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn
The Three Jewels
Buddhism by the Numbers
The Three Jewels
I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha
Notes from the Buddha
From the Dhammapada
You are what you think. All that you are arises from your thoughts. With your thoughts you make your world.
The Three Bodies of Buddha
Buddhisim by the Numbers
The Buddha came to be represented as having “three bodies”:
- Dharmakaya – the source of enlightenment and happiness.
- Sambhogakaya – the body of bliss or enlightenment.
- Nirmanakaya – the historical embodiment of the Buddha.
When he was about to pass away, the Buddha told his disciples, “Dear friends, my physical body will not be here tomorrow, but my teaching body (Dharmakaya) will always be with you. Consider it to be the teacher who never leaves you. Be islands unto yourselves, take refuge in the Dharma. Use the Dharma as your lamp, your island.”
The original meaning of Dharmakaya, the way to realize understanding and love.
Based on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn
Photo by Benn Bell
Ghost Dog 