The Life Of The World

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.

Carla the Carbon atom is a free spirit. She wanders through the atmosphere, moving with the wind. Carla floats from one cloud to the next, without a care on her mind. One day, she was floating in the air, and was joined by two oxygen companions, Oscar and Octavius. Her two companions transformed her into a carbon dioxide molecule. Her new status as a molecule allowed her new privileges, like the ability to enter plants and to take part in plant and animal respiration. Carla was now a part of an exclusive club.

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.

As a scholar taking the class ‘Introduction to World Religions”, I had the opportunity to take part in a culture that is not normally found in the western world. I entered the Mon Buddhist Monastery in Akron, Ohio on October 2nd, 2016 only to be amazed at their way of life. Going into the temple, I knew of the basic religious practices and traditions that the monks and Buddhists had participated in daily. When I was coming up to the monastery, it did not look like anything other than an old brick building, but once we were inside it looked like a recreational area. Somewhere where they would meditate, hold daily activities, and teach the younger Buddhist about their way of life. On the far back wall, there was a stunning shrine dedicated to the Buddha where one would pray. Many figurines were displayed as well as flowers and offerings along it.

As one of the most popular religions in the entire world, Buddism is believed to be originated by Siddhattha Gotama, also referred to as Siddhartha Gautama, 2500 years ago in Northern India ("Religious Tolerance", 2015). More than 75% of its followers are from the Far East. Burma, Korea, Japan, China and Sri Lanka are places where Buddhism is commonly

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed” ~Buddha. Out of the abounding religions in the world the 6th most practiced of all the religion is Buddhism, or the worship of the god Buddha. Buddhism has had a colossal effect on the Asian culture and it has had an effect on the way that we (as American citizens) view the Asian culture and the beliefs of Asian men and women. This paper is about into how the culture of Asia has been changed because of the Buddhists believes. Also how their temples have shaped the way that we as Americans view Asian architecture or the kind of things that are in Asia that are because of Buddhism. Many different

I have always been attracted by the study of religion and interested in the different disciplines that study religion such as: psychology, historiography, anthropology, etc; there are many aspects related to religion that can be analyzed. I believe in the existence of something superior; I do not belong to any specific religion, but I sympathize with some specific ideas of different religions. I used to get the ideas that I believe that are more logical and put it in practice. Taking advantage of the research paper ordered in class, I decided to visit a Theravada Buddhist temple. This temple is located in 15200 SW 240th St, Homestead, FL, Miami, and it is called “Wat Buddharangsi of Miami.”

When I first pulled up to the Won Buddhist Temple, it was sort of what I had expected. Being that the original Buddha was a human, I did not expect an elaborate building, such as the Hindu temple. I did not have a clear picture in my mind about what the temple would look like, but I did picture a smaller and simpler-looking building. One of the most pleasantly surprising aspects I noticed at the beginning of the visit was how those at the temple were of all different ages, races, and genders. Seeing this made me more excited for the service because it showed that the teachings were something that appealed to a wide range of people.

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.

Since 1976, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has occupied 700 acres of land in my hometown of Ukiah Ca. When I was growing up in elementary school our school and many other schools would take a field trip to the Buddhist Temple on the Chinese New Year to watch their celebration and have lunch. This had been my only time visiting until this research project. I had always wanted to know what it was like but never had the chance to visit until now. When I went home for Spring Break I decided to take tour of this religious community with my sister. Before our visit I had called to see when the perfect time to get a tour would be so we showed up around 8am when they first open. When we drove in we went

The agriculture was amazing you can tell that they put a lot of work into building that temple. The inside was also very beautiful. On the inside they had a lot of sculptures of Buda, and the leader of Thailand. When we sat down to learn about the religion, we watched many people go up to this tree and tap money to it. Another thing that they did was at the base of the tree they put offering, like paper towels, Plates, and Toilet Paper. From observing that I learning that giving items

Buddhism’s founder was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “one who realized his goal.” Buddhists believe that when Siddhartha’s mother, Maha, was conceived she had a dream involving a white elephant carrying a lotus flower. She interpreted the dream to mean that her son would grow up to become a great spiritual leader. Just a week after Siddhartha was born, his mother died. Upon her death, he lived with his wealthy aunt and his father on a large estate. As Siddhartha grew up, his father kept him away from all suffering and anguish of the world. Unlike many of his peers, he was well educated and free from the world’s sorrows.

I am Christian. Ironically, my mother is a converted Buddhist and although she is not a super devout one, it was helpful for this assignment. I explained my assignment to her and asked her to take me to a Buddhist temple / ceremony. I never thought this would be such a fascinating experience. We visited the “Wat Buddharangist of Miami” temple in the Redlands of Florida, which is a Thai Buddhist temple. At first I was a little uneasy because it was a new experience that I had not encountered before. Upon entrance, I was forced to remove my shoes and the atmosphere was very colorful but simultaneously peaceful. This was a place where people were easily welcome to come meditate and enjoy a moment of peace. Ironically the first thing that caught my attention was their religious art.

In 563 B.C. a baby boy was born in northern India to a royal family. The baby grew up wealthy but found that this lifestyle did not promise happiness. He saw suffering all around him and desired to find the key to happiness. When he was 29 years old he started to seek answers about why there is suffering from religious teachers. Although he learned from these teachers none of them were able to fully explain the causes of human suffering and how to overcome it. After six years of study he “had an experience in which all ignorance fell away and he suddenly understood.” From that day on he was called Buddha, the Awakened One. For the rest of his life, 45 years, he traveled around northern India and taught what he discovered. Through his compassion

Once upon a time, there was a prince named Siddhartha Gautama. The prince’s birth was unusual. His mother had a dream that a white elephant entered her womb foretelling that her baby would be a Buddha. His father ruled the Shakya clan. King Suddhodana Gautama wanted Siddhartha to become a great ruler rather than a religious leader, so he created a protected environment for the young price. Despite his father’s efforts Siddhartha expressed signs of spiritual proclivity. He was unbeatable in martial arts and learned how to meditate so deeply as to levitate. Siddhartha grew progressively curious of the outside world, to the point of finally urging his father to allow him a chariot ride outside the confines of the place walls. In order to shelter the prince King Suddhodana rid the countryside of any of the four elements that might inspire the prince to consider religion. The king ban all the sick and old from sight, funeral processions became prohibited and all religious artifacts removed from the kingdom (Corduan, 2012). However, the Hindu devas had other plans for prince Siddhartha. They took the four forms that the king had so carefully admonished. One became an old man on the verge of dying, another took the form of a man with a disfiguring disease, the third sight was a funeral procession for a decomposing corpse and a holy monk displayed the serenity of a life of renunciation. Among the many troubling thoughts the young man had was the