Bodhi

Hinduism was started in India but there was no founder that can be traced back to. Shockingly Hinduism is polytheistic and has over 33 million gods. However the most common include Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. Hinduism’s holy text is Vedas. One big things in Hinduism is the caste system. They put everyone in a cast and you are in that caste your whole life. Lastly in Hinduism they believe in reincarnation and the afterlife. But their ultimate goal in life is to achieve a perfect understanding of…

From the beginning of the book Siddhartha, when he was with the Brahmins was searching for enlightenment. All his childhood and youth were with the Brahmins, he sees that he won’t find enlightenment. He decided to go his own path searching for enlightenment. The first step in Siddhartha new life is when he left home and went with the Samanas. He decided to leave his family, friends, and to follow the Samanas with his fiend Govinda. They gave up their cloth and stayed with one pice of cloth.…

The basic belief system of Buddhism revolves around the Four Noble Truths (Jacob’s lecture). The First Noble Truths is that life is marked by suffering. In Hinduism, suffering is known as “dukkha” (Prothero, 177). Prothero expands this meaning by saying “Yet each of us, no matter how rich or poor or powerful or weak, is going to get sick, grow old, and die” (182). The Second Noble Truth is that suffering has an origin (Jacob’s lecture). That origin is the human themselves (Jacob’s lecture).…

Firstly, the Buddha is called Siddhartha. The son of the king named Suddhodana and the queen named Maya. At the age of five days, Lord Suddhodana invited eight Brahmins to foretell the characteristics of Prince Siddhartha. To offer prophecy and the youngest Brahmin named kondanna predict that Prince Siddhartha will be enlightened as the Buddha. When Prince Siddhartha grew up until he was 16 years old, he married and at the age of 29 he had a son. Prince Siddhartha was in the nostrils until one…

In Hinduism the purpose to life is to attain enlightenment. There are four steps in which a person can attain enlightenment: by fulfilling one's purpose (dharma), being prosperous or successful (artha), by obtaining an appropriate pursuit of pleasure (kama), and lastly to be liberated from rebirth (moksha) (The Meaning…). In the universe there are two main principals energy (Shakti) and consciousness (Shiva). One cannot exist without the other. Shakti is viewed as a feminine force that is the…

A simple look at Buddhism and its 2,500 year long history. Through careful research, Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chödzin discuss multiple aspects of Buddha and Buddhism. This book covers Buddha's life and historical background. In addition, the book discusses Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism explaining the similarities, differences, and origins of each. The text provides meditation instructions, an explanation of reincarnation, images of Buddhist art and architecture, as well as…

The Lives of Jesus and Buddha First of all, who are Buddha and Jesus? “The Buddha who is the founder of the Buddhist religion is called Buddha Shakyamuni “Shakya” is the name of the royal family into which he was born, and “Muni” means “Able One” (About Buddha). Buddha was born as a royal prince in 624 B.C. in a place called Lumbini in a garden beneath a sala tree. His parents were King Suddhodana and Queen Maha Maya and they didn't have children until they were twenty years into their…

Nibbana is the ultimate goal for most, if not all, Buddhists. It is indescribable and can only be understood through experience, although those who have experienced it do attempt to explain it for the benefit of those seeking it. They say Nibbana is not a place, but a state of mind. It is complete liberation from suffering, the end to Samsara. As the Buddha once said, “It is the utter cessation of that craving, the withdrawal from it, the renouncing of it, the rejection of it, liberation from it…

In response to a group of six Buddhist figures in the Harvard Art Museums, this display takes the viewer back in time and showcases the beauty of nature and the importance of appreciating pieces of art in their original forms and environments. Located in the Early East Asian gallery of the Harvard Art Museums, a collection of five Buddhist carvings and one statue attract many visitors every day. Although these sculptures are curated together in a harmonious fashion, they actually originated from…

Buddha “the founder of the Buddhist religion”(About Buddha). Buddha is not a god in fact he was a person. “There is great disagreement between the different Buddhist traditions as well as between historians about when the Buddha lived, but they have come to a consensus that Buddha lived his life during the 4th century BC and that the exact dates of his birth and death cannot be established” (Buddhist Studies: Buddha, Dates of). Growing up Buddha was quite a exceptional and intellectual being.…