РефератыИностранный языкBuBuddhism Essay Research Paper I have considered

Buddhism Essay Research Paper I have considered

Buddhism Essay, Research Paper


I have considered myself to be a fairly religious person. I went to a


Presbyterian elementary and middle school, a Christian School. At C.S. we had a


religion class everyday. The difference from then and now is then we learned


strictly about Christianity. I had never heard about evolution and other


religions until I was in high school. I had only known that there was one God,


and it was He to which we prayed. I knew that there was a heaven and a hell. The


good people went to heaven and the bad to hell. In much more depth of course,


but needless to say that was very naive. I had a Humanities class my sophomore


year in high school. In this class we learned about all of the religions, how


they operated, and what they believed. It was then that I took a deep interest


in Buddhism. I didn?t know much, but what I did know seemed so much different


and it really caught my eye. Buddhism has two parts. These parts are Mahayana


Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. The first part is Mahayana. It can be defined


as, ??Large Raft? Buddhism; one of the two branches of Buddhism, dominant


in East Asia and Vietnam. So named because it?s people carry a large raft to


carry people to enlightenment.? (Niwano, 87-88) And Theravada is defined as,


??Way of the Elders?; surviving school of one of the two branches of


Buddhism, found in Southeast Asia. Claims to bet he most ancient expression of


Buddhist teaching. Called ?Hinayana? by Mahayana Buddhist teachers.? (Niwano,


87-88) The Theravada Buddhism has dated back to as late as sixth century B.C.E.,


and it?s was founded in one of the countries that it flourishes in today,


Southeast Asia. There one founder of this school of Buddhism that is Siddhartha


Gautama. He has shown people what is known as the ?middle way.? This path is


a path of liberation from the cycle of rebirth. All Buddhists honor this man. No


matter what type of Buddhism they believe the focus is on him. The believers may


not know what the significance of his life is, but they do know that he is of


great importance. Siddhartha was born in about 563 B.C.E. He was a warrior in


India. Siddhartha was raised in luxury to protect him from the bad parts of


life. His father did this in hopes to raise religious questions in his mind.


Guatama felt empty inside, so he decided to venture out into an unknown area.


This is where he saw the ?four passing sights.? ?The first was a


sorrowful, old man. The second was a man racked by illness. The third was a man


being carried on a funeral pyre.? This was the first time that he had seen


that life is not just pleasure and joy. But it does include bad things, such as


misery, despair, and death. He then came to realize that this too would happen


to him. He became almost depressed until one day he saw the fourth sight. ?His


fourth sight was a mink calmly walking alone in a yellow robe.?(Encyc. Brit.)


He was now determined to find out a better way to live. He wanted to finds a way


to get out of the inevitable suffering. This was the beginning of a six-year


quest. Through this quest, he established an order of nuns and monks. He was


enlightened, said to have ?woken up?. His title was now Buddha. His middle


way of thinking and living was a path between self-denial and self-indulgence.


(Gombrish,23) The major, sacred texts of Buddhism are known as ?Pali Canon.?


There are thirty-one separate texts. These all came from five hundred years


after Buddha died. Like many religious books, this book started as stories told


by mouth, before they were written down. The scripture was broken down into


baskets. The first basket included guidelines for being a monk. The second


contained basic teachings of Buddha. The third focuses on an analysis of the


nature of existence. (Gombrish, 23) On the contrary, Mahayana Buddhism says that


any person possesses the ability to become a Buddha. Also, it says that we are


not in our own quest for freedom. Help is available from past Buddhas and other


compassionate beings. ?In this branch of Buddhism there are three forms of


Buddha, the earthly body, Siddhartha, another heavenly body, Amithaba, and those


who inhabit the fully spirited realm.? (Gombrish, 52) There are two major


schools that show the teachings of Mahayana. These are Pure Land and Zen. The


Pure Land is the devotional school and Zen is the meditational school. The Pure


Land is based on the story about the heavenly Buddha, Amitabha. HE lives in the


?celestial region? or area known as the ?Pure Land?. The text describes


a place that is rich, fertile and heavenly. It is inhabited only by gods and


men, not by ghosts or demons. Admission into such a place is rebirth and once


there you are considered to be in a state of nirvana. Zen is the place that


teaches skepticism about ordinary language and mocks attempts to explain truth


rationally. This tradition has brought this insight and beliefs to China. One of


the main ideas of Zen id that we all are and can be Buddha, but it is a matter


of us convincing ourselves that we are not. We do this by becoming attached to


the pleasures of this world and the diversity of objects we think that we see.


But we also fool ourselves by thinking that we need to escape the world that we


know. Zen says that we have to rely on ourselves to know what is true in this


world. ?The truth lies within, for only there can we awaken to reality that


there is no distinction betw

een ourselves and the rest of reality.? (Burtt,12)


Zen uses strict meditation. You are proposed a question, and sit there and


ponder. This is to try to eliminate analytical thinking. It is sometimes said


that Zen does not use any philosophy or scripture, but this is just to the


Buddha himself. It is an inner-self meditation. It confounds rational thought.


The difference with Zen and many other religions is that once one is


?enlightened? he would not withdraw from the world, but he would go on with


the same daily routine. As in every religion there is a story of creation. In


Buddhist beliefs this story is called the ?Shinto.? There are many things


that the Buddhist culture holds sacred. The atheistic religion does not believe


that there is a central role for a personal god or gods. They focus on personal


deities who have a small role in the final transformation. Buddhism claims that


gods have no role to play in human liberation, any more than any other person or


spirit. Each person must find his or her own destiny and final path to spiritual


redemption. ?Buddhism, like Jainism, is atheistic in a functional rather than


a theoretical sense. ?Theoretical atheism? denies that gods exist.


?Functional atheism? is not concerned about the question of the existence of


gods; it only knows whether they exist or not, they are irrelevant to human


destiny.? (Carter,253) As many other religions Buddhists practice many


holidays and religious ceremonies. They are very in depth, but this is a very


serious part of their everyday life. There are few religious festivals in


Buddhism that are observed by all buddhists at the same time. This is due


partially to the nature of Buddhism’s historical development and partially to


the impact of the regions and countries Buddhism entered. On the one hand,


because of the differences in the structure of belief among Theravada Mahayana


and Vajrayana and among the different schools of Mahayana, there is no one event


or person who is understood in the same manner, and thus worshipped in the same


manner. So although all forms of Buddhism celebrate the Buddha’s life, they do


so at different times. Of course, all monasteries have a day celebrating their


founding. On the other hand, different countries have celebrations commemorating


when Buddhism entered their country. Or, they may celebrate the reign of a


particular dynasty. Or, when Buddhism entered the country, it may have taken


over a festival from the indigenous religion. So, with all these different


reasons for establishing a religious holiday, it becomes clear why so few


holidays are celebrated throughout Buddhism. The following discussion will


mention just a few holidays, organized by the three divisions of Buddhism. (Prebish,


98) The main festivals of Theravada Buddhism are Buddha Day and observances


linked to the rain retreat of the monsoon season. Buddha Day is often called


?Visakha Puja? because it occurs on the full-moon day of the month of


?Visakha? (April-May). It celebrates the Buddha’s birth, his attainment of


enlightenment, and his death, which Theravadans believe miraculously occured on


the same day. The lay people gather at a monastery to hear the telling of the


story of the Buddha’s life, wash the sacred Buddha images, observe the Five


Precepts, and the reliquary.(Carter, 91) With regard to the rainy season


retreat, which the monks observe from July to October, Theravada has a small


celebration at the beginning of the rains when the monks traditionally enter


retreat. This is called ?Magha Puja? because it occurs on the full-moon of


the month of ?Magha.? It consists primarily of listening to a sermon by a


monk minister. In countries where it is customary for young men to enter the


?sangha? as their rite of passage into adulthood, it usually happens on this


day. ?The Rain Retreat usually ends with the Kathina ceremony, where the laity


give the monks robes and other needed items, and the monks read certain sutras


for the benefit of the deceased.? (Niwano, 205-209) In Thailand, a Theravadan


country, Chakri Day in April commemorates the founding of the current dynasty.


Many acts of worship are woven into the day’s observances; indeed, the famous


Emerald Buddha statue of Bangkok plays a key role in the ceremonies, receiving


homage from the Emperor. In Mahayana Buddhism, the important action of Buddha’s


Day is the washing of the Buddha’s images. Celebrated in China, Korea and Japan


on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the main focus of this celebration


from the sangha’s perspective is the Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment.


?Mahayana Buddhism, especially in China, celebrates the life of the


bodhisattva Kuan Yin: her birthday is the in the second month, her enlightenment


the sixth month, and her entry into nirvana of the ninth month.? (Niwano, 210)


All of these days are the nineteenth. This is a special number. The Buddhist


religion has many new and different things, to me. It is a whole new experience.


Their beliefs are something that I personally would never practice, but I know


that these are the beliefs that these people have grown up with. I know that


they would most likely go to a Baptist church and think that the singing and


dancing that we do is completely sinful. After all, dancing is practically as


sinful as murder to them. It is on their list of sins. I respect this religion,


as I do all religions.


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