РефератыИностранный языкBuBuddhism Essay Research Paper Buddhism is a

Buddhism Essay Research Paper Buddhism is a

Buddhism Essay, Research Paper


Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded by Siddhartha Gautama in northeast


India during the period from the late 6th century to the early 4th century BC.


Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan,


Buddhism has played an influential role in the spiritual, cultural, and social


life of much of the Eastern world. The Buddha, which means the "Enlightened


One," died in northeastern India between 500 and 350 BC. According to


tradition, his family name was Gautama; later sources call him Siddhartha, which


means "He Who Has Reached His Goal." He was reared in a minor royal


family of the ruling Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. Shocked as a young man after


wittness by pure accident sickness, old age, and death, he renounced his family


life in order to wander as a shramana, or ascetic, in search of religious


understanding and a way of release from the human condition. Discarding the


teachings of his contemporaries, through meditation he achieved enlightenment,


or ultimate understanding. Thereafter, the Buddha instructed his followers (the


sangha) in the dharma (Pali dhamma, "truth") and the "Middle


Way," a path between a worldly life and extremes of self-denial. The


essence of the Buddha’s early preaching was said to be the Four Noble Truths:


(1) life is fundamentally disappointment and suffering; (2) suffering is a


result of one’s desires for pleasure, power, and continued existence; (3) in


order to stop disappointment and suffering one must stop desiring; and (4) the


way to stop desiring and thus suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path–right


views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right


effort, right awareness, and right concentration. The realization of the truth


of anatman (no eternal self) and pratitya-samutpada (the law of dependent


origination) was taught as essential for the indescribable state of release


called nirvana ("blowing out"). After the death of the Buddha (at


which time he passed into final nirvana) efforts were made to consolidate the


teachings and structures of the Buddhist community. Several important Buddhist


councils were held to decide questions of faith and order, leading finally to


the distinction between those who believed they held to the most ancient


traditions (the Theravadins) and those who claimed their understandings


represented the highest and most complete account of Buddha’s message (the


Mahayanists). Scholars think that by the 3rd century BC, Theravada doctrine and


practice were fairly formalized. The Theravada canon of sacred scriptures, the


Tipitaka (Sanskrit Tripitaka, "The Three Baskets"), all written in the


Pali language, include the Vinaya Pitaka ("Basket of Discipline"), the


Sutta Pitaka ("Basket of Discourses"), and Abhidhamma Pitaka


("Basket of Scholasticism"). Theravada doctrine emphasizes the


composite nature of all things. The Theravada tradition explicated necessary


regulations for the community, meditative techniques and rituals, and the stages


leading to arhatship (the pinnacle of spiritual attainment). Moral instruction


for both monastic and lay followers was elaborated by reference to specific


rules and to paradigms available in the Jataka tales of the Buddha’s


incarnations. The great Indian king Ashoka (reigned mid-3rd century BC)


patronized Buddhism, supporting a missionary enterprise that carried the


Theravada tradition into Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, where it remains the


predominant form of Buddhism. Between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD,


there appeared new Buddhist scriptures that implied to r

epresent the Buddha’s


most advanced and complete teaching. The communities for which these new


Sanskrit texts were important called themselves followers of the "Greater


Vehicle" (Mahayana), in contradistinction to followers of what they


regarded as the "Lesser Vehicle" (Hinayana). Their ideal was that of


the bodhisattva ("enlightenment being"; one who has taken the vow to


become a buddha), whose compassionate vow to save all sentient beings was


contrasted with the aloof self-preoccupation of the Theravada arhat. The


Mahayana schools developed an expanded vision of the universe and a new


understanding of the Buddha. The human manifestation of the True Law in the


figure of Gautama Buddha was identified with the many celestial forms


experienced in meditation and with the dharma-kaya, the ineffable absolute.


Certain Mahayana schools (Madhyamika in India, T’ien-t’ai and Hua-yen in China,


etc.) developed sophisticated philosophical arguments concerning the two levels


of truth (the relative and absolute) and the identification of samsara (this


world of life and death) with nirvana. The Pure Land schools of Mahayana


emphasized simple faith over logic and were more concerned with salvific rebirth


in Buddha’s "pure lands" than with the achievement of enlightenment in


this world. The influential Dhyana (Chinese: Ch’an; Japanese: Zen) tradition


stressed meditation and a sudden enlightenment experience. Mahayana became the


predominant form of Buddhism throughout East Asia and has had an immeasurable


impact on the civilizations of China, Korea, and Japan. Known also as Vajrayana


(the "Diamond Vehicle"), or Mantrayana (the "Vehicle of the


Mantra"), Tantric Buddhism became prominent in India in the 7th century AD.


An esoteric path requiring strict guidance under an accomplished master, Tantric


ritual involved both the identification of the initiate with a visualized deity


and action intended to demonstrate the adept’s transcendence of all dualistic


categories such as good and evil, male and female, samsara and nirvana. Tantric


masters developed elaborate ritual usage of mudras (sacred gestures), mantras


(sacred sounds), and mandalas (maps of the spiritual cosmos). Tantrism became


the predominant influence on the development of a special form of Buddhism in


Mongolia and Tibet. Wherever Buddhist doctrine and philosophy have spread in


Asia, they have given rise to a remarkable flowering of material culture.


Architectural and iconographic features naturally vary from country to country,


but basic functions remain the same. The temple is the main sanctuary, in which


services, both public and private, are performed. The monastery is a complex of


buildings, located usually in a spot chosen for its beauty and seclusion. Its


function is to house the activities of the monks. Images are important features


of temples, monasteries, and shrines in both Theravada and Mahayana. Throughout


Southeast Asia these generally represent the historic Buddha in postures of


meditating, teaching, or reclining. For the devout these call to mind his


enlightenment, years of teaching, and passing to nirvana. In countries of


central Asia, the treatment of images is more complex. In Mahayana sanctuaries,


the representations are of different buddhas, bodhisattvas, saints, and guardian


deities derived from India. In China and Tibet these constitute a pantheon, the


worship of which is practically polytheistic. In addition to temple design and


decoration, Buddhism historically has stimulated creativity in other artistic


areas; the traditions of poetry and painting associated with Zen Buddhism are


notable examples.


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