How Does Buddhism Provide Mankind Equality Over Nature

for others. Since Buddhism is based on the welfare of other beings, people are attracted to follow

In Buddhism, knowledge is gained through a series of works and scriptures. Aside from the collection of scriptures, families also teach Buddhists between right and wrong. Buddhism also has the Five Moral Precepts, which are: do not kill or harm anything living, do not steal, do not engage in sexual misconduct, do not lie and do not consume intoxicants, such as tobacco, alcohol or mind-altering drugs (ElGindy, 2013). Family is very important in Buddhism (Chen, 2016). In Buddhism, the meaning of human history is to achieve Nirvana.

For some, the choice of Vegetarianism is decided based on religious beliefs or practices. Vegetarianism is compatible with the major world religions—the Eastern Religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism) and the Abrahamic Religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Bahá'í Faith). Among these, it is most commonly practiced by those of the Buddhist, Christian and Islamic faith. Vegetarianism within the Buddhist culture is taught along with the “Four Noble Truths,” which focus on the acts of suffering. Since the Buddhist faith accepts the idea of karma, it is believed that in order to maintain a life of peace and happiness and remain free of suffering, one must refrain from the harming, injuring or killing of any living being. As part of the Christian faith, animal cruelty is forbidden. The teachings of Jesus Christ focus on the ideas of love, compassion, mercy and acceptance. Although the question of eating meat is not directly addressed in Christian doctrine it can be implied that since animals are a creation of God and the idea of love for all of God’s creations is heavily stressed in the Christian faith, then out of Christian love on should lead a life

Dharma provides values essential to self-reliance and to the conservation of nature. Buddhism teaches that humans should not only love human beings but also plants and animals and all of nature. This shows how important nature is to the spirituality of

We have all seen and heard about Buddha and the yin and yang, due to the exploitation of an ancient religion, however aside from this popular fad is a complex and ancient religion deriving from a place called Kapilavastu located in southern Nepal. It began with a man named Siddhartha Gautama, who in fact was the son of a chieftain of the Sakya Clan. Basically he was a prince, enjoying all the luxuries suffering, by viewing an old man, a leper, a corpse, and an ascetic. With this newfound truth he had discovered he realized that worldly happiness was merely an illusion.

The ethical guidelines of Buddhism are not to murder, lie, steal, drink, or participate in unlawful sexual behavior. Buddhists believe in the “Four Noble Truths: 1) human life is full of suffering; 2) suffering stems from cravings for pleasure and avoidance of pain; 3) suffering can be eradicated; 4) the path of freedom from suffering is the path of enlightenment.” (Julia Hardy) They also follow the Noble Eightfold Path in order to achieve the end of suffering. The Eightfold Path consists of: 1) Samma-Ditthi - Right view or understanding, 2) Samma-Sankappa - Right thought or attitude, 3) Samma-Vaca - Right speech, 4) Samma-Kammanta - Right Action, 5)

Both originate in Asia. Both are religions that have been around for centuries. Both have millions of followers. Hinduism and Buddhism are two religions that share many concepts such as that of reincarnation and nirvana, but they also differ in many ways such as how they see themselves on this plane, and how they reach nirvana. Reincarnation is a concept that is believed by both Buddhists and Hindus.

Humans may have been supposed to be vegetarians, but we are the rulers of the food chain. This paper will be addressing the issues of the roles and morality involving animals on a religious level. Christianity and Buddhism both agree and disagree concerning what beasts means to us. Using the teachings and proverbs of Jesus and Buddha, we will figure out the rightful place of animals in this world. While Buddhism has a more detailed view of how we need to regard animals, I will be using Christianity as our primary example because I believe it to be how this relationship between humans and animals is rightfully supposed to be.

In comparison to Buddhism the Christian view on animal rights has been a difficult and complicated one that's varied greatly depending on the context within history, with different Christian communities in different nations coming to very different conclusions. The matter is closely related to, but still distinct to and broader than, efforts by Christian vegetarians as well as Christian environmentalists. Majority viewpoints in many nations have held that animals must be treated humanely beyond mere inanimate objects, yet the details of how exactly to do that have remained under discussion.

In the Buddhist religion, “pratityasamutpada” means the realization that there is no difference between the self and others, that this self is one with others, and one should treat others as one would want to be treated (Brannigan, 2010. p. 70). Buddhism, thus declares that all living beings should have equal status. This thinking entails that animals should be equal in status to humans.

The daily living that a Buddhist must follow are the five Buddhist Precepts. They are to refrain from intentionally causing the death of any living being i.e. insect, animals etc. Another, is purposely taking for one's own the possessions of another i.e. stealing and destroy. As well as sexual misconduct in particular adultery; Lying and breaking promises. Finally, drinking alcohol or taking stupefying drugs which lead to lack of mindfulness (Buddhism for beginner,

Buddhism stands as a philosophy and a religion founding itself on the theory of a possible eternal soul. Until awakening is achieved, this eternal soul is locked in the vicious cycle of rebirth (Samsara). According to the Four Noble Truths preached by the Buddha, life is a perpetual suffering caused by desire and attachment, and freedom from suffering is only possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The World is suffering in a succession of temptations and negative experiences from birth to death. Therefore Buddhism advises on searching to go beyond suffering, and only aspire to rest, nothingness, and liberation, into a final state called Nirvana. Happiness or Nirvana can eventually be achieved in a hereafter, another life, if man abandons any desire or perspective of action within his present life, in order to go past suffering.

In Japan, there are two major religions; Buddhism and Shintoism. According to the book, Geography of Religion (p.8), Japan is the second largest country with the most Buddhists in 2000 (POPULATION OF JAPAN: Final Report of The 2000 Population Census, 2000). As a characteristic of Buddhism, the authority on Buddhist bioethics, Damien Keown explains that, “Buddhism recognizes the existence of supernatural beings such as gods and spirits (p.5)”. Also in the world of Buddhists, non-harming (ahiṃsā) is one of the important ethics, which represents Buddhist's respected attitude for life. “Buddhist teachings inculcate respect for all living creatures, whether human or animal, and regard the intentional destruction of life as a grave wrong (D. Keown,

I would say Buddhism ethics has brought up a lot of very controversial thoughts throughout this whole semester and most often proposed with them ethical dilemmas. This class allowed me the tools to learn and step back and view the situation and myself both separate. One of the topics that helped me reflect personally on my self was the concept of non-self, in that there is no unchanging permanent self. This truly made me think about myself and understand my perspective of myself as an individual. In the concept of the ethical decisions and responsibilities, I believe this class tested me with this. I always found myself to be a very ethical person in my eyes, but would the view of a Buddhist see me as an ethical person too. This made me thing

Contrary to the disheartening truth that animal agriculture and animal slaughter are inescapably intertwined, the vegetarian diet is not a required regimen in all Buddhist schools of thought. Buddha Gautama characterized Buddhism as a free religion, aware that forbidding meat