Tradition Values Experience Higher Than Lineage

This paper is a book report on “Living Buddha, Living Christ,” written by, Thich Nhat Hanh. In this paper I will discuss the four themes; Mindfulness, Understanding, Interbeing, and Wisdom. I will define the themes, and explain how each theme listed is a part of my life and whether this theme, can be co-related along with my faith.

In his book God is Not One, author Stephen Prothero offers audiences glimpses into the various religions throughout the world including Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Buddhism, and more. Within the Buddhism chapter, Prothero discusses the numerous aspects of the religion. He provides extensive information regarding Buddhism’s background, beliefs, and practices. Although he mostly presents facts about this religion, Prothero effectively utilizes these details as substantial evidence to prove his argument that Buddhism heavily focuses on experience rather than narrative (Prothero 201).

Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist

In this paper it will discuss the influence of the Buddha and how Buddhism came to America and the impact it had upon its arrival. How the American culture westernized Buddhism in their own way and how it looks today. It will also cover the difference of ethnic Buddhism and convert Buddhism in America. More specifically the objective of this paper is to explain descriptively and analytically and go over the historical time line of

Even when we are presented with answers or guides to the many questions we have about life and to how we should live, as inquisitive animals, we strive to enhance our understanding and so begin to learn that perhaps, ultimately, the answers don’t simply come from outside but also from within us. This is then perhaps the greatest implication of this paper, finding new ways in understanding what the true way of life is for human beings and what the true way of life is for ourselves. In the discussion of Zen Buddhism, William A. Young’s framework’s itself must first be explained and understood.

In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.

Importantly, this work avoided a Marxist analysis of the commodification of religion such as is described by the Comaroffs. In doing so it avoids claims about authenticity that end up as essentializing Buddhism, and instead shows that it “is not a static entity; it is continuously created through space and time” (16). Another important epistemological consideration is Scott’s treatment of Orientalism and the rationalization of modern interpretations

Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism are considered as two popular schools in Mahayana Buddhism. The two are regarded as polar opposites. In this paper, I argue that Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism are not entirely different, they still have underlying similarities instead.

This paper is about my experience with mindfulness based meditation and scientific inquiry of these experiences. Mindfulness based meditation is describes as technique used to cultivate nonreactive, non-judgmental and stable awareness of the present moment (Garland and Gaylord, 2009). The end goal is to sustain this meta-cognitive state for a long period of time. I practiced non-denominational form of mindfulness based meditation for the first time in my psychology class, which was devoted towards intellectual and experiential examination of meditation. The practice was conducted in a group it was instructed by our own professor and it begun at the end of class. There was one sessions per week and each session was structured meaning it was

The aspiration of all sentient beings is to reach enlightenment; to realize their Buddha-nature and ascend to Buddhahood. The path and method to reach enlightenment, however, differs depending on the perspective from which one views Buddhism. Dogen, in his teachings on Zen Buddhism, promotes the practice of zazen to reach enlightenment. Shinran and the Pure Land sect are devoted to Amida Buddha, who they believe will bring them to the Pure Land, and enlightenment. The ways espoused by Dogen and Shinran are similar in some aspects, but differing enough in others to warrant the separate sects of Buddhism in Japan. For the purposes of this examination, the two sects can be summarized by how they look at reaching enlightenment: Zen Buddhism focuses inwardly, while Pure Land focuses outwardly. By examining their own words on how one is to reach enlightenment, the similarities and differences in their methods can be seen, allowing a better understanding of the teachings of their respective sects.

Even though Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are usually considered to be quite different, they are actually part of the same type of Buddhism, Mahayana, and thus have an underlying similarity. This essay will argue that, in particular, the Mahayana concepts of non-duality and no-self are present in both schools, and that the ways employed in each school to reach their respective goals can be analyzed in a similar fashion, proving that these two schools are part of, rather than deviations of, Mahayana Buddhism.

With great awareness, Alan W. Watts has inspired innumerable of individuals to learn more about eastern philosophies

The journey “home” that Buddhists refer to as the privilege of enlightenment, the ultimate truth, is called the paramattha. The Paramattha is not the same journey as other faiths profess, because other faiths, like the science known as psychology, emphasize outside influence, in one way or another, in the ancient long search for understanding. Understanding life, afterlife, existence, thought, personality, behavior, and the unknown. These latter truth-seekers have overlapping roads of distinction on their charted course that is not an essential part of the

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

     At the same time, the question of the relation between this new trendcies deriving from Buddhism and Taoism remains a real one throughout this period. This is because none of these systems falls wholly within one or the other of our categories. The Confucian conception of the self is not without a metaphysical aspect, nor the Buddhist and Taoist wholly without some social orientation. All three have