Buddhism In China Essay

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Buddhism in China has overcome many contradictions and barriers in order to fully develop in China. Due to the contrast of Confucianism and Daoism, Buddhism was pushed to adapt to the Chinese lifestyle by worshipping ancestors and joining China’s hierarchical system. Now, Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in Asia and has expanded to many different forms across Southeast Asia. In specific, the Chinese lifestyle and culture has been greatly impacted by Buddhism such as the schools and historical temples. Although Buddhism plays a dominant role in Chinese society today, the real question is whether the original Buddhism, the Doctrine of Enlightenment, could have flourished in the Chinese culture without adaptation. In order to understand the final answer of the survival of the Doctrine of Enlightenment in China, we will breakdown the analysis into the following three parts: the origin of …show more content…
After leaving his palace to seek a more selfless life, his own personal journey away presents the theme of the paradoxes of life. For example, even when life is full of great things, you want more and are left unsatisfied. The human instinct to always want more and need more is the reason for never being fully happy. Buddha believed that life was always going to include suffering and it was a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The four noble truths symbolize his personal testimony to the secret of life. The four truths include the following: Dukkha, Samudaya, Niroda, and Magga. The first truth signifies that suffering is a normal part of life; it is human nature. The second truth seeks to find the cause of suffering which can either be from desire or ignorance. Desire refers to pleasure, material goods, etc. Ignorance symbolizes anger, envy, and hatred. The third truth is the achieving Nirvana, rebirth or a state free from suffering. The fourth truth is maintaining the end of suffering through the Noble Eightfold

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