World Religions For Healthcare Professionals

I was always fascinated in the Buddhist religion and this class assignment was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of my curiosity. I decided I would visit a Buddhist center. With the company of my mother, I went to the Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Miami. According to my interview with the Buddhist that instructed the meditation service, every Monday and Friday they have a meditation service for the 16th Karmapa meditation from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. This center is part of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism (Anonymous). Upon arriving, I realized that it was in someone’s home. Many Buddhist offer their homes for Buddhist centers and are unpaid for their services. However, they do accept donations. Before entering the house,

Zen Buddhism did not vocally voice that they did not want to associate their religion with

The Bravewell Collaborative. (2015). Spirituality and Religion in Health Care. Retrieved from www.bravewell.org/integrative_medicine/philosophical_foundation/spirituality_and_healthcare/ Curry, K. (n.d.). A Biblical Worldview of Health Care. Retrieved from http://www.hcic.org.au/sites/default/files/imce/Biblical%20Worldview.pdf Mcskimming, S., & Puchalski, C. M. (2006, May).

In comparing Buddhism to Christianity, Buddhism predates Christianity by 500 years and could have influenced the beliefs that resulted in Christianity. In the Christian faith it is believed that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died for our sins then was resurrected from the dead. Buddhist does not believe in an immortal soul or a supreme being. Christianity believes that there is only one life with one soul, whereas Buddhism believes in countless lifetimes of progression towards enlightenment. Christianity believes in consequences of good and evil, also following the 10 commandments in everyday life. Buddhism follows an eight fold path of universal suggestions to a more content life.

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama who, after leaving an affluent lifestyle, spent 40 days meditating under a tree. At the end of the 40 days, he came to understand suffering and from then on was know as the Buddha. During that time he developed the basic principles of his new belief system. Buddhism has four noble truths and the observance of these truths lead to the escape from the cycle of reincarnation. This escape is called nirvana. One of the most popular religious texts in the Buddhist world was and is the Dhammapada, which provides sayings and truths that shed light on this journey to nirvana. Out of the 423 Buddhist truths presented in the Dhammapada, numbers 20, 75, and 89 provide particular insight into the core

After conducting my research on the daily practices of Buddhism, my mind kept going back to one of the first articles discussed in the class. In the article it briefly discusses how Buddhism, even though commonly viewed as a lifestyle, can be viewed as a religion by his criteria. Jane considers the core principles of Buddhism such as being kind to your neighbor, loving one another, genuineness, and inner peace that she deems more important than all other actions that could be done in her life; This idea gives her reason to act the way she does each and every single day.

A prince named Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) founded “Buddhism” in the sixth century before the birth of Christ. Buddhism is better understood as philosophy rather than a religion and follows the concept of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Noble path.

Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.

I interviewed a woman name Jodi. This was an amazing interview that I made with a couple. This interview was quite educational, challenging and rewarding. Through this interview I expanded my knowledge regarding cultural factors that can helpful for the couple in order to form their identity in a unique way. The couple traced their historical background back to North Canton Ohio. Jodi is a 34 year old beautiful stay-at-home wife, with two wonderful sons named Brett and Justin and is happily married to her best friend Pete of 14 years. Jodi is also a Jehovah Witness. Jodi and her whole family are of the Jehovah faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs learn that baptism by total immersion is the representation of someone life in the way of God. Jodi has one living siblings and one deceased, both parents are living and actively involved in their lives. Mainly Jehovah witnesses belief that they have different religion traditions than Christian denominations such that they limit the number of people who will have the privilege to go to heaven, 144,000 that is refusals of tradition of Latin cross and denying the Trinity doctrine. Jodi and her husband Pete live in North Canton Ohio not too far from my employment where Jodi works out at the local gym Bally Total Fitness, this is where we met. There was one point of the interview i.e. Jodi shared an early childhood memory

For instance, both traditions make use of beads during the performance of prayer. Pure Land Buddhism uses a string of beads that are fingered while invoking the name of the celestial Amitabha, or Amida Buddha. A ritual that is very close to the Roman Catholic practice of counting prayers and praying with a rosary. Pure Land Buddhism thus displays a strong resemblance to devotional Christianity, with a God-figure (Omitofo), a mediator (Guanyin), and a prayerful devotion resembling the rosary (Amore and Ching 273). The mediator for Chinese Pure Land prayer is Guanyin, a feminized version of the boddhisatva Avalokitesvara. Guanyin is very similar to the virgin Mary of Roman Catholicism, and as such is sometimes called the "virgin Mary of east Asia" (Amore and Ching 247) as the bodhisattva she acts as the assistant to the celestial Buddha; Amitabha (Omitofo in Chinese) who is seen as the giver of grace and salvation much the same as God is seen as the giver of grace and salvation and Mary as the mediator or assistant in Roman Catholicism (Amore and Ching 273). These observations display a definite similarity in prayer techniques between the traditions in question. Both traditions make use of beads as a means for counting the prayers recited, also the fact that the prayers are directed to the female assistants of the supreme deities could mean that the followers thought a female mediator to be more compassionate to the needs of the worshipper.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It is the oldest and fourth largest religion in the world with around 500 million followers. Buddhism focuses on teaching people how to come to terms with and end the suffering of themselves and others by cutting out greed, hatred, and ignorance from their lives. Unlike most major world religions, Buddhism does not revolve around worshiping a god or divine creator, instead the focus of Buddhism is living one 's best life and transforming the lives of others. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Enlightenment and upon death achieve Nirvana, the liberation of pain and suffering. For Buddhists, it is the individual’s responsibility to find his or her own path to enlightenment; the principles of Buddhism are seen more as guidelines than rules.

The speaker started the service by speaking about Buddha as a philosopher, not God. This Buddhist temple practices Theravada, and bows to 3 things: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Theravada is one of the four types of Buddhism. The other three types are Mahayana, Tibetan, and Zen/Chan. Buddhism exemplifies as a very pragmatic religion (The Four Noble Truths). “The followers take joy in a straight-forward approach to life, and they do not indulge in metaphysical speculation about first causes. As most religion have a theology and worship a deity, Buddhists do not have one. This religion believes that it is impossible to make a permanent relationship with anything because the world is constantly changing” (The Four Noble Truths).

R During the interview in many occasions I wanted to stop her and tell her that she was lost to hold Jesus in high regard, believing Him to be only a great spiritual teacher, or guru, although he was God who became man. How can she take his name and use it to diverge the truth about him. However I did not, because I was aware that I was getting there and I stopped. At least to me, among the other faith I have learned about, the subtlety I discovered in that sect would require a broader assessment tool to deal with the challenges it comprises in order to provide holistic care.

Buddhism first appeared in India between the 5th and 6th BCE and is considered to be one of the oldest practiced religion and philosophy. It is a way of life that is governed by a series of passages and countless rules. These passages and rules are meant to enable an individual to further their growth as an agent of transformations to reach the ultimate goal of enlightenment. Though Buddhism, as its original form, is a strict and non peruvious practice of life, it provides of practical outlook on life and how one should be with their environment. The first teaching or the first Dharma, dictated by Siddhartha Gautama, were the Four Noble Truths. Not only are the four noble truths the backbone of Buddhism and they help us understand the