Bodhi

Siddhartha was a rather intriguing young man, the son of a wealthy Brahmin. He experienced a life of pleasures, living among this higher class. He was happy here until he felt he could never reach enlightenment under the teachings of his father and set out to start his own enlightened path. Siddhartha was written by Herman Hesse, based on India during the Buddhist movement. Hesse was a German born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, in 1946 he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Hesse portrays Siddhartha

Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Theravada Buddhism. It can be attained by the cessation of duhkha, or suffering, which is the third truth of the Four Noble Truths. This suffering is caused by the human sensation of craving. One of the verses in the Dhammapada is: “If a man watches not for nirvana, his cravings grow like a creeper and he jumps from death to death like a monkey in the forest from one tree without fruit to another.” (Dhammapada, 334) This simile illustrates the proper path to the

The temple experience varied dramatically from person to person. It even drove one among us to leave early. Unfortunately, I identify with those who were disquieted with the experience within the Hsi Lai Temple. This isn’t to say that it was a negative experience or that there was nothing to learn from it, but there are multiple versions of simplicity and this is only one of them. It just happens that this is not the example that I perceive as true, nitty-gritty simplicity. The definition of simplicity

Buddha said, “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” Truth is a very important part of this story “Like the Sun”. This story features Sekhar. Sekhar is a teacher with a belief that just as people avoid staring at the sun, people avoid confronting the truth. He recognises that people purposely change what they say to avoid hurting others. In order to prove his point he decides to speak only the truth for one day, no matter what the consequences may be. His headmaster

Hesse describes a great psychological secret- unintentional and spontaneous spiritual rebirth. The same happened to the historic Buddha who was only able to experience enlightenment after he had given up looking for it. Siddhartha is only able to find his new self when he is definitely willing to give up his old one. Siddhartha's experience of a rebirth and his way of life after this experience is parallel to the third stage of Hesse's preoccupation with India and its individual and creative way

The Wheel of life has six main sections which represent the six realms it was designed by the Buddha in order to simplify his teachings to ordinary people. The six realms are understood as the forms of existence into which people are born according to their Karma. The realms can also be interpreted as real life situations and it also contains images that represent the three poisons (ignorance, attachment and aversion). Karma, the six realms of samsara, impermanence, nirvana and the Buddha these are

The Buddha’s view on life and the world is more often than not deeply misunderstood. When examining the foundation in which all the Buddha’s teachings are built upon, the Four Noble Truths, there is a tendency to become fixated on only the first that can be encompassed by the phrase “life is suffering”. Clinging to this simple phrase rather than seeing the whole picture painted by the Buddha is the downfall and where the idea of pessimism is born. Instead the Buddha is seen as an embodiment of joy

After my interview with The Buddha, I found two Hindus in power that were willing to tell me about their perceptions of Buddhism. One Hindu stated that Buddhism has always seemed to be not a new religion to him, but more of a natural development of the Indian mind religiously, philosophically, socially and politically. The other Hindu did not support Buddhism and stated that even though Siddhartha may have achieved peace next to the river, the merchants continued to rob, the elites continued to

The Heart Sūtra is a record of Buddha’s words and deeds during his lifetime in Magadhi, and the earliest extant text is written in Sanskrit in 609 CE, which was found at the Horyuji Temple as a palm-leaf manuscript. It is often cited as ‘the best-known’（Pine 2004, pp. 16）and ‘most popular Buddhist scripture of all’ (Nattier 1992, pp. 153). The emergence of Buddhism was in ancient India during the second half of the first millennium BCE. At the time, it was social and religious turmoil because of

The main goal of any religion is to gain an idea of understanding and reasoning in one’s life. Religion is a vast hole with endless conceptions concerning the purpose for existence, as well as moral principles for how individuals should live their one life. Religion is sacred and vital in the Japanese society. Japan is a remarkable country with endless temples and shrines for praying, donating, and ceremonies. Yet, the modern lifestyle and urbanization in Japan continues to emerge. This realization