A Brief Overview of Buddhism Essay

During the Han Dynasty, Buddha’s teachings were introduced to China by Central-Asian traders and received little support from the Han dynasty rulers. However, after the collapse of the Han Dynasty, the country was fragmented. While northern China was dominated by invaders from the borderland and steppes, southern China was ruled by continuous “Chinese” dynasties. As a result, Buddhism appealed to people who felt baffled by the loss of an anticipated and durable society. Subsequently, in 581 CE, Sui emperor Wendi reunified China with this new religion and gained state support, therefore further spreading Buddhism. It was not until the Tang Dynasty did the Chinese rulers realize the threat Buddhism had posed on them. Consequently, during the

Beginning in the 5th century, Buddhism became a very popular form of religion throughout Asia. Because this was such a diverse and widely followed religion, it introduced many different architectural and innovational developments that had influence from Buddhism, but depending on the region, the styles changed. Also, High officials, like Ashoka, whose’ primary influence came from Buddhism, created practices for his people to follow and live by to bring peace to his kingdom. As this religion was gaining popularity throughout Asia, the transformation that it took was very diverse and long term.

Albert Einstein once said, “Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.” I though this quote was an interesting beginning into seeing how this ancient religion changed over the course of its existence. I feel that Buddhism has changed over time but has maintained that core teaching that it had with the early Indians and with the Theravada teachings. Mahayana just happens to be the more loose teachings of the Buddha. The term used in

Buddhism was founded in India in the sixth century B.C.E. and gradually moved to China after the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E. For several centuries Buddhism influenced China greatly. During that time to 570 C.E., China experienced an era of political instability and disunity, afterwards which the imperial structure was restored. During the 1st century C.E. the spread of Buddhism from India to China was met with mixed results, in which many Chinese people accepted Buddhism and advocated its principles such as the philosophy and promise of afterlife over the Confucian ideals that were previously instituted, but the truth was that Chinese masses turned to Buddhism for its promises of eternal enlightenment during times of struggle and invasion

Buddhism originated in India in the 5th century B.C.E. It then spread to China in the 1st century B.C.E. In the period of disunity as well as political instability, most Chinese peasants accepted Buddhism because it provided shelter and certainty. Scholars showed that Buddhism beliefs were not a threat opposed to Confucianism and Daoism, hoping the people could see how they all can coexist. As the imperial structure improved and grew over time, many authorities and high powers rejected its teachings because it saw Buddhism as a threat to their powers.

In addition to Buddha not being spoken of before the Han Dynasty, many of the

Whenever I thought of Buddhist I saw bald men or women with orange robes, white socks, and brown sandals. Obviously, not the older woman with gray hair that was now facing me and the other twenty congregants in the meditation room. She was obviously the leader.

The Little Buddha is an amazing, and uplifting movie, and full of positive meaning, yet it also is full of religious meaning. Aspects of life and death are shown throughout the movie, but the film mainly explains three key aspects of Buddhism. Buddhist teachings of reincarnation, impermanence, and enlightenment, are connected deeply to each other and is illustrated throughout the film. The first Buddhist teaching of reincarnation is evident from the beginning of the movie. The audience starts to see these teachings when a Buddhist teacher is making it evident to his student (Lama Norbu) that he is ready to reincarnate, after he passes away. Lama finds out that there are three potential reincarnations of his teacher’s soul. These reincarnates

Siddharta Gautama was twenty-nine years old when he abandoned his family to search for a means to bring to an end his and other’s suffering after studying meditation for many years. At age thirty-five, Siddharta Gautama sat down under the shade of a fig tree to meditate and he determined to meditate until he reached enlightenment. After seven weeks he received the Great Enlightenment which he referred to as the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path. Henceforth he became known as the Buddha.

The Buddha went in between to extremes to find the middle way. The middle way consists of the four noble truths and the eightfold path. The four noble truths are the most commonly shared belief between Buddhists. They are ways to eliminate desire, which will eliminate suffering. Number one says, “ life consists of suffering.” Number two says, “everything is impermanent and ever-changing, we suffer because we desire those things that are impermanent.” Number three says, “ the way to liberate oneself from suffering is to eliminate desire.” And number four says, “ desire can be eliminated by following the eightfold path.” The eightfold path is a group of statements, they are not sequential things, they are just attitudes and actions. The eightfold path consists of right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right live hood, right effort, right awareness and right meditation. By following these attitudes and actions, you can achieve a life without suffering#.

The Question of Origin is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as “everything has always been in existence and is a part of god” (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). A part of the worldview is that the universe and god is one in the same thing. Hinduism believes that itself has always existed, that it did not have a creator. God is viewed "as an infinite, impersonal force" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011).

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It is the oldest and fourth largest religion in the world with around 500 million followers. Buddhism focuses on teaching people how to come to terms with and end the suffering of themselves and others by cutting out greed, hatred, and ignorance from their lives. Unlike most major world religions, Buddhism does not revolve around worshiping a god or divine creator, instead the focus of Buddhism is living one 's best life and transforming the lives of others. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Enlightenment and upon death achieve Nirvana, the liberation of pain and suffering. For Buddhists, it is the individual’s responsibility to find his or her own path to enlightenment; the principles of Buddhism are seen more as guidelines than rules.

Buddhism is considered the world’s fourth largest religion, but is it really? Although a large bulk of society rules Buddhism as a religion, its basic structure and teachings proves that it does not fit in the religious category. Many people argue that it is a religion, mainly because of the unique belief in the afterlife and various realms of existence within Buddhism. However, there is no god in Buddhism, as anyone who follows the first Buddha’s teachings may become a Buddha themselves. It is the only “religion” that has no supreme spiritual being. It is instead a quest for enlightenment, for supreme wisdom and intelligence, and to reach Nirvana as a result. It is a quest of self discovery that bypasses the concept of faith. Buddhism cannot be a religion if it does not meet the criteria to be one.

that of a river. If you've seen a river you'd have seen that "the water continually flowed

One of the reason I took this class is to learn more about religions and their origins but I was specifically interested in Buddhism so I was excited that it was a religion that the class was going to cover. I had little prior knowledge of Buddhism but I didn’t know the origin, important figures and important teachings but I learned that what I thought was inaccurate. This class deepened my interest of Buddhism more because I learned what it really is about and their teaching while also correcting the ideas I had of Buddhism that were wrong.