Mahayana

Wheel of Dharma. His teaching includes “the Sutra of the Four Noble Truths”, which “are the principal sources of Hinayana, the Lesser Vehicle, of Buddhism”. Buddha continues to teach the second and third Wheels of Dharma, which is the source of the Mahayana, the Great Vehicle, of Buddhism. Overall, Buddha Shakyamuni’s “intention in founding Buddhism was to lead living beings to permanent liberation from suffering; he realized temporary liberation from suffering and difficulties is not…

and more specifically The Eightfold Path which are simple guidelines to achieve enlightenment and The Five Precepts which are Core Ethical Teachings for right living. (Cambridge, p.98, 2011). The different Buddhist schools of thought Vajrayana, Mahayana and Theravada and the Sacred Texts and Writings including the Tripitaka (Pali Canon), Tibetan Book of the Dead and Lotus of the Good Law must be examined in order to achieve a greater understanding of how the core ethical teachings reflect the…

The topic of what exactly constitutes a World Religion is one mired in controversy due to the label being a typology which divides religious traditions into categories that some criticize as being non-inclusive of traditions that do not meet the established criteria--mislabeling them as something other than a religion. The World Religions category generally includes the traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism; though some like to to include Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and…

Cao Dai: A New Faith Kyle MacNeill World Relgions 4/4/16 “Each time that human beings suffered when societies became chaotic, a religion was founded”(CaoDai Concepts). There have been hundreds of attempts to answer questions such as why we are here and what is our purpose. When times looked bad and people had nothing to turn to faith was always there. Conflict forced similar minded people to band together and stand for what they believe in. While many chose to solve their…

Although lower classed people supported and defended Buddhism in China, others with higher social status and elites took a xenophobic position on Buddhism and attempted to eradicate it by pointing out various flaws. As Buddhism spread though China people began to react differently to the new forms of teaching. People who were in lower positions of social hierarchy however, openly accepted Buddhism as a teaching and as a religion. Zhi Dun, states “He will behold the Buddha and be enlightened in…

traveled throughout the land by way of the newspaper, and the BTS (Cox, 2010, p. 174). After the death of Ashoka, philosophy and culture were developed, Buddhist colleges were built, and various school of interpretation was developed in Theravada and Mahayana (Fisher, 2014, p. 151). I think it was a well thought out decision on Ashoka as well as U’ Dhammaloka to open up a variety of schools all over the country so that their sacred teachings would…

myths, folklore, religion, arts and culture. The oldest visual image of the human fascination, love and reverence for nature in India can be found in the 10,000 years old cave paintings at Bhimbetka in Central India depicting birds, animals and human beings living in harmony. The Indus Valley civilization provides evidence of human interest in wildlife, as seen in depicting images of rhino, elephant, bull, etc. The earliest concern for the wild life law could be traced to 3rd century B.C. when…

themselves as a Buddhist. Although the government never officially declared Buddhism to be the national religion, the king is required to be Buddhist. Buddhism in Thailand is modeled after the Theravada school of Buddhism and incorporates ideals from Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, and the old folk religion of the people. Buddhism originated in India and since then has spread all over the world, inspiring societies and cultures everywhere. Buddhism however is not a religion, The Oxford Dictionary…

While the ideas of death and care for the dead vary between cultures one thing is constant and that is death is a transition for the living and the dead. All people who live must someday die and the idea of what comes next is something that changes from culture to culture and person to person. No one has a single definitive answer as to what lies next if there is anything at all because there is no true way to measure or determine an answer. In Judaism death is a natural process, something that…

1. The Silk Road came into being partially due to the Parthians, Chinese General Zhang Jian, and trade with the nomads. The Parthians were a dynasty established by a nomadic leader in order to avoid the Seleucid kings’ control after Alexander the Great’s empire. It helped establish the Silk Road because it was located at the threshold of Central Asia and it shared customs and traded with nomads to the east. In 228 B.C.E., Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty sent general Zhang Jian across Inner Asia to…