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World Religious Report

By
Robert Fields
HUM/130

Buddhism can be thought of as a tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and
the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life. There are over 375 million followers
worldwide. Buddhists seek to reach a state of nirvana, following the path of the Buddha,
Siddhartha Gautama, who went on a quest for Enlightenment around the sixth century BC.
There is no belief in a personal god. Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and
that change is always possible. The path to Enlightenment is through the practice and
development of morality, meditation and wisdom. Buddhists believe that life is both endless and
subject to impermanence, suffering and uncertainty. These states are called the tilakhana, or the
three signs of existence. Existence is endless because individuals are reincarnated over and over
again, experiencing suffering throughout many lives. It is impermanent because no state, good or
bad, lasts forever. Our mistaken belief that things can last is a chief cause of suffering.
The history of Buddhism is the story of one man's spiritual journey to enlightenment, and of the
teachings and ways of living that developed from it.
The Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was born into a royal family in present-day Nepal over 2500
years ago. He lived a life of privilege and luxury until one day he left the royal enclosure and
encountered for the first time, an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. Disturbed by this he became
a monk before adopting the harsh poverty of Indian asceticism. Neither path satisfied him nor did
he decide to pursue the Middle Way - a life without luxury but also without poverty.
Buddhists believe that one day, seated beneath the Bodhi tree (the tree of awakening), Siddhartha

became deeply absorbed in meditation and reflected on his experience of life until he became
enlightened.

Here are some interesting facts about Buddhism that may be of interest:
1) Buddhists go to temple, not at a special time or day, but when they can. 2) It is common for
Buddhists to go on a full moon day.
3) A Buddhist temple is called Vihara and is a place for education. In a temple, you will find a
shrine room with a large Buddha and statues of his disciples. You will also find relics and
manuscripts. There is also a lecture room, meditation room and a library. 4) Shoes are removed
before entering a temple for respect for Buddha. 5) Buddha is known as a teacher not a god.
Candles and incense sticks are lit and Buddhists recite verses in the Vihara. 6) Flowers and food
are placed on the front of the Buddhist Statue. The flowers are to remind the person that they will
not live forever. 7) The food is given to the Monks since they own nothing of their own and
Buddhists feel that giving food will help them reach Nirvana 8) The following principles are said
to help Buddhists to act well: 1. Do not to hurt living things, 2. Do not take advantage of what is
not there, 3. Use senses correctly, 4. Speak kindly, and, 5. Do not take or use drugs or alcohol.
There is a Buddhist Center called Thien Vien Chan Nguyen Buddhist Meditation Center I
discovered this place quite on accident about 1month ago while driving through the desert on my
way to Vegas. I had just driven through a very "shady" area of Adelanto and this was really the
last thing I expected to find in this area of the desert. From a distance I could see the large marble
statue of Quan Yin rising out of the dust. I made a quick pit stop on my return trip home and was
pleased to find a large Buddhist temple, a couple of monks walking the grounds, a dog, and a few

lone pilgrims offering prayers to the Great Goddess. I am not Buddhist myself but I make regular
trips here for the amount of peace I find here. Its very quiet, the marble statues are beautiful, and
there is always the smell of incense in the air. So, I walk the grounds, enjoy the quiet, and do a
little soul searching of my own. Its very easy to do in this remote and beautiful oasis in the
Mojave. I spent about 1.5 hours exploring the temple, observing pray, take pictures, and eat the
yummy vegetarian temple food. I walked around the temple ground and admired all the beautiful
white marble statues that people donated to the temple. The highlights were the sleeping Buddha
statue, the tall Phat Ba Quan Am statue in the sky, and the over 20 other various deities around
the temple.
The Chanh Dien (temple praying room) was beautiful and wonderfully designed in the
interior layout. The monks were giving away tangerines and fortunes in red envelops at the time I
was there.
Buddhism is critical about having a moral life; Buddhism is such a unique religion because it
has so many twists and so many different things that separate them from other religions. The
founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha was born into royalty in 600 B.C.
Buddhism preached across all of northern India. There are two different types of Buddhism;
there is Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Even though theyre both Buddhism
theyre very different from each other. Theravada is a strict interpretation of the teaching of
Buddhism and those that worked hard and devoted their life into hard spiritual work. Then there
is Mahayana Buddhism, which is an easier and less strict religion. If you see pictures of Buddha
you would see a god and nirvana is what they call the afterlife that involves either a heaven or
hell. Basically if you resected and did everything you are supposed to in the religion you will go
to heaven and if you did not you will go to hell.

For my religious interview assignment, I chose one of the, Buddhism. I did arrange an
interview with a monk, and he was more than happy to help me out with this project. I was able
to find out many interesting facts about Buddhism. According to the religion, the main dilemma
would be the suffering that each individual has to go through. Everyone, no matter what age or
race has to overcome some kind of obstacle, and each obstacle has its own pain to handle. Due to
this dilemma, it interferes with our life, and our way of thinking clearly. It fogs up our
consciousness, and all we can focus on is the suffering. The causes of this dilemma would be
simply greediness, hatred and anger, and ignorance. These three feelings are mainly what cause
people to act unwisely. If people could try and avoid this dilemma, by meditation,
praying, or learning to make calmer and wiser choices, then they have overcome the main
problem within society. This will help them in the future, and enlighten the minds of
others.
There is, like every other religion, an ideal state, or intimacy for individuals.
According to Buddhism, the ideal goal for a Buddhist would be to become a Buddha. It is
someone who has learned everything that the Buddha had taught us for the past centuries.
Someone who has an enlightened and an awaken mind. There are many stages of training
in order to become a monk, and move up the ranks of the monks. Once you have reached
the highest level, your goal is then to teach others what you have learned, as well as to
gain the wisdom the Buddha had. Throughout your life journey, you are building up your

meditation skills, to achieve more than you can, to aim for a higher level of meditation in
which you are able to be in touch with immortals from a different world. Even though
that is all individuals ultimate state, many are not able to reach that type of ultimacy, but
to become a high ranked monk is just as good. This is because you are highly respected
for your wisdom, and many turn to you for advice. Receiving that type of courtesy is
already considered an ideal state.
I really enjoyed this experience because I was able to learn more about his
religion. I grew up as a Catholic and after I became an adult I switch to Baptist. Therefore, being
in touch with the monks beliefs really taught me something about his faith. I was
pleased with the results, and answers that I got from my interviewee. His knowledge
about his religion was deep; he understood everything there was to know and explained it
to me in a manner in which I was able to understand. Yes, everything he said was believable,
because they are all true facts and events, which he had proof for inside the temple. He had gone
through many life events, and throughout them, his religion had remained by his side in his time
of need. Therefore, his experience was successful due to his religious beliefs.
Since I am Christian, I really did respect his religion, because some of his beliefs of
Buddhism viewed life the way that I did. Such as the views Buddhism has on euthanasia, I also
believe that euthanasia is not to be supported, and is unnecessary. One thing that I believe Id
have to learn in, this religion is to be a strict vegetarian. One of the precepts of Buddhism is

to be compassionate to all beings, and that is why they are strict vegetarians. I, however, need to
get a better understanding because I sometimes think that if everybody thought that way, the
population of the animals would overpopulate the humans. Other than that, I thought the
Interview was successful, and it was definitely an educational experience for me.
There are a few differences in Buddhism and other religions here are some: 1.There is no
almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly
Judgment Day. 2. Buddhism is strictly not a religion in the context of being a faith and worship
owing allegiance to a supernatural being. 3. No savior concept in Buddhism. A Buddha is not a
savior who saves others by his personal salvation. Although a Buddhist seeks refuge in the
Buddha as his incomparable guide who indicates the path of purity, he makes no servile
surrender. A Buddhist does not think that he can gain purity merely by seeking refuge in the
Buddha or by mere faith in Him. It is not within the power of a Buddha to wash away the
impurities of others 4. A Buddha is not an incarnation of a god/God (as claimed by some Hindu
followers). The relationship between a Buddha and his disciples and followers is that of a teacher
and student. 5. The liberation of self is the responsibility of one's own self. Buddhism does not
call for an unquestionable blind faith by all Buddhist followers. It places heavy emphasis on selfreliance, self- discipline and individual striving.
The opportunity that Ive has to do the research on Buddhism and Buddhist has given me a
different type of opinion on their religion on how and why individuals practice it. Im of the
mindset that an individual should be able to worship or practice any religion they wish because if
it works for the good of their life and puts them in a better standing with their higher power then
who are we to deny them the right to worship or practice that religion. The Buddhist caring and
respectful nature is one way that we all can view life in general because respect and caring is not

only received but given also. I feel that a majority of people have some type of religion in their
lives that governs their attitude and behavior when it comes to caring, acting, respecting, in
regards to doing the things that will bring about positive things, and results in their lives.

References

A Basic Buddhism Guide: Differences from other Religions


www.buddhanet.net/.../snaph
BBC Religion: Buddhism
www.bbc.uk/religion/religions/budd

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