God And The Truth Of The Bible

Finally, the fourth Noble Truth is that a way exists through which this cessation can be brought about: the practice of the noble Eightfold Path. This combines ethical and disciplinary practices, training in concentration and meditation, and the development of enlightened wisdom, all thought to be necessary. if practiced diligently, it would lead to enlightenment.

It goes without saying that I learned so much in Religious Studies 101. I was introduced to multiple world religions that were foreign to me prior to taking the class. I never felt the need to explore any other religion besides Christianity because I was content with my faith. However, after learning about different religions and interacting with people that are not Christian, and grew up with different beliefs and values, I now find myself questioning reconsidering my beliefs. By being exposed to the rituals and ideas of cultures and religions across the globe, I find myself wondering what it would be like to follow some of these principles or to try some of these practices for myself. I find myself trying to follow the moral guidelines and principles of the traditions I learn about all the time. It has helped me ask even more questions and broadened my horizons. It 's helping me shape my beliefs and find out who I want to become. I was especially fascinated with Buddhism and have grown a huge admiration for it. In my learning portfolio I will examine what I learned about Buddhism and what about it is so appealing to me. I will also briefly summarize that I learned that Buddhism – just like any other religions, is not flawless and cannot provide a perfect view of life that would be influential enough for me to devote my faith to it. However, there are certain

meditation. Proper use of this path lead to a balanced and moderate life were the people would

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 was an incredibly intriguing religion to me due to the emphasis placed on the reality that surrounds us, it’s a rational religion based on peace, self-understanding and the ultimate goal of nirvana. Buddhist followers live their life with three main goals; morality, meditation and enlightenment. Ultimately the core teachings of Buddhism are The Noble Eightfold Path and The Four Noble Truths. It is their lives journey to understand, live kindly and find their inner-peace. In a world so full of hate, misunderstanding, war, segregation and close mindedness; it is unimaginable to not find such a peaceful and understanding religion not attractive in one way or another. However with that, how is it possible that in this same world we find ourselves, those Buddhist followers are able to find such inner peace and understanding when the world around them conducts themselves with such insanity?

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

One particular woman was quick to respond by saying it has brought so much peace into her life. She had been raised Catholic, but said she struggled with the everyday practices and the guilt of knowing she could never overcome her sins. She found it hard to pray every day to the saints for help and never felt like she was a better person. A friend of hers introduced her to Buddhism and she found with Buddhism she was able to help herself with meditation (personal communication, August 2, 2011).

Believe the Four Truths are true and real, follow the Eightfold Path, meditation is one of the major steps to

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.

The first two steps in the Eightfold Path, which leads to the cessation of suffering, are right understanding and right resolution; a person must first discover and experience the correctness of the Four Noble Truths, and then resolve to follow the correct path. The next three steps form a kind of unit: right speech, right behavior, and right livelihood. These reflect the external aspects of a person's life, which must not be neglected. The interior disciplines constitute the final three steps: right efforts, right mindfulness, and right contemplation. By this means, the follower of Buddha can arrive at Nirvana. (Robinson)

Buddhism teaches tolerance to their followers (Van Voorst, 2013). One of their defining characteristics is meditation. A majority of their followers believe that the meditation contributes to an out of body experience, dreams, visions, answered prayers, and healing (Thanissaro, 2015). Another defining characteristic of the Buddhism religion is for their followers to become enlightened when their beliefs become parallel with the institutional authority and scriptural authority. The Buddhist principles of the search for truth, beauty, and justice should always be maintained in the center of their lives (Kabilsingh,

“Buddhism, it can’t be a religion.” one might say. Before getting to understand Buddhism I saw people just meditating calmly sitting in peace, all I thought in my head was, what a boring life they have. I wasn’t open-minded of why they were doing these things. This last year though, I have been told to try meditating to calm my nervous and mind down, since I was having so many problems with stress. After meditating a few times a week I saw results of my anxiety. After the third section of meditation, I looked forward to it, since I always felt at ease after wish a following of wonderful sleep. With experiencing what I did I grew an interest in wanting to understand what Buddhism was. I had known idea what they worshipped but from the point of view of wanting to learn I saw them more know was at peace with themselves. Before I started an interview to find out about Buddhism I looked up and read some things about it. First thing that shocked me over all was that there is no God or gods. I question for a second in my head if I was reading it correctly, but I was. It is a very psychological religion, very mind based.

Religion has been a source of curiosity for me. Since childhood I was discouraged by my parents to search outside the realm of Christianity for answers to questions of spiritual or moral nature. In fact, they instilled in me a sense of xenophobia surrounding other religions, especially eastern religion. As I realized that Christianity didn’t suit me, I read up on various faiths, demystifying them, as an attempt to unlearn this xenophobia. Buddhism captured my interest, being that it was not much like the organized religion to which I was accustomed.

I had no previous knowledge about this religion other than it existed. The most important concept I feel that I learned from Buddhism is part of the three marks of reality. These are made up of, change, no permanent identity and suffering. In no permanent identity each person and each thing is changing and made up of parts that are also constantly changing. It means that people have no permanent soul or no self. (Molloy133). In suffering it is the fact of life that when life is lived conventionally it can never be fully satisfying because of change. (Molloy pg 134) The mark of reality I found the most interesting is change. The concept of change in Buddhism has us look at life as it really is. Things change gradually and we notice the changes over time. We don’t expect change but nothing ever remains the same. (Molloy132) When I learned this I looked over my life and have to admit, that much has changed over time. No matter how we try and keep things the same it is impossible. Children grow up, our body ages, our relationships change. Even things in the world things are constantly changing, landscapes change naturally from things like the tide or erosion, and seasons come and go. In Buddhism the belief is that we are responsible for accepting this and not trying to change the outside world but we need to change ourselves and the way we experience the world. (Molloy 134)

In the universe there 's a galaxy, and in this galaxy there 's the solar system, and in this solar system there is a planet earth, and in this planet earth lives 7 billion people. We are all the same but divided by key things; oceans and mountains, culture and society, but most important religions and beliefs. Out of the hundreds of practices and beliefs that make part of planet earth one of the most interesting form of religious practice is Buddhism.