Fundamentals of Buddhism: The religious ideals and moral values of Buddhism which have proved so useful to past generations must be transmitted to men and women living in a changing world. Buddhism needs to be available to the largest number of people.

SNEAK PEAK:

Fundamentals of Buddhism
Dr Peter D. Santina

E-mail: Web site: www.buddhanet.net
Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD 1
BUDDHISM — A MODERN PERSPECTIVE 3
I.THE PREBUDDHIST BACKGROUND 12
II.LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 21
III.THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS PART I 28
IV.THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS PART II 41
V.MORALITY 49
VI.MENTAL DEVELOPMENT 59
VII.WISDOM 69
VIII.KARMA 80
IX.REBIRTH 90
X.DEPENDENT ORIGINATION 103
XI.THE THREE UNIVERSAL CHARACTERISTICS 113
XII.THE FIVE AGGREGATES 125
CONCLUSION 133
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
THE GIFT OF TRUTH EXCELS ALL GIFTS. BY THE MERIT OF THIS VIRTUE, MAY ALL THE SPONSORS BE WELL AND HAPPY, AND ATTAIN THE BLISS OF NIRVANA.
FOREWORD
Buddhism has long been an important part of the cultural heritage of South East Asia. The monuments of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia are just two of countless testimonies to the former greatness of Buddhism in this region. In Singapore too Buddhism is an important element in the cultural heritage of the people. The fact that a large section of the Chinese Community as well as the small but influential Srilankan Community acknowledge Buddhism as the primary force shaping their religious ideals and moral values is more than proof of this. Nonetheless, it is certain that if Buddhism is to continue to exercise a positive influence upon present and future generations, it cannot remain content with the achievements of the past. The religious ideals and moral values of Buddhism which have proved so useful to past generations must be transmitted to men and women living in a changing world. In order that this can be accomplished, it is important that the teachings of the Buddha be made available to the largest number of people.
With this objective in mind, the Srilankaramaya Buddhist Temple invited Dr Santina to deliver a series of public lectures. The lectures outlined the fundamentals of Buddhism and were well delivered. As a result, it was decided to produce transcriptions of the lectures and publish them in the form of a book to be made freely available. It is also hoped that the publication will contribute in a small degree to the understanding of the genuine teachings of the Buddha.
Sincerest thanks are extended to all those who lent their invaluable support and contribution to this project and especially to Dr Santina for imparting to us his deep understanding of the Buddha Dharma.
N Sumana Thera Resident Monk
SRILANKARAMAYA BUDDHIST TEMPLE SINGAPORE
VESAK 1984
BUDDHISM: A MODERN PERSPECTIVE
We are going to cover what we might call basic Buddhist teachings over a series of twelve lectures. We are going to cover the life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, Karma, rebirth, dependent origination, the three universal characteristics and the five aggregates. But before I begin the series of lectures, I would like to deal today with the notion of Buddhism in perspective. There are many ways in which different people in different cultures view Buddhism and particularly, I think we can contrast the western or modern attitude towards Buddhism with the traditional attitude. The reason why this kind of perspective study is useful is because when we understand how people of different cultures view a certain thing, we can then begin to see some of the limitation or onesidedness of our own view.
In the west, Buddhism has aroused extensive interest and sympathy. There are many persons of considerable standing in western societies who are either Buddhists or who are sympathetic towards Buddhism. This is most clearly exemplified by the remark made by Albert Einstein in his autobiography, the remark that he was not a religious man, but if he were one, he would be a Buddhist. This is quite surprising, and off-hand we would not expect such a remark to be made by the Father of Modern Science. Yet if we look at contemporary western societies, we will find an astrophysicist who is a Buddhist in France, we will find an outstanding psychologist who is a Buddhist at the University of Rome, and until recently a judge from England who is a Buddhist. We will look into the reasons for this interest in Buddhism in the west in a moment. But before we do that I would like to compare this situation with the situation that we find in this part of the world.
In Europe generally, the attitude towards Buddhism is that it is very advanced, very rational and very sophisticated. It was therefore quite a shock to me when I came to Singapore and found that a lot of people here view Buddhism as old fashioned, irrational and too much tied up with superstitions. This is one of the two attitudes that work against the appreciation of Buddhism here.

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