Buddhist teachings in conjunction with the XVII Dalai Lama have an immense impact on the daily lives of Buddhist adherents worship and the formation of ethical decisions in regards to abortion. Buddhist teachings consisting of the Five Precepts, The Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path, and the natural laws of Karma and Nirvana influence and guide adherents through important ethical decisions. Puja influences adherents as it sets out to seek clarification on Buddhist teachings, especially in regards to The Three Marks of Existence and the Three Jewels, in combination with ethical teachings, acting but act as guide for how Buddhists can live morally and worship correctly everyday in order to reach the ultimate goal of Nirvana.
The XVII …show more content…
When faced with the issue of abortion, the potential abortion must only be on the grounds as being medically necessary to save either the mother or baby 's life. Buddhist ethical teachings affects the community as on a whole it influences a wide array of individuals who must come to the same conclusion, that abortion is based upon situational ethics. One must consider the Buddhist ethical teachings presented to them before making their decision. Such teachings include The Buddhist stance on abortion is highly situational, in which “I think”, describes the XVII Dalai Lama, “abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance.” (Lama, 1993). Abortion is situational according to Buddhists due to their ethical teachings. On one extreme there is the first of the Five Precepts, Ahimsa, which guides one to abstain from the killing of living things. Another ethical teaching that discourages abortion is the natural law of karma. The killing of a living thing will generate bad karma, a detraction to one 's intention of reaching Nirvana as well as negatively affecting their reincarnation cycle. The Buddha himself also taught against killing, as he tells Angulimal, a mass murderer who encounters Siddhartha Gautama, that “If you cannot create, you have no right to destroy.” (Osho, 2013). Buddhism however is utilitarianism, and as such Buddhists teachings …show more content…
Puja allows for the clarification of the Three Jewels as “ “Just close eyes, meditate!”” (Cheong Kok, 2011). Proper meditation allows one to clarify and reflect upon buddhist teachings, ensuring that they are indeed on the right track to achieving Nirvana. Puja also again links back to the second Noble Eightfold Path, as to be effective it is about intention. For Puja to be effective an influence one 's life then they must clearly contribute to the practice mentally, not just physically, as “(Proper meditation is) single-minded intense sitting without burning incense, worshipping, reciting . . . , practising repentance, nor reading sutras.” This can be seen through the burning of incense. The burning of incense is used to prevent odorous distractions that may disrupt the senses and affect the puja, however, an experienced Buddhist will have already acknowledged Dhukka and thus can 't get distracted from the path by materialistic distractions, as he realises that all distractions are in fact just illusions of the world. Thus, the true meaning of Puja is to realise that intentions are more important then their actions; in which rather than focusing on the physical and material segment of temple puja, one should focus more on the
The XVII …show more content…
When faced with the issue of abortion, the potential abortion must only be on the grounds as being medically necessary to save either the mother or baby 's life. Buddhist ethical teachings affects the community as on a whole it influences a wide array of individuals who must come to the same conclusion, that abortion is based upon situational ethics. One must consider the Buddhist ethical teachings presented to them before making their decision. Such teachings include The Buddhist stance on abortion is highly situational, in which “I think”, describes the XVII Dalai Lama, “abortion should be approved or disapproved according to each circumstance.” (Lama, 1993). Abortion is situational according to Buddhists due to their ethical teachings. On one extreme there is the first of the Five Precepts, Ahimsa, which guides one to abstain from the killing of living things. Another ethical teaching that discourages abortion is the natural law of karma. The killing of a living thing will generate bad karma, a detraction to one 's intention of reaching Nirvana as well as negatively affecting their reincarnation cycle. The Buddha himself also taught against killing, as he tells Angulimal, a mass murderer who encounters Siddhartha Gautama, that “If you cannot create, you have no right to destroy.” (Osho, 2013). Buddhism however is utilitarianism, and as such Buddhists teachings …show more content…
Puja allows for the clarification of the Three Jewels as “ “Just close eyes, meditate!”” (Cheong Kok, 2011). Proper meditation allows one to clarify and reflect upon buddhist teachings, ensuring that they are indeed on the right track to achieving Nirvana. Puja also again links back to the second Noble Eightfold Path, as to be effective it is about intention. For Puja to be effective an influence one 's life then they must clearly contribute to the practice mentally, not just physically, as “(Proper meditation is) single-minded intense sitting without burning incense, worshipping, reciting . . . , practising repentance, nor reading sutras.” This can be seen through the burning of incense. The burning of incense is used to prevent odorous distractions that may disrupt the senses and affect the puja, however, an experienced Buddhist will have already acknowledged Dhukka and thus can 't get distracted from the path by materialistic distractions, as he realises that all distractions are in fact just illusions of the world. Thus, the true meaning of Puja is to realise that intentions are more important then their actions; in which rather than focusing on the physical and material segment of temple puja, one should focus more on the