The Jataka Tales

The impacts of Buddhist teachings and the worshipping of individuals in the buddhist community, enabled those in society to reflect upon their ethics. This notion is evident through the buddhist ethical teachings that governs our morals, decisions and actions established as a result of the Dalai Lama’s philosophical teachings of peace, which is further supported by the notion of “Puja”, the act of devotional attention and offerings.

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.

The myth «Birht of the Buddha» is from the earliest stage of the life of Buddha. This essay will take a closer look on this myth and critically examine what parts might be linked to actual events considering the Buddha.

The quest towards developing the ideal human character is sought after in both the Bhagavad-Gita and Confucius’ The Analects. In the Bhagavad Gita, the concept of sacred duty is prevalent throughout the text, as the warrior-prince Arjuna faces a moral dilemma throughout the story. In Confucius’ The Analects, filial piety is a virtue which impacts an individual’s character in relation to the Confucian religion. Sacred duty within the Gita requires the protection of one’s dharma, which is defined as the religious and moral law that manages an individual’s actions. Within Confucian thought, filial piety is a virtue of respect for one’s elders, ancestors, and parents within a community. Despite the differences between the contextual meanings of developing the ideal human, both the Bhagavad Gita and The Analects utilize their teachings towards developing ideal human character within the themes of sacred duty and filial piety with the goal of establishing a set of communal ethics to be maintained through different caste systems, essentially protecting the existing social structure. To argue this claim, I will begin by analyzing the similar intentions of deviating from selfish actions and thoughts to develop ideal human character. I will then express how the nature of this character leads towards the development of one’s sacred duty and filial piety. I will then connect these two ideas to show how together they work to develop a communal set of ethics aimed at maintaining order

The Jataka tales are an integral part of Buddhist literature as they illustrate the “great deeds, in past lives of the being that was to become the Buddha Gautama.” (Harvey 99)In such tales, the Bodhisattva character “…does some inspiring deed of generosity, kindness or wisdom… identified with the Buddha or his key disciples…” (99) In the story of the Hungry Tigress, a human, brahmin Bodhisattva stumbles across a starving tigress with her cubs while out meditating in nearby caves. Shocked and saddened upon seeing the dying creature; attempting to eat her own kin, the Bodhisattva deliberates how he can save this beautiful creature. He decides in a moment of passion and emptiness to hurl himself off the mountainside to where the tigress is so she can be saved by eating his body. His disciples become aware of this awe-inspiring act and are moved by the loving and kindness of this Bodhisattva. Interestingly, when analyzing the Jataka tale of the Hungry Tigress, one can point to parallels between the Bodhisattva protagonist to the practice and teachings of the Arahat of the Theravada school, the Bodhisattva of the Mahayana school and the follower of the quicker path to Buddhahood of the Vajrayana school. However, the self-sacrificial actions of the bodhisattva at the end of the tale is analogous to the Guru of the school of Vajrayana, leading one to believe that this story best follows the thunderbolt vehicle of Vajrayana.

There is a time in all religious experiences that people look for spiritual growth by reflecting on the basics of life. An estimated 376 million people are considered to believe and follow Buddhist practices, the question of the four elements (sight’s), aging people, the sick, funerals processions and religion. These elements that Siddhartha Gautama saw, that led to him to seek religious enlightenment, and to give up his privileged life. These four elements come up in every religious walk at some point. Reflection on these elements can have astonishing effects in someone’s life. By looking at these elements, and by showing the effect they had on Siddhartha Gautama’s life, will show that anyone could grow in their spiritual belief by reflecting

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.

touched on reincarnation, “In the Buddhist view, karma is seen as the universal principle of causality that underlines the stream of “psychophysical” events” (547,2). Catherine briefly spoke about two past lives one being a prostitute as well as a 10 year old boy who was stabbed. These two examples were a continuation of a process, “a continuity between one birth and the next without requiring that the two be identified as the same person”(547,3).

Moral values are characterized as a helpful learning tool that involves improving respect and behavior and also improving/enhancing relationships. Knowing what appears right and what appears wrong shapes a character’s element. Right decisions and interactions with other people are considered improved when involved with good moral values. As individuals we understand that life is important and moral values shapes us throughout our lives. “The Myth of Baucis and Philemon,” “The Story of Five Heads,” and “Chylde Roland and the Goblin King” are all examples of different stories that portray morals.

A third teaching of Jainism is that lying and exaggeration are damaging practices that are to be avoided. On another hand Jainism also teaches that “absolute truth” is impossible to express because everyone experiencing any given situation from a unique perspective. Other teachings condemn stealing, and confine acceptable sexual practices to those between a married couple, both of which try to curb improper desire, and stop the perpetuation of pain inflicted on others. These teachings, which emphasized acceptable societal practices are similar to the Dharma of Hinduism, which emphasized social obligations (Molloy, p196, 2010).

Buddha believes that our senses and conditioning are the problem as we are deceived that these are bad things. He says that the senses can be tricked and that we have been conditioned to believe things that could be false. That is why is has his four noble truths. First he believes that life is suffering. This could be shown through the fact that we grow old an die. This is just a part of our life that we can not control. That is why suffering has to be just part of life. The second noble truth is that cravings are the source of suffering. That is that if it wasn’t for us wanting something then it would have no effect on us if we didn’t get it. This includes what people think of us. We have a craving for people to like and accept us, and when

It is said that history is shaped by the lives of great men.  Great men are leaders.  They bring about change; they improve the lives of others; they introduce new ideas, models, and theories to society.  Most of the world's religions were founded, developed, or discovered by great men.  Two particular religions - Christianity and Buddhism - developed in different parts of the world, under different circumstances, and in different social atmospheres.  But each religion is based upon the teachings of a great man.  When one compares the life of Buddha with the life of Jesus, one finds that the two share many things in common.  This essay aims to compare and contrast the lives of Buddha1 and Jesus in two key areas:  conception and birth.

This essay will reflect the meaning, as well as the mythological interpretation of a movie titled “Little Buddha.” In the movie, “Little Buddha,” there were Tibetan Buddhist monks from a monastery in Bhutan, led by Lama Norbu, searching for a child, who they believed had been reincarnated, as the Buddhist leader, Lama Dorje. This individual was thought to be in an American child named Jesse. Jesse was believed to be the son of an architect father, named Dean, and a school teacher mother, named Lisa. The family lived in Seattle, Washington. The monks traveled to Seattle to meet the boy, observe his daily routine and habits, learn his personality to determine if he could undergo further testing to prove whether or not he was the reincarnated being of Lama Dorje.

About 2,500 years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama renounced his empire in search of happiness or panacea for sorrow (dukkha) Gautama, after an extensive research throughout his empire and meditating on the collected data under a banyan tree,discovered that aspiration or want (kama) was at the root of sorrow (dukkha) laid down four noble truths to eliminate sorrow, and became the Buddha, the enlightened. Truths “Sanskriti, Mana. "The Four Noble." (1998).”

Buddhism does not regard ethics as a particular set of duties, rights, imperatives or obligations that should be used to evaluate the actions of a person. Instead, Buddhism views as the “accumulated wisdom” that one acquires in the areas of life and that are related to the fundamental problem that every person encounters—suffering (Voorst 2007; Becker & Becker, 2013). This paper will attempt to argue that the four noble truths are the basis onto which Buddhist ethics are founded; therefore, understanding the truths reveals the prominent elements of Buddhist ethical concerns.