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As a student that is just beginning to learn and discover all that encompasses Buddhism, it is easy to get wrapped up in the facts and to never truly feel connected to the religion. I believe that the best way to fully understand something is to experience it first hand. Throughout this semester, I have learned the values, history, teachings, and practices of Buddhism but I have been lacking the opportunity to see and experience any of these things first hand. While there are many important Buddhist sites scattered throughout India and Nepal, I would choose four as amongst the most significant to arrange a tour to for myself and for my fellow classmates. This tour would allow us to view sites where Buddha himself lived and where Buddhism grew its roots. I would first arrange to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha. The next stop of the tour would be Bodhgaya, which is the location of where the Buddha reached enlightenment underneath the Bodhi tree. The third holy site on the tour would be to Deer Park located in Sarnath, and the fourth stop on the tour would be to where the Buddha reached parinirvana in Kushinara. In the Parinibanna sutra, the Buddha declared these four spots to be holy locations of future pilgrimages. These four spots are significant to the Buddhist religion and its followers as well as being significant to me on a personal level.
Lumbini, located in Nepal, is the location of where the Buddha was born as Siddhartha Guatama. Maya Devi, the Buddha’s mother, was traveling to see her parents when she paused in the garden at Lumbini underneath a sal tree. She suddenly felt labor pains, grasped a drooping tree branch and gave birth to the Siddhartha Guatama who would grow to become t...
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... located in India and is where Buddha meditated underneath the Bodhi tree until he had found the truth and had become enlightened. Once the Buddha realized the suffering that was happening all around him, he went on a journey to discover a way to eliminate all suffering for mankind. After many failed attempts, Buddha sat down with the mindset that he was not going to move until he reached enlightenment. It is said that Buddha proclaimed, “Here on this seat my body may shrivel up, my skin, my bones, my flesh may dissolve, but my body will not move from this seat until I have attained Enlightenment...” (“Bodh Gaya Buddhism,” n.d.).
Works Cited
"Bodh Gaya Buddhism, Guide to Buddhism in Bodh Gaya,Buddhist Pilgrimage in Bodh Gaya India." Bodh Gaya Buddhism, Guide to Buddhism in Bodh Gaya,Buddhist Pilgrimage in Bodh Gaya India. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
A man and a woman led us to a small room. The man wore jeans and a regular t-shirt and the women wore a colorful dress reaching her knees. The man later told us that he typically didn’t wear jeans, instead he is generally in a more relaxed and comfortable attire. In the small room, there were four quilts laid out on the floor with cushions to sit on. All of the small quilts faced one wall, which contained three statues and a couple of pictures. On the left side of the wall was a statue of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. As stated in an article in World-Faiths, Buddhism was established upon Siddhartha’s teachings. He was an Indian prince who began his spiritual journey when he was 29 years old. After six years, he rea...
Comparative Analysis: Buddhism In India And China Buddhism is the non-theistic religion and philosophical system founded in North-East India in the sixth century by Gautama Siddharta (the Buddha). His followers seek to emulate his example of perfect morality, wisdom and compassion culminating in a transformation of consciousness known as enlightenment. Buddhism teaches that greed, hatred and delusion separate the individual from the true perception of the nature of things, causing him to remain tied to the bhavachakra (Ch’en, 1989). The apparent substantiality of all objects including the self is an illusion; everything mundane is temporary and ultimately unsatisfying. The central beliefs of Buddhism are based on Buddha’s Four Noble Truths the last of which is the Eightfold Noble Path, by which enlightenment may be attained and the individual self annihilated in Nirvana. Buddhism is not dogmatic, but through its long history has developed into many schools (Mahayana, Theravada and Zen) (Ch’en, 1989). With more than 500 million followers in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan and elsewhere in the Far East, Buddhism is also currently gaining adherents in the West too. The predominant forms however are Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, the former of which is practiced in China whereas the latter is prevalent in India. Both of these forms are significantly different from the other and the following essay will attempt to compare and contrast Buddhism in India and China. Theravada Buddhism is the old, conservative school, also called Hinayana by its detractors. Prevalent in India, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand, it emphasizes the ideal of the arhat – one who, as a monk, achieves enlightenment by his own efforts. In Theravada the Buddha is r...
I was born into a family with set beliefs on Catholicism. I attended mass from a young age, was baptized in the Catholic Church and was taught the many beliefs of Catholicism. Some of the few beliefs I was taught include The Holy Trinity, teachings of the bible, and the Ten Commandments. For the Site Field Visit assignment, the class was instructed to visit a temple, church, or worship facility that must be outside of our religious background. For my Site Field Visit assignment, I decided to visit the Wat Buddharangsi Buddhist Temple located in Miami. Why did I choose to visit Buddhism instead of Hinduism, or Judaism? The reason I chose Buddhism is because I want to explore new grounds with religion. I will be stepping out of what I have been taught about believing and worshiping gods, same as Hinduism and Judaism, and I want to know about Buddhism, a religion that does not believe in any god.
Bachateros became the bridge to cultivating both cultural and creative consciousness just as Buddha served to be the model for meditation and enlightenment. Siddhartha Guatama, known today as Buddha, meaning, “Awakened One,” was born into his role as a prince in India. After renouncing material wealth and possessions at age 29, Buddha left his palace to seek truth. It was during this journey that Buddha famously attained enlightenment by meditating under a Bodhi
“Buddhism is the oldest worldwide religion. It is known to be a religion, a philosophy and a way of life.” The main idea, foundation and fundamentals of Buddhism were born 2,500 years ago in the foothills of India. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family and raised as a prince in the Gupta period. He was always confined to the palace and was sheltered from the real world. As time went on, Siddhartha wanted to find out the meaning of life and his experiences through his journey created the practice of Buddhism. His first teaching as a Buddha was based on the doctrine of the four noble truths and along with the principle of the middle way, the eight fold path. Through oral tra...
It is generally agreed that the Buddha was born in 563 BC in Kapilavastu to the ruler of a small kingdom. He grew up with luxuries and had a sheltered life. When he was 29 he came to realize that hi life up to this point had been so empty. He let go any earthly attachments and soon set out to find peace and enlightenment trying to steer away from the cycles of rebirths. He started practicing Yoga and "adopted a life of radical asceticism." He soon gave up this way of thinking and focused on "a middle path between the life of indulgence and that of self-denial." After a time of great inner struggle, he began to wander to different places and preach and organized a monastic community know as the sangha.
Buddhism in India was born and would eventually rank as the world’s fourth major religion. The Buddha preached his first sermon in Deer Park, still a definitive text for all Buddhists. He proposed a path to enlightenment very different from the elaborate ceremonies and colorful myths attached to the Hindu deities of his youth. The Four Noble Truths: Recognizing and understanding suffering, letting go of self-centered cravings, realizing liberation, and cultivating the path. (Gach) Pain is inseparable part of mankind’s everyday life, our cravings of all kinds are the cause of this pain, and the way off this treadmill is to free oneself of these cravings. This can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path of: Right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. The goal is to break the cycle of reincarnation based on your Karma and to reach Nirvana, the final goal of Buddhism. (Gach) The Buddha said that desire is the cause of suffering, and any kind of over indulgence may lead to addiction. Addicts and alcoholics are experts on desire; addiction is desire run rampant. (Griffin) In his book, Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, Kevin Griffin relates the steps with the practices of
Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, meaning that practitioners of the Buddhist religion do not recognize or worship a God. Instead, practicing Buddhists follow the teachings of a man named Siddhartha Gautama, who is more commonly known as Buddha. The term “Buddha” can be translated to mean “the awakened one”. Buddha’s followers recognize his as the enlightened teacher who would be able to help them let go of human wants, desires and ignorance to the goal of reaching a state of nirvana. The two different major branches of Buddhism are ...
Buddhism is one of the oldest religions in the world, which began in India. The origin of Buddhism is traced back to the experience of single man, Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. Born around 563 B.C.E., legend follows that Siddhartha was the son of a prince in a kingdom near the border of what is now India and Nepal. As such, he was sheltered from the world and lived a life of luxury and comfort. (Molloy 124) However, at age 29 Siddhartha left the royal grounds and witnessed the suffering of ordinary life for the first time. What he saw deeply affected him and caused him to question everything in his materialistic life. Siddhartha made the decision to give up his possessions and embark on a search for enlightenment, an event known as the Great Going Forth. (Molloy 125)
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
In Buddhism, there are eight sacred sites that Buddhists can pilgrimage to, four of which are primarily visited. Each of the four corresponds to a point of significance in Buddha’s life. The first sacred site of pilgrimage is Lumbini, where,
The founder of Buddhism was a man called Siddhartha Gautama, born to a wealthy family and destined for greatness; Siddhartha, however, left his family and the palace in search for religious truth and an end to suffering. Siddhartha tried many ways of reaching an enlightened stage; wandering the forest, joining the beggars, fasting, debating with religious leaders, but when none of these methods brought him a greater understanding of the world, Siddhartha sat himself down under a fig tree, and meditated. After forty-nine days of meditation Siddhartha was said to have achieved an understanding of the cause of suffering, he then became known as the Buddha, enlightened one.
Siddhartha Gautama is famously known as Gautama Buddha and was the founder of the idea of Buddhism. The Buddha was known to possess supernatural powers and abilities. He was born in the holy land of Nepal and his journey began in India when he decided to travel and teach himself about life. In the midst of his journey, he discovered Buddhism after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. Buddhism became a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama and since then Buddhism has been popular throughout many civilizations. Buddhism is now one of the most ancient religions in the world, where people follow Buddha, which stand for “awakened one,” and Buddhism which has gained popularity because of the teachings of the Buddha.
For my site visit reflection paper, I decided to visit the Thai Buddhist Temple in Homestead. The reason this particular site was my choice was because information acquired from the videos in lecture about tradition and Confucianism in Asia made me curious to learn more about the Buddhist way of life. Because so many South Eastern countries instantaneously adopted Buddhism from India and then China with open arms, I decided to make the visit in the morning to learn the reasons for the international success of this way of life. This would give me a more interactive comprehension of Buddhism.