Accidental Buddhist Essay

Buddhism is a philosophy and a religion based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama who lived approximately 566 B.C.E. Today, Buddhism has millions of followers worldwide, known as Buddhists. (Ballou, 1976) Most practicing Buddhists believe in concepts such as karma, dharma, samsara and nirvana. In addition to these, Buddhists base their lives and actions on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold. Fortress (1999) explains that the name Buddha is a title that means “one who has been awakened” or “the Enlightened One”. On his quest for enlightenment and spirituality, Buddha escaped the life he knew as a husband and father, and turned to a life of meditation, along with ascetic practices. He lived much of his life as a monk in the monastery preaching to his followers that the way to be “awakened” or achieve inner peace and enlightenment is to” live in the now”. (Fortress, 1999) This paper will discuss Buddhism and whether it is a religion of escapism or whether Buddhist live in denial of reality.

Buddhist monk from childhood to old age in the flow of four seasons. Kim depicts two important

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

Deep within the trees little hooded men walk along a path to meditate and pray dressed in brown robes tied with nautical rope. They dwell in silence and live a life of celibacy. This is what most of think of when we hear the word monk. Throughout the years, monks have always been people of intrigue. They live a different lifestyle than most. They live a life of seclusion far from the mores of modern society, which often makes people ponder who these people really are and why they choose to participate in such a foreign religious movement. This paper will attempt to unravel the mysteries of this peculiar movement of by researching it's origin, the true meaning of a silent lives, and how key leaders have helped to

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.

Buddhism was created in the 6th century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha. This religion was created in present day Nepal. Lower class, poor people were more likely to convert to Buddhism due to the caste system in India. The caste system organized people into classes and the people at the bottom were more likely to be unhappy than the upper classes.

Marc Rosenbush’s film, Zen Noir (2004), is at first glance a film thoroughly ensconced in the themes of Zen Buddhism. Set in a dark and brooding film noir atmosphere, the film depicts the story of a deeply troubled detective, at the end of his rope, who finds himself at a Zen monastery in order to solve a murder. But once there, he realizes that things are not quite what they seem to be. As the film unfolds, we find that the world Rosenbush has created for us is wildly symbolic, and it becomes clear that the monastery is a symbol of the detective’s psyche and that he was not investigating a murder, but his own fear of death and loss. If this introspective, psychological element of the film is recognized, the Buddhist themes of the film become conflated with allegories of navigating the Western psyche. It is the contention of this paper that when the psychological themes of this film are investigated, we will find that the alleged Buddhist theme of enlightenment in the film must compete with a symbolic depiction of Jungian individuation.

After I came across David Knitter, a former ordained Christian priest and the author of “Without Buddha I could not be a Christian”, I began to realize that I had taken a western approach to Buddhism and had misconstrued some of Buddhism’s core teachings in my mind according to what I thought it should be. Knitter argued that the meaning behind religious teachings can become distorted upon translation and interpretation (92). This is why he had personal issues with his own religion before he turned to Buddhism to look for answers. He stated that, “the bond between language and the truth is so tight, when we change the language, the truth can and feel very, very different” (94). He also argued that how we use language to interpret the teachings of religious texts changes over time because we become culturally conditioned (93).

Buddhism is very different from the Christian worldview. The first question ask about the origin of Buddhism. The Buddhism faith could be viewed as being atheistic. According to Buddha life was never here to begin with so it is a waste of time to think of where we came from. Also Buddha says if God exists then it is irrelevant, impersonal, and agnostic. However, the Christians faith believes the opposite. Christians believe that life began when God created life. “In the beginning God created everything in the world. God has an image and created all of what we see today. (King James Version, Gen 1:1-31)

“Who comes to commend me on my way of life”-Han Shan. In the novel, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac brings the topic of intent change and self-development. Written in the 1950’s a pivotal time between the exploration into individualism, and the reconsideration of traditionalism. The novel follows Ray Smith and his journey of self-discovery through help from Japhy Ryder and his own isolation. Ray spends two months completely alone on Desolation Peak, the purpose was his own self-discovery, expression of enlightenment and individualism.

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

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

“BBC - Religions - Buddhism: Buddhism at a glance.” BBC News, BBC, 17 Nov. 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/ataglance/glance.shtml. Accessed 20 Feb.

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

As I approached the middle of the room, there were already several people sitting around in a simple circle with the meditation leader at the head. He kindly told me to take a seat and I promptly did so. Upon inquiry, as well as a self-told anecdote, I found his name to be Dr. Mark Hart. He was a local Buddhist Scholar and Amherst College religious advisor. As well as running these small meditations every Tuesday night, he oversees another Buddhist ceremony every Wednesday night in North Hampton. His life story seemed to defy all normal stereotypes regarding religion. Raised a Roman Catholic, he appreciated his upbringing but was led to Buddhism during graduate school. Shortly afterwards he took a year off and participated in a religious retreat to Thailand in which he took a vow of silence. He seriously considered staying in Thailand and devoting his entire life to Buddhism by becoming a monk. However, he eventually returned back to the country and now focuses his life on teaching others the values and modern-day application of Buddhism.