Category: Buddhism

Introduction

According to Karen (187), Buddhism is one of the religions that are most prevalent in the Asian subcontinent. It encompasses various traditions and practices, as well as a system of beliefs that are based on the teachings of its founder. The founder of this religion is Siddhartha Gautama, a prince who forsook the throne to be a spiritual leader.

This prince is famously known as the Buddha, which is a Pali or Sanskrit word for “the awakened one” (Lama 22). This is a man who was born into a community that was peripheral to the Asian continent, both in terms of its culture and geographical location. He lived and taught, according to scholars such as Kasulis (49), in the northeastern part of India. The scholars approximate that he lived and taught between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

Two main classes of this religion are recognized and practiced both in the Indian subcontinent and other parts of the world. The first is what Wynne (73) refers to as the Theravada, or “The School of the Elders”, which is common in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Lama 31).

The second is Mahayana, or “The Great Vehicle”, which is mostly practiced throughout East Asia. It is made up of several traditions, such as the Pure Land, Zen, and Tiantai among others. Some scholars also recognize Vajrayana, which is mostly found in Tibet and Mongolia regions, as another class of Buddhism. However, others conceptualize it as a sub-branch of Mahayana (Wallace 29).

In this paper, the author is going to discuss Buddhism as a religion. Several aspects of the religion will be analyzed to this end. This includes the name of the religion followers, the history and origins of the religion including the founders, the name of the Supreme Being or God, as well as the name of the place of worship for followers of this religion.

Four major beliefs of Buddhism will also be analyzed, as well as two of the most important rituals or observances. Symbols used in the religion will also be highlighted, including their meaning and why they are used. Finally, the researcher will look at 10 key words found in Buddhism and try to define them as accurately as possible.

Name of the Religion’s Followers

A person who practices Buddhism is referred to as a Buddhist. It is noted that to be a Buddhist is to go beyond the mere practicing of the rituals and other activities that goes with religion (Kasulis 55). It is embracing, and being guided by, a set of philosophies that define the way of life. Philosophy can be taken as the “love of wisdom” (Lama 33), and seeing that a Buddhist is always seeking wisdom and enlightenment, Buddhism can then be taken as a philosophy.

A Buddhist is a person who aspires to live by the philosophies of the religion as indicated above. Wynne (73) sums up these philosophies into three. The first involves leading a moral life, which means not prioritizing pleasure in this life. The second philosophy is being mindful and aware of one’s thoughts and actions, or karma, and finally, to seek and develop wisdom and understanding (Wynne 73).

According to Wallace (30), Buddhism is regarded as the fourth largest religion of the world, following Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It is estimated that today, 376 million people around the world are Buddhists. This is a major fete considering the humble beginnings of Buddha, the founder of the religion.

Origins of Buddhism

Like other religions such as Christianity and Islam, the origins of Buddhism can be traced back to a single individual. A discourse on the origins of Buddhism that fails to mention the Buddha, or the Enlightened One, can be taken as an incomplete account of the religion.

Buddha, as indicated in the introductory part of this paper, was born as a prince. His father was the king of the Sakya tribe in latter day’s Nepal, and Buddha was born circa 566 BC (Karen 190). He left his father’s palace at the age of 29, and went to seek out spiritual enlightenment. He became the Buddha after he was enlightened following a long period of meditation.

For almost half a century, Buddha went around the plains of northeastern India teaching people the path or “Dharma” (Kasulis 56) as it was revealed to him during his enlightenment. He developed a band of followers, known as Sangha, which was made up of monks and nuns who came from all the tribes and castes in India. He died at the age of 80 years, leaving behind his followers to continue the teachings. This is the origin of what is today known as Buddhism.

The Name of the Supreme Being

Islam has Allah, Christians have God, and Hindus have Brahma, but what about Buddhists? According to Wallace (33), it is noted that Buddhists, unlike their counterparts in other religions such as Christianity and Islam, have no recognizable Supreme Being or God that they supplicate to.

Buddha, the father of the religion, is not worshipped how Christians worship Christ or Muslims worship Mohammed. In fact, Buddhism scholars acknowledge that Buddha was not a God, and he never made claims to the contrary. He taught his followers on how to identify and follow the path to enlightenment, and this was based on his own experience, as opposed to spiritual revelations (Wynne 55).

Buddhists are not known to pay homage to idols or images representing gods. Buddhist respect images of the Buddha, but it should be noted that it is not in worship or requests for favors (Wynne 55). When a Buddhist bows to a statue of the Buddha, it is not in worship; rather, it is a way of showing their gratitude for the teachings of the enlightened one.

Sacred or Holy Texts of the Buddhist

There are various scriptures and texts that are to be found in this religion. The different schools identified earlier in this paper attach varying levels of importance to these various scriptures.

Most of the texts are written in Pali, Tibetan, Mongolian or Chinese, while others are in the traditional language of Sanskrit (Kasulis 55). There is no single text or scripture that is universal to all Buddhists in the world. Some of the scriptures which are highly revered are the Vinaya Pitaka as well as the first four Nikayas of the Sutta Pitaka, which are common to most adherents of this faith (Kasulis 55).

Place of Worship for the Buddhist

Like their Hindu counterparts, Buddhist worship mainly in a temple. For example, Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya India is built near the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha acquired Nirvana or enlightenment. The Buddhist also practices pilgrimage as a way of following the path.

4 Major Beliefs of Buddhism

Karma

This is one of the beliefs of a Buddhist, which is a Sanskrit word for “action or work” (Lama 31). They believe that karma is the force that propels samsara, or the cycle or suffering and rebirth that attends every being on earth.

Rebirth

Buddhist believes that beings go through a process involving succession of lifetimes which takes various forms of “sentient life”, according to Kasulis (55). This is what they refer to as rebirth, where each rebirth process runs through conception to death.

Samsara

Buddhists also believes that human beings, who falls under the sentient beings classification, seek out pleasure while avoiding pain as they transit from birth to death (Kasulis 43). Samsara refers to the cycle of conditioned existence and suffering that is brought about by the seeking out of pleasure while avoiding pain.

The Four Noble Truths

They also believe in the four noble truths, which are “suffering, the arising of suffering, the end of suffering and the way leading to the end of suffering” (Lama 27).

Rituals and Observances in Buddhism

Yoga

This is one of the major rituals and practices in Buddhism. It involves a state of meditation, where the Buddhist tries to attain some level of “mindful” awareness.

Refuge in the Three Jewels

This is one of the first steps that a Buddhist is taught in order to be grounded in the faith. The first jewel is the Buddha, who is an individual who has attained nirvana; the second is dharma, or the teachings of the Buddha Gautama, and the Sangha, who are the individuals who have successfully gone through any of the four stages of enlightenment.

Symbols of Buddhism

One of the symbols in Buddhism is the Dharmachakra wheel, which is a representation of the Noble Eightfold Path (Kasulis 55). The other is the wheel of life, which has six realms (Wynne 77). In traditional Tibetan Buddhism, this is represented in a Thangka.

10 Key Words used in Buddhism and their Definition

Karma

This is, as earlier explained, action or work

Bodhi

It is a state of enlightenment

Prajna

This is the wisdom that purifies that mind (Wynne 100), which helps the practitioner to gain spiritual insight into the true nature of all things in the world

Sila

This is ethics or morality, avoidance of unwholesome deeds

Vac

This refers to speaking the truth and in a non-hurtful manner (Wynne 100)

Ajivana

This is non-harmful way of living

Samadhi

This is the mental discipline that is needed by a Buddhist to acquire mastery over their mind

Smrti

This is the ability to see things for what they really are, and with a lucid consciousness

Nirvana

Enlightenment

Anicca

Impermanence, meaning that all things are not permanent

Works Cited

Karen, Armstrong. Buddha. London: Penguin Books, 2004.

Kasulis, Titus. Zen as a Social Ethics of Responsiveness. Journal of Buddist Ethics, 22(3), 2009.

Lama, Dalai. The Middle Way. New York: Wisdom Publications, 2009.

Wallace, Griffiths. Buddhism in the World Today. New York: Free Press, 2007.

Wynne, Alexander. The Origin of Buddhist Meditation. London: Routledge, 2007.

Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the world. It is quite different from other world religions. For example, almost all religions have a God who is a sacred spirit. Buddhism has Buddha, who was a man reached nirvana. There are several “types” of Buddhism that are now considered different religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. However, all these religions are based on one teaching and have common principles.

In the article by Tenzin Gyatso “Many Faiths, One Truth”, author discusses this question comparing the basic principles of Buddhism with basic principles of other religions. The author claims that there is not the best religion, all world religions teach people the same basic virtues but interpret them in different ways. Thus, it can be summarized that Buddhism is related to other religions of the world in spite of all its peculiarities, consequently, all “faiths” share “one truth” that is universal for all people.

The article by Tenzin Guatso is devoted to the exploration of different religions and comparing them to Buddhism and its basic principles. The author writes about situation in the Middle East and Europe. He says that there are still fights between representatives of different religions.

However, apart from these conflicts, there is also a tendency for globalization and tolerance, “peoples and religions become ever more entwined” (Gyatso). The author finds common things in Buddhist’s and Christian’s religious ideas, myths and rituals, thought, these religions were considered to be absolutely different. Finally, the author estimates that harmony is the “essential ingredient” of all religions and it is a guarantee of the welfare of all nations.

Giving a response on this article it should be mentioned that the author discusses one of the most urgent questions of the modern society concerning questions of religion.

According to Bailey and Fisher, “traditional cultures and religions naturally assumed their own points of view…Every culture saw itself as the center of the universe.” (2). However, the truth is that the world’s nations seek to uniting. And the same thing can be said about religion. Moreover, a proper analysis of different religions proves that the standpoints of all these religions are common.

For example, Buddha teaches to lead a pious life and live in piece with nature and people around. In addition, one of the core ideas of Buddhism is the theory of emptiness, which means that all things around are out of importance and the aim of everyone is to reach “nirvana”. The same assumption (but in different words) can be said about a core idea of Christianity: one should lead a right life in order to go to Heavens after the death.

Gyasto supports this idea in his article when suggesting the example with “compassion”. He says that the theme of compassion can be found in Talmud and Bible. He also found “centrality of selfless compassion in Hinduism and Islam” (Gyasto). Thus, in his article, the author provides a very important idea that “Finding common ground among faiths can help us bridge needless divides at a time when unified action is more crucial than ever” (Gyasto).

The article “Many Faiths, One Truth” by Tenzin Gyasto is devotet to the exploration of the similarities of the Buddhism with other religions of the world. The author assumes that there are very many common things, for example, a theory of compassion. Thus, having analyzed this article, we can assume that harmony between different religions is possible and very important for the welfare of our world.

Works Cited

Gyatso, Tenzin. “Many Faiths, One Truth”. The New York Times. (2010): n. pag. Web.

Fisher, Mary P. and Bailey Lee W. An Anthology of Living Religions, 2^nd. Ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

Among other religions of the world, Buddhism has created own path to develop philosophy of life by withdrawing itself from theistic thoughts. In Buddhism as generally understood, middle path does not mean equivocal and also does not mean remaining confined or neutral but means to penetrate into the fundamental aspect of life with a straightforward and an unbiased attitude and approach. Every problem has a solution but we should look at every problem in an unbiased way and also to look into the problem from various aspects, analyze them, understand the truth, and find out the logical answers. Human being is most important in Buddhism and his thoughts, behavior and the way he relates and deals with his environment has more relevance in Buddhism than in any other religion.

Middle Path is the fundamental principle in Buddhism discovered by Buddha before his enlightenment. It encompasses several definitions like the practice of non-extremism or path of moderation, which is away from the several extremes like self -indulgence and opposing self-mortification. It is also concerned taking a middle path about the things, which exists or do not exist. It is also a condition of Nirvana and an enlightenment where every object having a characteristics and attribute of duality join together in a single entity. It also involves the path of non-existence, or we can call emptiness.

Buddhism originated into various schools of thought, and among them was Mahayana Buddhism. There are two most important branches of Buddhist belief: Mahayana and Theravada. The birth of Mahayana took place in India and subsequently spread to various parts of the world like China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Central Asia, Vietnam and Taiwan. Followers of Mahayana tradition consider their doctrine as the finding of the truth about the nature and teachings of the Buddha in contrast to the Theravada tradition, which they characterize as Lesser Vehicle, known as Hinayana. As opposed to the several of the relative conservative schools of the earlier Buddhists, Mahayana encompasses within its scope several practices, deals with several of the philosophical issues and a more mythological concept of Buddha.

There are two main Mahayana schools, which originated in India-the one is Madhyamika, meaning middle path and the other is Vijnanavada, means only consciousness, in other words Yogachara. Slowly Mahayana schools of thought spread outside India creating its impact in Sri Lanka, Tibet, other regions in Asia like China, Japan etc. Influence with the other regions of the world, Buddhism saw the appearance of various other schools of thought like Pure Land Buddhism and Zen.

The forerunner of Mahayana was Mahasanghika, and considered to be a liberal branch of the Buddhist community that broke away from conservative Buddhism. Mahasanghika was considered to be one of the 18 schools of Hinayana. They consider Buddha as a supernatural or divine who has incarcerated in the form of human to be born as historical Buddha. Exactly when Mahayana arose is unclear but Indian philosopher Nagarjuna who founded the Madhyamika School promoted the early growth of Mahayana. His influential writings provide some of the most persuasive early formulations of Mahayana but according to some of the historical versions, the Mahayana arose around 2 BC. The Mahayana Buddhism generally considers arhat as inferior to the Bodhisattva, the Mahayana ideal of Buddhist practitioner.

The most popular form of Buddhism spread in China was Mahayana form of Buddhism. There were four major Mahayan schools, which were the part of the spirit and substance of Chinese Buddhism. The First one is Tien-Tai or Lotus school (Fahua) school; the second is Hua-yen, (flowery splendor school); third, the Pure Land School; and fourth, the Chan or Meditation school. This Chan or meditation school is most popularly known as Zen, the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character for Chan. Among all the four, only Tien-Tai has nothing related to the Indian disposition of the Chinese philosophy, nonetheless all the four had been developed along the Chinese thoughts. It is said that, “Tien-Tai and Hua-yen schools for doctrine and the Pure Land and the Chan schools for practice.” ³ While in Japan, Zen form of the Buddhism philosophical approach was spread.

Earlier historical reports about Zen goes back to time when Dosho, a Japanese monk came into contact of the Indian philosopher Bodhidharma, who was deemed to be the great master of Ch’an, one of the sects of Buddhists dynasty. There is a legend associated with it as it is said that once he sat for complete nine years staring at a cave wall in China. Through his practice, he wanted to seek how through painful experience of meditation, a person can gain enlightenment. When this type of meditative exercise reached Japan, it took the form of Zen. It is also one of the schools of Buddhism, which means sitting in meditation. This word has been derived from the Chinese word Chan.

Zen got incorporated into the life of Japanese people in the early seventh century and began to be practiced and taught in the eighth and ninth centuries. Since it was a foreign language, it was initially difficult to interpret and understood and was not a great success until the reign of early Kamakura period (1185-1333). It was a time period it became very important to concentrate on single path and it was also during this period that Zen got the space into Japanese nobility.

There were two main schools of thought in Zen, and each school of thought explained in its own way to attain enlightenment. The one way was Rinzai and the other was Soto. Rinzai taught its followers that they could attain enlightenment through sudden and uncertain flashes, whereas the Soto School of thought tried to explain that they could attain enlightenment through prolonged sessions of meditation. These two schools of thoughts were the result of the efforts of the two monks who played a very important role for the spread and development of Zen in Japan. One of these monks was Eisai, (1141-1215), who was considered to be the real founder of Japanese Zen. Eisai went to China, where he took the training in Lin-chi (Rinzai) house. After this he came back to Japan again to form and construct the first Rinzai sect (in Japan). He was able to attain the favor of the Shoguns and entered into an alliance with the military, which happened to be the social foundation of Japanese Zen. The other monk was Dogan, who was responsible for setting up the Ts’ao-tung (Soto), one of the schools of Zen in Japan. He was the first one to teach the way of sitting meditation also known as zazen. He was able to create a tremendous influence on the people of Japan and subsequently had large number of followers. Later he shifted to Eastern Japan where he made his base at a temple (Eiheiji), which was built to honor him. Up to the day today, he is regarded as a great thinker and the greatest philosopher both by Buddhists and non-Buddhists.

Though the methods used by the difference schools of Zen vary yet their fundamental concept on the way to the attainment of the Zen remains the same. According to the Zen philosophy, a person should not retrace oneself from life rather immerse fully into it. It says that there is no need to adopt any kind of several philosophical disposition or logics or any concepts to understand the world.

There are three reasons why Zen came into Japan at this particular time. First the characteristic of Zen, which is purely aesthetic, secondly it believed in creative powers of human beings, and this again was quite popular in that era. They lay more emphasis on the transcendence for of all lives and last not the least; Zen got easily mixed up with or merged with some of other schools of thoughts with Shinto worship and belief.

The concept of meditation in Zen owes to the Mahatma Gautama Buddha who achieved enlightenment (nirvana) through the process of meditation. The most important component of the Zen Buddhism is the practice of nondiscriminatory wisdom (Jpn., hannyaharamitsu; Skrt., prajnaparamita), which believes in imparting practical, and experimental knowledge with little of theoretical or intellectual knowledge and it is discriminatory. In Zen, it basically means that it carries no existential meaning for emancipating a human being from his or her predicaments, for it means that any kind of knowledge which is discriminatory is deceptive and one can only attain the nondiscriminatory approach through transformation of the psycho-physiological constitution of oneself.

Here person adopting the Zen approach is taught to train oneself and this concept is known as the self-cultivation in Japanese. This is a method to correct the various aspects of one’s mind by correcting the various aspects of one’s body whereby emphasis is given to more of practical training rather than theoretical.

As far as the explanation of the Zen’s methodology is concerned, it could be consider as anti-philosophy. If we go by the exact meaning of the term philosophy according to the Westernized thoughts, its meaning is establishment of “the kingdom of reason”, but stance of Zen is different. It states that reason does not have capability to understand anything in totality, for e.g. it is not able to understand human beings and their exact relation with the nature.

This is the reason why Zen focuses on the point that there should be dimension in the understanding of physical nature and human nature. For e.g. in the practical sense, human beings must be conscious about their being and seek the enlightenment from the inherent part of the ego-consciousness and should perform meditation as a process of self-cultivation. Once Zen Master Seigen (660-740) expressing the above philosophical disposition said: “Before the practice, mountains are mountains, during the practice, mountains are not mountains, and after the realization, mountains are [truly] mountains [again].” In simple words, in the process of meditation, Zen process takes the person from the standpoint of nature or cosmic entity and after attaining this transformation they return back to their every day life.

School of Mahayana created lot more influence on the social, cultural and political life during Six Dynasties period, particularly T’snag. Tien-Tai taught that there are essential harmonies “between opposites, phenomenon and noumena, transcendence and immanence, so that every color or fragrance is none other than the middle path”. In Taien Tai’s central doctrines, there are three ways to explain: “The true nature of all elements of existence; the perfect harmony of three levels of truth; the three thousand words immanent in an incense of thought.” ⁶ The School of thought believes in the fact that the real truth about existence is that it is empty, and the truth is encompassed in three levels, “The truth of emptiness, Temporary truth and the truth of the mean.” All things are empty which is first truth because all things are depended on the external world for their existence but at the same time they are produced and therefore they are living and have an attribute of existence, even if there is temporary or dependent existence. This is known as the temporary truth because all beings are dependent on the others for existence therefore they can’t show their own individuality. However, truth of the Mean is that both the state of emptiness and temporary existence integrates each other. Mean truth means both the emptiness and relative reality exist with each other. In other words, things either have existence or they don’t exist.

In Zen philosophy, the path of non-extremism, the path of non-dualism, path to Nirvana/enlightenment and the path towards non-existence/emptiness is understood and revealed through the understanding of oneself. In Zen philosophy, there is an idea of self and at other levels they make us understand on the inseparableness of the body and soul, the sanctity of all life. They believe that the over soul or super soul are integral to each other. Since the over soul is the pure most, the human soul also retains his inherent purity. It can steer clear us from all the difficulties, uncertainties, sham and imperfections of the worldly life in the same way as the pure most whole or the almighty can. As man has equal importance to God therefore Self also acquires supremacy of importance. By the path of non-dualism, the Zen philosophy states that there is an irrevocable fusion of atoms or selves as being the cause and impetus for the cosmic creation. Since the Universe is the cosmos of coalescence of atoms, the fraction of the pure-most whole all is well with it. In this way, Zen treats all the animate and inanimate aspects with equanimity. As opposed to the Mahayana, they believe in the religion of the worship of man as it is. They had a vision of mystic where faith in God was not wizend or limited by any dogma. They suggest that man who apprehends God attains non-dualistic outlook of life. The person who has attained enlightenment sees no difference between the matter and the spirit. In other words, the idea of non-duality means making the body and soul supplementary to each to each other. It is this idea that expands to cover the universe and to enable the man to attain enlightenment. The person with this cosmic consciousness and a unified vision transcends the distinction of good and evil.

Through the meditation, man can attain the spiritual pleasure and only a strong body can be abode of the fine soul. Zen philosophy neither preaches a dogmatic faith nor a metaphysical theory rather they indulge themselves by the worldliness of attitude. The body is the means through which one can attain spirituality. The divine mystery can only be understood through senses.

The world appears to us as two things, and for the Zen practitioner, it is paradoxically stated that, “if you face it, it goes away,” because “facing means two face”. Two things means ‘two’ making its appearance felt when we feel the world from absolute sense of reality. This concept comes when we think our self as ‘I’ in other words, as a separate entity and as a separate individual than others. Zen states that this dualistic approach of separateness could be turned to the non-dualistic approach through the process of meditation. Unity is attained between all, between oneself and yourself, between oneself with the super soul that is god, between all the cosmic and non-cosmic entities. Zen explains the process of non-existence or emptiness through their philosophy of ‘no’- No-Thought and No-Image. The practitioner of Zen determines this view by looking at the person every day life and his or her attitude in other words whether he is in a process of everyday standpoint or in meditational standpoint. Within the paradigm of nothingness, there is everything. Zen monks explains the concept of nothingness with the example of mirror when he states that, “the mirror reflects a thing means that it always mirrors regardless of whether it is facing or not facing a thing”.⁹ This example of a mirror is the biggest philosophical disposition and a condition of human life and its relationship with God. If one feels emptiness from all the frailties of the worldly then only man can come closer to God and attain light.

Through out a long history of encounters with indigenous religious cultures, different schools of Buddhism developed a great variety of methods and approaches in response to the specific cultural and geographical needs.¹⁰ But all are born with one concept, the realization of the vision and the enlightenment of the truth and God.

Works Cited

Baroni, Helen Josephine. “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism”. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2002.

Coogan, M.D. “The Illustrated Guide to World Religions”. Oxford University Press US, 2003.

Mu, Soeng. “The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World”. Wisdom Publications, 2000.

Nauman, Elmo. “Dictionary of Asian Philosophies”. Routledge, 1979.

Reichelt, Karl Ludvig, “Truth and Tradition in Chinese Buddhism Or a Study of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism”. Kessinger Publishing, 2003.

Smith, Richard, “Buddhism and great prosecution in China in Critical Moments” in Religious History. Edited by Kenneth Keulman, Mercer University Press, 1993).

Introduction

Religion is one of the world’s phenomena that have undergone significant evolutions which have resulted into intriguing transformation of beliefs and traditions. Cutting across the plane, these religions have rich histories and carry elements which make them unique. They have also played a major role in shaping the norms, behavior and culture of millions of people globally. In this regard, it is important to understand existing differences and similarities among religions of the world (Molloy 3).

This is so crucial in appreciating the beliefs and traditions of others as they relate to who they are. In this regard, this essays explores how Mahayana differs from early Buddhism in terms of practices, believes and overall doctrine. To achieve this objective, relevant information has been gathered from both the college library and online sources like journals, books and websites.

Mahayana analysis

According to theological and historic findings, Mahayana began in India between 100 B.C.E and 100 C.E. This was as a result of a debate which was going on explaining the appropriate Buddhist teachings and rituals, monastic discipline and discussions about the continued existence of Buddha even after his death. Additionally, it is has been argued that the nature of enlightenment which engulfed people further contributed to this emergence (Molloy 149).

Importantly, Mahayana was formerly impacted by several Buddhist schools of thought that were common in India during that time. As these practices spread within and outside India, aspects of the indigenous religious practices were also absorbed and assimilated. Some of these indigenous religious traditions included but not limited to Bon, Taoism and Confucianism. Hinduism also played a major role in influencing Mahayana.

Even though there has been no consensus on the founder of Mahayana, credit has been given to Nagarjuna, a philosopher along with other prominent people like Asanga and Vasubandhu. The controversy behind this is that each of the figures mentioned in the foundation of the tradition went ahead to establish their own sub-schools within Mahayana (Molloy 150).

It therefore follows that there is no particular person who can be identified as the core founder of Mahayana. Earliest Mahayana texts were mainly composed of several texts referred to as “Prajnaparamita” or translated as “Perfection of Wisdom”.

Although this aspect of the school may not be remembered by many, it forms the basic foundation of countless Mahayana schools which exist today. Other early texts which were considered important were “Sadharmapundarika” and “Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra” (Patheos 1). As a general observation, Mahayana thoughts have become quite recognizable and influential in several parts of the world and in Western philosophy where it has been manifested through religious teachings and numerous ethical teachings.

Although Mahayana emphasized several things, the book received extraordinary recognition and respect. Hundreds of books were written by experts and distributed to people all over as they were of great significance and sometimes worshipped. Other theological analysts argue that this move was mainly aimed at suppressing and countering the supremacy of stupa veneration in several Buddhists schools (Religion Tolerance 1).

Notably, Mahayana is commonly known by many as the schismatic movement. After its emergence, there were several sub-schools which were formed in India and China that later became quite important. These included Ch’an, Madhyamaka, Pure Land Schools and Yogacara. In addition, Mahayana was highly supported by the leadership of the time including influential kings. Among them were Tang and Han in China, Palas in India and the Kushanas (Patheos 1).

This recognition and abundance support enabled Mahayana to spread to several parts of India via missionary activities, led supporters of the kings and monks. This expansion spread to regions outside India like China and Asia by the onset of the second century C.E (Patheos 1).

By understanding the analysis of Mahayana, it is possible to see that is has undergone a series of transformations that have led to its revolution in the 21 century, with continuous evolution into the modern world. Besides, Mahayana has been integrated into several religions of today’s world (Molloy 151). Mahayana has also thrived as a result of integrating its practices into political and social welfare of other regions like Asia, North America and Europe.

With regard to sacred times, Mahayana does not observe consistent sacred time. This is mainly attributed to the fact that bodhisattvas are always present and working around the world regardless of the season or time of the year. It therefore attempts to have a holistic sense of sacred time where every moment is considered sacred unlike in several religions where certain seasons and times of the year are perceived to be more sacred than others, depending on a religion’s activity season (Patheos 1).

However, it has to be mentioned that Mahayana highly values and recognizes the temple as its most holy and sacred space. Diagrams which are used in the temple during mediation are always elaborated in Mandalas. Nevertheless, practitioners can always occupy space of representation through mediation practices.

Like in other religions, Mahayana recognizes rituals and ceremonies as part of its traditional norm to be observed. These include mantra recitation, ritual devotion, mediation practices and pilgrimages among others. According to Mahayana believers, the rituals and ceremonies are important in affirming their faith and in teaching vital traditions and rules that have to be followed by those who accept to be members of the religion (Patheos 1). They also give worship guidance as it considered as one of their fundamentals.

How is worship conducted? Mahayana Buddhists worship an array of objects in the name of gods, serving different functions as defined by their traditions and beliefs. Common purposes of these gods include protection, guidance and devotion to people. They therefore believe that they thrive in everything they do by the power of gods. Examples of Mahayana gods are Tara, the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, Amitabha and the bodhisattvas among others (Patheos 1).

There are also symbols which are commonly used in Mahayana during rituals, worship and devotion services. It is important for people to learn these symbols in order to understand when used by those conducting services and ceremonies. The lotus and the eight-spoke wheel are highly regarded and ever-present in Mahayana practices and rituals (Patheos 1).

The role of lotus is to represent purity, a core component among its believers while the eight-spoke wheel usually denotes the main teachings of Buddha, also known as dharma. Seating, standing, the book and the sword are among other commonly used symbols during important functions.

Early Buddhism

The two main schools of Buddhism are Mahayana and Hinayana which originated from India. However, the former has dominated in other countries like Nepal, China and Japan. This religion and the philosophy were founded by Siddhartha Gautama known as Buddha in c.525 B.C (Molloy 126). In terms of statistics, there are at least three million Buddhists in the world with Asia leading in numbers.

Apart from the two mentioned schools above, the Vajrayana has its roots in Japan and Tibet even though is not as common as the other main classes in China and India. Due to continuous globalization and other factors, Buddhism disappeared from India, its country of origin although the presence of refugees from Tibet and people who get converted from Hinduism has maintained the religion (McGovern 1). Like other religions, early Buddhism has beliefs and practices which makes it unique or similar with other world regions.

The spread of Buddhism to other countries resulted into the splitting of the main religion to form smaller sects in various geographical regions. As a result, each sect adopted certain beliefs, customs, rituals and practices which were to be the pillar of their practical faith as Buddhists (Molloy 132).

Nevertheless, all the sects had a backbone of these doctrines and beliefs with shared similarities regardless of their location. A common belief among Buddhists is that every person is in a position to have happiness regardless of their background, race and age (Patheos 1). By such, Buddhists believe that all forms of delusions and negativism among people can only be overcome by mediation. With this understanding, it follows that men and women can easily restore their happiness through a simple mediation process.

Additionally, reincarnation is a core belief as Buddhists believe in rebirths and continuity of the human race. Their doctrines strongly believe in the existence of certain life cycles which ensure that life remains a continuation process. These cycles revolve around birth, life, death and the ultimate rebirth. Besides these cycles, the doctrine further emphasizes that Nirvana can only be achieved by shedding off personal desires and ego (Pillai 1).

There are four truths which are strongly contained in Buddhism doctrine and beliefs. These truths are Dukkha, Samudaya, Marga and Nirodha. The fisrt truth is Dukkha which refers to suffering. According to this belief, suffering is inevitable in the life of any individual (Molloy 134).

Therefore, every Buddhist has to expect some from of suffering in life and need not to be received negatively as it is viewed as part of a normal life. Suffering which is categorized in this doctrine include anger, loneliness, fear, embarrassment and frustrations. This belief also explains workable ways of achieving happiness in life (Patheos 1).

According to Samudaya, suffering among Buddhists is mainly caused by their constant aversions and craving which they go through in their daily lives. Furthermore, craving together with greed have the potential of depriving individuals off their happiness and their contentment. Importantly, an individual can only achieve Nirvana if he or she curbs existing luxurious cravings in life (Pillai 1).

Similarly, Norodha gives an explanation on how suffering can be overcome in order to realize happiness in life. Based on this belief, incidents which occurred in the past should not be allowed to cause fear or worry. Accordingly, uncertainties of the future should not take away happiness, as it emphasizes the need to live each day at a time. According to the fourth truth, Marga, total happiness can only be achieved by adhering to “eight-fold path”.

This model encourages the need to have a stable mind and being conscious of thoughts and ones actions. Additionally, morality and a good livelihood it is highly encouraged under this doctrine. Those who adhere to the four truths are believed to have wisdom and compassion. Buddhist teachings are always taught to everybody as people are encouraged to solve their problems since it is believed that problems are caused by individuals (Pillai 1).

Early Buddhism also observes sacred narratives whose main component is the story of Buddha which is considered holy. Other stories are narrated by teachers with reference to the sutras. On the other hand, the notion of salvation in Buddhism does not have a consensus, with variations being seen from country to country or era to era.

Unlike Mahayana, Buddhism does not have sacred time but rather emphasizes the need for Nirvana as with reference to a Nirvana dichotomy (FPMT 1). However, their sacred space includes stupas, which contains Buddha relics and other monks. Additionally, some mountains are highly regarded as the most high place. Accordingly, there are variations in the calendar of events.

On the other hand, Buddha’s birthday and the New Year day celebrations are quite significant. Other rituals include pilgrimages and death-related ceremonies. Notably, Buddhist monks demonstrate different life with lay people as this relationship is defined by merit. Early Buddhism symbols include the stupa, the dharma wheel and what was considered as Buddha’s footprint. Others are monks’ robes, Mandalas and mudras. It is important to note that some symbols vary from country to country (Patheos 1).

Conclusion

From the above analysis of Mahayana and early Buddhism, it is clear that the two religions have several elements which make them different. Although they share a number of similarities, Mahayana and Buddhism have different beliefs and practices. Their sacred time, spaces, and the understanding of suffering are also different. However, their similarities can be attributed to the fact that Mahayana is one of the schools of Buddhism.

Works Cited

FPMT. Buddhism FAQ, 2011. Web.

McGovern, William. Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2003. Print.

Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the world’s religious. New York City: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Patheos. Mahayana Buddhism, 2011. Web.

Pillai, Maya. Basic Beliefs of Buddhism. Buzzle, 2011. Web.

Religion Tolerance. Mahayana Buddhism, 2011. Web.

Buddhism is a religion which preaches way of life. It is not a structure of doctrine or temples. It is not obtained by mystical or provisional experience, and is not only a religion of qualified people. Although it is natural experience evident in everyday life, and is for every human being in spite of ideology, personality, or status. This clarifies that Buddhist has an immense impact on the Japanese people in various phases of life.

Mahayana Buddhism covers extensive sorts of philosophical schools, meditative regulations and metaphysical convictions. Buddhism has subsisted along with Shintoism for around 1,400 years in Japan. Initially, Buddhism was a belief that was connected with the upper classes, whereas a combination of Shinto and Buddhist convictions were followed by ordinary people of Japan. Buddhism ascribed with Shintoism created purity, and cleared all internal and external issues.

When Buddhism entered the borders of Japan, then the people started using the term Shinto to differentiate the indigenous beliefs of Japanese people. Japanese were fortunate people, as they got the Mahayana form of Buddhism. It is a highly tolerant religion, and is capable of accepting new thoughts and creates bonds with other beliefs and religions.

To accommodate with Shintoism the Japanese Buddhism made slight additions (Hays). Shinto was enlightened as a kind of local evidence of complete truth and kami were incorporated as a common form of Buddhist divinities. Shintoism made Buddha a kami that was created from Chinese Buddhism and made kamis subject to the similar sequences such as death or rebirth that was a belief of Buddhists.

Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples were also constructed near each other, so there should be no arguments between the religious beliefs. Kamis had to listen to Buddhist sutras and later they were considered as embodiments of Bodhisattvas. With the help of these conceptions, the Japanese Buddhist initiated many of the new ideas in the Shintoism and Confucianism, and is now considered as corresponding versions of the similar basic truth. It has achieved a wide acceptance among the Japanese (Hays).

Today in Japan, there are approximately 119 million followers of Shinto, and any person who performs any approach of Shinto rituals is counted as well. A wide range of Japanese people who are taking part in everyday Shinto and Confucian rituals and beliefs are also following Buddhist forerunner worship. Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism do not require practicing faith to be a practitioner or an advocate. In addition, it is also difficult to question for exact terms comprised on self identification of faith within Japan.

Due to the mixed beliefs of Buddhism and Shinto, majority of “life” occasions are carried according to Shinto principles whereas the “death” or “afterlife” occurrences are carried by Buddhism (Global Nomads Group (GNG)). For example, when a child is born in Japan the people celebrate the birth event in a Shinto shrine. Whereas when a person dies, then the funeral arrangements are handled according to Buddhist traditions and principles.

Another example is most of the Japanese go to Shinto shrines for New Year celebrations, and is often stated by a specific need or aspiration of the person, while people visit Buddhist temples for dealing with afterlife questions and to know about afterlife situations. Most of the Japanese have accepted that both religious beliefs are complimentary, and necessary for dealing with everyday issues and routines (Global Nomads Group (GNG)).

Works Cited

Global Nomads Group (GNG). Religion in Japan: Shinto, Buddhism Society. 2010. Web.

Hays, Jeffery. Buddhism in Japan. 2010. Web.

Introduction

Buddhism has long been associated with theories related to individual and societal peace. Though these are key results of practices in this religion, very few people understand teachings and practices enabling Buddhism to be so successful in the facilitation of peace. This paper thus looks into the framework behind Buddhism’s peace mechanisms, religious practices, and relations with other ideologies, religions, and political groupings. The three subsequent sections of the essay would concentrate on various aspects of religion concerning peacebuilding. A conclusion noting some important points shall follow.

Buddhism’s Vision for Peace

Buddhism holds that peace-building should not come after a war, which is what many individuals tend to think. This religion holds that making peace should serve as a preventative measure against a war that could occur (Kimball 89). In this regard, it is up to individuals in society to ensure that peace is cultivated among themselves, so confrontations can be avoided. This is contrary to what many people in the world would think of peace. Indeed, all peace-building processes being undertaken in the world are a result of war, meaning that world leaders tend to run when harm has already taken place.

The world community should learn from Buddhism that creating foundations for peace during peaceful conditions is the best measure of avoiding confrontations and wars that have come to characterize living conditions in various world regions. The main reason for this Buddhism teaches is that by encouraging people in the communities to live in peace with neighbors, chances of conflicts would greatly be diminished (Narayan 141). Taking such measures would save the world a lot of resources being used in healing processes after conflicts; it has to be considered that creating foundations of peace before the confrontation is way cheaper than subsequent healing processes.

The facilitation of peace during calm periods means that societies would avoid confrontations that characterize peace negotiations after wars. Such nonviolence processes of achieving peace are one of the key foundations for Buddhism’s foundation for peace. This nonviolence approach has a greater advantage of having many people contribute to the process. Indeed, it is likely that individuals would feel more comfortable taking part in the process, meaning that successful decisions agreeable to all parties would be agreed upon. Achieving such high expectations in peace-building processes that take place after violent confrontations can prove to be an uphill task for all participants.

To achieve the best results in the process of peace creation and prevention of conflicts, Buddhism requires the use of all-inclusive approaches (Jayatilleke 58). All stakeholders in communities should therefore be involved in the process. As just mentioned, it is possible that community members would most likely feel obliged to take part in the process. This all-inclusive process avoids infighting that is likely to be found in healing processes. The latter process could be characterized by the blame games on who was the main cause for wars that brought the community to the negotiation table. Such benefits of enabling peace before wars should be encouraged among world societies.

How Religions Become Evil

Most religions in the world are established to help adherents to live in peace with neighbors and world communities. Indeed, religions are consistently used in peace facilitation processes. This is not different in Buddhism, a religion that has been famed for its success in creating foundations for peace in and among individuals. The strength of Buddhism in achieving peace is buried in its teachings, which encourage adherents to first establish peace within themselves (Kenneth 101). It is this internal peace in individuals that later spreads to the community; having many individuals with internal calm negotiate peace in the community has a higher propensity to succeed.

However, world religions have the weakness of having adherents believe that only their religion is the right one and none else. Such thoughts lead to prejudice against believers of other fails. As a result, having several individuals in the community with such extreme thoughts in communities could be disastrous in peace-finding missions. Indeed, it sometimes happens that individuals’ extreme beliefs may be the ones resulting in conflicts. Conflicts resulting from such religious beliefs could become as fatal as those caused by other reasons. Religious ones may prove harder to control as it is equally hard to change beliefs or force extremist believers to accept other religions.

Believing that one’s religion is the world’s best could lead to a situation where believers are starting to follow their beliefs blindly. This means that adherents do not care readily about scriptures as and interpreting them in ways that they should be. In some cases,

believers with little skills in interpreting religious texts end up misleading others by looking for other meanings. Instead of reading texts and trying to understand their meaning and relation to world experiences, these individuals happen to take their own beliefs and religious teachings as cover. They then embark on causing aggressions on other religious believers with religious teachings as pretexts.

The just mentioned religious behavior is what causes holy wars between religions. Even religions that have been at the forefront of cultivating peace, such as Buddhism, have not been saved from this problem. This is because believers in such faiths find it important to defend themselves against aggression from extremists from other faiths. Though it can be said that self-protection is justified, some religions go the too far length of causing greater harm to their aggressors. Some other religions could just claim that is being attacked, to use that pretext to attack their purported assailants. This trend has become common in several regions of the world.

Buddhism Relations

Other than inter-relational conflicts described in the above sections, it can increasingly be observed that world religions increasingly gravitate towards developing political interests that result in joining hands with the political class. It is no longer unique to see religions controlling national or local governments. Buddhism has also been affected by this tendency in some Asian regions. Indeed, some Buddhism leaders have been at the forefront of political associations with politicians of similar views. This is however hard to avoid because politics is all about representing interests to authorities, especially legislative houses. In addition, it has to be understood that members of world religions have to exercise their democratic rights.

Buddhism’s relations with other modern and traditional ideologies have been quite positive. This is cultivated rough tolerance seen in this religion. Individuals practicing the faith are encouraged to be tolerant of other individuals’ views. Owing to the tolerance being exemplified by Buddhism, many other traditional religious ideologies exemplify greater acceptance of the faith, meaning that they reciprocate by showing tolerance. This interrelation has resulted in peace and good relation with the faiths. In reiteration, Buddhism has been successful in such endeavors because of its bottom-up approach to relationships in and among communities. In this regard, members of the faith start cultivating peace in their souls before embarking on the larger community. Only then can peace be achieved in straddling world communities. This relation between Buddhism and traditional ideologies has been replicated in with other major religions; the religion has been tolerant of small and big religions. Again, this relationship with other religions has been achieved through the encouragement of adherents to first cultivate peace in their souls before embarking on spreading the same to neighbors, other congregations, and political groupings.

The success of Buddhism in establishing foundations for peace has resulted in the faith being taken as the most peaceful one (Smith & Novak 120). Other religions in the world have a lot to learn from Buddhism experiences. First, they have to learn that successful cultivation of peace starts with individuals, not with leaders. This is considering that other religions have concentrated on relying on leadership to cultivate peace within their congregations and with other faiths. These religions have also relied on senior leadership to cultivate peace with and positive relationships with political groupings. Success in both situations has been minimal. To ensure all religions achieve positive cohesion within communities, they have to start relying on adherents themselves other than the current reliance on leadership. Adherents themselves should feel obliged to shoulder that burden, leading to the establishment of peaceful communities worldwide.

References

Jayatilleke, Kulatissa. Buddhism and Peace. Budhist Publishers, Delhi, 1969.

Kraft, Kenneth. World Peace and Inner Peace. Sunny, Buffalo.1992.

Kimball, Charles. Inside World Religions. Harper Collins. New York, 2003.

Narayan, Sachindra. Buddhism Contribution to World Peace. Inter-India, Delhi, 1998.

Smith & Novak. Buddhism: An Introduction, Harper Collins, New York. 2004.

Introduction

Japan philosophy is characterized by two main religions, which provide people with a chance to evaluate their places in this world, to accept this life with its all challenges and demands, and to comprehend what can make this world better and safer. These two great religions are Buddhism and Shinto. More than 90 million Japanese are considered to be Buddhists or, to be more exact, Zen Buddhists.

The impact of Zen Buddhism became considerable for each sphere of life: poetry, painting, tea ceremonies, and even architecture. Japanese temples are regarded as the places of worship, where the supporters of Zen Buddhism spend much time and distribute their teachings. Zen temples in Kyoto may serve as one of the most significant religious and educational centers, where everyone may get a chance to plunge into the peculiarities of these traditions.

Though many temples have been destroyed during the wars, some of them have been rebuilt in order to prove how devoted and pure Buddhists and their intentions could be. Each Zen temple is not only a simple building, where Zen Buddhism is taught and explained; it is the place, where the essence of Buddhism is depicted by means of each stone, detail, and color; it is the center, where those, who seek for support and understanding, can find necessary help and get a chance to learn themselves better.

Discussion

The essence of Zen Buddhism and its significance for Japanese people. Zen Buddhism was originated in India at the end of the 5^th century B.C.E; but it came to Japan from China.

The essence of this religion is “seeing into one’s own nature” (Dumoulin, Heisig, and Knitter 2005, 380); this concept plays a very important role for those, who want to grasp the essence of this life, this is why each detail has its special meaning. Japanese people are regarded as one of the most religious people who pay much attention to such concepts like worship and faith.

Buddha and his experience. The teachings and experience of Siddhartha Gautama also known as the Buddha (Deal 2007, 202) became the grounds for Zen Buddhism. This wealthy Indian prince was considerably troubled because of human suffering that he was able to observe at the age of 29.

He made a decision to forget about his prosperity and richness and devote the rest of his life to seeking for understanding. After 6 years past, he achieved the desirable purpose and became free from suffering. His example was successful for other people, who decided to follow this way and promote Zen Buddhism.

Zen Buddhists proclaimed that “all existence is suffering. Suffering is caused by desire. Cessation of desire results in cessation of suffering, the Eightfold Path lead to liberation” (Deal, 2007, 202). This religion emphasizes that people are able to achieve enlightenment by means of meditation in order to deprive themselves of suffering and pain.

With time, the basics of Buddhism became influential in different spheres of like. Due to Zen activities, Japanese people become able to improve their philosophical theories, political influence, and religious grounds, those aims to make human lives better and easier provide people with a chance to believe in changes and enlightenment.

The importance of Zen Buddhism temples is evident and clear. As nay other religion, Zen Buddhism has its own peculiarities and features, which make its supporters unique and noticeable. As it was mentioned above, the essence of Zen Buddhism was connected to mediation and the possibility to achieve enlightenment. Within a short period of time, it becomes clear that mediation should happen in special places, where people can feel protected and comfortable.

“What makes Japanese houses unique is that they are created by an individual working within a highly codified system. The tension of the individual within a tight form creates subtle variants in style while keeping harmony of the form” (Discoe, Quinn, and Banish 2008, 24). When the Japanese start building a new temple, they try to take into consideration every single detail.

This is why Japanese temples have many functions and pursue considerable purposes. As a rule, each Japanese city should have at least one temple in order to provide people with the possibility to worship and find out people with the same faith.

However, such cities like Kyoto or Kamakura have thousands of such temples being some kind of cultural centers. The history of Japan is divided into several significant periods like Yajoi, Nara, Kamakura, Heian, Edo, Bakumatsu etc. This periodical division has its impact on the development of Zen temples and their creation. For example, the Nara and Kamakura periods presented the most beautiful and magnificent Zen temples.

In spite of the fact that the Onin Wars, which happened from 1467 till 1477 (Baroni 2002, 305), was the main cause of the destruction of the vast majority of Zen temples, brave and devoted Japanese people found powers, efforts, and support to restore some temples and provide their generations to observe and use these buildings and continue traditions.

Structures that are inherent to Zen temples have their particular functions and predestinations. Nowadays, Zen temples are divided into several groups in accordance with the purposes of these temples’ creation. Main halls, lecture halls, pagodas, gates, bells, and cemeteries are the main structures of any ancient Japanese Zen temple. Japanese created these structures in order to clear up what functions should be performed and even the order of their performance.

Main halls are the structures, where the main relics can be found. Usually, they are called Kondo/Hondo/Amidao. “Morning and evening services are generally held in the Hondo” (Baroni 2002, 136), this is why architectures pay special attention to this part of the Zen temple. Lecture halls are aimed at teaching and discussing the basics of Zen Buddhism; these parts are also named Kodo.

The structure that keeps the symbol of Zen Buddhism, the Buddha, is called a pagoda and is composed of three or five stories. The wooden pagoda of Daigo-ji Temple is one of the oldest ones; it was built in 951. The variety of gates of Zen temples is another peculiar feature of these constructions.

Any holy building should have an entry that symbolizes the essence of the chosen temple, the experience that may be shared, and the teaching that may be got. A person, who wants to enter the world of Zen Buddhism, is able to pass the main gates of the chosen temple and plunge into the beauty and uniqueness of this religion.

Finally, everything as well as a human life comes to its end. And it is very important to create a place, where the souls of dead people may find calm and quiet. Cemeteries are the places, where the Japanese go to visit the graves of their ancestors and demonstrate their respect and memory. The vast majority of cemeteries are located in temples, and people have a chance not only to visit the graves but also to go to the main hall or to the lecture hall in order to listen, speak, or pray.

Zen templates may be found in almost each part of Japan. They usually demonstrate the political power of priests. The most powerful examples of Japanese Zen Buddhism temples may be found in Kamakura (Engakuji, Jufukuji, and Kenchoji), Kyoto (Daigoji, Hokoji, and Enkoji), and Nara (Daianji, Todaiji, and Kofukuji).

It may be noticed that almost all names of Zen temples end with “ji” or “dera”; these suffixes indicate main temples. Gardens of the temples are marked by “en” suffixes, and sun-temples have “in” suffix. Such attention to names proves once again that the Japanese are careful to each detail that concerns their temples.

Conclusion

In general, the Zen temple is one of the most remarkable symbols of Japanese religion, Zen Buddhism. This nation demonstrates one of the perfect ways that any believer has to follow. Their practices, experiences, and knowledge have to be respected and recognized by people around.

Though nowadays not many Zen temples are built, the ancient temples serve as the best evidence of Japanese faith. It is almost impossible to comprehend Zen Buddhism by means of books and video tapes; this is why it is better to visit the Zen temple, observe its richness and power, and realize that this religion is worthy attention and recognition. If Japanese people devote so much time to the creation or re-creation of Zen temples, it is hardly imagine how careful they can be to other details, which fulfill their religion.

Reference List

Baroni, Helen, J. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2002.

Deal, William, E. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2007.

Discoe, Paul, Quinn, Alexandra, and Banish, Roslyn. Zen Architecture: The Building Process as Practice. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2008.

Dumoulin, Heinrich, Heisig, James, W., and Knitter, Paul, F. Zen Buddhism: A History: Japan. Bloomington: World Wisdom, Inc, 2005.

Introduction

Buddhism emanated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who is the founding father of Buddhism practices. Buddhism is based on the assumption that reality is a constant instability together with the principle of interdependence, the dominance of mind and consecrated admiration of health and the world. Buddhists use these founding principles as a standard by which all other scientific ideas must come to scrutiny.

Their concept of interrelations stresses the sequential efficacy between cause and its effect. This brings to light their belief in retribution and reward and gives an account of origins, doggedness, disintegration and disappearance of all what existed. Their principle of interdependence further stress on the aspects of form and spatial mutuality of all what exists. People who believe in Buddhism are known to embrace academic discoveries. They have incorporated some of these discoveries in their doctrine.

Thus they take without slightest resistance Darwin’s theories of origin of species and evolution which otherwise met great resistance in the larger Christian West. Transience is an irrefutable opinion for Buddhists. They put to scrutiny in great deal change, its stages, duration and its tangible effect. Introduction of Buddhism in the west met with interest in science that emerged from the need to ground religious belief in new understanding of scientific reality (Jayawardena 1)

Development of Buddhism in Canada

Similar to many western countries, Canada has embraced Buddhism as a religion. Although it was considered as an alien religion in Canada in the early years of its introduction, Buddhism is now becoming a mainstream religion in not only Canada but also in the United States. Being the largest North American country and one of the largest countries in the world, Canada has many cultures as well as different religions. Buddhism emerged in Canada since the nineteenth century although its major force on religion has been felt 1960s.

The membership of Buddhist temples in Canada have raised from 10,000 in 1960 up to 50,000 by 1985. Buddhists in Canada have continued to double every decade thus increasing the percentage of the Canadian population in Buddhism. In fact, Buddhists have outnumbered Sikhs and Hindus especially with the increasing influx of immigrant Buddhists from Sri Lanka and other countries such as china. As a result, Buddhism institutions such as temples and libraries have been discovered.

The first Buddhism temple to be established in Canada was by Dr. Dickwella Mahathera in 978. Another temple, Mahavihara, was later established with the specific purpose of serving spiritual and religious needs of the Canadian Buddhists. A Buddhist center called Vihara was established as a sign of devotion and to serve as a missionary instructor by providing information on Dhamma to western investigators.

With the help of the president, venerable Pandith Ahangam, the Vihara got extended and was structured with better facilities. One of the largest of the three cities in Canada has a Buddhist temple which is one of the total eight Buddhist temples in Canada. Canada also has Sri Lankan monks for offering free Buddha dharma to all who seek it.

With anagarika being the first Buddhist to visit Canada, he is seen as the light of Buddhism in Canada since Canadians were attracted to his cause (Bruce 1). With millions of Canadians showing interests in learning and practicing Buddhism doctrines, Buddhism has been reported to be the fastest growing religion in Canada and the western at large.

The relation between the development of Buddhism in Canada and the act of multiculturalism

The act of multiculturalism in Canada was passed in 1982 and it declares that it is the policy of the Canadian government to recognize and promote multiculturalism from cultural to racial diversities amongst the Canadian people.

Thus the government recognizes the rights of the minority groups regardless of their culture, religion and color. Canada has since been described as diverse and multicultural with records of anti racism depicted by high levels of immigration. Due to this freedom, Buddhism in Canada has continued to grow with exhibitions and shows being held publicly all over Canada.

For instance, an exhibition show on heritage of Buddhism was held in 2005 to express and inspire people on Buddhism. It comprised of several photographs which gave the perspective of richness in Buddhism heritage. Such arts associated with Buddhism could only be possible with the act of multiculturalism and they have had great impacts in the process of flourishing Buddhism all over the Asian continent (Canada’s multicultural policies 1).

This exhibition was facilitated by a college professor who is a Buddhist with a little help from volunteers most of which were from the university of Toronto. The exhibition has since then remained open for public viewing for free. By passing the act of multiculturalism by the Canadian government, the Buddhists got the gateway to diversify their doctrines and beliefs to a wider population.

Conclusion

Religion and culture are very important aspects in our society. Every citizen therefore has the right to enjoy and practice a choice culture or religion without any restrictions whatsoever by the law.

Works Cited

Bruce, Mathews. “Buddhism in Canada”. Web.

Canada’s multicultural policies. “understanding Canadian diversity”. Web.

Jayawardena, Lakshman. “Buddhism – fastest growing religion in Canada”. 2004. Web.

Introduction

Buddhism is a religion based on faith, but it is not entirely based on the blind faith where the Buddhist follows everything proclaimed in its teachings. The Buddhists are highly religious and follow the rules, but most of them do not do anything they term as religious without questioning it.

This is according to the Kalama Sutta which states that the Buddhists should not do everything they read without questioning its value. It states that people should use their knowledge, ideas and reasoning to determine the validity of the teachings they have to follow. The religion describes faith as a blind belief in the existence of something they have no proof of its existence.

The Kalama Sutta records that all its believers can always belief in what they have a proof of its existence and know that its existence is a reality. The religion does not focus on the existence of things like heaven, hell, or miracles; instead, their belief is on the real things like the Pure Land. They have faith that it is the place where they can put into effect all the teachings in the Kalama Sutta.

The Zen of faith is also a part of this resistance to believing blindly in everything that one comes across. The Zen of faith does not encourage the belief in supernatural things. It bases its arguments on four principal fundamentals that include faith, doubt, declaration, and vitality. Doubt and faith enable the Buddhists to lead a life where they are open hearted and open minded (Keown, 2009).

The situation enables them to evaluate and analyze things that come in their lives. These faith and doubt, when combined, make the Buddhist’s heart soften to the different circumstances instead of making them resentful and bitter.

The Baptist religion, on the other hand, believes in faith and do not question the things in the Holy Bible. Even though, the faith and beliefs vary from one church to the other in the Baptist religion, all of them have their foundations laid on the faith in the Bible. The Baptist religion also known as the “orthodox” religion shares common beliefs based on faith.

Among the things that they strongly believe in is the existence of a supernatural being they call God and his son Jesus Christ. The Baptism religion also believes in the existence of the Virgin Mary who gave birth to the only son of God, Jesus Christ. The religion stresses the need to live a life free from any sinful actions that can compromise the faith of a Christian.

Unlike the Buddhists who do not believe in miracles, the Baptists believe in the existence of miracles in their lives. The religion also stresses the importance of the vicarious atoning of those who manage to live a holy life while they are still on Earth (Mullins,1935). The Christians also believe in death, resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Doomsday.

They also have faith that salvation is the key that can guarantee a person that he/she will attain eternal live, God’s Kingdom is close to the trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The Baptist religion supports all these beliefs with verses from the Holy Bible.

The name BAPTIST which stands for Biblical authority, Autonomy in the church, Priesthood that serves those who have faith in the church, Two ordinances, Individual freedom of the soul, Separation of Church and State and Two offices of the church. These are parts of the four freedoms which are the freedom of the soul, the church, the Bible and religion.

The Wat Preah Keo is in the heart of Angkor Wat, which also means, the town of many temples. It is Cambodia and one can easily locate it. The Temple has many features that welcome the visitors into the Temple. It has a site where they have a collection of large images of Buddha, and a place where they give a lesson to anyone who does not know about the history of religion.

The Temple has three resident monks who teach those interested in the religion anything they want to know. The monks are available all day and night, hence, makes the place available to anyone at any time. The entrance to the Temple has a map that shows the visitors the different parts of the Temple and explains briefly what each part serves.

As this is not enough to guide the visitors and the Buddhists who come to pray in this Temple, there are members of the nearby community who act as a guide around the Temple. All this is a part of their religion which states that every Buddhist must be welcomed to visitors and should be hospitable.

The Wat has many structures enclosed in it that serve different purposes. The chaidei, constructed in the shape of a bell or conical is a place where they keep the vestiges of Buddha. The other structure in the Temple is the vihan which is the place where the members of the Temple assemble for prayers. The vihan also serves as a meeting room for the monks and the other members.

The Mondop or the Mandapa is an open structure in the Temple that is usually square in shape and does not have any enclosures on either ends. The structure has four arches that have a pyramid enclosed at the top. This room contains the physical objects that the Buddhist’s worship that include spiritual items and writings (Keown, 2009).

The other structures found in the Temple are the Sala and the Ubosoth. The Sala is a secluded place where the members of the Temple and the monks or visitors go for recreational activates. It has equipments that keep the occupants of the Temple, and the visitors relaxed. The Ubosoth, on the other hand, refers to the holiest prayers take place.

The other name for the Ubosoth is the ‘ordination hall’ because its other purpose is to serve as a place where the monks get ordained. This structure is similar to the Vihara, but the only difference between the two is the presence of the eight cornerstones situated at the corners of the Ubosoth.

The eight cornerstones serve as a deterrent to the devils. The other difference between the two structures is the decorations that the Ubosoth has. It has more decorations than the Vihara and looks livelier as compared to the Vihara.

The bibliotheca serves as a library where the holy Buddhist scriptures reside. The other structures found in the Temple include the drum tower, the bell tower and the multipurpose hall where the monks and other people in the Temple go to read and make references to the scriptures.

The bell tower and the drum tower serve as storerooms for bells and drums respectively. The other structures within the Temple vicinity, but not part of the Temple include the monks’ living quarters. These are not part of the Temple, and they are commonly referred to as monk cells.

Buddhism versus Baptisms

Devotion

The two religions have many things in common, but the two tend to differ when it comes to some of its beliefs and practices. The Buddhism religion is particularly keen of devotion of its members to not only the religion, but also to the other people. Devotion is a key practice, and this is evident in the day to day activities of the Buddhists which include bowing, reciting, giving offerings, gifts and pilgrimage.

This is according to their belief of such practices in the Pure Land. The Buddhists believe that they have to perform such practices as an act of loyalty to the Buddha Amitabha.

The practice is not common in the Baptism, because they believe that the most notable aspect of faith and devotion is leading a holy life with no sin. They do not believe in the bodily actions or offering of sacrifices as they believe that Jesus’ death and rising from the dead served as the ultimate sacrifice (Mullins, 1935).

Meditation

Meditation is another aspect of the Buddhism religion. This practice is a part of the Yoga practice which demands that the believer concentrates both on mind and body to the liberating mental process. The practice involves repenting for one’s misdeeds and trying to visualize a life free from evil deeds (Keown, 2009).

The meditation process is in the Brahminic texts that list the steps that a Buddhist should follow when he/she is meditating. The motive of going into meditation is an effort to achieve a Holy stance and maintain it during one’s life. This is similar to fasting and prayers in the Baptist religion. A Christian goes into fasting in order to repent for his/her sins and get closer to God through the Holy Spirit.

The three jewels and the trinity

The other belief in the Buddhist religion is the practice where young people in the religion take sanctuary in the Three Jewels. This serves as a basis of the person’s religious beliefs. The three jewels include the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The three jewels are of considerable importance to the Buddhists because they serve as a sign of compassion, eternal and never ending or ever changing cores.

These three jewels are the same as the holy trinity in Christianity. Each of the three jewels represents a different part of the Buddhist religion, but there is no way that they can be separated. The existence of one jewel depends on the existence of the other. Buddha can be compared to God the Father as he presents himself as the holy one.

Dharma, on the other hand, is the one who guides the young generation from straying and offers a way for alienating their suffering and plays the same role as Jesus Christ (Mullins, 1935). Sangha is crucial as it provides a guide to the young Buddhist and gives them the necessary examples that relate to the teachings of the Kama Sutta.

The Sanskrit and the Ten Commandments

Buddhism has rules and moral codes that guide its believers and deters them from engaging in unruly behaviors. These are similar to the Ten Commandments in the Baptists religion. The Buddhists’ call the virtuous concepts the Sanskrit or refer it also as the Pāli. The Sanskrit divides these concepts into different classes depending on the level of morality that they are dealing with and those who the concepts affect.

It can either be the five concepts, the eight concepts or the ten concepts. Like the Ten Commandments, the Sanskrit aims at making the lives of its believers better and holy in order to attain eternity than when there are no rules to guide them.

However, the difference is in the grouping of these concepts because the Baptism religion does not divide the Ten Commandments according to the people who are to follow the commandments. This is not the case in Buddhism; each concept is for a particular group of people.

Therefore, one will found that monks have their own set of concepts that is different from those of the other believers. Baptism, on the other hand, does not make divide the Ten Commandments with regards as to whom will follow them; the Ten Commandments apply to everyone who believes in the religion (Keown, 2009).

The monastic life

The monks live a monastic life where they have no family; they do not get married and have kids. This is the same priesthood in some of the Baptist churches. Both the monks and the priest lead a holy life where their spiritual duties serve as a family, and they see the members of their religion as family. They act as mediators between the believers and the supernatural being.

The other similarity is that both religions believe in life after death. Buddhism does not state clearly that people will rise after Jesus Christ comes back to Earth as the Baptist do, but they believe that the dead come back to life as new born babies.

The difference between the two religions comes about when the Baptist religion talks about the second coming of Jesus Christ and the existence of Heaven. Though there is a similarity when it comes to where only the holy will go, they do not agree on the location of that place. Buddhism claims that the Pure Land is on Rarth while the Baptist religion claims that it is a place outside this world.

Conclusion

Buddhism and the Baptist religions have many things in common, but have their own differences. Buddhism is more concerned with the physical aspects of the religion that the spiritual aspects. This is not the case in Baptism because they concern themselves with the inner most details of the spiritual concepts of the religion. However, many things tend to link the two religions together including the trinity and the three jewels.

The main difference, however, comes about when it comes to the belief in faith. The Baptist religion bases all its values on the absolute faith they have in the Holy Bible. The Bible does not encourage them to question its scriptures. The Buddhists, on the other hand, do not believe in any thing blindly unless they have proof of its existence.

References

Keown, D. (2009). Buddhism: A Brief Insight. London: Sterling Publishing Company.

Mullins, Y. (1935). The Baptist faith: the axioms of religion: a new interpretation of the Baptist faith. Chicago: Sunday school Board of the SBC.

Introduction

What was the origin, establishment, development and relationship of Buddhism with other religions? What were various reforms that were made to restore it especially after Japanese occupation and how is the current situation? Buddhism could be seemed as set of religious beliefs that probably that has influenced by the philosophical teachings of Siddhartha sometimes it is also referred to as a guide that directs one towards reality.

It originated in India sometimes back; about 2600 years ago. Buddhism is also referred to as Buddha dharma or simply as Dhamma. This religion originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautiona approximately in the 5^th BCE. It reached China in about 372 AD where the main religion of the day was Shamanism. It was first witnessed in Korea in 4^th century CE during the time when the country gave birth to Packche, Silla and Koguryo kingdoms. First it reached Koguryo north and then to the other two parts. It was taken there by a monk named Sondo form Chi’n but Korean Buddhism is not the same as those from other parts as this one tries to reduce the Chinese Mahayan inconsistencies. My main focus in this essay will be to discuss on its origin how it spread, its impacts and its practices.

Main body

The main Korean religion prior to the introduction of Buddhism was the shamanism, which up to now is valued by some Koreans. Its followers believe that natural forces, human beings as well as inanimate objects have spirit that deserves to be appeased. The two religions did not conflict in any way and if anything, they both complimented each other to produce a unique type of Buddhism that is only found in Korea. (Chong, R.K. 1997, pg 78) During its time of origin, their teachings were elementary and were taught by Chinese monk who came with him some Chinese statues and texts. His teachings consisted both the search for happiness and karma’s teachings. These teachings worked very well with shamanism such that they mixed and blended some unique form of Buddhism. So the Korean form of religion is totally different from others as it is a hybrid type of religion.

During this period as it is mentioned above the Korean peninsular kingdom was divided in to three regions namely Kerguyo Paeje and Paekje which were located in the North, South West and South East respectively. Since it was introduced in Korea it only spread to well established and conquered others something that made Korea to be united. The Shilla United was famous for its arts and cultural materials for example the Maintreya image. The Kyongju that was mostly famous for its twin Stupas and the Koryo dynasty developed itself very much in terms of arts and cultures. It should not be forgotten that the koryo dynasty that is today known as Korea. The Koryo dynasty’s era witnessed the creation of the Korean Tripitaka, this is a collection of all of the Buddhist sacred books or the scriptures and era of the spread of Buddhism also the period that witnessed the emergency of one of the most famous monk called Chi-nue.

His teaching particularly emphasized on ‘mind only’ form of meditation on son’s practise plus the scripture studies. These contributed to the rise of a feature that is distinguishable from others. The main sect in Korea is the chogye but it showed be known that this sect came from the Songgkwang temple that was established at Mount Chogye by Chi-nul. (Buswell, ed. 2005 pg 64) The spread of Buddhism in Korea received a major set back with the establishment of the Yi dynasty that came to adopt the principle of neo- Confuciasm did not go along well with Buddhism and this led the latter to decline. The Yi dynasty also called Chosun in their trial to control the spread of Buddhism destroyed all the temples in the key cities and forced the monks to go to the mountains where they are found even today. (Hong. A. 1978)

Another reason why the trend of Buddhism was not going well was as a result of corruption that was combined with the emergence of a very strong movement that was against Buddhism. However, centrally to the expectation, this set back acted as a shot in the arm as the most renown masters whose role they played in the spread of this religion. Mostly these masters and monks who were determined to shape the future of the Koreans. These monks even went in China so that they could learn Linji or what in Korean is known as imje. This was a teaching that was taught in china by Jinul.

After they completed their course, they pointed the weaknesses of the constitution so that they could bring back Buddhism on to its feet. Though the imje’s influence was not seen to be in harmony with Buddhism. The two expressed deep understanding on the Confucianism and Taoism. With the occupation of Japanese in 1910 up to 1915, Buddhism somehow regained its popularity as the Japanese allowed it to be taught and spread on understanding that this time the monks were get married. Unlike in the past where Korea was home to many Buddhists, today only 50% of the whole population believe in Buddhism. (Keel, H. 1978 pg 16,17). There are various features that contributed to the uniqueness of the Korean Buddhism. These features are the bodhisattva principle’s unification openness and the mundane.

These divisions in the country had their own significant effect. A bodhisattva is a Buddhist that is determined to postpone their final enlightment so as they come after themselves to the wider society. Bodhisattva as a religion entailed embodiment of some perfections and are generosity, vigour, patience, wisdom meditation and good conduct. The most valued of the six perfections was generosity, which involves denial of the self or negation, but as a matter of fact all these perfections are interrelated and valued. For example if you want to be generous, then you have to possess the other six perfections. It is believed that for one to give somebody a good gift then they must be of good conduct. It is thought that it is only through meditation that greed in our mind could be erased and this helps a person to give a present to another selflessly and it is through his wisdom that the person to be awarded.

These Buddhism values were of fundamental importance to the lives of the Koreans who believed that if one perfected in these factors then the possibility was that he/she would become a perfect being. The other feature or character was unification. It was strongly believed that the inhabitants of Peninsular become unified through the force of Buddhism. It is as a result of this power that the unified Shilla period came to be social harmony. (Fisher, J. E. 1977) In 688 Ad people got unified something that boosted the defence maintenance. Monks used the Buddhism unifying force to lead Koreans to rise above the Japanese ruling. The most renowned Buddhist writers were also not left behind in unifying the followers. They wrote on several topics such as “returning to the one mind, “all is one” and won-hyo (open mindedness) this campaign led Koreans to embrace the spirit of peace harmony and unity

The third feature that makes Korean Buddhism unique is ‘openness’ the practice of openness in Buddhism is very evident in the way Buddhists relate with other sects and movements such as shamanism and the Confucianism. The Koreans are well aware of the benefits that are associated with being open and that are why even today the Koreans Buddhists are ready to incorporate various new features to their religion if they are good. This culture is transferred to other generations through plays songs and movies. (De Bary, WT. and Kim, J.H., Ed. 1985 pg 33, 41).

Since the introduction of Buddhism in Korea mundane benefits are more valued than spiritual benefits that are pursued by the monks. Unlike other religions Buddhism is more focused on practical thing and aims at promoting Buddha hood in the society in order that human beings would be saved and the measures that are used to achieve this end are skilful. “The object of salvation, no matter what it may be falls within the category of living beings.

Therefore regardless of what religion people believe in they are nevertheless regarded as an object of Buddhist salvation. In this way, Buddhism is inclusive and tolerant, and Korean Buddhism is no exception. In Korea for example Wonhyo (617-686) represented the pinnacle of intellectual history whereby as a good thinker that possessed the thoughts of a wise Korean Buddhist. Wonyo warned people against the rigidity of doctrine as well as allowing the aristocratic monopoly to find a place in Korean Buddhism. He was very vibrant in trying to integrate various diverse Buddhism doctrines in his work and this made his research work to become a Buddhist critical model. In trying to harmonise different doctrine in his own he laid much emphasis on teaching various phenomena that to him are mind’s products.

He urged people to understand that the mind is the source of all phenomena and for that reason, it becomes useless to have doctrinal dispute and this is why openness in Korean Buddhism is greatly cherished as it makes this religion to be flexible and accommodative of other religious. Rigidity of religion is what mainly makes different groups to rise against each other for example Muslims and Christians. According to Wonhyo, the only way through which despites could be why he tried to combine practical orientation with rigid adherence to the doctrines. Another person whose contributions towards making Korean Buddhism a unique thing was Eisang (625-702) this person firmly is created for forcing Hwaom which was Buddha land ideal for promoting and maintaining a strong background for unified shilla kingdom. According to Hwaom doctrine thing exist in nature because of harmony in the universe otherwise if there is no universal order then all things would be in perpetual conflict. “If one awakens to this order anguish and contentions instantly disappear and the world is seen as full of harmony and peace” (Lee, Peter H., ed. 1993 pg 84)

The teachings of Eisang were very influential to the Koreans and this made the whole of Korea to be seen as a Buddha land and various places where Kwanum Munsu Posal became sacred places. His teachings expressed Hwaom’s thought whose purpose was to show people the possibility of getting organised for the future of unified shilla.

Trials were made to restore order and organisation in Korea especially after it was severely damaged by shilla and Koryo regimes. These dynasties had no use for Buddhism and even victimised its followers such as monks. These regimes advocated for Confucianism and were determined to do whatever in their power to destroy the already well-established Buddhism religion. They demolished temples that were used by Buddhists. Many Korean Buddhists took it upon themselves the role of restoring the shape and progress of Buddhism and Eich’ion was one of these individuals. During the Koryo era, Eich’ion who was national master aimed to restore sanity in Buddhism religion that had greatly perpetrated. During the last period of this regime a movement was formed in the surrounding area of the ‘Nine Mountains. This group led to son’s expansion and strongly agitated for less control of the government as well as the strict issuance of doctrinal orders. The were advocating for the sharing of power amongst the local areas as opposed to central relied on money it got from the royal house to carry out its missions.

Eich’on and his group had to devise another way of dealing with the situation they embarked on a practice, which was based on meditation (son) and doctrinal learning (kyo) so as to cut the cost of preparing those documents. Eich’won’s model was geared towards unifying the Koryo society through order restoration between the royal house and the Buddhism. Another reformer was Chinul (1158-1250) who centrally to what Eich’ion was trying to bring changes to Buddhism from the sect. Due to the Korean military coup of 1170, the whole society was chaos and the Buddhism were no exception as they fell victim of the coup. Chinus capitalised on this situation to form a group of those people who denounced their wealth and fame and went to live in secret places where they would lead their private religions life. Since the groups’ mode of practice was meditation and some doctrinal studies, it came to be regarded as Samadhi and Prajna, which translate to concentration and wisdom respectively. Thus Chinul wanted to form a secluded group of Buddhists.

In the recent past, there are those who devoted their energies to spread Buddhism and a classic example is of back Yongseong Jinjong who died in 1940. He spread Buddhism based on Seon traditions and also conducted intensive studies and efforts to translate the Buddhist Tripitaka. He also represented the Korean community at the thirty-three Buddhist national meeting. (Han, W. 1971, pg 154)

After Korea was rescued from Japanese occupation sometimes back in 1945, Chogye the Korean sect started to replace the married monks that were placed by the Japanese. In 1950, there were further divisions between the Korean Buddhists that were perpetrated by Syngman Rhee whose main target was to weaken the Sangha Buddhist by campaign for the “Japanized Buddhists” other division amongst the Koreans were brought about by westernisation in education and scholarships and also by the empowerment programs that were directed to the women and the poor people. (Prebish, C., ed. 1975 pg 213) Fights also erupted over the leadership of temples between married monks and non-married monks. These added salt to the injuries by creating even further divisions. Many Buddhists turned Christians due to the conflicts inside Buddhism.

The president of Korea from 1950s Syngman Rhee with others tried to widen the gap between Buddhists for example, Rhee incited the Japanized Buddhists against the Sangha Buddhists. Other divisions were brought about by the introduction of the Western education and the scholar ships that were provided by them. Also women and children empowerment in Korea increased the division between various Buddhists. The biggest division was brought by the difference between married and celibate monks over who was to run and manage the temples. Those who referred them serves as the Jogye Buddhists even threatened to kill themselves because of the hatredness that existed between them and the Japanized Buddhists. Due to these in fights their influence in Korea rapidly decreased and Christians took their place. (Ch’en, K. 1996 44).

In the 1965 the then president park Chung Hee tried to closed the gap between the rival Buddhists by putting in place a pan Buddhist organisation but things did not work out as they were expected. When he failed he joined the celibate monks. In the 1980s Chu Choo Hwan who was the president he reversed the progress that was brought about by Chung Hee by using intrigue and politics to weaken Buddhism. Today the fight has taken another dimension as it is fought between Christians and the Buddhists. Christians are even destroying Buddhist’s temples and crashing their valued statues. In 1990s there were conflicts that existed between some Buddhist leaders, the government of Korea and church denominations. The monks were accused of being immoral by the government and this made Christians to take advantage of the situation to fight Buddhists.

In Korea most of church congregations do turn violent when various groups rise against each other. There was a case where the past6or of a certain church used his microphone as a tool to destroy the treasures of the Buddhists. Also there have been cases where Christians have painted crosses on the walls and glasses of the temples, Some Buddhists have started to market their products such as statues and are allowing tourists to visit their temples to see these rare treasures. Today, there are about fifteen million people in Korea and approximately a third of them are religious. These comprise of various groups of Buddhists in Korea, “Of the 18 different sects in Korea, the Chogye sect represents close to 90% of the country’s devout. It includes the Seon (also known by its Japanese name of Zen) and Kyo schools. The second largest group, T’aego, comprises 7% of the total and allows its monks to marry.” (Quang Duc HomePage, 2001) Conclusion

To conclude we have seen that Korean Buddhism is different from other Buddhism and especially the Chinese Mahayana as it is geared towards solving some inconsistencies that exist. Korean Buddhism originated from china and then entered Korea where it took another dimension. Korean Buddhism has faced a lot of challenges for example, during the occupation of Japanese in the 1940s it was greatly undermined. Some monks were chased away and went to live in the Syrian Desert without any food or water. Buddhism was also Japanese even allowed married monks to preach while others were tortured thus increasing divisions among Buddhists. There were some efforts to strengthen Korean Buddhism and people were people like Eisang and Wonhyo made these. Buddhists Korea have al been facing a lot of frustration from the government foe example, in 1960s president Rhee incited Buddhists and especially the Japanized and the Sangha Buddhist to fight one another but today, the situation is a bit different as even the Christian are rising against Buddhism.

Work Cited

Buswell, ed. Currents and Counter currents: Korean Influences on the East Asian Buddhist Traditions, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. 49-64.

Ch’en, K. Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 1964: 48-54.

Chong, R.K. Won Buddhism: A History and Theology of Korea’s New Religion. Studies in Asian Thought and Religion. Vol. 22, Lewiston, Queenstown, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1997: 78.

De Bary, WT. and Kim, J.H., Ed. The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985: 40 Han, W. The History of Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1971: 154.

Keel, H. Buddhism and Political Power in Korean History. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. Vol. 1, 1978. 8-23. Prebish, C., ed. Buddhism: A Modern Perspective: Buddhism in Korea. 1975: 212-217.

Lee, P.H., ed. Sourcebook of Korean Civilization.New York: Columbia University Press, vol. I: 1993:78-84.

Fisher, J. E. Pioneers of Modern Korea. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea. 1977.

Hong. A. Modern History of Korean Philosophy Seoul: Seong Moon Sa. 1978.

Quang Duc HomePage. Buddhism in Korea. Korean Buddhism Magazine, Seoul. 2000. Web.