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There are two forms of Buddhism that are still prevalent in society today, these are Theravada and Mahayana. Both these traditions have existed for many centuries and encompass important beliefs derived from the Pali Canon and other ancient Indian Buddhist literature. They revert back to the orthodox teachings presented by the historical Gautama Buddha such as The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path. Both these forms of Buddhism stay devoted to the traditional beliefs that the religion was built from and they accept the same basic understandings. However, the concept of enlightenment and how it is attained is debated among these two groups and it is the only major difference between the two Buddhist forms.
The Third Council to occur after the death of the Buddha was called the Council of Pataliputra which occurred in 350 B.C.E. This council created a huge impact on the history of Buddhism and changed the way in which Buddhism is practiced. The Great Schism occurred during this council which led to the division of a once close-knit Buddhist community. This division arose because of a disagreement between traditional orthodox Buddhists and more forward-thinking Buddhists; these groups debated the importance of arhants in comparison to Buddhas and bodhisattavas. This division was among the Sthaviras or Elders who emphasized orthodox Buddhist beliefs and subscribed to traditional values and rules set forth by the Buddha; and the Mahasamghikas or The Great Assembly who presented many innovative ideas to the Buddhism belief. The Mahasamghika sect became the most successful belief system in India and led to the development of numerous other schools to branch from the original. Mahasamghika provided a major stepping stone ...
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...ltimate purpose of what one’s life should be, whether to be an Arhat or a Bodhisattva, and they do not see eye-to-eye on how this title can be attained. These differences are important among a religion however, for it provides followers with options of how they choose to pursue their beliefs.
Works Cited
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Strong, John. The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. Print.
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Bibliography Suzuki, Shunryu. Zen Mind, Beginner Mind. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1982. Young, William A. The World’s Religions, Worldviews and Contemporary Issues.
24 Amore, Roy C. and Julia Ching. The Buddhist Tradition. In Willard G. Oxtoby, Ed. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. P. 221
This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory.
Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Lipper/Penguin, 2004. 66-98. Print.
All Buddhist final and ultimate goals are to reach Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of being perfect, ending the process of reincarnation and beginning re-birth. There is a significant difference in the way Buddhist and Hindus view re-birth. The Buddhist believe in re-birth meaning that neither the soul nor the person gets transferred, while Hindus believe in reincarnation where the soul would travel from one body to another (the same person but in different bodies). However both believe in Samsara along with their views on suffering and that everyone will even...
A man of noble birth, living in the time before the Common Era, preached a way to extinguish the fire of self-centered delusion. This state of Nirvana can be achieved by understanding The Four Noble Truths, suffering in life, he explains can be avoided by following an Eightfold Path. Sounds simple? This must have been an awaking for people of his time seeking a more personal religion, away from the rigidities of a priest-dominated Hinduism of India. The man, the Buddha, spent the rest of his life teaching the religion he discovered and its doctrine based upon his Dharma (cosmic law and order). The first written evidence of the existence of Buddhism is found over 400 years ago after the life of the Buddha. (Kozak) Historians pose the
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.
I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness (Dalai Lama & Cutler, 1998, p. 15).
As with most religions, the early years of Buddhism are shrouded in obscurity. One thing is certain, however, and that is that the Sangha, the Buddhist order of monks, survived the physical death, or Parinirvana, of the Buddha. But the period between that event and the reemergence of Buddhism into the light of history around 250 B.C.E. is somewhat unclear (Hawkins, 1999). Buddhist tradition holds that there was a meeting, or council, held immediately following the Buddha's death. The major concern of this meeting was to stabilize the Buddhist scriptures by coming to an agreement as to what were the accepted scriptures as spoken by the Buddha. For a variety of reasons, no such agreement seems to have been reached, although there was some general agreement on the basic message of the Buddha. This meant that to a certain extent the interpretation of what was a genuine Buddhist scripture and what was not was left up to the individual Buddhist.
"What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre." What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
Story, Francis. "Buddhist Meditation." Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Vetter, T. (1988). The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism. New York: E.J. Brill.
During my site visit, I decided to visit and do research the Theravada Buddhist religion. This religion is the parent organization of other Buddhist groups. “Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality” (thebuddhistcentre.com). “The Theravada religion is the most predominant religion in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. Today, Theravada Buddhists number over 100 million world-wide (buddhanet.net). Some Theravada Buddhist teachings include: The Noble Truth of Dukkha, the cause of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha. These truths are known as the “Four Noble Truths” that have been brought up by experiences and assessments. Buddhists
History proves that as Buddhism spread throughout the Asian world in the early 1st century, it was occasionally altered to fit the specific needs and beliefs of people it touched. Mahayana Buddhism is one such example of this gradual evolution. It was primarily a movement started and kept alive by monks that slowly gained popularity amongst lay people but was in no way a unified movement. Mahayana Buddhism still adheres to the basic fundamental beliefs presented in the Pali Canons, however, it Sutras often expand upon these basic ideas and traditions in order to answer the questions of a later generation. After closer study of the Mahayana texts the “A Sutra for Long Life” and “The World Universe as a Sutra”, it seems evident that, although Mahayana Buddhism is based on the teachings of the traditional Pali Canon, it places a larger emphasis on philosophical inquires; and ultimately creates a more accessible version of enlightenment, and the Buddhist faith in general, for all.