The Fire Sparked by the Buddhist Crisis

There were several events during the Vietnam War that can be considered “turning points”, which can be described as the occurrence of an event that changed the course of history. One such event was the Buddhist crisis in 1963. The Buddhists of South Vietnam had experienced decades of religious persecution during French colonialism that continued with the Catholic government, which was backed by the United States (Toong, 2008). The demonstrations, protests and self-immolations that followed as a result of this religious persecution and the media coverage it generated encouraged the Kennedy administration to back a coup d’état against Ngo

Engaged Buddhism is a practice concerned with changing consciousness as a necessary condition for social change. Not only is it necessary to change policies, procedures, and behaviors, but changing the frame of mind behind draconian social policies and practices is necessary. This entails paying attention to the entire situation and all of the players involved in a situation, particularly the egos of one’s self and others. As advocates for systems change, we are not individual islands. Injustice is much more than a wrong that has been perpetrated against someone, it is an entire situation that involves interdependent phenomena to which one must attend in its entirety. Engaged Buddhism entails an intricate dialectic between personal consciousness-raising

Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.

For more than a hundred of years, Buddhism has played a moving role in the United States. At first, the teachings of Buddhism were quietly practiced among Chinese and Japanese immigrants on the west coast, but it quickly became a thriving religion in the United States performed by millions. These ambitious supporters have produced millions of books, magazines, television shows, and even movies. Different volumes on “The Art of Zen” are shelved in bookstores, [. The] the Dalai Lama has been characterized in Hollywood movies, and [the] civilian’s new fascination in Buddhist [Buddhism] has published in the NY Times magazine. [New Paragraph] This religion originally [, which originated] from India [,] has appeared in social movements, and sports across the country, [.] and Buddhist studies are taught in universities from Portland, Maine to Honolulu, Hawaii. This American version of Buddhism has been adapted and publicized for the wrong reasons by millions of Americans. Instead of focusing on the religion and its teachings, Americans have patented its spiritual essence. Fashion industries have printed the famous elephant, one of Buddha Shakyamuni’s previous incarnations, [and] rock bands are named after the Buddhism term Nirvana, [. There are also] and nightclub bars are named ‘Buddha’. However, there are small instances when Buddhism is used correctly. One type of Buddhism has been majorly focused on. This type is called Zen Buddhism. The instance in which Buddhism is used

As time progresses, our views and perspective on certain topics may start to change, in order to adapt to our dynamic society. An example of this change, is the different ways Buddha has been portrayed over the generations. As society progressed and developed, our views on Buddhism started to alter as well, in order to be more appealing to the general public. From the original belief in India, where the main objective of Buddhism was to achieve nirvana, and break free from cycle of samsara into nothingness; to a new belief that said that, after breaking free from samsara, one then enters a paradise instead of just non existences. This change in religious beliefs is prominent in the comparison of the two Buddha heads; one from Thailand during the 18th century (Buddha head A) and one from either Cambodia or Thailand during the 17th century (Buddha head B). Although the two Buddha heads came from the same area and virtually the same time period, their radical differences in iconography and style, allude to the drastic changes in Buddhist beliefs.

XuanZang was a legendary Buddhist monk who traveled during the post-classical era from AD 627-643. He was also a Buddhologist, traveller, and promoter of culture among the nations of Asia. Xuanzang traveled the Silk Road which is one of the largest trade routes in the ancient world. On his long voyage that lasted him sixteen years he introduced religion, ideas, and culture that linked China to the rest of the Kingdoms of the west. Xuanzang is considered a historical moment and legend who 's impact on Buddhist religion in China has changed their religious customs providing manuscripts, Sanskrit text, and relics.

Through these intricate tellings of the instance we feel as though a new perspective was opened when viewing this subject. Full-body immolation is rarely done solely as a religious practice, it is more typically a form of political protest at the same time. For instance, it has been used repeatedly in Chinese history to protest anti-Buddhist state policies, such as the mass defrocking of priests.It is often impossible to be sure what really motivates those who burn themselves to death. There is debate, however, about how Duc viewed his self-immolation in 1963, the protest that was in relation to the South Vietnamese government’s treatment of Buddhist monks and may have been at least partly religious in nature. What is truly symbolic however about this topic is that after his funeral, where his remains were finally reduced to ashes, Duc's heart, which had not burned, was retrieved, enshrined, and treated as a sacred relic. This really stuck with us, spending an excessive amount of time talking about the symbolism this portrayed unintentionally for his

The religious Buddha was originally a prince, Siddhartha Gautama, born in 623 B.C. into a regular, royal life. For years, his father “protected” him and Siddhartha was shielded from the truth and harshness of the world. When he was older, he married Yasodhara and finally went out to the real world. When he did, Siddhartha found something that disturbed him: suffering. He found war, disease, and death. Finding this suffering, he desperately wanted to stop it. Siddhartha wanted to find a way to cure the suffering he saw, because how he saw it, there was no point in life if there was so much suffering. At age 29, Siddhartha set out into the world to find enlightenment. After a 6 year journey, after meditation, starvation, and torture, Siddhartha finally received his enlightenment. He was meditating under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India, and said he would not move until he gained perfect enlightenment. Devaputra Mara, demon of all demons brought an army of his kind to disturb Siddhartha during his meditation. When that did not work, he brought his three daughters to try and distract him. Siddhartha concentrated even harder that he already was, and successfully ignored the demons and girls. From this, Siddhartha had gotten so deep into his concentration, that he was able to receive the enlightenment he was looking for. The enlightenment was there is a state of suffering that had to be lived by everyone, until their death and ultimate release from the

The popularity of Buddhism as a world religion is typically defined by following the tenets of Buddhism through The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. These tenets define the ability of a sentient being to attain enlightenment as human being, but also in the animal world. Buddhism holds a deep respect for the intelligence of animals, which define them as sentient beings capable of enlightenment. This type of enlightenment takes place over many lifetimes through the concept of reincarnation. Buddhism acknowledges the immortality of the soul in being able to leave the body after death, and to then travel into the body of another life form. This is one way to understand the different life forms that Buddha (aka. Bodhisattva) had taken over many lifespans, which often involve taking the form of an animal. This is one reason why the Bodhisattva acknowledges the sentient presence of animals as being equal to the lives of human beings in the karmic tradition. Therefore, the Buddha defines animals as a intelligent beings with a soul, which makes them ”sentient beings” capable of enlightenment over the course of many lives.

Monastics and lay followers are both essential in ensuring that the Buddhist community, the Sangha, is run smoothly. A lay follower may be looked at as someone who isn’t completely devoted to Buddhism because they aren’t living the monastic lifestyle, obeying all the strict rules set forth in the Sekhiya Dhamma, such as “with downcast eye will I take a seat amidst the houses” and “not with too large balls will I make (up my food)…” but the Sangha would not thrive without the vital help of lay followers who provide the actual food and resources that monks need to even obey these rules as well as function and practice Buddhism. Even though lay followers are not nuns or monks, they are still Buddhists and strive to live by and understand teachings and avoid doing major things that are frowned upon in the Buddhist world. Being a monastic is taking on a serious role that takes an immense amount of commitment and dedication and not all people who practice Buddhism can do that, which is okay because lay followers are necessary in the Sangha. Along with supplying resources for the Buddhist community, they also spread teachings and knowledge to others.

Asian Americans are a distinctive ethnic group that has made up of 5% of the United States population. It is made of a variety of descendants, from a dozen countries in Far East and Southeastern Asia. Each of these countries have a unique culture, language, and history that has contribute to American culture today. Asia is the birthplace of the world’s major religions which includes Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. From the Civil War to Civil Rights the Asian culture has transformed America socially and culturally. Compared to other

After learning about the major religions of the world, Buddhism seems to be the most relevant for someone living in western society. While many religions are considered monotheistic, with an all knowing powerful god to worship, Buddhism doesn’t put one god high up on the altar, in fact the focus in this religion seems to be more spiritual.

A want is something that a single individual believes a want is something that a single individual believes is an object that they cannot survive without it, while a need is what you have to have in life in order to survive. For example, a need is a food for you in order to survive until the next day then repeating this step in order to survive life. A want is going to a restaurant instead of eating at home. The conflict that will be written about is where the desire of having a family dog finally exceeded the need for a dog. The thought process went from ‘I need a dog over I would like to have a dog,’ which lead to the events of my family getting their second family dog, only ten years later.

Lastly, in this study under the title“Power and Ideology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Buddhist Goes Bad in Times Magazine Article” aims to describe the writer of the article’s power in describing the monk’s power that makes news reader reconstructing their knowledge and updating their beliefs. By describing, interpreting, and explaining the ideology and the power between texts in each paragraph in the article.

There are many messages of Buddhism, each practitioner of the discipline expresses and or focuses on different things and issues depending a great deal on their own personal journey as well as their idea of the journey they perceive others as needing. Therefore there are also many interpretive works that stress various main messages or key ideas to aide individuals in achieving their own spiritual goals. This work will look at three of those works, discern three key ideas from each and then briefly apply those ideas to daily life and experiences wherever possible. The three works that I will focus on are Being Peace by Thich Nhat Nanh, Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki (Author), Trudy Dixon (Editor), Richard Baker and Huston Smith and finally three important key ideas found in The Essence of Buddhism by Traleg Kyabgon.