Bodhi

of sati (mindfulness). Gethin (2011) recommended that mindfulness serves as a 'watchman', securing the mind/body. Along these lines, every individual recognizes what to do or what to see at the time, so that thoughts, feelings and perceptions do not get in the way or take over the mind. NhâtHanh (2007) noted that the Buddha engaged in mindfulness through daily meditation practice with the intention of developing the ability to live mindfully with a calm, still, and quiet mind open to different…

A day after the war was over as legends say, Ashoka went out to the city and all he could see was scattered corpses and burned houses. “What have I done?” was the famous question he cried after the sight made his sick. Later Ashoka apologized for the Kalinga war and reassures the people away from his empire that he has no expansionist intentions towards them. The brutality of the conquest took him into adopting what he once knew of Buddhism. Using his position and newly way of thought on life to…

In chapter 3, the author talks about Buddha’s life cycle. Buddha’s life began when his mother had a dream about giving birth to a great ruler or a holy man. Buddha believes that life begins from the common pain we share. Buddha’s teachings were about understanding the joyful or blissful nature of reality. He wanted people to understand the bliss and the joy in passing away. He wanted people to understand that death was ok because after life came reincarnation. The Buddha ancestry goes back to…

A being known as 'the sage' is often mentioned in the writings of Chinese Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi. The sage is represented as a divine ideal — a being who expresses the ultimate wisdom, yet physically, is a human being. According to Zhuangzi, the perspective of a sage is embodied by a divine acceptance in the inherent subjectivity if all things; or in other words, rejecting to choose a single perspective and in doing so allowing all perspectives to coexist in their own 'rightness'. This must…

There are about 535 million Buddhists worldwide, representing 7% of the world’s total population. Buddhism is more of a way of life, rather than a religion. It is also considered a philosophy. Buddhist path can be summed up to lead a moral life, to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and to develop wisdom and understanding. Following are descriptions of the main Buddhist deities. Medicine Buddha is a legendary Buddha. He represents the nature of healing in the Buddha’s teachings. Some…

Guanyin and Avalokiteśvara, both bodhisattvas were exhibited in front of our class in the Trout Gallary. The comparasion between two statues gave me a great impression because they two were basically the same person but looked so differently as statues. Both of them are representations of Buddha: one aspired to help all sentient beings be free of suffering while the other tried to reach the Nivana. Even though Guanyin and Avalokitesvara differ from each other from a very large extent based on…

Sudden enlightenment, as it is seen in Zen and Vajrayana Buddhism, is the belief that liberation from samsara and the attainment of liberation occurs in a specific instance of time, and that such an event is typically followed by a lifetime of practice. This differs from classical Buddhist sects such as Theravada, which believe in gradual enlightenment; the process of practicing Buddhism in order to attain enlightenment after death. Sudden enlightenment was introduced by Shen-Hui, who was a…

Ancient India Timeline Event: Buddhism Date: 563 B.C.E. - 1100 C.E. (India) Information: The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) was born in the noble caste in India 563 B.C.E. At age 29 he rejected the life of luxury to seek enlightenment and the solution to suffering Followed a strict ascetic lifestyle for six years Rejected this extreme, and sat in meditation, then achieved Nirvana - an awakening to the truth about life - becoming a Buddha (The Awakened One), at age 35 The Buddha taught the four…

Background: Buddhism is considered to be a path of spiritual development that ultimately leads to the insight of the true nature of reality. To Buddhists, meditation is a way of changing yourself in order to develop admirable qualities such as awareness, kindness, and wisdom. Buddhism is all about experience. The experience developed among the Buddhist tradition over many years has lead to a resource for all those who wish to follow such a path. Such a path ultimately leads into Enlighten.…

Since the beginning of mankind, humans have searched for collective actualization in order to truly understand themselves and the world around them. The concept of self-discovery is explored in the novel, Siddhartha, through the spiritual journey of the main character during the lifetime of the historical Buddha. Originally a Brahman, a member of the highest Hindu class, Siddhartha abandons his life in hope of finding wisdom and reaching Nirvana, the final goal of Buddhism. Throughout the novel,…