佛法 · The Dharma

Buddhism & Zen 佛教 · 禪

Buddhism began about 2,500 years ago with Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, "the one who woke up", in the Ganges plain of northern India. He taught a Middle Way between indulgence and harsh asceticism: see clearly how suffering arises from craving, and let it go through ethics, meditation and wisdom. From India the teaching travelled south to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, north to Tibet and Mongolia, and east along the Silk Road to China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, where it met Daoism and became Chan (Zen), the Buddhism of the Shaolin Temple.

Come and see

The Buddha invited people to ehipassiko, "come and see" for themselves, not to believe on faith. You are welcome to wander here as a curious guest. Sit for a few breaths, read a verse, listen to a chant. Nothing is asked of you.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.
Dhammapada, verse 1 (tr. Müller)

Read the Dhammapada The Heart Sutra

What is Buddhism?
ReligionForBreakfast · 18:24

Buddhist Denominations Explained
UsefulCharts · 25:20

Press play to watch here. Credits on the audiobooks & chanting page.

Three vehicles, many schools 三乘

Theravada

"The Way of the Elders": the Pali Canon, mindfulness and the forest monks of Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Mahayana

"The Great Vehicle": the bodhisattva path of compassion and emptiness, including Zen, Pure Land, Tiantai and Huayan in East Asia.

Vajrayana

"The Diamond Vehicle": the Tibetan and Himalayan traditions, and Japanese Shingon, with mantra, mandala and the nature of mind.

Every school compared →

Theravada (Way of the Elders)

上座部

Early / Theravada · Roots in the 3rd c. BCE; Sri Lanka from c. 250 BCE

Madhyamaka (Middle Way)

中觀

Mahayana philosophy · c. 2nd c. CE

Yogacara (Mind-Only)

唯識

Mahayana philosophy · c. 4th c.

Tiantai / Tendai

天台

Mahayana (East Asia) · 6th c.

Huayan / Kegon

華嚴

Mahayana (East Asia) · 7th c.

Pure Land

淨土

Mahayana (East Asia) · 4th–5th c. (Huiyuan, 402); Japan 12th–13th c.

Chan / Zen / Seon / Thien

禪

Mahayana (East Asia) · 5th–7th c. China

Linji / Rinzai Zen

臨濟

Chan / Zen branch · 9th c. China; Japan 1191

Caodong / Soto Zen

曹洞

Chan / Zen branch · 9th c. China; Japan 1227

Korean Seon (Jogye Order)

禪 (선)

Chan / Zen branch · 9th c.; united by Jinul, 12th c.

Vietnamese Thien / Plum Village

禪 (Thiền)

Chan / Zen branch · 6th c.; Plum Village 1982

Nichiren Buddhism

日蓮

Mahayana (Japan) · 1253

Shingon (Japanese esoteric)

真言

Vajrayana (East Asia) · 806

Tibetan Vajrayana

金剛乘

Vajrayana · 7th–11th c.

Modern movements

Contemporary · 19th–20th c.

Key ideas 要義

The Four Noble Truths 四聖諦

There is suffering (dukkha). It has a cause (craving). It can end (nirvana). And there is a path to its end.

The Eightfold Path 八正道

Right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration, often grouped as ethics, meditation and wisdom.

The Middle Way 中道

Neither indulgence nor self-torment. In Madhyamaka it also means neither "exists" nor "does not exist".

Three Marks 三法印

Impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and not-self (anatta).

Dependent origination 緣起

Everything arises in dependence on conditions. Nothing stands alone.

Karma & rebirth 業 · 輪迴

Intentional actions shape experience and future lives in the cycle of samsara.

Nirvana 涅槃

"Blowing out" the fires of greed, hatred and delusion: peace and freedom.

Emptiness (shunyata) 空

In Mahayana, all things are empty of fixed self-nature. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form" (Heart Sutra).

Buddha-nature 佛性

Every being can awaken. In Chan/Zen, the awakened mind is our own original face.

Bodhisattva 菩薩

One who vows to awaken for the sake of all beings, like Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara).

The Three Jewels 三寶

Buddha (the teacher and awakening), Dharma (the teaching), Sangha (the community).

Mindfulness & meditation 念 · 禪

Samatha (calm) and vipassana (insight). Chan (禪) is simply the Chinese word for meditation (dhyana).