Buddhism Essay

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Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. In Buddhism, there are many different believes and practices. Having practices in the right way is important in Buddhism but it is more important to focus on the correct understanding of human nature and ultimate reality.

It is important to understand the basis of Buddhism and know what Buddhism is all about. Therefore, I will be looking at key ideas of Buddhism to allow a better understanding of what this religion is about and 5 different hand gestures of the Buddha and the meaning of the hand gestures to allow better understanding of how these gestures is important in Buddhism.

The key ideas of Buddhism will be the four noble truth, the noble eightfold path, karma and reincarnation.
In the 4 noble truths there are Suffering, Cause of suffering, Cessation of suffering, Path that leads to end of suffering. ‘The truths teach that all life is suffering and that this is caused by craving and aversion’
In the Noble eightfold path, there are eight elements which will help to lessen the sufferings and these eight elements are the right view, thinking, mindfulness livelihood, concentration, diligence, action, ,speech.
In Karma, Buddhist believes that for every one thing we do, every action we take, there will be a consequence in the future’ For Buddhists, karma is used to explain inequality and is a reminder that they must take responsibility for their actions. ‘
In reincarnation, Buddhist believes in next life where we will be born in the future again once we’re dead. A person will be born with a good life in their next life if they have good karma while a person with bad karma will be born with a bad life in their next life or even as an animal or suffe...

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...ging about a connection between the practitioner and the buddha visualized in a given practice.’

In Buddhism, it is important to act the right way. We have to think before we act and do it the right way. For every action, there is a consequence therefore one should never act in a rush.
For the 5 hand gesture of the Buddha, each hand gesture is made to represent something which is very meaningful and came about when the Buddha was to achieve enlightenment or after achieving enlightenment. Therefore, each hand gesture is very important in Buddhism as it represents different things just like the Abhaya gesture which means fearless, Bhumisparsa Mudra where anger was transformed into mirror like wisdom, Dhyana Mudra which represents meditation, Darmachakra Mudra where teachings are set from the heart of the Buddha and Varada mudra which means charity and compassion.

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