Eightfold Path Research Paper

Religions in South and East Asia like Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and legalism have all helped unite people and create a way of living in the “right” way. Not only did religion and beliefs bring people together as a whole but also gave them a standard on how to live their life. In south Asia the religions Buddhism and Hinduism helped unite India under religion. Legalism helped stop the warring states period in china. Religion is a powerful force that can help people in many ways but can also cause conflict between opposing religions.

Buddhism and Confucianism are both unique religions that have their origins in the continent of Asia. While they both share similarities, Buddhism and Confucianism are also very different from each other and through the elements of religion I will be comparing what makes Buddhism and Confucianism so unique. The elements of religion I will be covering in this essay are founders, history, practices, teachings, scripture, worship, worldview, and ultimate goals. The objective of this essay is to emphasize the qualities these two religions share, as well as to identify what makes them different.

The two religions, at first glance, may seem completely unrelated, but in reality Buddhism and Judaism share similarities. Buddhism’s and eightfold path resemble much of the teachings in Judaism’s Ten Commandments. Also referred as the fourth truth, the eightfold path is the set of moral guideline to “avoid

“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think”, The Buddha. Buddhism is a message of deep enlightenment for the spiritual mind set of breaking the chain of reincarnation to achieve nirvana. Buddhism was founded by a man named Siddhartha Gautama who lived five hundred years ago. He spawned a spiritual enlightenment for the mind which we call Buddhism and eventually it came to the United States. Buddha, spreading his teachings of the four noble truths throughout Asia and many parts of the world that would someday enlighten the minds of the American culture and help lead people to a higher state of enlightenment. Over many hundreds of years Buddhism has transformed into many sects throughout history and is becoming one of the many fastest growing religion in America. (Pew, 31-33).

As a college student that has lived and grown up in western New York, I do not have too much experience with the other religions of the world. I have grown up a Christian Protestant my whole life, and I am a firm believer in my religion. Soon after reading the chapter on Buddhism in Huston Smith’s book The World’s Religions, I came to understand and respect the Buddhist religion. I came to learn who the Buddha as a man really was, and the steps he took in becoming a religious icon. I know understand that Buddhism is not all meditation and relaxing. There is a strict code of the four noble truths and the prescription of getting through them called the eightfold path. Much like Christianity Buddhism also has many different views

Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist

Buddhism see’s the Four Noble Truths as the Buddha’s way of explaining the truth of the human condition and are described as the essence of His teachings. The Four Noble Truths play an important part in understanding the Buddha’s teachings and are essential in realising the goal of His teachings, which is to show individuals how to overcome suffering and obtain Nibbana, a place of peace and happiness where an individual ceases to experience suffering (Dukkha). Buddhism can be described as a religion one must practice and experience in order to grasp a full understanding of, with the Four Noble Truths themselves coming from the personal experience of The Buddha. It is through experiencing the extremes of life that the Buddha had an awakening and ultimately came to understand the truth of the world, as elucidated in the Four Noble Truths. Buddhism see’s the Buddha’s experience and subsequent awakening as reason in itself to support the Four Noble Truths and of the possibility of attaining Nibbana for all sentient beings. Objections raised against the first Noble Truth, which states that there is suffering (Dukkha), and that everything in life is pervaded by dissatisfaction, revolve around

Religion is a prominent aspect of many people’s lives. Not only does religion provide ethical and moral values, but also acts as a cultural system and often gives people a sense of order in existence. There are many religions across the world, and understanding the characteristics behind each one is important. Religion is intertwined with culture, economics, politics, and modern social relationships on every dimension. Buddhism is a religion that practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality. It's also a major global religion with a complex history and systems of beliefs. Buddhism is based on what the founder believed in, which was that the suffering from people arises from confusion and negative states of mind. Christianity is one of the strongest and perhaps most misunderstood movements in the world. Christianity is a religion based on the teachings and miracles of Jesus.

Next, Buddhism also had an impact on the society it was born into. To start out defining what Buddhism is, this particular religion focuses more on humans including finding ways to overcome human suffering (Smith, 1994). Parts of this religion include the four noble truths, including that life can go awry and that suffering is born from that, that the reason why people suffer from life is because they have selfish desires, that those desires can be overcome, and, finally, that the Eight Fold Path is the way out of suffering (Smith, 1994). To define it, the Eight Fold Path are edicts on how to live a right life and it includes ideas such as having an occupation that does not go against Buddha’s ideas and also the idea of not speaking ill about others (Smith, 1994). To get into how this particular religion shaped society, it is important to first note that Buddhism ended up existing with Hinduism in India at a certain point in time. However, now although there are Buddhists around the world, they are generally not in India (Smith, 1994). This is because Hinduism ended up absorbing some parts Buddhist ethos into their own religious structure, and some of their practices as well. To be more specific, this included changes such as decreasing the importance of the traditional caste structure as well as adding in segments of

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.

Buddhists believe in the Eightfold Path, which include eight right ways to live a good life. They are “right views, right thought, right conduct, right speech, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation” (Dinh Te, par.3). Buddhists worship local spirits, gods and mother goddesses in a

One of the most famous religion icon of all time the Buddhism. Many people became followers of this very wise man we know as the Buddha. Buddhism is based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, Buddha, who was born in the Ganges River Valley, the foot of the Himalayas. The Buddha led people in meditation and enlightenment to the next level. Philosophers such as Santideva and Thich Nhat Hanh, have led the life to follow the Buddhism ways and live their day to day life off of it. Buddhism gave them the enlightenment to leave behind their homes to better themselves and others by studying the suffering of human beings. In their view, the social and political context must be taken in account if we are to understand the specific causes of suffering and the ways to eradicate them. Which leads us to the Four Noble Truths. These Four Noble Truths are what Buddhism is based around if a follower cannot attain these four truths then he should try for a different religion.

There has always a great debate surrounding the borders and guidelines of the division between religion and spiritual philosophies. Essentially, religion is a set of beliefs and practices that serve as to get one closer to a god or divine power, and to consolidate their relationship. However, a philosophy, in the scope of spirituality and faiths, could be defined as the set of beliefs and thoughts that works to achieve the goal of liberation of the mind and the accomplishment of knowledge and wisdom. Buddhism is a philosophy of spirituality, ethics, and self-discipline, rather than a traditional religion. Even though it has some aspects of the Seven Dimensions of Religion, which could be viewed as a

Hindu and Buddhist cultures are both rich in religion and expressing their faith through art. The Buddhist culture was formed by Buddha who went out to discover the causes of pain and suffering. Once Buddha realized what the cause was, he provided a set of four guiding principles know as the “Four Noble Truths” that are exercised in Buddhism (Kleiner, p. 13). The Four Noble truths are “Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, one can overcome and extinguish desire, the way to conquer desire and end suffering is to follow Buddha’s Eightfold Path…” (p. 13). These truths are expressed in the following of Buddhism and commonly carried out through art. Buddhism is practiced throughout Southeast Asia and southern India where

Buddhism is religion that is based off of peace and spirituality taught by the teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gotama. Many who follow its teachings believe Buddhism to be more of a way of life or lifestyle choice rather a religion. Buddha is not a god, but one man that taught his followers a path of enlightenment from his experiences and values. Buddha’s main teachings were the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths were teachings about suffering, pain, disease, happiness, loneliness, and aging. It explained why we as humans can overcome certain obstacles in our lives by looking at the more spiritual side of things such as “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own