Gautama Buddha

the son of a king in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, who abandoned life of luxury to seek enlightenment. It was a difficult and spiritual journey. Meditating under the Bodhi tree, he attained the supreme wisdom and became an enlightened being, the Buddha, meaning the awakened one. ~2nd Slide~ When Siddhartha left his palace and luxurious life, he spent six years living an ascetic life, studying and meditating with the help from various religious teachers. But he realised that fasting,…

Nirvana. With his teachings brought about many new converts including King Asoka who had edicts made of the dharma for people to follow. Although Asoka seemingly respected and lived by the dharma, some of his beliefs and laws contradicted Buddha’s. Buddha and Asoka both believe that the dharma is to be respected and follow, but Asoka’s idea of dharma focused more on society purposes especially within this world than for religious purposes as seen with Buddha’s. Both believe that people should…

believe in a single deity, however they see gods and goddesses as a manifestation of their deity. Brahman is considered by the hindus as the superior god and the creator. Buddhists believe in finding peace and love within your self, they view the Buddha as a symbol of this. Buddhism is a more philosophical religion. One of the major differences is that Buddhism does not worship deities,…

Hinduism is a one of the oldest major religions that is still around, it is also known for being the structure of the cultural system in the Indian subcontinent. Some say that Buddhism was first branched out of Hinduism and then spread through central, eastern and southeastern Asia; it then became the religion and culture of these regions (Spodek 268). The Bhagavad Gita is key to Hinduism, also known as the “Sun God” this book is one of the most sacred and well known religious doctrines. (Spodek…

In Japan, Samurai were of the military elite during the medieval and early-modern period. In Japanese, they are known as bushi or buke. By the 12th century, the word samurai became synonymous with bushi. It was closely associated with the middle and upper ranks of the warrior class. Usually associated with a clan and their lord, the samurai also followed a set of rules that later came to be known as the bushidō. Although the samurai numbered less than 10% of Japan's former population, their…

In “Siddhartha”, by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha undergoes a tough journey of mental and physical preparation to seek knowledge where he experienced many obstacles that enhanced his wisdom up to the point where he reached enlightenment. The author portrays many obstacles that the protagonist overcomes throughout time only by the crucial preparation to reach the purest state of happiness. Siddhartha, the young falcon, realized that he was not born with knowledge; that he had to experience it in…

This piece of art that I have researched, will be writing about, and comparing to other pieces of art is the Jain Shrine. The country of origin that these shrines come from is India. Unfortunately we do not know of the artist that created any of the Jain Shrine’s in particular that are still preserved today. It is suggested that more than likely a wealthy individual from northwest India would have had this small shrine created for his own private Jainism religion purposes. Jainism is a religion…

The Bhagavad Gita recounts the story of a battle over control of a land known as Hastinapura. Arjuna, leader of the Pandavas, stands on a battlefield opposite his kin, the Kauravas, and turns to the Lord Krishna for courage. Just before the start of the battle, Arjuna has a conversation with Krishna, an avatar of Brahman, on whether or not battling his own family is the right thing to do, for it seems to be one of the greatest sins. In response, Krishna advises Arjuna not to question God’s will…

In the early modern era, as with Europe and the Protestant Reformation, China and India would go through cultural changes. Prior to the changes, China predominantly followed Confucian ideals which it mostly still did by the early modern era. However, it now had influences from Buddhism and Daoism which formed Neo-Confucianism. Religious people such as Buddhists attempted to get more people to convert by telling them they could achieve enlightenment by conducting similar rituals as monks. Certain…

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…