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Siddhartha Gautama's Fascination With Religious Beliefs

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Religion has always been of interest of mine. For me there has always been a fascination with the religious beliefs of different cultures and where these beliefs originated from. I find it interesting to view the different parallels and connections that exist among different religions. One of the more interesting religions I studied in this course was Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama was the original teacher of Buddhism. At thirty five he went through a process of enlightenment that would become the foundations of his teachings or what he referred to as Dharma or truth. Buddhism is more than a religion, it can be considered a philosophy, a way to live ones' life. This is apparent because Buddha never considered or claimed to be a God. He was more a philosopher than a religious leader. His teachings center on the four noble truths and the eightfold path. The four noble truths comprise the truth of suffering, the truth of why we suffer, the truth of how to be free from …show more content…

It is not dominant religion in the world but it has influenced world events. Japanese people do not practice Shinto by itself, rather they practice Shinto and a form of Buddhism. Shinto concerns itself with the day-to-day life while Buddhism concerns itself with the afterlife. One concept I found most interesting in Shinto was the warrior code Bushido. The followers of Bushido were known as samurai. Samurai were feudal knights of Japan. They followed the warrior code of Bushido with such unwavering loyalty they would rather kill themselves then dishonor the code they lived by. Bushido is a set of rules that the Samurai live by. Above all else they must be loyal to their master, have the greatest of courage, honorable, and a gentleman. If they dishonor themselves it is their duty to kill themselves in a manner they call seppuku or belly slitting. It is also the Bushido code influenced the kamikaze fighters of World War

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