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Buddhism
Though some of the religions of the ancient world have disappeared,
their heritage continues to influence the religions of today. In the following
essay I will discuss Buddhism. I will focus on key concepts, beliefs,
practices, developments and how they are manifested in everyday life.
Buddhism is a religion founded by an ex-Prince Siddhartha Gaumata.
Gaumata was a prince who was brought up in a perfect surrounding. When
the prince left the palace he saw all the poverty in the land. At the age of
twenty nine, the prince left his wife and his infant son to meditate and
practice Yoga to find peace and enlightenment. Gaumata was meditating for
a long time when finally, while sitting under a Bo tree, he attained the
enlightenment he was looking for. It is for this reason he got the name
Buddha, meaning the enlightened one.
Buddha became a traveling teacher and taught everyone his discovery.
Buddha did not write any of his lessons down. They believe he taught about
the Four Noble Truths, (1) life is suffering, (2) all suffering is caused by
ignorance, (3) Ending ignorance will end suffering, and (4) The path to the
destruction of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path consists of (1) Knowledge of the truth, (2) the
intention to resist evil, (3) not saying anything that will hurt someone else,
(4) respecting life, (5) having a job that doesn't injure anyone, (6) striving
free one's mind of evil, (7) controlling one's feelings, and (8) concentrating
properly.
Buddha preached that the life was a continuing cycle of death and rebirth.
The well being of oneself was determined on your behavior in your previous
life. Buddha said that by ridding oneself of worldly things he would be in
nirvana, peace and happiness. After Buddha's death, his followers collected
his teachings that became the dharma.
A key concept is the sangha, which is sometimes referred to as an ideal
Buddhist community. All the people in the community follow all the laws
and seek nirvana. The monks' arrangement kept the preserving and the
spreading of Buddhism. In many Buddhist countries the monks had to live in
poverty and meditate.
The Buddhists also have a book called Tripitika, meaning three baskets.
The first part of the book is about the Basket of Discipline, which talks about
regulating the order of Buddhist monks. The second part is the Basket of
Discourses, which talks about the sermons of Buddha. The last part is
about the Basket of the Higher Dharma, which talks about systematic
discussions of principle.
All Buddhists have the obligation to pray to Buddha whenever they see a
statue of him. There are different customs in Buddhism. The three places
that these different customs come from are from the Theravadas, the
Mahayanas, and the Zens. The Zens are the group that originated in China.
The marriage and death follow the different customs. The Theravadas have a
wedding by going to a monastery, after the legal wedding. There they give a
generous gift to the sangha. They get a special chant for themselves to have
a great future. When someone dies their body is sent to the monastery and is
burned by the monks.
A key practice in the Buddhism community is a special holiday. Wesak
is known as a Tibetan holiday. It is celebrated every year in May to honor
the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. Some people fast but
others are picnicking, dancing, acting and playing sports.
Buddhism refers to a diverse array of beliefs and practices. They apply
the principles of The Eightfold Path. The final goal is to achieve pure
ecstasy that follows on meditative exercises. By doing so, one turns away
from the unhappy world to spiritual realities beyond sense. Buddhism
sounds like a funny religion, but in fact there are about 300 million
Buddhists in the world.
Word Count: 647
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