Mahayana

Consolidation of the Mind, Being, and God Just as Descartes uses triangles as a powerful tool of proof, a triangle can be created between the concepts of mind, being, and God. That is, these three notions have significant connection to each other. For the purpose of this paper, imagine that the mind, being, and God are each the vertex of a triangle with lines connecting them. The purpose of this triangle is not to add a mystical element to this paper but rather to use it as a tool to organize…

The Original Faee of Chan “Isn’t it you, just as you are right now?” (59) is a rhetorical question that Linji posed to one of his disciples which caused sudden enlightenment. Hisamatsu Shin’ichi was a Buddhist scholar born in 1889, who studied at Kyoto University and most famously taught at Harvard’s Divinity School in 1957, interprets Linji’s teachings in Critical Sermons of the Zen Tradition: Hisamatsu's Talks on Linji. Hisamatsu makes strong positive statements on Linji, saying that his…

Buddhism was a very controversial philosophy in ancient China; many philosophers and scholars had strong views and arguments for or against Buddhism’s principles. Buddhism was founded in India and brought to China around the first century C.E. Buddhism’s influences spread throughout China slowly but gained more followers after the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E and continued to spread many centuries afterwards, during the empire’s political instability. China’s broken government and…

About the 1st century AD, there are more than 100 small countries around Japan. Later, these small countries have been gradually unified. Korean’s rice cultivation and use of metal utensil technology into northern Kyushu in the 3rd century BC, rice technology has brought epoch-making changes to the Japanese society. It expanded production and resulting in a gap between rich and poor people, so it makes farmers tend political group. Farming brings faith, rituals, customs has gradually spread out…

The Standing Buddha of Thailand was made during the Ayutthaya Period, 15th-16th century, and stands at 57 and ½ inches. This bronze statue demonstrates numerous qualities of a Buddha, a fully-enlightened being who has achieved nirvana and is completely free of transmigration. Comparatively, another bronze statue known as the Standing Figure of a Youth is a Greek sculpture made c. 470 BCE, and is about nine inches tall. The statuette’s observers believe that this piece of art exemplifies the…

Buddhism in Politics Throughout Medieval Japan Buddhism originated in Northern India around 500 B.C.E. From there Buddhism started to spread all throughout Asia due to the efforts of the Mauryan King Ashoka. Delegations were sent throughout Asia to spread the teachings of Buddhism. These delegations reached as far away as Egypt all the way to China, Korea and eventually spread to Japan. Buddhism influenced cultures everywhere it went, but it was particularly impactful in East Asia. Buddhism…

Art piece 3: Bodhisattva Date: Basic outline: This piece was a mural painting from the Gupa period. The figure depicted is portrayed as a Bodhisattva because of her heavy jewelry and elaborate decor. The illusionism in this piece is seen on her face it is a type of color shading that is used to make the piece appear 3 dimensional. This piece was made by Vakataka King Harishena. The downcast eyes indicate that the figure is in a calm state is is not being disturbed by chaos or any temptations.…

In 784, the Japanese Emperor Kammu moved his court from the monastery of Nara and established a new capital in which he was able to rule better and allow Buddhism to grow. His new capital was named Heian-Kyo which translates into “The Capital of Peace and Tranquility”. As mentioned these actions allowed Buddhism to grow, schools were established to teach Buddhism the two teachers were named Saicho and Kukai. The monatery on Mt Koya was the birthing place for the Shingon School of estoteric…

Buddhism is a form of religion to find peace within themselves. It’s a way of thinking and believing of positive aspirations, happiness and contenment. It is living peacefully, and showing kindness to other people with the ultimate goal of pure and lasting happiness for all people. Following a spiritual path of the Buddha, anyone can transform from their present confused mind, to the blissful centered state of the Buddha. (aboutbuddhism.org) Zen is one of the major schools of Buddhism, and…

During this early period of constant political and military conflict, Buddhism found an accepting audience in China, while the influence of Confucianism slowly died out. Buddhism arrived in China in the 1st century AD as the religion of merchants who came from Central Asia. During the next three centuries, /the Chinese encountered a great variety of ideas and practices identified as Buddhist. Buddhism differed markedly from earlier Chinese religions and philosophies. A universal religion, it…