a. What were some of the Indian/Hindu influences on Siddhartha Gautama and early Buddhism? In other words, how can early Buddhism be seen as an Indian religion?
Hindu Indian influences were vast and heavy on Siddhartha Gautama and early Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama grew up in a culture with heavy Brahmin influences. Along with the cultural caste system associated with Hindu and Indian culture. This caste system weighed heavily on Siddhartha Gautama and led him on his quest to find a path to enlightenment that is the same goal in Hinduism but would not be limited by one’s caste. On his path to enlightenment he sought out the various yogas Hindus prescribe to. With this he developed Buddhism using the core fundamentals found in the Indian religion,
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The mind and thoughts are central for early Buddhism as they are key to accessing enlightenment. If one develops the mind, then they rid themselves negative thoughts, with positive thoughts positive actions follow, doing all this allows one to participate in the blessings of a holy life.
c. From chapter ten in the Dhammapada, how does the Buddha talk about violence? Moreover, what is the link between violence and karma?
The Buddha discusses violence in a manner that warns of the build faith that follows the path of violence. Sticking with the common theme if controlling one's mind, the Buddha States that violence only begets more violence. Furthermore, the violence will be met with karma retribution in one of the 10 states discuss in section 138 - 140.
d. From chapter twelve in the Dhammapada, describe the importance the Buddha placed on self-mastery.
Self-mastery is important because as Buddha States only by oneself is evil done by oneself is one defiled. This being said only we have control of our fate, this is further reiterated byline 166, which states one should not help another no matter the cost, one must have a clear understanding of their own welfare and be intent on securing
Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, is the story of a young man searching for enlightenment. Through his journey, Siddhartha follows several Buddhist and Hindu paths to achieve his ultimate goal of enlightenment. Siddhartha follows the path of the Brahmin, the Samana, the materialistic gambler, and eventually the Buddhist middle path. Being the son of a Brahmin, Siddhartha leads a privileged life, but this isn’t enough for him. Siddhartha had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, and after a time, he leaves his father to find his own path to Nirvana. Although Siddhartha was raised in a strict Hindu society, his path to Nirvana was a combination of Buddhism, and Hinduism.
Like Hinduism, Buddhism also started in India. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is called the Buddha or
Buddhism was developed by Siddhartha Gautama or “Buddha” who is believed to have been a prince in the Shakya republic (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 228). Gautama’s sermons revolved around change, karma, and the cycles of death (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 229). However after Gautama's death religious disputes emerged that eventually divided the religion into two groups (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 229). Theravada Buddhism became the most prominent and began to spread as changes to its teaching made it more available to a wide range of followers (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 230). New ideas around the religion unfolded creating the branch of Mahayana which dispelled Theravada Buddhism. The religion became widespread as trade routes in central asia spread the religion to places such as China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 230). Ultimately India’s the expansion of Indian culture in Asia came as a result of trade outpost and Indian settlements within Asia (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow
Violence is one of the most necessary elements to life. It can be as vital as water, and as regenerating as a long deserved sleep. It is the ultimate balance to the human life. Violence is possibly one of the most perverted and tainted virtues that exists today. Like all values, there is a time and place for them. The hardest part of any virtue is its proper administration.
In the first place, the Hindus believe in a caste system made of social classes, whereas Buddhism does not have a caste system, but rather practice peace. The Hindus caste system provides a way to organize people into social classes based on their status and popularity. In spite of the Hindus, the Buddhists strive to achieve peace by making sure everything is “equal parts of a whole”. Additionally, The Hindu religion has no single founder. On the other hand, an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism. In further detail, Hinduism was not founded by anyone particular, but instead Hinduism is a combination of beliefs of the early Indus Valley peoples and Aryans. On the contrary, Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, whose main purpose was to erase of suffering from the world. Finally, the Buddhism religion contains no sacred literature, as the Hindu religion was built of three major scared texts. The Hindu’s three sacred texts include the Vedas, Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. However, the Buddhists have no sacred text, but followers of Siddhartha Gautama write down his ideas and teaching to this
Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism. He was born in Lumbini, Nepal. When the king Shuddodana asked Asita, a well-known sooth-sayer about his son. She told the king that he would either become a great king, even an emperor, or he could become a great sage and savior of humanity. The king wanted Gautama to become a king like himself, and was determined to keep Gautama from seeing anything that might result in him taking up the religious life. He was not allowed to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had devoted themselves to spiritual practices. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha. As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and curious about the world beyond the palace walls. He finally demanded that he be permitted to see his people and his lands. The king carefully arranged that Siddhartha should still not see the kind of suffering that he feared would lead him to a religious life, and announced that only young and healthy people should greet the prince. He got to see a couple of old men who had accidentally wandered near the place. He
Bloom, J. (2010). American wasteland: How America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it). Cambridge: Da Capo Press.
Buddhism is considered to be one of the largest religions in the world. The religion of Buddhism and its followers originally began in India and Asia, however Buddhism along with other religions, continue to expand to every corner of the world. Around the late 6th century, the start of the Buddhism religion was created by a man with the name, Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha Gautama was born in a wealthy family where he lived in a palace with little exposure to the outside world. Getting married at the age of 16, Siddhartha Gautama barely got a chance to experience anything, however one day Siddhartha Gautama wandered beyond the palace he lived in.
Both initially originating in the Himalaya and written in Sanskrit, Buddhism and Hinduism are two of the main religions on the continent of Asia. Many believe that Buddhism first originated in Northern India in the 5th century B.C.E. when Siddhartha Guatama (the son of a king) rebelled against his father and went out into the world in hope of finding a way to end suffering . After trying many things, he eventually sat down
India has been the root of many civilizations, groups, and philosophies ever since humans arrived there. The ancient civilizations of India were diverse and evolved quickly, and they still have a major impact on our world today. One such impact is the creation of Hinduism and, later, of Buddhism. These two religions and philosophies are similar in many ways, but also have significant differences. An important element of ancient and modern Indian society, as well as of Hinduism, is the idea of a caste system, separating the social classes with very little possibility for change. The caste system has an important role in Hinduism, and Buddhism came about as a reaction to the inequality present in Hinduism. Hinduism and Buddhism, while similar,
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, a prince made by King Siddhodana who was the leader of a large clan called the Shakya. At an early age Siddhartha lost his mother. Siddhartha Gautama was raised by his father; he was raised privileged and studied martial arts. Most of his life was said to be sheltered from knowledge of religion and human suffering.1 At the age of twenty-nine, Siddhartha Gautama set out to the world to only to be confronted by the harsh reality of the inevitable suffering of life. Siddhartha suddenly discovered the pain of illness, the sorrow of death, and the degradation caused by old age in the lives of ordinary people.2 Siddhartha then decided to devote his life for the cure to human suffering. For six years Siddhartha sought out various religious teachers and submitted himself to rigorous practices of meditation. Siddhartha “Buddha” finally reached enlightenment after a lengthy period of meditation and harassment from
It was once said by jiddu krishnamurti that “Violence is not merely killing another. It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a
Siddhartha Gautama was the son of a king, indulged like a prince who abandoned the life of aspiration to pursue Enlightenment. When I lived in Nepal, I went to school and studied Buddhism. There I learned about his life and the philosophies he kept in practices. Also, I learned that he was a great leader, and his great ideas such as the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold path, Nirvana, fundamental wisdoms, the theory of karma and rebirth, the five precepts and Wheel of Dharma has influenced many people. I learned about his great achievement and how he was able to create a whole new religion, Buddhism, which is now known as the fourth largest religion in the world, by influencing people through his unique practices and philosophy. From this experience, I learned firsthand that he is a great religious leader who left a legacy not just on Nepalese culture, but on the whole world.
According to dictionary.com, Buddhism is defined as a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. While do research on the religion of Buddhism i found out alot of information that i didn’t know before. We may all know the Buddha named Siddhartha Gautama, but what we may not know is that he came from a wealthy family. Siddhartha Gautama grew up in a wealthy family, he decided to follow a path of self-denial. He attempted many different rituals
Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th century BCE. The historical founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama (c.560-480 BCE) was born in a village called Lumbini into a warrior tribe called the Sakyas (from where he derived the title Sakyamuni, meaning 'Sage of the Sakyas'). According to tradition Gautama's father, Suddhodana was the king of a small principality based on the town of Kapilavastu. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after Gautama's birth. Following the death of Maya, Suddhodana married Maya's sister, Prajapati, by whom Gautama was brought up in great luxury and sheltered from the harshness of the outside world.