Buddhism
By Nicole D.
I chose to do my project on buddhism because its aways stood out for me and looked interesting. Every Buddhist I've seen seem to be very content and happy with their life, it could just be a coincidence or my imagination but I thought I'd use this opportunity to look more into the religion. I have been studying online for a few weeks now, at first it was about half an hour every second day or so until this week when I spent 2 hours solid researching online, and another hour while writing this.
Buddhism is a spiritual tradition followed by approximately 300 million people worldwide focusing on attaining the state of nirvana and developing the deep insight into the true nature of life. Buddhists don't believe in a personal God, however they do follow the basic outline/teachings of the first founder of Buddhism Siddhartha Gotama. Siddhartha was born in the Himalayan mountains as a prince, raised by his father after his mother died. He was taught by the wisest and given everything he wanted, still unhappy with his life he left his wife and son detaching himself from all his possessions. Siddhartha traveled east and ended up meditating in a tree until enlightenment then continued traveling across countries spreading his teachings. Siddhartha became the Buddah, although he is not a God and is not worshiped as one, he is just a man who taught the way to enlightenment.
Buddhism is believed to be more of a philosophy or way of life, the path of a Buddhist is very interesting and can be summed up by
-learning to lead a moral life
-to be mindful and aware of ones actions
-to develop wisdom and understanding
These points are very interesting to me as they never seem to be emphasized very much in many western religions although they are very simple thoughtful ways to live your life even if you aren't a Buddhist.
Many people think Buddhists worship the statues of Buddha (I was one of those people also) Buddhists that keep a statue of Buddha recognize the statue as a sign of respect and a reminder to smile and strive for a state of peace.
Buddhist interests me because it is such a flexible religion/way of life. There are many different kinds of Buddhism varying in different countries depending on their customs and culture. Buddhism is also very tolerant of all beliefs and religions, some people are Buddhists but also believe in another religion with it. Such as in Japan, most people are Shintoists and Buddhists as the beliefs go very well with one another.
There are four noble truths in Buddhist that are taught:
1.) Duhka-illness, pain, dissatisfaction, and anguish are everywhere
2.) Samudaya- the cause of suffering is attributable to cravings and illusions created by self centerness
3.) Nirodha- suffering is removed when one reaches a state of Nirvana (remove self centerness)
4.) Marga- this path leads to the end of suffering
Although I may not agree fully with all the concepts of the four noble truths I find them very interesting. What I can take from this is that we may be the cause of our own suffering and unhappiness , if we try and truly be happy by removing our self centred greed and attachment to material things we might be happier with ourselves.
Buddhists belief in reincarnation, being on a cycle of life and entering one of the six realms depending on ones life's karma. All while trying to attain enlightenment and reaching a state of Nirvana. The six realms include, Heaven, Humanity, Titans, Hungry Ghosts, Animals and Hell.
A part of Buddhist belief that I actually belief myself is Karma.
Karma is the law that every cause has an effect, the responsibility of ones past and present actions. Looking at the intention behind our actions, the effects on oneself and others. Although I do not belief karma to the degree most Buddhists do, I think its an important way to think at times.
I decided to learn about the basic outline of Buddhist beliefs because honestly I never had a solid knowledge of what the beliefs were. Now I know enough background to have an idea of what Buddhism is about. I do like the idea that a religion can be so open to other religious views and do not focus on the negative but rather self awareness and being basically a better person. I may not belief in all of Buddhisms practices but its defiantly an interesting concept to me. Since I've only studied online I would be interested in perhaps going to a temple or talking to someone who practices Buddhism, maybe even participating in a sort of meditation would be fun. All of the points I've written above are things I never knew about the religion, I figured it would be easier to study a religion if I was legit interested in it, but also didn't know much about it. I did know a few points and tidbits about the religion but nothing near what I know now. I don't know much about any religion, I would have to say other than my own beliefs I would be most familiar with Buddhism. I think my favourite point is the openness of the religion, it's so flexible and welcoming, very non intimidating to me. If I was going to look into Buddhism more, I would head to the Kelowna Buddhist Temple. If I ever happened to travel to an asian country like Japan I would be very very interested in going to one of their temples and participating in some of the customs or watching a service of some kind.
My Resources:
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm
http://www.kelownabuddhisttemple.org/intro-to-buddhism
Statue: 3100_01.jpg
Hopefully this covered all the points of my Buddhist exploration journey :)
I dont know how many words this is though, I hope its enough!
Nicole
