Human Rights to Education in India: Theravada Buddhism Education for

New-BuddhistsRam Avhdesh Singh

Asst. Professor, North East Regional Institute of Education, Umaim-793

103 Meghalaya

This research paper is an effort to address the issues and challenges of minorities Human Rights to Education in India. It will be achieved through the millennium development goals of India by promoting the cultural heritage, traditional, moral and value education for the New-Buddhists in across the country; especially in the recently accessioned state, such as state of Sikkim, North East Region, India.

Introduction

The State of Sikkim, North East Region, IndiaSikkim is a mountainous Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. Sikkim is the second smallest state in India. Sikkim is a small state in northwest India, bordered by Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal. Part of the Himalayas, the area has a dramatic landscape including India’s highest mountain, 8,586m Kanchenjunga. Sikkim is also home to glaciers, alpine meadows and thousands of varieties of wildflowers. Steep paths lead to hilltop Buddhist monasteries such as Pemayangtse, which dates to the early 1700s. • Sikkim is one of the prime tourism destinations of India, and North Sikkim is its most lovable part for tourists. It is surrounded by mountains, snow, and forests and blessed by other wonders of nature. Flowers and fall are key attraction factors of this tourism attraction. This part of Sikkim is called as Switzerland of East; by this one can easily imagine how beautiful is this. It will be a lifetime experience to visit North Sikkim for anyone. Gangtok will be key station of the trip and after that Sikkim is a small state in northwest India. Sikkim is one of the beauties in north eastern part of India. It is nicely tucked away and beautifully landlocked with immense natural beauty.

The most widely accepted origin of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two words in the Limbu Su, which means "new", and Khyim, which means "palace" or house, in reference to the palace built by the state's first ruler, Phuntsog Namgyal. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Denjong, which means the "valley of rice". The Lepchas, original inhabitants of Sikkim called it Nye- mae-el or paradise, and the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, which means the hidden valley of rice. In Hindu religious texts, Sikkim is known as Indrakil, the garden of Indra. • Most of Sikkim is covered by Precambrian rock and is much younger in age than the hills. The rock consists of phyllites and schists and therefore the slopes are highly susceptible to weathering and prone to erosion. Sikkim is a mountainous Indian state nestled in the Himalayas. Steep paths lead to hilltop Buddhist monasteries such as Pemayangtse, which dates to the early 1700s.

Buddhism in Sikkim

Literacy in Sikkim is 69.68%, which breaks down into 76.73% for males and 61.46% for females. There are a total of 1157 schools, including 765 schools run by the State government, 7 central government schools and 385 private schools. Twelve colleges and other institutions in Sikkim offer higher education. The largest institution is the Sikkim Manipal University of Technological Sciences, which offers higher education in engineering, medicine and management. It also runs a host of distance education programs in diverse fields. There are two state-run polytechnical schools, Advanced Technical Training Centre (ATTC) and Centre for Computers and Communication Technology (CCCT) in Sikkim which offer diploma courses in various branches of engineering. ATTC is situated at Bardang, Singtam and CCCT at Chisopani, Namchi. Sikkim University a central university began operating in 2008 at Yangang, which is situated about 28 km from Singtam. Many students, however, migrate to Siliguri, Kolkata, Bangalore and other Indian cities for their higher education.

Education and Employment in Sikkim

An Ancient Mouryan Emperor – The Great Ashoka

(300 – 232 BCE)

An Ancient Emperor ‘s Mouryan Dynasty Regime of the

Great Ashoka

(300 – 232 BCE)

Enlightenment in Buddhism According to the early Buddhist texts,[web 14] after realizing that meditative

dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way[web 14]—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which is regarded as the first discourse of the Buddha.[web 14] In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.[web 15] Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree—now known as the Bodhi tree—in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth.[86] Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment,[86][web 16] and became known as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").

According to some sutras of the Pali canon, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, suffering and dying again.[87][88][web 17] According to scholars, this story of the awakening and the stress on "liberating insight" is a later development in the Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha may have regarded the practice of dhyana as leading to Nirvana and moksha.[89][90][87][note 10]

Buddhism in Mouryan Dynasty (322 – 185 BCE)

Nirvana is the extinguishing of the "fires" of desire, hatred, and ignorance, that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going.[91] Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain.[citation needed] In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.[citation needed]

According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) — a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

Early Buddhism was based on empirical evidence gained by the sense

organs (ayatana)[3] and the Buddha seems to have retained a skeptical distance from certain metaphysical questions, refusing to answer them because they were not conducive to liberation but led instead to further speculation. A recurrent theme in Buddhist philosophy has been the reification of concepts, and the subsequent return to the Buddhist Middle Way.

Particular points of Buddhist philosophy have often been the subject of disputes between different schools of Buddhism. These elaborations and disputes gave rise to various schools in early Buddhism of Abhidharma, and to the Mahayana traditions and schools of the prajnaparamita, Madhyamaka, Buddha-nature and Yogacara.

Philosophy in India was aimed mainly at spiritual liberation and had soteriological goals. In his study of Mādhyamaka Buddhist philosophy in India, Peter Deller Santina writes:

Major Teachings in Buddhism

Attention must first of all be drawn to the fact that philosophical systems in India were seldom, if ever, purely speculative or descriptive. Virtually all the great philosophical systems of India: Sāṅkhya, Advaitavedānta, Mādhyamaka and so forth, were preeminently concerned with providing a means to liberation or salvation. It was a tacit assumption with these systems that if their philosophy were correctly understood and assimilated, an unconditioned state free of suffering and limitation could be achieved. [...] If this fact is overlooked, as often happens as a result of the propensity engendered by formal Occidental philosophy to consider the philosophical enterprise as a purely descriptive one, the real significance of Indian and Buddhist philosophy will be missed.

The goal of Buddhist philosophy was nirvana and to achieve this it needed to investigate the nature of the world. For the Indian Buddhist philosophers, the teachings of the Buddha were not meant to be taken on faith alone, but to be confirmed by logical analysis (pramana) of the world.[2] The early Buddhist texts mention that a person becomes a follower of the Buddha's teachings after having pondered them over with wisdom and the gradual training also requires that a disciple “investigate” (upaparikkhati) and “scrutinize” (tuleti) the teachings.[7] The Buddha also expect his disciples to approach him as a teacher in a critical fashion and scrutinize his actions and words, as shown in the Vīmaṃsaka Sutta.

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and

devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka,[web 22] and include:

Buddho – Awakened Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct. Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken. Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds. Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people. Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans. Bhagavathi – The Blessed one Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy

life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various Buddhist schools in India following the death of the Buddha and later spread throughout Asia. Buddhism's main concern has always been freedom from dukkha (unease),[1] and the path to that ultimate freedom consists in ethical action (karma), meditation and in direct insight (prajña) into the nature of "things as they truly are" (yathābhūtaṃ viditvā). Indian Buddhists sought this understanding not just from the revealed teachings of the Buddha, but through philosophical analysis and rational deliberation.[2] Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in East Asia have covered topics as varied as phenomenology, ethics, ontology, epistemology, logic and philosophy of time in their analysis of this path.

Nine virtues - Moral Value Education

Dhamek Stupa in Sârnâth, India, site of the first teaching of the Buddha in which he taught the Four Noble Truths to his first five disciples

After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan — who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.

He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.

All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka.[92] Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization. The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

Formation of the Sangha

The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.

Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."The Buddha is said to have replied:"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms.“

Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.

Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.

The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

The Great Ashoka‘s Foreign Policy Missions to Spread Buddhism

The Great Ashoka sent missions to South East Asian countries to propagate Dhamma. They were sent to even Western Asia; Egypt and Eastern Europe. Some of the enlisted kingdoms received the messages of Buddhism and those were also mentioned in the rock editcted inscriptions; shrines and monasteries. Inscribed Teachings of Buddha on rocks and pillars in so many places; his son Kunal , Mahendra and Daughter Shanghmitra became monk and carried Bhuddhism to Sri Lanka.1. Antiochus Theos of Syria and Western Asia;2. Plotolmy Philladelphus oif Egypt;3. Antigous Gonitas of Maccedonia;4. Megas of Cerene;5. Alexender of Epinus.

The Great Ashoka’s Foreign Policy

Efforts to Spread Dhamma:1. Personal examples;2. Religious messengers to the other countries;3. Dhamma_ Mahamantras;4. Inscriptions of rock edicts;5. Instructions to the empire officials.

Importance of Dhamma:1. Moral life of the people;2. Dharmma_Vijaya in place of Dig_Vijaya;3. Social unity;4. Decline in the crimes;5. Public welfare works;6. Ashoka’s popularity;7. Decline of the Warrior power of Mouryan Empire.

Impact of Ashoka’s Dhamma on Mouryan Empire

Extension of Theraveda and Mahayana in the South East Asian Countries

Theravada (Pali, literally "school of the elder monks") is a branch of Buddhism that uses the Buddha's teaching preserved in the Pāli Canon as its doctrinal core. The Pali canon is the only complete Buddhist canon which survives in a classical Indic Language, Pali, which serves as the sacred language and lingua franca of Theravada Buddhism.[1] Another feature of Theravada is that it tends to be very conservative about matters of doctrine and monastic discipline.[2] As a distinct sect, Theravada Buddhism developed in Sri Lanka and spread to the rest of Southeast Asia.

Theravada also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions with varying cultures and religious communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is practiced by minority groups in Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Vietnam. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravāda Buddhism. Contemporary expressions include Buddhist modernism, the Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest Tradition.

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

Saṃsāra (Sanskrit, Pali; also samsara) in Buddhism is the beginning-

less cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again.Samsara is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful,perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma.

Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hellish).[note 1] Samsara ends if a person attains nirvana,[note 2] the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self reality

Nirvāṇa (/nɪərˈvɑːnə, -ˈvænə, nər-/;[1] Sanskrit: नि�र्वा��ण nirvāṇa  [nirʋaːɳə]; Pali: नि�ब्ब�� nibbāna ; Prakrit: णिणव्र्वा�ण ṇivvāṇa ) literally means "blown out", as in a candle.[2] The term "nirvana" is most commonly associated with Buddhism, and represents its ultimate state of soteriological release and liberation from rebirths in samsara.

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

In Indian religions, nirvana is synonymous with moksha, vimoksha, vimukti and mukti.[note 1] All Indian religions assert it to be a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness along with it being the liberation from samsara, the repeating cycle of birth, life and death.

However, Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions describe these terms for liberation differently.[8] In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to realization of non-self and emptiness, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.[8][9][10] In Hindu philosophy, it is the union of or the realization of the identity of Atman with Brahman, depending on the Hindu tradition.[11][12][13] In Jainism, it is also the soteriological goal, but unlike Buddhism, it represents the release of a soul from karmic bondage and samsara.

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

In the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, the expression Middle Way is used by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, to describe the Noble Eightfold Path as the way to achieve nibbana instead of employing extremes of austerities and sensual indulgence. Later Pali literature has also used the phrase Middle Way to refer to the Buddha's teaching of dependent origination as a view between the extremes[2] of eternalism [ ?] and annihilationism.[ ? ] The Middle Way or Middle Path (Pali: Majjhimāpaṭipadā; Sanskrit:

Madhyamāpratipad[1][a]; Tibetan: དབུ་མའི ་ལམ།, THL: Umélam; Chinese: 中道 ; Vietnamese: Trung đạo; Thai: มัชฌมิาปฏิปทา) is the term that Gautama Buddha used to describe the character of the Noble Eightfold Path he discovered that leads to liberation.

The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1] is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth.[2][3]

The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right "samadhi" (meditative absorption or union).[4] In the earliest Buddhism these practices started with insight (right view), culminating in dhyana/samadhi as the core soteriological practice.[5] In later Buddhism insight (prajna) became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the path.[5][6]

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

The Eightfold Path teaches that by restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, house-leavers (monks and nuns) attain nirvana and stop their craving, clinging and karmic accumulations, thereby ending their rebirth and suffering.

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of Theravada Buddhism, leading to Arhatship.[12] In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila (morals), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (insight). In Mahayana Buddhism it is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which culminates in full Buddhahood.[12]In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), whose eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.

The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni; Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) are "the truths of the Noble Ones,"[1] the truths or realities which are understood by the "worthy ones"[web 1] who have attained Nirvana.[2][web 1] The truths are dukkha, the arising of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha. The four truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: we crave and cling to

impermanent states and things, which is dukkha,[3] "incapable of satisfying"[web 2] and painful.[4][5] This keeps us caught in samsara, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha and dying again. [note 1] But there is a way to reach real happiness[11] [note 2] and to end this cycle, namely following the eightfold path. [note 3] The meaning of the truths is as follows:[23][16][web 3]

Dukkha, "incapable of satisfying,"[web 2] painful.[4][5] Life in this "mundane world,"[web 3] with its craving and clinging to impermanent states and things,[4] is dukkha,[3] unsatisfactory and painful;[web 2][4][5][6][18][web 3]

Samudaya, the origination or arising of dukkha. Dukkha, and repeated life in this world, arises with taṇhā, "thirst," craving for and clinging to these impermanent states and things. This craving and clinging produces karma which leads to renewed becoming, keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction;[note 4]

Niroda, the cessation of dukkha. By stopping this craving and clinging nirvana is attained,[25] no more karma is produced, and rebirth and dissatisfaction will no longer arise again;[note 5]

Magga, the path to the cessation of, or liberation from dukkha. By following the Noble Eightfold Path, restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, craving and clinging will be stopped, and rebirth and dissatisfaction are ended.[27][28]

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

The four truths provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining

Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or "experienced."[29][30] The formulation of the four truths, and their importance, developed over time, when prajna, or "liberating insight," came to be regarded as liberating in itself,[31][30] instead of the practice of dhyana.[31]

In the sutras, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function.[32] They represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, but also the possibility of liberation for all sentient beings, describing how release from craving is to be reached.[33]

The four truths are of central importance in the Theravada tradition,[34] which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.[20] They are less prominent in the Mahayana traditions, which emphasize insight into sunyata and the Bodhisattva-path as a central elements in their teachings.[35]

The four stages of enlightenment in Theravada Buddhism are the four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat.

These four stages are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anāgāmi, and Arahat. The Buddha referred to people who are at one of these four stages as noble people (ariya-puggala) and the community of such persons as the noble sangha (ariya-sangha).[1][2][3]

The teaching of the four stages of enlightenment is a central element of the early Buddhist schools, including the Theravada school of Buddhism, which still survives.

Doctrine of Theravada Buddhism

Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the

Buddha, or other enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas. The Indian term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is Śīla (Sanskrit: शील) or sīla (Pāli). Śīla in Buddhism is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path, and is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principal motivation being non-violence, or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue,[1] right conduct,[2] morality,[3] moral discipline[4] and precept.

Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. It is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality" (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint).

Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement — sīla, samādhi, and paññā as well as the Theravadin foundations of sīla, Dāna, and Bhavana. It is also the second pāramitā.[5] Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome. Two aspects of sīla are essential to the training: right "performance" (caritta), and right "avoidance" (varitta). Honoring the precepts of sīla is considered a "great gift" (mahadana) to others, because it creates an atmosphere of trust, respect, and security. It means the practitioner poses no threat to another person's life, property, family, rights, or well-being.

Moral instructions are included in Buddhist scriptures or handed down through tradition. Most scholars of Buddhist ethics thus rely on the examination of Buddhist scriptures, and the use of anthropological evidence from traditional Buddhist societies, to justify claims about the nature of Buddhist ethics.

Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels or Triple Gem, (aka the "Three Refuges"). The Three Jewels are:　 the Buddha; the Dharma, the teachings; the Sangha. Refuge is common to all major schools of Buddhism. Pali texts employ the Brahmanical motif of the triple

refuge, found in Rig Veda 9.97.47, Rig Veda 6.46.9 and Chandogya Upanishad 2.22.3-4 For the Buddhist title, see Buddha (title). "Buddha" and "Gautama" redirect here. For other uses, see Buddha (disambiguation) and Gautama

(disambiguation).

Precepts – Moral Values

Asanga Bhāviveka Buddha Buddhaghosa Chandrakirti Dignaga Dharmakirti Dogen Fazang Honen Jinul Jizang Moggaliputta-Tissa Nagarjuna Sakya Chokden Śāntarakṣita Tsongkhapa Vasubandhu Wonhyo Zhiyi

Major Buddhist Philosophers

David Kalupahana, Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. The

University Press of Hawaii, 1975, p. 70.

David Kalupahana, Mulamadhyamakakarika of Nagarjuna. Motilal Banarsidass, 2006, p. 1.

Gunnar Skirbekk, Nils Gilje, A history of Western thought: from ancient Greece to the twentieth century. 7th edition published by Routledge, 2001, page 25.

Panjvani, Cyrus; Buddhism: A Philosophical Approach (2013), p. 29

Mitchell, Buddhism, OxfordSantina, Peter Della. ‘Madhyamaka Schools in India: A Study of the Madhyamaka Philosophy and of the Division of the System into the Prasangika and Svatantrika Schools’. 2008. p. 31

Smith, Douglas; Whitaker, Justin; Reading the Buddha as a philosopher, Philosophy east and west, volume 66, April 2016, page 515-538, University of Hawaii Press, University Press, 2002, page 34 and table of contents.

References

THANKS