Buddhism, Religion, Traditions, Practices, And Rituals

Religions across the globe have their own distinctive rites and rituals, idols, traditions, and values. Each have in common a desire to explain something unexplainable by common wisdom, or attributing some aspect of life to some higher power. Many religions have at their heart etiological stories, which explain some sort of natural phenomenon through the physical manifestation of their deity or deities. From high winds and thunderstorms to love, fertility, and the sun, such religions focus on the physical world in this life. Other religions try to explain the "next" life or the afterlife. These religions usually give a moral code to live by, with stricter adherence to this code offering a better afterlife.

Buddhist patients believe that space has a great impact on their lives. They believe that the space they inhabit directly affects their health (Das,1997). Spatial interactions can be manifested as patients bringing items from home to the hospital in order to create a healing space for themselves, or it can simply be a patient meditating in their room in order to change the energy in the space. Each patient will have his or her own personal view on space, and the nurse should be sensitive to this.

The Buddhist path requires courage, patience, flexibility and intelligence. Compassion includes qualities of sharing, readiness to give comport, sympathy, concern, caring. In Buddhism, we can really understand others, when we can really understand ourselves, through wisdom. Buddhist teachings can be understood and tested by anyone. Buddhism teaches that they solutions to our problems are within us not outside. The Buddha asked all his followers not to take his word as true, but rather to test the teachings for themselves. (Brian White)

Those who are raised within one religious tradition may find it difficult to understand the traditions of another religion. It is not until one is educated in the basics of the other major world religions, that it is possible to see the many similarities between them. Just as there are many similarities between the countries culturally, the major religions share more things than they are different. In viewing Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism with an open mind, it is easy to see the differences, similarities and ideals that make these religions as widespread as they are.

In the world today, there are dozens of religions that have spread all over to many parts of the world to promote their idea of spiritual enlightenment and peace. One of the interesting things that occurs with some of these religions is after it spreads to a new area, how it becomes popular with the people and becomes a part of everyday life. The religion of Buddhism is one of these that had this effect when it began to spread from India where it originated, to many Asian countries especially China where it would have the biggest impact. In China, Buddhism would take root and would grow to become a popular religion in the country much like the other major religions of China, Confucianism and Taoism, which together with Buddhism would later be known as the “Three Teachings”. Additionally, at some point Buddhism would began to lose its popularity in India due to Hinduism, which had absorbed some of the features of Buddhism and another famous religion from India Jainism, in order to re-emergence as the major religion of India. In China, this would not be the case, as it would continue to grow and remain strong long after it fell out of popularity in India. This study will explore some of the ways of how Buddhism was able to prosper and survive longer in China where in India it was only able to last until Hinduism re-remerged as the major religion for India.

Throughout the class we have learned about four different religions. Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity are all very complex and interesting religions, but all of them are very different from each other. Hinduism and Buddhism are very similar while Christianity and Judaism are similar. The two with the most differences would be Buddhism and Christianity. There are many differences between the two religions, but when a person puts them side by side there are three major differences that pop out at them. Those differences are, who each religion worships, the sacred text of the two, and finally the idea of life after death or the afterlife. Yes, almost all religions have commonalties between them, like prayer or meditation, or even the idea of a human messiah sent by their deity, but at the core of these two religions are very different from each other. In order to understand these differences in greater detail one must look at the origins of the two religions and look at the little differences before you can explore the three larger ones.

Buddhism originated in India and spread throughout Asia, where it is most heavily concentrated today. Buddhism spread early to Tibet and Sri Lanka, where it continues to be a popular religious practice today. Along with the inherent similarities one would expect, both countries have many differences in the beliefs and practices associated with each form of Buddhism.

Buddhism, as with any other religion, was created in a certain place at a certain time. Buddhism’s roots are formed in the idea that are part of the environment where it was created. One of the important areas of this religion was the valley of the Ganges River. This river runs west to east across most of the northern part of India. It was there that Buddhism first began and flourished. Later it would spread to the southern part of India. During Buddha, which was around 500 B.C. this area was undergoing a huge period of religious development.

Buddhism has been around for thousands of years and has millions of followers who search to seek enlightenment through the teachings of Buddha (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/bud_statwrld.htm). Buddhism is a religion based off the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who became The Buddha, or enlightened one. The ultimate goal of human life in Buddhism is self-realization and self-enlightenment. The Buddha taught if we follow his teachings we can achieve enlightenment and can reach Nirvana, which means no cravings (http://www.buddhismtoday.com/english/buddha/Teachings/presentlife.htm).

Gender relations being an important part of the society, plays a major role in understanding religion and religious practices. In this essay, I am discussing two patterns on a ritual at a Buddhist temple, based on my observations, and how they connect to gender-related religious theory. The ritual I attended was at a Buddhist temple named West End Buddhist Temple in Mississauga. It was based on meditation led by a monk, the male instructor. It started with a story of Buddha, the divine figure of the religion, followed by a set of instructions and pieces of advice by the monk. This was accompanied with a guided silent meditation session. It ended with chants and prayers to god and the divine, Buddha. The ritual had several parts which explicitly or indirectly exposed the role of gender in the ritual and to a small extent in the religion. Theories of religion based on gender are tools to better understand how gender is interconnected to religion and its role in religious practices. This essay argues how, observations on pattern of male dominance during the ritual aligns with Mary Daly’s theory on androcentrism in religion. It also analyzes how the observations on pattern of equality among the participants interrelates with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of counter-hegemony.

Looking at the 5 religions I feel that Buddhism exemplifies a great ethical outlook on the world. I feel that Buddhist are very peaceful and caring of the entire world. The goal of Buddhism is striving to find balance and peace within a world filled with suffering. With that being said the goal of Buddhism is to modify a person’s behaviors and cognitive beliefs, onto a path of moral perfection. They want the world to be completely free of greed, hatred and delusion. These are described as unwholesome roots otherwise known as (akusalamula). Greed, hatred, delusion are all influences that people are motivated by to commit unethical acts such as destruction, harm or injury to other living beings, stealing others belongings,

Rituals have been practiced by mankind since the beginning of recorded time. Some rituals are as simple as a morning cup of coffee while others are complex and even bizarre. Even though rituals yield diminutive positive effects on individual health and well-being, rituals continue to be practiced due to an illusion of comfort that is often found in repetition. In the practice of some forms of Psychotherapy, ritual and ceremony are sometimes employed both separately and together for the purpose of stimulating parts of the mind not used in everyday activity (Vega, 1996). Buddhism and Hinduism use ritual to achieve Dharma or enlightenment, in Holistic Medicine, rituals may be exercised to alleviate pain. Rituals, in the context of religion, are interwoven into the belief of God or Gods and are customarily expressed in some form of worship (Houdmann, 2015).

The founder of Buddidism is know to be a Prince called Siddhartha Gautama, he was born in North India. He was the son of King Suddhodanna and Queen Maha Maya Devi. The young man was given the name Prince Siddhartha Gautama. As soon as the prince was born there was prediction on whether he would become a Buddah or a world leader, no one knew as it could have been either. He was born into a very rich family and everything was done for him, however his father never let him in contact with real life as he didn’t want him to experience the true nature of life yet, he only saw the greater life with no worries or concerns. However the Prince married Princess Yasodhara and had a son, who was called Rahula.

Buddhist theory and practice is based around purification of the mind, which can lead to liberation and enlightenment. One of the foundations of the Buddha’s teachings is the idea of liberation through the Four Noble Truths (also known as the Four Holy Truths). These truths are as follows: the truth of suffering, in which everything involves suffering; the truth of the cause of suffering, suffering has a cause and origin; the truth of the end of suffering, suffering can be overcome or cured; and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering, there is a path to refocus your life (Gowans, 2003). It is said that the Buddha only appreciated these four truths once he had completely achieved enlightenment (Mūller, 1890).

Buddhism was started by a man named Siddhartha Gautama (the “Buddha”). He was born ca. 563 B.C.E. in Lumbini near the Himalayan foothills. Siddhartha Gautama was the warrior son of a king and queen. Legend has it that at his birth an astrologer predicted he would withdraw from the temporal life. His father, in an effort to prevent this, provided him with many luxuries and pleasures. “As a young man, he once went on a series of four chariot rides where he first saw severe forms of suffering: old age, illness, and death (a corpse), as well as an ascetic renouncer,” according to the Asia Society (2014). The Buddha had a difficult time reconciling his life compared to human suffering and abandoned his way of life leaving his wife and new son. He lived in the forest to the point of near-starvation. Finally, he ate some food and sat down by a tree to meditate. According to some approximately six months later he attained Nirvana and discovered the true answers of suffering and the release from it.