Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Miss Reid and welcome to another lesson on Buddhism.

Let's have a look at our lesson question for today.

So our lesson question for today is what are the four noble truths of Buddhism? Well, in this lesson, we're going to be learning about Buddhism as a religious tradition that was originally passed on by word of mouth.

We'll also learn about, but as core teachings, the threefold path to enlightenment and the four noble truths, and we'll end the lesson by learning about the sacred text of Buddhism, the Tipitaka.

So in this lesson, you'll need an exercise book or a piece of paper, you'll need a pencil and you'll need your brain.

Please do take a moment now to clear away any distractions, including turning off any notifications on any apps or conversations you have running in the background if you know how to.

Finally, if you can try to find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed during the lesson.

Pause the video now, so you can go and get the things you need and find a quiet place to work.

Great, now you have everything you need.

Let's carry on.

Let's run through our star words, our key words for today.

I'm going to say them, and I want you to repeat them after me.

Buddhism, enlightenment, meditation, the threefold path, the four noble truths, Buddha.

So in this lesson, we'll be learning about Buddhism as an oral tradition, then we'll learn about the threefold path to enlightenment, and then we'll look at the four noble truths, and finally, the Tipitaka.

So, as you already know, the Buddha was the first person to become enlightened.

This means that he reached the highest spiritual achievement free from suffering.

However, instead of reaching Nirvana, the Buddha chose to stay on earth and teach others how to reach enlightenment.

Now, the important thing about Buddhism is that it is an oral tradition, or at least that's how it began.

Oral means spoken rather than written.

When I say oral, I want you to say spoken rather than written.

Oral, oral, oral, spoken rather than written, well done saying oral.

So what does oral mean? Shout it out.

Excellent work.

Oral means spoken rather than written.

Now, when we say that Buddhism was an oral tradition, We are saying that the Buddhist teachings were originally spoken and heard by others.

The first people to hear the Buddhist teachings were his immediate followers.

He told them and they listened.

They then continued to tell others about his teachings and his teachings were heard by many more people.

And this was how Buddhism first spread.

Importantly, the Buddha didn't write anything down, or if he did, the writings have been lost.

His followers passed on his teachings through word of mouth, and it wasn't until after the Buddhist death that people began to record his teachings in words.

Here's your first task, complete the sentence by choosing the correct option.

The Buddha did/did not write his teachings down.

Pause the video now and we write the sentence, choosing the correct option.

Let's see how you did.

So the answer is the Buddha did not write his teaching down, give yourself a Pat on the back if you got that right.

If you didn't, you can fix your answer now.

Pause the video while you do that.

Let's move on.

So, the threefold path to enlightenment, this is one of the Buddhist core teachings.

Now one of the Buddha's main teachings, that they still follow today is this threefold path to enlightenment.

And we can think of these as paths that lead to enlightenment.

We're going to have a look at each of these words, and you can see that they're in English and in Pali.

Pali is an ancient Indian dialect or language that's a similar to that that was spoken by the Buddha himself.

One of the reasons why we often see, but a scripture written in Pali, is because it began as an oral tradition.

It was spoken in a language very similar to Pali.

So the three parts are ethics or shila, meditation or samadhi, wisdom or Prajna.

Let's go through these again, and I want you to say them after me.

Ethics, shila, your turn, meditation, samadhi, wisdom, prajna.

Great work, everyone.

Here's a task for you.

You need to match the English word to the word in Pali.

You can write the English word and the Pali word next to it.

Pause the video now, or you complete that task.

Let's see how you did.

I wonder if you remembered the translations.

So ethics, shila, meditation, samadhi, wisdom, prajna.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answers.

Well done everyone, let's move on.

So the four noble truths.

Now the four noble truths are one of another of Buddhist key teachings and they explain the problems humans face and why? The truth also begin to offer some understanding into how humans can escape these problems. Let's look at them briefly now, and then we'll go into more detail.

One, all existence is dukkha, which means suffering.

Two, the cause of dukkha is craving.

Three, the end of dukkha comes with the end of craving.

And four, there is a path that leads from dukkha.

So number one, all existence is dukkha or suffering.

Now the word darker has been translated as suffering, anguish, pain or unsatisfactoriness.

The Buddhist insight was that our lives are a struggle.

And we do not find ultimate happiness or satisfaction in anything we experience.

Now that is not to say that humans can never be happy.

The Buddha wanted his followers to understand that even the things that make us happy come to an end because the world is always changing.

We can use the example of a beautiful tree.

It brings us joy, life through the oxygen it releases, and happiness, but one day the tree will die and the happiness it gave us will cease to exist.

This is what the Buddha meant when he taught his followers, that the world is impermanent.

It's forever changing, and therefore involves suffering.

This according to the Buddha is the problem of existence.

Here's the task, you need to complete the sentence.

All existence is, hmm hmm.

Pause the video now and write the correct words to complete the sentence.

I wonder if you remember the correct words and the correct spellings, let's have a look.

All existence is suffering or dukkha.

You might've written all existence is dukkha or suffering.

It's okay.

It doesn't matter which way you write the words around.

Pause the video now so that you can tick or fix your answer.

Great work everyone.

So number two, the cause of dukkha is craving.

Now the bit to believe that the natural human tendency is to blame our difficulties or suffering on things outside of ourselves.

But that's the actual root of our difficulties is to be found in the mind itself.

He said that because the human minds are never satisfied, we always want more.

And that is called craving.

The Buddha taught that we crave things that do not lead us to enlightenment, but satisfy our senses such as a desire to eat a chocolate bar rather than meditate and learn more about our own minds.

Here's another sentence to complete.

The cause of hmm is hmm.

Pause the video now so you can complete that sentence.

I wonder if you got that right? Let's have a look.

The cause of dukkha is craving.

Pause the video now, so you can tick or fix your answer.

Let's move on.

Number three, the end of dukkha comes with the end of craving.

Now, Buddha felt that we as humans are in control of our minds and therefore we can control our cravings by making choices to ignore them.

The Buddha taught that through meditation, we can become happy and content and stop craving.

He taught his followers that the ultimate satisfaction came from reaching Nirvana.

Thus, the Buddha taught his followers that while suffering is inevitable and a part of life, we are in control of how we approach that suffering.

The Buddha taught that we cannot change the things that happen to us, but we can change our responses.

You need to complete this sentence.

The end of hmm comes with the end of hmm.

Pause the video now and complete that task.

Did you remember? Let's have a look.

The end of dukkha comes with the end of craving.

Thumbs up if you got that right.

Don't worry if you didn't, you can tick or fix your answer now.

Well done.

The fourth and final noble truth.

There is a path that leads from dukkha.

Now the Buddha taught his followers that humans can end suffering by following what he described as the middle way.

This involves living a life, which is somewhere between the luxurious life that the Buddha lived in the Palace, where he was indulged as a Prince and the poor, difficult life he had lived as a Holy man, which is where he denied his body of any luxuries.

Denial of all luxuries is called asceticism.

Can you say that, asceticism.

Asceticism means denial of all luxuries.

Now, the Buddha taught his followers to live a life through the middle way, somewhere between a life of luxury and a life of asceticism.

Now he taught people to follow the middle way by using the eightfold path.

And we'll learn about that more in our next lesson.

Here's your task.

Complete the sentence.

There is a path that leads from hmm.

It is called the hmm hmm.

Pause the video now and complete those sentences.

Did you remember the fourth noble truth? Let's have a look.

There is a path that leads from dukkha.

It is called the middle way.

Thumbs up if you got that right.

Don't worry if you didn't, you can tick or fix your answer now.

Well done everyone.

You now have all four noble truths written correctly on your piece of paper.

I've got a task for you.

Can you commit all four of the noble truths to memory? That means can you recite them without looking at them? You have to remember that Buddhism is an oral tradition, or at least that's how it began.

And the Buddhist followers had to remember his teachings word for word if they were going to pass on the messages.

I want you to see if you can learn all four noble truth off by heart and recite them someone in your home.

Pause the video now and see if you can learn all four noble truths off by heart.

Did you manage to learn them off by heart? Well done.

I'm so proud of you.

It's really, really difficult to do.

Let's move on.

So the Tipitaka.

Now, after the Buddha died, his dharma, that means his teachings were written down in a book that became known as the Tipitaka or the Tripitaka in some scripts.

The Tipitaka is a sacred text of Buddhism.

It is written in Pali, which is the ancient Indian language similar to that which the Buddha would have spoken.

The Tipitaaka is a huge book.

If you want to read it in English, it does spit into 40 volumes or books.

And the original Pali, there were three sections, which are sometimes called the three baskets of wisdom.

Now, the first section of basket is called the discipline basket.

And that sets out the rules of Buddhism.

The second basket is called the teaching basket, and this contains stories about Buddha's life.

The third basket is called the higher doctrine basket, and this explains the stories of Buddha's life in more detail.

Usually giving its readers a message.

What I'd like you to do is match the basket to the correct definition.

Let's have a look at the baskets again.

The discipline basket, the teaching basket, the higher doctrine basket.

Now the meaning or definition of these baskets has been mixed up.

Let's have a look at them.

Stories about Buddha's life, explain stories of Buddha's life.

Rules of Buddhism, put your finger on the definition of the discipline basket.

Did you put your finger on the rules of Buddhism? Give yourself a Pat on the back if you did.

Put your finger on the definition of the teaching basket, did you put your finger on stories about Buddha's life? Thumbs up well done.

And finally, the high doctrine basket.

This one's a little bit easier.

It is, of course explain the stories of Buddha's life.

Well done.

Here's your final task for today's lesson.

Complete the sentences.

What other three baskets of the original Tipitaka? The hmm basket.

The hmm basket.

The hmm basket.

Complete the sentences.

Pause the video now, while you do that.

Let's have a look at the answers.

The discipline baskets.

The teaching basket.

The higher doctrine baskets.

Pause the video so you can tick or fix your answers.

Great work, everyone.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson.

A really big, well done on all the fantastic learning you've done today.

Now, I wonder if you can go away and still recite those four noble truths to anyone in your home.

Maybe you could record yourself doing it.

If you're able to please take a picture or a recording of yourself and send it to your teacher, because I'm sure they love to see all of the fantastic work you've been doing.

And if you're able to please take a picture or a video of your work and ask your parent or carer to share it with your teacher so they can see all of the fantastic things you've learned today.

That's all I have left to say.

Thank you so much for working so hard today.

Enjoy the rest of your learning.