Buddhism And Its Impact On Society Essay

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).

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 is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The founder of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama, the son of an Indian warrior-king. Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social class. Gautama became bored with the indulgences of royal life so he wandered into the world searching for understanding. After encountering an old man, ill man, a corpse, and an ascetic, he was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He then became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” He spent the remainder of his life

Buddhism is a religous and philosophy belief propagated by the Buddha, a teacher from India who lived between the 4th and 6th century before the common era. The teachings of the Buddha whose real name was Siddharwa spread through Asia and to the West after his death as it was practised by the followers.

Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.

Buddhism is a tradition that evolved from the original teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha or Enlightened One. Buddha was born a Hindu in about 563 B.C.E. He was of aristocratic birth and grew up in relative luxury and the security of the ruling class of that period. At age twenty-nine, he tired of his comfortable existence and renounced the world and went in search of wisdom. Tradition states that he attained enlightenment on a full moon day in May - under a fig tree.

Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.

     At the moment of death, and the body can no longer survive, the mind is

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 a religion practiced by over 350 million people and is believed to be the world's largest religion today, especially in western countries like the United States, Buddhism is not Christianity or Judaism. It does not require one to believe in God and not require you to give up your faith(Meyers

Buddhism is a philosophy, a moral code, and, for some a religious faith which originated in 530 BC in India. Buddhism evolved as a modification of Hinduism when Hinduism started to become very complicated due to too many sacrifices in the name of God. Today, an estimated 300 million people follow one of the many varieties of Buddhism.

Buddhists believe in rebirth or reincarnation. They believe that we live many lives because one life is not enough to reach spiritual growth. Buddhists believe in karma; all the positive and negative effects of all deeds in life return to the person. According to Buddhist beliefs individual spiritual development is a life journey that is believed to be continuing through multiple lives lived. Buddhism measures success by reaching enlightenment as opposed to materialistic gains. The goal is to complete the journey and not have to return to live another life. Marx holds society responsible for the individual`s happiness and he proclaims external forces to be the cause of human suffering. Per Buddhism we are responsible for our own happiness and there is no one else to blame for our unhappiness since we shape our own karma by our own actions. Buddhists cite mainly internal forces as the cause of human suffering such as our own craving and desires. Buddhists believe that suffering originates in our own minds and we only reach true happiness if we free our souls from the burden of wanting things. Once we give up “wanting” we reach

Buddhism      For over 2000 years Buddhism has existed as an organized religion. By religion we mean that it has a concept of the profane, the sacred, and approaches to the sacred. It has been established in India, China, Japan and other eastern cultures for almost 2000 years and has gained a strong foothold in North America and Europe in the past few centuries. However, one might ask; what fate would Buddhism face had Siddartha Guatama been born in modern times; or more specifically in modern day North America? Would his new found enlightenment be accepted now as it was thousands of years ago?

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

In the United States there are over four million buddhists, one thousand temples, study groups, or Buddhists associations (Monroe 108). This number has come from just one man searching to find happiness and eventually enlightenment. Buddha’s story is how buddhism became a religion all over the world. It teaches a peaceful manner, reveals the key to happiness for the mind, and eliminates the desire in life. Not just the history of buddhism is important, but how it has spread through the world and what it looks like today.