Theravada

Buddhism and Sikhism are religions that are generally practiced the world over. In spite of the fact that these two religions have their starting points in the Indian subcontinent, they are diverse in many regards, for example, conviction, divinity, methods for salvation and sacred writings. When comparing the two, Sikhism is the most youthful religion on the planet. Buddhism goes back to 530 BC while Sikhism goes back to the fifteenth century. A Dharmic religion, Buddhism revolves around…

Buddhism is a religion that focuses on spiritual development and achieving a state void of suffering, known as Nirvana. It was founded in India about 2,500 years ago by Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepali prince. Gautama lived a sheltered life, and was thus oblivious to the suffering around him. However, hardships were revealed to him when he encountered an elderly, frail man, a depressed man suffering from disease, and a family grieving the death of a loved one. Once Gautama was exposed to the poor…

Today, everywhere we look we see some form of suffering. What is suffering? According to the Oxford dictionary, suffering is the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. (Oxford Dictionary ) For example, many people don’t like the way they look, others don’t like the route that their life is taking, and some aren’t satisfied with their lives. Us humans, constantly search and search for different things to make us happy. However, we may think that we have found some form or another of…

Comparison between Buddhist philosophy and Gross National Happiness philosophy Bhutan is an enlightened country where happiness is the guiding principle of development, and majority of the people are enthusiastically practicing Buddhism. Buddhism is one of the profound religion in the world which show and leads the people to the enlightenment. As a Buddhist country, we look at the welfare of all the sentient being. Similarly, the concept of Gross National Happiness is a unique philosophy which…

Siddharta Gautama was born to King Shuddhodana and Queen Maya in 566 B.C.E in southern Nepal. His tribe name was Gautama and his given name was Siddhartha. There were two possible outcomes for his life. He could inherit the throne and follow in his father’s footsteps to become a king or if he was ever exposed to the reality of suffering of the world he would become a great spiritual leader. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a king, so he protected Buddha from seeing…

The term Ghost has a Germanic origin which means Spirit or Soul. The term ‘Soul’ is complicated because various established and widely followed spiritual doctrines like Buddhism neglect the existence of soul in anybody. But it is strange that Chinese Buddhism has a concept of Hungry Ghost; quite similar to the term ‘Preta’ in Indian Buddhism and Hinduism. So Buddhism will not accept Ghost as somebody’s soul which is appearing on earthly realm to fulfill his desires indeed Ghost is used as…

Rinzai focuses on the use of the Koan. A Koan is paradoxical statement or question used as a meditative tool. Rinzai disciples concentrate on a koan to discover their own nature and become Buddhas. Practitioners must realize himself as the answer to the koan; a koan cannot be answered by knowledge or thinking. If the practitioner focuses solely on the koan, he will forget both the passing of time and the outside world. This will allow the practitioner to unexpectedly “wake up” form their former…

~1st Slide~ He lived in India 2500 years ago; who’s story of confronting suffering inspired one of the world’s greatest religions, Buddhism, the 4th largest religion in the world. While scholars agree that he did in fact live, the events of his life are still debated. But according to the most widely known story, he was 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…

For most of India, Buddha’s teachings are a way of life and a path to reaching 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…

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…