The world’s fastest growing religion and the 4th largest religion in terms of the followers, followed by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism, the “Buddhism”(1)(2). The word Buddhism is derived from the word “Buddha” which means ‘the awakened”. Siddhartha Gautama was born between the 5th and 6th century or according to some references 563 B.C.E( 3)(4). Buddha belonged to the royal family of Lumbini from the republic of Sakka in the foothills of Himalayas, now known as Nepal(5)(6). When Buddha born, astrologers predicted that he will be a spiritual leader but his father who was a king, wanted him to be king after him and conquer the world. Gautama married at the age of 16 and became a father at the age of 29. He named his son Rahula( …show more content…
The brief Eightfold Noble Path is, being moral (through what we say, do and our business), focusing the brain on being completely mindful of our considerations and activities, and creating shrewdness by understanding the Four Noble Truths and by creating empathy for others(9). There are various ceremonies, rituals and festivals celebrated throughout the year. Most Buddhists with the exception of Japanese, use the lunar calendar, therefore, the dates of Buddhists festival varies country to country. The most famous and common ritual or festival is “The Buddha day”, Vesak in Sanskrit. Buddha day is the most important festival as it celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha on the same day, the first full moon day in May, except in a leap year when the festival is held in June (10). The other being the Sangha day and the Dharma day. Sangha Day is the second most important Buddhist celebration. It is a festival to pay tribute to the Sangha, or the Buddhist group. For a few Buddhists, Sangha alludes just to monks and nuns. It is a chance for individuals to reaffirm their dedication to Buddhist practices and customs (11). There are many other rituals that are celebrated In
The stereotype that I had before attending this service was one, I thought the followers of Buddhism worshiped Buddha as a deity. Second, the assumption that they are all happy and just love the world I associated with the stereotype of them being similar to “hippies.” These notions were proven false in that Buddha is not revered as a deity and the happiness they achieve is from knowing that life is not about status and possessions, however, it is about being satisfied with yourself. The monk spoke to this when he asked the people what are the keys to happiness? After several answers the monk disclosed the five keys to happiness by a 5th century monk that are, ability to eat, walking, bowl movement, talking, and sleep. The monk explained
Rituals have been an important aspect of Buddhism since the time of the Buddha. They made emphasis on rituals because they believed that it was an essential part in the transformation of the inner spiritual nature of man. In their point of view, a ritual can be “justified only to the extent that it contributes to a spiritual transformation” .Their rituals revolve around the Buddha and strengthening their connection to the Dharma as well as and the purpose and respect associated with it. Like the Virgin Mary in Eric Wolf’s article, “The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol”, the rituals of the Buddhist as well as the Buddhist image has provided a cultural style through which meaning and teachings can be expressed. The Guadalupe stands for “life, for hope, for health” while the Buddha symbolizes grace, balance, compassion, and wisdom. One of the rituals that Buddhist practice the most is that making offerings to their ancestors and the Triple Gem- Buddha, Dharma (Buddha’s teachings) and Dangha (the Buddhist community). The purpose of making offerings is not for approval, but to create positive energy, show gratitude, and perform the teaching of the Buddha. It is these admirable acts that reminds them not to be greedy or selfish.
Siddhartha Gautama, playing a certain role of Buddhism, was a prince of Nepal before he became Buddha. After becoming the Buddha, he was respectfully called the spiritual teacher, and he was revered to be the reincarnation of Buddha. In contrast, Jesus was born in Nazareth Palestine, and he was believed to be the son of God; in fact, he was believed to be the spiritual and physiologic incarnation of God. Similar with Siddhartha, Jesus was highly regarded as a teacher and healer; also, the birth of Jesus was deemed the beginning of the western standard of numbering years. In order to celebrate his birthday, people named it Charismas Day. By comparing two certain figures between Buddhism and Christianity, it is easily acknowledged that the figures of both religions really existed and both created a new time period respectively, which are the beginning of Buddhism and the Christian calendar. Furthermore, both of them used their knowledge and ideology to help people who suffered from their miseries. Because of their high positions and beneficial effects in each religion, the believer in religions should great esteem them and their beliefs.
When I visited the Phat Da Buddhist Congregation in San Diego, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in San Diego, I was taken by surprise that the service was given in Vietnamese. The decorations on the wall, the sacred images displayed at the altar, and the vibrant color of the monk’s robe were still familiar, but what was being said was (very) foreign to me. I quickly became impatient and preoccupied with the question on why I was there in the first place. What would I write about for my final Buddhism assignment if I could not understand what was being said? One thing was clear, the day I visited, they were celebrating Buddha’s birthday with huge display of rituals and ceremony, and a big birthday cake at the end.
Buddha was born around 563 B.C. in what is now Nepal. His full name was Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakyas. He was the son of a king, and married a princess of a neighboring kingdom. Together they had a son named Rahula. Even with all these luxuries, around the age of twenty Buddha found discontentment in his life. Siddhartha was protected from all realities of life, such as poverty, disease, and old age. Around age twenty-nine he left the palace in the middle of the night, leaving all his jewels and luxuries behind. For about six years he spent time with ascetics attempting to find purpose in mastering the yogas. At a place known as Bodh Gaya,
Siddhartha Gautama was born around 566 – 486 BCE to a royal family in the village of Lumbini in present day Nepal according to The Buddha. He had a normal life growing up, marrying and having children of his own. “Then one day when Siddhartha went outside the royal enclosure where he lived. When he went outside he saw, each for the first time, an old man, a sick man, and a corpse” ("The Buddha"). Siddhartha had a revelation when he saw these men that no matter what happens in life sickness, age, and death are inevitable for all human beings. After this revelation he decided to leave the wealthy life and become a holy homeless man. As he travels his eyes are opened to the sufferings of this cruel world. Siddhartha tried to escape inevitable fates of life by studying with religious men, following a life of self-denial and discipline, and even meditating but could not
On October 24, 2015 the New York Buddhist Church was holding an Autumn Festival Service. Amanda and I attended the event from 12-4 pm. This Buddhist Church in particular is Jodoshinshu Buddhism which originated in Japan. This type of Buddhism is also called Shin Buddhism for short, within the school of True Pure Land Buddhism, which is based on Mahayana Buddhism. The main temple is in Kyoto, Japan and was founded by Shinran Shonin. This type of Buddhism is practiced widely in Japan. The New York City location in particular was established in 1938 by Reverend Hozen Seki and his wife, Satomi.(NYBC)
While this dimension is not as important as in some other faiths of a strongly sacramental kind, it is still highly regarded. This can be attributed to the fact that it is through certain rituals that the core experience of enlightenment is obtained. (Hope, 1995) The ritual central to the Buddhist faith is the practice of meditation. The importance of meditation is paramount because it was through meditation that Buddha was able to gain enlightenment. Consequently, Buddhists attempt to emulate Buddha when meditating by endeavouring to cultivate wisdom and compassion, whilst also trying to gain control of the mind and expel suffering. (Mudge et al, 1993) If a Buddhist is successful in accomplishing this then they are said to have gained enlightenment. In terms of mass rituals, Buddhism maintains a plethora of ceremonies dealing with both the 'Sangha' (Order of monks and nuns) and laity. The primary rituals concerning the 'Sangha' includes; the initiation ritual in which the shaving of the head is a common practice and the annual Kathina Festival, in which the laity of the faith offers fabric to the monks for their new robes. For the laity, worship is more personal than congregation. A common practice is the taking of the three refuges (See appendix 3), in which adherents chant the same three sayings in repetition. This type of chanting, along with meditation, are common acts of devotion in Buddhism. Recently
As a scholar taking the class ‘Introduction to World Religions”, I had the opportunity to take part in a culture that is not normally found in the western world. I entered the Mon Buddhist Monastery in Akron, Ohio on October 2nd, 2016 only to be amazed at their way of life. Going into the temple, I knew of the basic religious practices and traditions that the monks and Buddhists had participated in daily. When I was coming up to the monastery, it did not look like anything other than an old brick building, but once we were inside it looked like a recreational area. Somewhere where they would meditate, hold daily activities, and teach the younger Buddhist about their way of life. On the far back wall, there was a stunning shrine dedicated to the Buddha where one would pray. Many figurines were displayed as well as flowers and offerings along it.
Buddhism is based on the teachings of an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived around 500 B.C. Buddhist tradition says that one day the prince looked beyond the walls of his palace and saw the suffering of his people and wanted to make a change. Siddhartha left his wife and 2 kids and began the path to become Buddha (enlightened one) and after years of practice, he spent the remains 45 years of his life teaching “dharma”(the path to liberation from suffering) and established Sangha (a community of monks).
Siddhartha Gautama was born between 563 and 480 BCE as the prince of Lumbini (in what is now Nepal). His mother died in either in childbirth or shortly thereafter and and his father was left to raise him. During his birth celebrations, it was predicted that Siddhartha would either become a great king or a great spiritual leader. His father wanted him to take over the throne, so he avoided religious teachings and sheltered him from suffering. Siddhartha, unsatisfied with with the life he was leading and yearning to learn about the world, he left his home at twenty-nine to seek the true meaning of life. On his travels he saw an old man, a diseased man,
It is not unknown when Hinduism began, but Veda scriptures state that they were written in the 1500 to 900BCE, but it is most likely that stories have been passed down for hundreds of years. (Fisher 76) Hinduism is one of the
Both, Buddhism and Hinduism, practice mediation in order to reach the enlightenment. In addition, both beliefs are established in India. Hinduism 3000 B.C and Buddhism 2500 B.C. Buddhist and Hindus celebrate their festivals based on the lunar calendar, which keep them in touch with the natural cycles and rhythms of life. Bedsides the similarities that they have, Buddhism and Hinduism have several differences as well. For instance, Buddhism does not believe in the stages of life, which opened the door to thousands of Hindus to convert to Buddhism in 1950 at Pune. When it comes to the sacred places, both have deferent places that they worship. Bodhi trees remain to be objects of reverence, which are not for
Since Buddhism and Hinduism have different believes they also have different holy days. Moreover, because Hindus worship variety of gods they have a variety of festivals. The three main festivals of Hinduism are: Holi, Divali, and Dasehra. Holi is the most popular festival. This holy day is celebrated each year during February-March to welcome spring. “Holi is dedicated to god Krishna and it was once a fertility ceremony (104).” Throughout the days of Holi, many of the casts and taboo restrictions are set aside and pleasure is emphasized. The second ceremony Divali, celebrated in November, is a festival to welcome a new year. Finally the third festival, the Dasehra, celebrated up to nine days in October, in honor of Durga, a consort of Shiva. On the other hand Buddhism is divided in many ways according to philosophy and geography. The major festivals that are celebrated by most Buddhists are New Year, Buddha’s birthday, the festival of souls, and robe offering. In
comes from the word 'budhi' which means to wake up and thus Buddhism is the