Dukkha

Siddhartha’s life mimics the Buddha’s: departure from father’s home, years spent battling/struggling with worldly desires and utmost asceticism, and the realization of the Middle Path as the only road to Enlightenment. The major difference: the Buddha left a body of sermons and teachings, unlike Siddhartha. Being (Gotama) is represented in the existence of a man who has found unity. Becoming (Siddhartha) is represented in the presence of a man who has identified himself with perfection although…

What do you believe Buddhism should identify as the fundamental problem of sentient existence: ignorance or craving? In answering this question, one must delve deeply into the ideals of Buddhism and assess the ways in which the ideology acknowledges our existence as a whole. To clarify, I will define the terms ignorance and craving. Ignorance can be defined as “the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness;” whereas craving can be defined as “an intense, urgent…

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Untouchables (Dalits). Ambedkar was born into an ‘Untouchable’ family. He was the first untouchable to attend college and earn advanced degrees at Columbia University and London School of Economics. He was India’s most radical thinker and an eminent…

Buddhism is a widespread Asian religion or philosophy, founded by Siddartha Gautama in North East India in the 5th century BC. The main Buddhist teachings I will be discussing in this assessment are Four Noble truths and Eightfold path. The definition of suffering in Buddhism is the belief that all things are suffering, due to the desire to seek permanence or recognize the self when neither exist. Suffering comes in many forms. Three obvious kinds of suffering correspond to the first three…

In the broad sense, dependent arising is something I would consider a simple idea. In my interpretation, dependent arising refers to the concept that everything arises due to something else. It is basically a cause-effect theory in Buddhism. However, when you begin to dissect what Buddha really means when he brings up the core idea of dependent arising, it can seem perplexing. For the most part it seems that Buddhists use the principle to illustrate life, specifically birth and death, and how…

Cultures are usually diffuse within close regions along with communication of travelers to local people. Just like the practice of Buddhism has travel through the silk road from India to many other countries such as China, Japan, Korea and even Thailand. Today, I will compare the Buddha sculpture from Indian culture to the Standing Buddha sculpture from the Thailand culture. Although both works of art are from different geography regions, we tend to think the two sculptures are very different…

Bioethics within the Buddhism parameter are largely stipulated by its ethical codes, which are derived from the concept of karma, eightfold path, four noble truths and the five precepts. These heavily influence the life of adherents and present Buddhism as a dynamic living religion that is incorporated into daily lives. Buddhist ethics are ultimately founded in the natural law of the universe as they centred on the goal of liberating adherents from the constraints of karmic causality to become…

In order to appropriately answer this question, we must first look at the prerequisites for being termed a Theravada Buddhist or a disciple of Shintoism. While identifying the various aspects of either religion, we can make head-to-head arguments for and against their exclusivity. When considering the argument for the practice of both these religions at the same time, it must be understood that in order to fully devote one’s self to a religion that person cannot falter from the line of thought…

Tipitaka, or as Buddhists refer to it, The Three Baskets, are a number of scriptures from which Theravada Buddhism develops. These ThreeBaskets refer to the three receptacles that contained the scrolls form which the Buddha’s sermons and teachings were originally written andconserved. The Three Baskets consist of Sutra (Discourse Basket) ,Abhidarma (Higher Knowledge and Special Teachings Basket), andVinaya (Rules and Regulations). Within the Three Baskets, there is the Sutra whichcontains the…

Siddhartha, written by Hermann Hesse, is a book that explains the life of a young Buddhist, Siddhartha. He sets out on a spiritual journey to find hope within himself and his idea of beliefs. As he travels, he stumbles and ends up where he started off again. His tour is a true image on what occurs in somebody's life daily. Although in Hermann Hesse's novel he portrays the story from a Buddhist perspective, it provokes individualism and realism compared to today's society with self reliance,…