The Role Of Buddhism In The United States

The origin of Euthyphro’s Dilemma began with a discussion between Socrates and Euthyphro, Socrates wanted to learn the nature of piety in order to tell the court his action of corrupting the young with impiety was wrong and had come to a realization. With Socrates many lines of questioning for Euthyphro, one specific question lead to the creation of Euthyphro’s argument, known as Euthyphro’s dilemma, an argument that refuses the Divine Command Theory. To better understand Euthyphro’s argument, I will present the similarity between Euthyphro’s Dilemma and the Divine Command Theory, along with the two types of DCT and lastly, explain the version I believe is the most plausible.

Whenever I thought of Buddhist I saw bald men or women with orange robes, white socks, and brown sandals. Obviously, not the older woman with gray hair that was now facing me and the other twenty congregants in the meditation room. She was obviously the leader.

On October 24, 2015 the New York Buddhist Church was holding an Autumn Festival Service. Amanda and I attended the event from 12-4 pm. This Buddhist Church in particular is Jodoshinshu Buddhism which originated in Japan. This type of Buddhism is also called Shin Buddhism for short, within the school of True Pure Land Buddhism, which is based on Mahayana Buddhism. The main temple is in Kyoto, Japan and was founded by Shinran Shonin. This type of Buddhism is practiced widely in Japan. The New York City location in particular was established in 1938 by Reverend Hozen Seki and his wife, Satomi.(NYBC)

There are many influences that given rise to contemporary Buddhist schools and forms of Buddhist practices in the US. Before delving into the influences that gave rise to the contemporary practice, it is important to first acknowledge how Buddhism came to America. Buddhism came over from Asia through books, through travels to Asian countries and through Asian immigrants. Many convert Buddhist first learned about the Buddha through books. Others travel to Asia to learn more about Buddhism or seek out teachers within America. These coverts would then create their own forms of the dharma that would be suited to those who are more adapted to the mainstream culture within America. Immigrant Buddhist have also created their own

In conclusion, the state of modern day Tibetan Buddhism has only been strengthened by the incorporation of practices from other cultures and countries, this has made a thriving and growing religion with approximate 6% of the worlds population, 350 million people practicing Buddhism today. Although, the practice is more widely spread in South Asia and South-East Asia, Buddhism is found in many western countries also. It has been spread by a significant number of immigrant communities or ease of access to travel by westerners to these countries and as a way of keeping alive cultural

The history of Buddhism was similar to other religions, it was also characterized by the development of a large amount of movements, schisms, and integration. Since that, majority of Buddhism had separated into Chinese Buddhism (including China, Japan), Southern Buddhism (including Vietnam), Tibetan Buddhism. In 21st century, the distribution of buddhist is: Chinese Buddhism — 67.3% (200 million), Southern Buddhism — 28.0% (84 million), Tibetan Buddhism — 3.4% (10 million), outside of Asia — 1.3% (4.8 million). 2

Buddhism is a practical philosophy aimed at awakening people to the limitless potential and value of their own lives. Practicing Buddhism brings about a positive transformation in the depths of an individual's life, transforming fear into courage, deluded impulses into wisdom and egotism into compassion.

Despite the religion or country, belief systems can prevail to form and encompass all aspects of society. From the way food is prepared to the architectural design of buildings are just some ways religion has the ability to mold the world. Whether it is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or another religion, they all play a key role in the American way of life. The consistent battle between different denominations, religions, and non-believers over how much of a specific religion can have how much control is viewed through the conflict perspective lens. The main religion, Christianity, is the most dominant religion in the United States; hence, the core to many systems in the public. Sociologists Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim show that religion surfaces in the way that believers act, think, and the choices that they make in everyday life. Certain belief systems have had the ability to pacify, to keep the believers optimistic, and to serve as the backbone of many laws.

“There is a set of associations with familiar American values, such as simplicity, naturalness, peace, and harmony. There are the favorite values of the health and food industries, such as wholesomeness, well-being, and natural goodness; and there are the aesthetic values of the young urban sushi culture, such as tasteful understatement, sophisticated minimalism, and multicultural cosmopolitanism.” (Religion & Ethics Newsweekly). Doing the research on Buddhism has helped me understand it a lot better. I have learned about it in high school just a bit but never really knew the full extent. I never really knew they went through so much until now. I didn’t realize how much it is in the “American Culture” until now. We use the words, theories, and some of the practices such as meditation for our own reasons. We may not follow the Buddhism religion but we do use it and it has made its way into our culture. Growing up my mom had a little green Buddha that was always on her dresser. She would always rub his belly because it was good luck.

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.

Buddhism evolved into a religion from a philosophy after distinct interpretations of Siddhartha's message to the people emerged. A divergence in Buddhist teachings consequently developed, with each group evaluating aspects of the movement to a distinct extent. According to the textbook titled "World History," for example, the "Purists emphasized what they insisted were the original teachings of the Buddha" and described themselves as the school of Theravada, which translated to "the teachings of the elders" ("World History"). They approached the faith as well as the path to Nirvana through stricter means of self-discipline and personal behavior. Meanwhile, in the northwest, a school known as the Mahayana ("greater vehicle") perceived the ideals

An article was written by Laurence Cox that explores several aspects of U” Dhammaloka’s Buddhism, and who he was as a Buddhist (Cox, 2010). Laurence Cox explores U’ Dhammaloka’s involvement in the Buddhist Tract Society (BTS), as a social movement organizer, and his participation in politics. (Cox, 2010).

Gandhara from India were the artist of the Buddha sculpture titled as Teaching Buddha which represents the second miracle of Srasvasti wherein the Buddha performed his superiority over kasyapas. This piece of sculpture was made in second or third century as a seated Buddha on an inverted lotus throne supported by two elephants and a lion. This sculpture’s present location is at The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) in Berkeley California. The sculpture is placed on the table which looks more or less damaged and also looks old. The sculpture looks traditional as it is based on the Buddhism religion. The art and sculpture of Buddha are varied according to the time and place, but the art by Gandhara remained same all

Although some of people who are interested in Buddhist art are non-Buddhist, there are millions of followers in the United States today. The followers include non-Asian converts as well as Asian Americans. Buddhism was brought to America mainly by immigrants, Western scholars, writers and artists. The number of Buddhists

Buddhism originates from Hinduism, and thus it advocates samsaric cycle driven by karma (intentional action). Yet, it is distinct from Hinduism because it denies the existence of unchanging, eternal essence of human personality based on the doctrine of the impermanence of all compounded phenomena (197, 201). In Buddhism, there is nothing to be permanent and unaffected (203). Even if someone perceives his/her self as an unchanging core, such a feeling/perception is nothing but a result of an interaction between various metal and physical factors (203). That is, it is an illusion not a truth.