Being Born And Raised As A Buddhist

Growing up, I have always been taught to abide by the rules, study zealously and diligently, and to be a virtuous person; the same cookie-cutter rules most children are taught. Despite them being completely clichéd, I keep these three basic principles ingrained in my mind, adding more to the list as I went. During my many years of schooling at Fairmont, I encountered many personalities, groups, and individuals all with their own beliefs and even some who didn't have an opinion. Now, as I am getting older, I find myself no longer shielded from some

My moral code and the belief of human nature evil leads me to cultivate the knowledge and the competences of myself. I believe it is my own responsibilities to be sensitive about the interaction between people and learn how to protect myself from being hurt by others, regardless intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, I will make observations of people and the environments, to always best understand what situation I am and try to set up some prevention measurements to set myself from falling into a bad situation. Also, I will try to grow myself to be more intelligent and stronger. And the most important thing is, I will never try to do harms to people because I can simultaneously be more sensitive to know whether if there is any harm to others by the measurements I am about to take.

Buddha is the main founder of Buddhism; an awakening sage. According to most biographical narratives, the legends that sprouted around Buddha conception, birth, life and death are extraordinary. Although Buddha whole existence can be seen as a phenomenon, I chose to write this reflection paper on Buddha conception and birth.

Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order and its Los Angeles branch temple, Hsi Lai Temple practices Humanistic Buddhism. Humanistic Buddhism is the teaching of Buddha. It affirms that the Buddha was born into the human world, and was cultivated in this world. The difference is that Buddha was enlightened in this human world and he taught other human beings in this world how to reach Nirvana, the freedom from suffering, in this human world and not apart from it. Buddha taught others that it is through our humanity that Buddhahood, full enlightenment, will be attained. Buddhism says that “the Dharma is to be found in this world and not in another and to leave this human world to search for the Dharma is as futile as searching for a rabbit with horns.” Humanistic Buddhism teaches that you can fully live in this human world and practice Buddhism at the same time, the two are not separate and they support each other perfectly by cultivating the wisdom that clearly understands the true nature of the reality. Humanistic Buddhism is certainly not new, but Master Hsing Yun’s journey explains how it got here today.

Buddhism lives by the right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Within their Five Precepts are basis of Buddhist morality. Avoid killing or harming living beings, avoid stealing,, sexual misconduct, lying and avoid alcohol and other intoxicating drugs.

In Buddhism, knowledge is gained through a series of works and scriptures. Aside from the collection of scriptures, families also teach Buddhists between right and wrong. Buddhism also has the Five Moral Precepts, which are: do not kill or harm anything living, do not steal, do not engage in sexual misconduct, do not lie and do not consume intoxicants, such as tobacco, alcohol or mind-altering drugs (ElGindy, 2013). Family is very important in Buddhism (Chen, 2016). In Buddhism, the meaning of human history is to achieve Nirvana.

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

According to Buddhist cosmology, “there are multiple possible states of existence, including hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and gods” (Fisher, 2014, p. 148). However, these reincarnations are temporary and flawed because they are trapped in a cycle of samsara (Fisher, 2014, p. 149). Buddhist also teaches that “the creation of the universe isn’t known. Instead, they teach that when a universe is destroyed, then another will form and take the place of the previous one (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.). Buddhist believes “the pattern of death and rebirth is eternal, and so it is pointless to single out any one beginning” (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.).

After this introduction to psychology I can now also better understand my behavior and understand the things that are affecting my life. There are certain aspects in my life that limit me from making the choices I may prefer to make. I have obligations and responsibilities that I must maintain in order to provide a decent life for my family. There is much at stake for me and I cannot always just do whatever it is that I would like to do. As a child I was raised in a house where honesty was the key. It has been instilled in my life and to this day I know the right thing to do is to be honest. My parents were very good at instilling a since of honor in me. I am still not sure how they did it but I know it affected the decisions that I made and make today. I was always

A third teaching of Jainism is that lying and exaggeration are damaging practices that are to be avoided. On another hand Jainism also teaches that “absolute truth” is impossible to express because everyone experiencing any given situation from a unique perspective. Other teachings condemn stealing, and confine acceptable sexual practices to those between a married couple, both of which try to curb improper desire, and stop the perpetuation of pain inflicted on others. These teachings, which emphasized acceptable societal practices are similar to the Dharma of Hinduism, which emphasized social obligations (Molloy, p196, 2010).

The ethical guidelines of Buddhism are not to murder, lie, steal, drink, or participate in unlawful sexual behavior. Buddhists believe in the “Four Noble Truths: 1) human life is full of suffering; 2) suffering stems from cravings for pleasure and avoidance of pain; 3) suffering can be eradicated; 4) the path of freedom from suffering is the path of enlightenment.” (Julia Hardy) They also follow the Noble Eightfold Path in order to achieve the end of suffering. The Eightfold Path consists of: 1) Samma-Ditthi - Right view or understanding, 2) Samma-Sankappa - Right thought or attitude, 3) Samma-Vaca - Right speech, 4) Samma-Kammanta - Right Action, 5)

In 624 BC, a future Buddha and founder of Buddhism, who would eventually be named by his mother and father as Shakyamuni, was born into a royal Shakya family (About Buddhism). The King Shuddhodana and Queen Mahamaya had many predictions of their son extraordinary life; it as predicted that he son would one day become “either a Chakravartin, a universal monarch, or an “awakened one,” a Buddha” (The Kagyu Office, 2016).

Buddhism stands as a philosophy and a religion founding itself on the theory of a possible eternal soul. Until awakening is achieved, this eternal soul is locked in the vicious cycle of rebirth (Samsara). According to the Four Noble Truths preached by the Buddha, life is a perpetual suffering caused by desire and attachment, and freedom from suffering is only possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The World is suffering in a succession of temptations and negative experiences from birth to death. Therefore Buddhism advises on searching to go beyond suffering, and only aspire to rest, nothingness, and liberation, into a final state called Nirvana. Happiness or Nirvana can eventually be achieved in a hereafter, another life, if man abandons any desire or perspective of action within his present life, in order to go past suffering.

All of human life comes down to one thing, the making and breaking of relationships. These relationships are formed in order to feel emotions; love, happiness, sadness, anger, resentment. It is because of these feelings that people are able to form their own consciousness and find a purpose for themselves. Religions such as Christianity find the meaning of life to be forming a relationship with God and when you die, you are judged by your mortal sins and are forever sentenced to heaven or hell. Buddhism tries to find the meaning of life through enlightenment and the preservation of oneself throughout all existence. The meaning of life is at the same time the most discussed,yet taboo thing to talk about. The nature of having a volatile topic that is interpreted differently between people can be difficult, but it is needed in the preservation of the human race.

Buddhism does not regard ethics as a particular set of duties, rights, imperatives or obligations that should be used to evaluate the actions of a person. Instead, Buddhism views as the “accumulated wisdom” that one acquires in the areas of life and that are related to the fundamental problem that every person encounters—suffering (Voorst 2007; Becker & Becker, 2013). This paper will attempt to argue that the four noble truths are the basis onto which Buddhist ethics are founded; therefore, understanding the truths reveals the prominent elements of Buddhist ethical concerns.