Theravada tradition
Buddhism
The teaching of the Buddha, the Dhamma, is a path of ethical conduct, meditation and wisdom leading to the end of suffering. Thailand follows the Theravada school, “the teaching of the elders.”
The Four Noble Truths
- Suffering (dukkha)
- Life contains dissatisfaction: illness, ageing, loss, and not getting what we want.
- Its cause (samudaya)
- Suffering arises from craving and clinging.
- Its ending (nirodha)
- When craving ceases, suffering ceases. This freedom is Nibbāna.
- The path (magga)
- The Noble Eightfold Path leads to that ending.
The Noble Eightfold Path
- Wisdom (paññā)
- Right view and right intention.
- Ethical conduct (sīla)
- Right speech, right action and right livelihood.
- Meditation (samādhi)
- Right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Vipassana practice belongs here.
The Five Precepts
Lay Buddhists undertake to refrain from:
- Harming living beings
- Taking what is not given
- Sexual misconduct
- False speech
- Intoxicants that cloud the mind
The Triple Gem
Buddhists take refuge in the Buddha (the teacher), the Dhamma (the teaching) and the Sangha (the community of practitioners). At the center, each day begins with this refuge chanted in Pali and Thai.
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