Furthermore, with regards to the stress on equality over hierarchy, in addition to there being a hierarchy of experience, “in Sri Lanka and many other Theravada countries, traditionally only monastics practiced the full eightfold path, including meditation; studied the sutras; and might possibly have realized enlightenment” (O’Brien). For the most part, lay people were told, “to keep the precepts and to make merit by giving alms to monks, and perhaps in a future life, they might be monastics themselves” (O’Brien). In essence, lay people have been neglected and encouraged not to help themselves but to help monastics in order to gain better karma in their next life, as they stood no chance of achieving Nirvana in their current one. This is much different from how it is in the west. As can be seen, “distinctions between monks and lay people does not fit in with modern society and western monastic orders are relatively scarce. Thus, non-monastic practitioners are often very serious and they power the various Buddhist movements (blomfield)”. In other words, in modern society, and in western monastic orders, the western principle of equality has significantly transformed the religion. …show more content…
However, this increased control of interpretations can and does distance young Buddhists from traditional and normal interpretations. Thus, instead of gaining understanding, the focus can become cloudy without the guidance of a teacher. In other words, “to attempt to read such texts without the help of a teacher and outside all established pedagogy would have been—and still is considered by some—folly” (McMahan). Furthermore, while on the surface, having equality with regards to opinion sounds like a preferred ideal, in sum, it is often folly and can lead to misinterpretations of the
Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy can have a substantial amount of unfamiliar terminology and specific meanings for words we think we know the definition to. In order to ensure comprehension and clarity a few terms need to be defined. Buddhism as a spiritual movement is the following of the teachings of a fifth century B.C. E. Indian spiritual leader named known as Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or --in the case of this essay-- the Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism will be defined in a similar manner. Tibetan Buddhism is in the course of this essay will focus on one of the six schools of thought in the Tibetan Buddhist cannon. The “Oral Tradition” or the Kagyu School is the monastic linage that arrives in Kauai in the twentieth century.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Buddhism is considered as one of the leading religions throughout the world today. In order for a Buddhist to follow the religion, there are certain set of guidelines that one has to follow to gain a better life, but most people have other factors that they have to face along this path. The story, “The Journey of One Buddhist Nun” by Sid Brown, is an account of a Thai woman, Maechi Wabi, who entered a spiritual life along with life struggles and outside influences. According to Brown, Wabi faced many challenges along the way to liberation and two challenges she faced most are the gender and socioeconomic issues which she overcame during her spiritual journey.
This investigation plans to explore the multiple political parties that existed during the French Revolution and how their doctrines reflected that of the citizens of the French Empire, from 1789 to 1799. This paper will focus upon the ideas of egalitarianism, or the belief in equality.
Ford, Stephen. "Review of Buddhism." Tutorial workshop for Introduction to Religion Class at York University. Toronto. 21 Feb. 2005.
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.
As every child grows up, normally they are taught that everybody is equal. No matter who you are, race, gender, or color, you are just as equal as the person next to you. At least, that was how I was raised. I was raised in a Christian family where I learned that everyone is equal and slavery was a very bad event in American history. The idea of slavery was that slave owners would buy and use people to work on their plantations without needing to pay them. This meant that is was basically free labor. After reading the books the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom 's Cabin, my preconceived notion of slavery was changed dramatically. My idea of slavery was that African Americans were either brought to America, or were already in America, and were forced to do work against their will. Their work environments were extremely harsh and inhumane. But, after reading these
The differences between the laity and monastic worshippers within Buddhist tradition are distinguished by the extent to which these two groups are willing to follow the middle-way as taught by Buddha. Typically, in order to have a functional Buddhist society, there must be the devout, and those who support the devout, giving aid in the form of food, monies, shelter, transportation, etc. The devout who sacrifice the purity of a true monastic lifestyle in order to support the community (who in turn are the recipients of merit or punya; a bank of ‘good’ actions tied to ‘good’ karma) (Gethin 101), from the monastic worshippers, are called the laity; upasakas (men laity) and upasikas (women laity). The monastics, or Bhikkhus (monks) and Bhikkhunis (nuns) are responsible for accepting the devotion shown by the laity, reciprocally, the laity are obliged to maintain devotion for “in order to be free from guilt […] the bases of a clear conscience [is] generosity and good conduct” (Ibid 83) . Good conduct is the realization and active partaking of the “eight significant dimensions [the Noble Eight-fold Path] of one’s behavior” (Ibid 82), which constitute right (in all actions of) understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration (although not limited to, rather expanded upon realization). The importance of a laities duty within society is to support, through their livelihood, the only traditional Buddhist teaching available to them (Ibid 92). In order to adapt a Buddhist ideology, some conducts were left out of lay worship to support a less strenuous spiritual life (putting the emphasis on merit earned) in pursuit of maintaining a functional community. The purpose, to establish the five lay percepts ...
“In Tantric Buddhism, we are dealing with a misogynist, destructive, masculine philosophy and religion which is hostile to life – i.e. the precise opposite of that for which it is trustingly and magnanimously welcomed in the figure of the Dalai Lama.”[1] Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is an inherent contradiction regarding the status of women. Although in many aspects women are seen and treated as inferior to men, several of the ancient and fundamental values of Tibetan Buddhism, and more specifically Tantric Buddhism, emphasize equality of the sexes, universal compassion, and most importantly the significant and essential role of the woman. Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been trying to correct this contradiction for years to remove the inferior and degrading stereotype that defines them and to be seen as equal to men. Beginning with the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism from India until today, the status of women, both physically and symbolically has declined due to the patriarchal system adopted by Tibet. “The mystery of Tantric Buddhism consists in the sacrifice of the feminine principle and the manipulation of erotic love in order to attain universal androcentric power.”[2] In their patriarchal society, the symbol of the woman is used by men now as an instrument; manipulated by men in order to acquire control and power.
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.
Seeing the monks was deeply enlightening to me because it was new to see grown man live in humbleness and peace. They wore an orange robe over their bare upper bodies and a white fabric-pants to cover their lower bare bodies. It was clear to me that these monks were individual men indulged in a simple of life. Fortunately, I was able to make the connection between what we learned in my Introduction to Asia lecture and what was from the temple. In lecture we learned that Thailand was deeply rooted in Buddhism, and often time’s, young lay men would make a temporary journey to leave behind their belongings and possessions to live a life of humility as a monk. Carlos, shared some information about the monks stating they were men from Thailand who decided to take a great leap in leaving behind their families and duties in the Thailand economy to live a simple life that avoided stress and societal troubles similar to how monkhood was referred to in lecture. Eventually I was given the opportunity to speak to one of the monks. He stated that Wat Buddharangsi was a Buddhist community that was home to rotating monks from Thailand travelling all over the world. I asked him the principles that the monks live by, and he roughly gave me an ideas of Buddhist principles of—no stealing, cheating, adultery and rules that would inhibit a life of humility and simplicity. I also learned from the monk that they live their days through the kind hearts of others who donate food. If people did not come to donate food to the monks in a particular day, then they were fine with eating food from the previous day’s left overs. I know understand that Buddhism includes a sense of community and teamwork to support the men who took up the mantle as a
Monasticism as a whole often carries a reputation of being elitist in that those involved often regard themselves as spiritually superior to those that are outside of this particular lifestyle.... ... middle of paper ... ... Articles Dalton, Jacob.
Understanding the Buddhist lifestyle requires learning about the background of the religion and the monks. Buddha set the teachings of Buddhism, also called the Dhamma-Vinaya. The code of conduct, called the Vinaya, teaches people aspiring to gain the monastic life of a monk to gain wisdom and mindfulness. Buddha set these rules for the well-being of the Bhikkus, or the monk. He set these rules to help create a peaceful atmosphere for the Buddhist community and to avoid corruption in the Buddhist community. All monks and/or nuns must not only follow these rules, but also many other rules and principles.
The teachings of the Buddha do not only benefit men but also women. However, when trying to be ordained, women meet more problems than men do. According to the difference in precepts for monks and nuns, nuns are inferior to monks in all circumstances. (Walsh 2016) These differences combined with the low social status of women during the time of the Buddha have formed a popular view about Buddhism that discriminates against women. However although there is evidence that emphasize the difference in treating women and men in Buddhism, it is Buddhism that propose the equality between women and men, thus further raising the status of women in social circumstances. In this paper, I will focus on the traditional view of women
Women have fought for equal rights since the early 1820s and 1830s. There is a strong commitment to equality between women and men in the law. Equality among men and women has gone on for several centuries and nothing has been done about it. Providing equal rights within men and women may decrease pressure on both men and women of what their stereotypical jobs should be. If equal rights would release pressure on all humans, then why are women treated as the subdominant sex? Women should have the same rights as men and to do this it is up to the entire human race to work together to fight for equality between men and women.