Personal Enlightenment In Buddhism

Buddhism is not about God or Gods, it doesn't supply a hypothesis about what may occur in after death, nor does it express perspectives about creation; it is situated in the realm of day by day living. Furthermore, Buddhism is largely associated with the condition of being awaken by the nature of humanity. As the fourth-largest religion in the world, Buddhism has proven to be both influential and significant. While most religions have profound theoretical foundations that they are built upon, and while most individuals within such religions have faith that the theory is true, Buddhism does not address theories; nor does it agree or disagree with any religion, but rather acknowledges religion as a means to live in a positive manner. This religion is about not only living a peaceful life but also about enlightening a person through the regaining of wisdom and grace from within. The purpose of this paper is to examine the depth of Buddhism through Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and karma.

There are many teachings within Buddhism that make it a unique practice and religion; however, in my opinion the core of Buddhism is that to be released from all desire, and therefore from all suffering is attainable by following the ‘Noble Eightfold Path’. Desires lead one to all the suffering in this world. Constantly seeking something – be that physical, mental, or emotional – will cause one to consistently be disappointed, leading to nothing but pain. Not attaining one’s desires, forces people to experience disappointment and sorrow. Ultimately, it leads to pain and suffering. Consequently, letting go of ones’ desires will ultimately allow a being to detach themselves from the inevitable suffering that everyone else will experience.

Pyysiainen, I. (2003). Buddhism, religion, and the concept of "god." Numen, 50(2), 147-171. Retrieved from the JSTOR database.

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

For this experience, I decided to explore Buddhism in order to enhance my involvement with the religion and build a strong understanding. What intrigued me about Buddhism was the social aspect and diversity that it had to offer. In order to explore this religion from a critical and analytical viewpoint, I decided to attend a weekend service offered at San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin. The San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin main temple is located in the Japantown section of Central San Jose. What made this temple stand out amongst the others was its historical standing in the community. It is one of the oldest temples established in the United States. In order to learn more about the history, environment, and community as a whole, I decided to contact the temple’s staffs. After a brief phone call, I was able to schedule a tour. In preparation, I decided to do a brief research on Buddhism to familiarize myself with the religion beforehand. With all preparations and research necessary, I was ready to visit San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin.

Enlightenment is defined as the understanding and knowledge with the lack of hope and pain. The idea of enlightenment can be found I different situations that can be connected through the spiritual awakening of one’s self. Siddhartha and the little boy from The Ocean at the End of the Lane are worlds apart in age, creed, culture and historical era, they are similar in that they are both on a journey of spiritual awakening.

This is a nice intro into Buddhism, Ishwor. Please include a hyperlink in MWA1 for any outside sources.

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 was brought to light about 500 BC by Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism has not been described as a religion as such but rather as philosophy. The story of Siddhartha Gautama and how he brought Buddhism to limelight is quite moving. In this essay the thoughts of Siddhartha Gautama are explained and how the society reacted to his arguments. Generally this essay will briefly describe the achievements of Siddhartha Gautama in his quest to attain enlightenment and how that impacted the society of his time and to some extent the current society.

To introduce this subject consideration will first be given to the history of Buddhism and how this impacted on

Buddhism is the most prevailing religion in Asia with about 379 million followers. Buddhism believes in following the “Enlightened” path, which is to live life serenely and without desires. This action was very challenging to accomplish, but it allowed you to associate with yourself internally. Buddhism impacted the world by expressing the belief of the 4 noble truths, offering the idea of reincarnation, and to follow certain traditions in physical appearance. The 4 noble truths were the main components in following the “Enlightened” path by explaining how the suffering is caused by people’s desires and that they need to release those to feel free. Reincarnation led other people to believe that when you die, your soul would be born into a new life, which gave the thought about other “realms” that may exist. Also, the physical appearance of Buddhists/monks was different because they would wear clothes that helped them see their natural beauty.

Buddhism is extremely rich, so much so that it is necessary constantly to remain aware of the tension between its great variety of historical manifestations and the tendency to simplify it doctrinally.

Prebish, Charles S., and Damien Keown. Buddhism the Ebook : An Online Introduction. 4th ed. State College: Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online, 2010. PDF. , $27.75, ISBN 978-0-9801633-6-0

Enlightenment is a word to loop in the ideas of gaining insight into the mind and achieving peace with in ourselves, with releasing ourselves from the harshness of life (Wikipedia). In our current time, many people now are still trying to reach enlightenment as many religions that bring up the idea of becoming at peace with ourselves spreads to new people. In the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, we experience the journey of a man who strives to reach enlightenment. He comes across many different characters, but here, we focus on four people, including Siddhartha, himself. Siddhartha, Govinda, Gotama, and Vasudeva don’t all reach true peace the same way. Instead, they find their own ways to be purely content with their different lives. Though

The goal of Buddhism is to reach enlightenment. Enlightenment is not only for those who are extremely "good". Every person has the potential to reach that state