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Ap world history spread of Buddhism
Buddhism past and present
Discuss the origins of Buddhism
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Buddhism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. This is the result of many people seeking answers about the global phenomena such as senseless violent acts, strife between different communities and races, suffering, death, etc. One may ask, why are people now turning to Buddhism to find the answers to these questions? For all one knows, Buddhism may be appealing to many individuals because they are now realizing that Buddhism is a religion that stresses the importance of kindness, acceptance, and peace. It teaches people to take full responsibility for their actions. Last, but, not least, it allows people to develop a highly spiritual version of themselves they did not know existed.
Buddhism is a religion that stresses the importance of peace, kindness, and acceptance. Since the origin of Buddhism in India, not once did we have accounts of people taking part in violence acts as a result of the religion. This is because we don’t have monks or anyone who practices Buddhism forcing everyone to convert to their religion. The practices of Buddhism have evolved as they are spread from different regions, but, different Buddhist groups accept each other, although they might have a
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According to the Buddha, we determined the life we are living now from our previous actions in our past lives. Since Buddhism is a nontheistic religion, it does not blame a deity for the conflicts taking place in this world whether they are good or bad. It teaches us that we are responsible for our future. In a world where people are constantly trying to change one another, we have to be our own teachers; we have to go out of our way and seek those answers and experiences for ourselves. Most importantly, it does not rely on blind faith for the answers to the world’s problem, but it teaches us to question and investigate many teachings and to develop acceptance for what we understand as
In the world, there are five major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the past few classes, I have been exposed to and absorbed a tremendous amount of information on the religion of Buddhism. According to the dictionary, Buddhism is a religion of which originated in India, was founded by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and teaches that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps it’s believers to find the happiness and contentment us humans seek. One thing I found
Buddhism was originated in India in the fifth century B.C.E by Siddhartha Gautama. In today estimation there are about three hundred and seventy six million followers, which is the sixth most practiced religion in the world. The founder of this religion was born a Kshatriya, which was the military or ruling class in the caste system. The caste system is a Hindu tradition. Buddhist does not believe in this system. Instead Buddhist believes in the four noble truths. The four noble truths teaches that everyone suffers, selfish desires causes suffering, suffering can be overcome by destroying selfish desires, and if man follows the Eightfold Path, he will destroy selfish desires and end all suffering. Buddhist also believes in Nirvana which is a release from selfishness and pain. Karma is also part of the Buddhist belief. Karma is interpreted in many ways around the world. But in the Buddhist religion Karma refers to the good and bad actions a person does in his or her life. The good actions will bring about good things in the future. Unlike the good actions, if...
In the comparison with other class of Chinese faith , the study of Chinese Buddhism benefits. First, the International range of Buddhism allows for fruitful comparison with developments in other neighboring finish such as India and japan and the contemporary identicalness of Buddhism as a missionary. Buddhism is a way of breakthrough repose within oneself. It is a organized religion that helps us to find the happiness and contentment we seek. Buddhist develop inner peace, kindness and wisdom through their daily practice; and then share their experience with others delivery real number benefit to this humankind .They try not to injury others and to live
Both the Buddhist monks and suicide bombers resort to violent means to try and enact a certain social change. The Buddhist monks that sacrificed their own lives believed they were just and right in fighting the religiously discriminatory government. If someone believes their fight is just and right and that their life is worth what they believe in, then violence on oneself in acts of civil disobedience is permissible. However, the actions of suicide bombers in the Middle East are not right because their suicides inhibit on the liberties of innocent people.
Christianity and Islam are monotheistic religions, but Buddhism differs from those religions as it is considered more of a ‘lifestyle’ than a specific type of religion. Buddhism centers around ...
In a quote from the Dalai Lama he says, “My religion is very simply. My religion is kindness.” IN buddhism where the main goal is happiness, that quote seems to explain it all. The fact of the matter is, religion has been around since the beginning of mankind; religion gave people faith, structure, and a way of life. Without it people begin to lose their sense of direction and purpose. In today’s society there are over 4,200 religions, and they continue to aid people in their life and accommodate to their needs of self-knowledge. In comparison to Cao Dai, Eckankar and Jainism, Buddhism is a religion because of its similar beliefs, the way it's practiced, and its head figure.
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.
Buddhism prevailed as a religion indigenous to west India and comprises of varieties of traditions, beliefs and practices based on the teachings of Buddha. There are many reasons why Buddhism became so popular and entered into many civilizations. Buddhism began to be popular throughout Asia alongside India. Buddhism has blossomed in the contemporary world, especially in the West. It is an issue to wonder what Buddhism offers that other religions cannot and has become so significant worldwide. Buddhism has become an idea that is widespread and the teachings of Buddha have made a real difference in many civilizations like India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea and surprisingly Buddhism has come to make a significant difference in American culture.
Religion is defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God" . There are many recognised religions of the world, which all teach its followers to live life "the right way", whose definition varies according to the religion itself. They have some beliefs and practices that distinguish themselves from each other. Some examples are differences and similarities of Buddhism and Islam.
The study of Buddhism over the past century or so has resembled the encounter of the blind men and the elephant in many ways. Students of Buddhism have tended to fasten onto a small part of the tradition and assume their conclusions held true about the whole. Often the parts they have seized on have been a little like the elephant's tusks a striking, but unrepresentative, part of the whole animal. As a result, many erroneous and sweeping generalizations about Buddhism have been made, such as that it is 'negative', 'world-denying', 'pessimistic', and so forth.
From the moment we are born we have the tendency of craving the worldly desires that we are exposed to. Its part of human nature to want an ideal life where you are either wealthy, powerful, happy or all of the above without any suffering involved. Although that ideal sounds phenomenal, it is the thought of limitation that drives many people to seek for something more than just worldly pleasures. As some stay within the lines of an insatiable life, others come to the realization that living a life with nothing but worldly pleasures and goals are ultimately not everlasting. This is the point where people go on to pursue something bigger than themselves, something that gives them a purpose and infinite joy or as most would call it, a religion. One of the most fascinating major world religions that many have chosen to follow for centuries is Buddhism. A very complex, yet intriguing religion that seeks for a way of life that ultimately releases a person from suffering and leads them to inner peace and joy.
Buddhism is the philosophy of being awake and conscious in life. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, shared his wisdom with the world and believed that the path to enlightenment was a process of elimination. These eliminations can be conquered through a process called Zen. He believe it was the only way to get rid of the burdens human’s carry of, ignorance, desire and suffering. Buddhism is almost the complete opposite of our western world because our society requires us to act a certain way in order to thrive or even survive.
In more contemporary Buddhist acts of violence, people may believe the monks are completely ignoring Buddhist tradition and culture by participating in the protests. If these things were going on in the world hundreds of years ago, I am not certain the monks would have joined the violent protests due to their culture and rules. I believe our world has become more progressive and acts that were once frowned upon are now more accepted and viewed as powerful and forward. People are starting to move past old, traditional values to accommodate the way the world is today. I don't advocate that the values and culture of Buddhism should be disregarded, but there should be some exceptions since there is clear reasoning and justification for some of the violence in Buddhism.
However, it is widely known that one of the major practices in Buddhism is peace. This shows how astray extremists can go from the ideals that are usually followed as the norm. This is also evident with all of the Islamic terrorists attacks. Similar to the Right Action of Buddhism, Islam also teaches that killing is forbidden, but there are extremists that are using religion as a justification for killing others. This small percentage of extremists are sometimes seen as a representation of Islam, but obviously that is not the case. In both religions, a majority of people practice the idea of peace. After reading the Eightfold Path, I realized that these extremists are going against what their religion teaches. I remember talking to a friend about the events that were occurring in Myanmar and he explained how Buddhism is not a religion, and so all Buddhists will go to hell because of what they are doing to Muslims. I was so confused as to why he assumed Buddhism was to be blamed for the outrageous acts that were being committed. The Eightfold Path reading helped me understand Buddhism better. I explained to my friend that the religion is in fact peaceful and that these acts were caused by a group of people who are completely straying from the ideas of Buddhism. He soon realized what he was saying was wrong and
Since Buddhism doesn’t consist of worshipping an actual God, some people don’t see it as an actual religion. The basic ways Buddhist teaching are straightforward and to the point. Change in the Buddhist belief is very possible oppose to any other religion such as Christianity. Buddhism addresses itself to all people regardless of race, nationality, or gender.