The Two Paths

death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism. In order to reach Nirvana a person must follow the eightfold path, which helps a person avoid the extreme of self-torture that weakens one’s intellect and the extreme of self-indulgence that retards one’s spiritual progress. In the short story “Teddy” by J.D. Salinger the main character Teddy follows the eightfold path in order to achieve his goal to reach Nirvana. He does this by talking to all kinds of people about life and the…

According to the Buddha, karma of varying types can lead to rebirth as a human, an animal, a hungry ghost, a denizen of hell, or even one of the Hindu gods (Philosophy of Religion). According to Philip A. Pecorino; “The ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its inherent suffering. To achieve this goal is to attain nirvana, an enlightened state in which the fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance have been quenched. After attaining nirvana, the…

Karma plays a large role in shaping an individual in both religions but is not the only agent effecting believers in both religions. The idea of ridding attachment and living through suffering is the next step to understand knowledge and Nirvana. This path in both religions involves many steps and many practices that can never be explained by simply using words. Understand the self and learning of knowledge is the…

The main two divisions are Theravada and Mahayana. These two differ as much as the different branches of Christianity, while their core beliefs might be the same they are very different. Theravada Buddhism can be found mostly in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Mahayana…

This final reflection paper is to articulate how my thinking of soul and afterlife has been enlarged in light of three different religions, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. So, this paper consists of two sections dealing with soul and afterlife. In each section, I elaborate how other religions can be integrated with my Christian belief. 1. Soul As an indispensable element, soul is constitutive of a human being. Surely, there is no explicit mention of soul at the beginning of creation in the Old…

changes the way that an individual think. On the other hand, believing in souls is one of the main focuses of Hinduism. According to some scholars, the founder of Hinduism is unknown since it has started thousands years ago. In Hinduism, there are two types of souls, an individual 's soul, and the supreme soul which is known as the Brahman. Hinduism people should strive to achieve what are called four ends of human life during their stay in this mortal world. Understanding the concepts of each…

liberation of this endless suffering known as duhka. Through the unwavering following of the Eightfold Path one may reach Nirvana, an end to the cycle of life and rebirth and ultimately the end to the suffering caused and created by that cycle. The notion of no-self and Nirvana are two of the most fundamental doctrines of Buddhism, however they seem to be contradictory,…

large variety of people. Based on personality type or choice, a person can select his or her individual path to God through four types of yoga: Bhakti, Jnana, Karma, and Raja. At any point in time when they a parishioner feels as a form of yoga is no longer guiding them to enlightenment, he or she can choose a different yoga of his or her choice in order to further himself or herself on the path to reach Atman. Although Hinduism has a general outline for followers to think and meditate, the…

these events still effect our world today. Ancient religions are numerous; however, few have carried into our current world. There are not many belief systems which continue to hold influence over people today, but there are two ancient beliefs which have continued to do so. These two are certainly worth mentioning and comparing: Buddhism and Confucianism. There is little room to discuss the similarities as Buddhism holds a spiritual perspective, while Confucianism holds a secular perspective. …

He was born as a member in a warrior caste, but became unsatisfied with his lifestyle that was filled with inner longing and emptiness. Once he realized this, Siddhartha left behind his wife and two children to embark on a six year quest to discover the purest virtues of life and to escape suffering of material existence. Upon his journey, God sent him four passing sights: one with sickness and disease, one with old age, one who had died, and a…