Buddhism : What Kind Of Rituals Do You Prefer?

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).

Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. In today’s society there are many religious lifestyles people stand by. Popular ones consist of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. When looking at Christianity and Buddhism it is easy to identify some major differences. For instance, both the religions were started and founded by different people and in dissimilar ways. A second one would be what they believe in; number of deities, and what they base their knowledge around. A final difference between the two would be how they practice their religion and worship their “God.”

The concept of Dharma also exists in Buddhism. However, Buddhist Dharma is “the teachings of the Buddha” it is known to be the second of three jewels. Gautama Buddha seeks to enlighten one’s self. The Buddha teaches of four truths known as the four noble truths. The four truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of the causes of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering and the truth of the path that leads to suffering (PBS). The four truths are plans to deal with human suffering altogether. Identifying the causes and reasons behind suffering is step one. Determining what to do about it is step two. Karma is also a teaching of the Buddha. In this teaching the Buddha places emphasis that good or bad

Hinduism, Confucianism and Buddhism are three of the world’s most distinguished belief systems of the past and for some, still in the present. The guidelines they provided influenced the social, political and religious lives of people within the societies that followed them. Hinduism emerged when the Aryans arrived in ancient India and began to combine their ideas with those of the Dravidians, the native population. One major Hindu idea was the caste system, which influenced the social lives of its followers and provided the state with political stability. Confucianism first saw an emergence of numerous followers during the Warring States period, when many philosophers were developing ideas for how to return order to China in this era of chaos. It provided political stability to the state by promoting an ethical system with several virtues and the idea that education could allow for social mobility. Buddhism originated from classical India when many people started looking for a new belief system, as they began to reject the caste system imposed by Hinduism. Buddhism had a minimal political or social impact on its followers, but instead influenced their religious lives. There is no doubt that these three belief systems significantly impacted the lives of their followers, but the manner in which they did this varied for each. Socially, Hinduism had the greatest impact with their caste system. Politically, Confucianism had the greatest impact by promoting virtues and

Religion manifests itself everywhere around the world. Although all beings are different we come together as one transcendence being the host. Sacred rituals are performed, honoring beliefs in accordance to ones religion. Rituals are performed for a wide array of reasons, some being a sort of rite of passage, healing the sick and even birth or death rituals. Judaism, Santeria, and Christianity all have ceremonies and rituals, some carried out as different as night and day, and some for the same purposes. These religions in depth have more in common than the eye can see, devotion, transcendence and worship to a higher absolute power. All participating in Sacred Ritual.

Hinduism and Buddhism are among the oldest traditions in the world. Incidentally, both traditions have their roots in India. Since their beginning, both traditions have co-existed peacefully and even spread beyond India in similar patterns. Most people have scattered information about the traditions and make assumptions that they are similar. However, they also have clear distinguishing features. This paper intends to study the similarities and contrasts between the two traditions in various contexts. First, the traditions will be compared and contrasted based on how they began. The development processes of both religions will then be contrasted. The paper will then discuss the similarities and differences between the two religions based on the social and the political roles they played.

Having achieved enlightenment, the Buddha began spreading his knowledge to help others achieve ?Nirvana?, which means to be released from the reincarnation cycle. He preached that there were 4 Noble Truths: (1) all life is suffering; (2) the source of suffering is desire; (3) to end desiring is to end suffering; (4) there is an eight-fold path to end suffering; to have the right understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. This idea of being released from suffering attracted many people, and Buddhism soon spread rapidly through Northern India, and then through Southern India.

The Buddhist monk sat cross-legged on a mountain top, inhaling and  exhaling while focusing his mind. He was trying to reach the state of enlightenment discovered by the religion's founder Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha's early life greatly affected and influenced the beliefs and values found in the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold path, and the Dhammapada. Precisely his early life in the palace affected the second noble truth,  his four journeys impacted the first noble truth, and his experiences influenced the Dhammapada.

Yet Dharma has different implications depending on the person and their social position. Men, women, elders and children have different dharma which also depends on their place in the caste system. The Dharma of a Brahmin is different from the dharma of a king and so forth. Dharma assists with the social order in Indian society, as it varies person to person but also on the position one holds in the caste system, but it help maintains that order. Whether that be a positive or negative impact on Indian Society. Which brings up the point of the caste system.

The theme of self-sacrifice continues in chapter 10, where Buddha ransoms his eyes, so another man can see, and in another example, Buddha “threw down his body to feed a starving tigress” (Fa-hsien 11). In all cases, he is seen to make sacrifices all, human beings, harmless creatures and even beasts of

As the previous source indicates, Siddhartha Gautama passionately pursued the life of an ascetic. According to one tradition, he ultimately reduced his daily food to a single grain of rice. After six year of self-denial, he was on the verge of death by starvation, and yet he was no closer to discovering how one might escape rebirth and the sorrows of the mortal existence. Dharma from Buddha is a key concept in Buddhism and in Hinduism. It had two meanings when it is capitalized it means, ´´The Teachings´´. The other meaning is with the lower case dharma it means ´´The way things are´´. Dharma has been thought as unchanging universal. The earliests writings from Vedas stated that only sages can experience it. Later on the writings known as

There are many different religions with many different beliefs, traditions, practices, and rituals. These differences are a very important part of understanding and appreciating the culture and history behind the specific religion. However, the practices that certain religions have in common can aid even more in furthering the understanding of specific beliefs of other religions. Since most religions cultivate from the practices and beliefs of other religions, they use those core values and beliefs and transform them into what they believe is a better way practicing. Religions use similarities within each other and twist them into their own. There are certain beliefs within every religion that shape their practices such as their morals or their most essential or absolute value, their position on human beings’ problems and solutions, and their view on life and death within their religion. Pure Land Buddhism (a form of Mahayana Buddhism) and Vaishnavites (a group within Hinduism) are great examples of this very concept.

The ethical dimension describes how its followers should carry out their lives in accordance to the religions beliefs and virtues. It gives direction to it’s devotees by laying out the path of what it means to be a model adherent, why one should devote themselves to the religion and what a believer will attain from dedicating themselves to the teachings (Lecture, 8/28). These features are relevant to dharma in that it designates to its followers a duty in which they must abide by in order to maintain balance within themselves and society. An example in Hinduism where dharma is pertinent is within the

The main ritual which has been a part of my life for almost twenty-three years surrounds my children. When they were babies I found myself unable to relax and sleep without first “checking in” on them to ensure all was right with their worlds. Each night I would very quietly tip toe into each of their rooms, adjust their blankets, and place their favorite stuffed animal within reach to ward off any nightmares. My final step would be to stroke their tiny head, lean down and place a gentle kiss on their foreheads, and whisper, “sweet dreams”. If for some reason I was not able to do this I would not sleep peacefully. I felt something was missing or I had forgotten something important. As time passed and my children grew, my nighttime ritual was modified. My oldest son no longer sleeps with his favorite bear, and is rarely asleep when I am ready for bed. With him I now ruffle his hair and kiss his forehead, tell him not to stay up too late, and to have sweet dreams. This ritual seems to suffice as I am able to relax and sleep. However, it was very impractical to try this with my youngest as he is in Bloomington and I am in Converse, so he and I came to an alternate arrangement. Each night, roughly around 10:00pm, I receive a text from him to let me know he is alright. I reply to his text with sweet dreams and try not to study too late. In this way I am still practicing my nightly ritual, albeit an amended one, and am able to sleep knowing all is right with their worlds.

Buddhism first appeared in India between the 5th and 6th BCE and is considered to be one of the oldest practiced religion and philosophy. It is a way of life that is governed by a series of passages and countless rules. These passages and rules are meant to enable an individual to further their growth as an agent of transformations to reach the ultimate goal of enlightenment. Though Buddhism, as its original form, is a strict and non peruvious practice of life, it provides of practical outlook on life and how one should be with their environment. The first teaching or the first Dharma, dictated by Siddhartha Gautama, were the Four Noble Truths. Not only are the four noble truths the backbone of Buddhism and they help us understand the