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Buddhism : Buddhism And Buddhism

Decent Essays

Zen Buddhism isn’t exactly a “religion”, but a way of living. It creates peace within the human mind that allows one to grow, develop and look at the world more positively. Originating in China in 650 C.E., Zen Buddhism is a combination between Indian Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism. Mahayana Buddhism promotes bodhisattva, which is practicing the way of life in the direction of Buddha. Taoism is a religion developed by Lao-tzu, a Taoist philosopher, and focuses on obtaining long life and good fortune. It was brought to China by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma. Eventually, Zen Buddhism began to spread to Japan in the twelfth century CE and Korea in the seventh century CE, and it eventually became very influential and popular in western society around the mid-twentieth century. Buddhists that practice Zen Buddhism believe that Zen is the way that Buddha attained enlightenment. Enlightenment for Buddhism is a spiritual state where there is no desire or suffering. This leads to the teachings of The Four Noble Truths. The Truths are teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha gave in Sarnath after attaining enlightenment. The first Truth is the truth of dukkha and that it is inevitable in life. Dukkha is any kind of unhappiness or suffering and all human experience is temporary. They believe that suffering is a result of extreme desire and attachment. The second Truth states that dukkha is caused by cravings and that unhappiness results in humans wanting to make their biases and

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