Buddhism

by Gloria

Most people’s impression of Buddhism is a bunch of Asians worshipping a fat god - at least that’s what I thought before I looked a little deeper. Buddhism actually originated in India, but now is widely popular in Asian countries. It is not a religion, but a philosophy and way of life. Even though my mom grew up a in a Buddhist culture in Taiwan, she is Christian now, and I never knew much about her religion. When my family visited my grandparents and extended family in Taiwan, we went to a temple and burned paper and set out food. I did not understand what we were doing, but after doing some research I understand a little more of what Buddhism is really about.

The Buddha is not a god, nor an idol; he is the teacher of a path to enlightenment. His followers do not worship him or ask for favors, but pay respect to him. The Buddha was Siddhartha Gotama, born in 562 BCE, into a royal family in India. An astrologer predicted that he would become a great king or spiritual leader, depending on whether he saw outside the palace walls. His father tried to prevent him from venturing outside, but eventually he did. There he saw an old man, a poor man, a corpse, and a holy man, and he decided to leave the palace and find inner peace. Seeing these people made him realize the suffering that people not in the palace feel, and the holy man seemed at peace with himself and the world. Siddhartha experimented with religions at both ends of extremity and found no peace; he eventually sat in meditation and created the Middle Way, Buddhism. His intent was not to create a religion, but to help people reach Enlightenment.

A few concepts of Buddhism are karma and rebirth. Karma is the belief that every action has an effect that manifests itself in another life. This explains why some people are born disabled, and some more skilled than others. Another concept is the Four Noble Truths; life is suffering, suffering is caused by attachment to desires, suffering will cease once attachment to desire ceases, and freedom from suffering can be attained by following the Eight-fold path. The Eight-fold path has eight areas and involves being moral, being mindful and aware of one’s thoughts and actions, and to develop wisdom and understanding.

Buddhism is very tolerant of other religions; in fact, it encourages others to practice their own religions as long as they promote the well-being of all living things. Buddhists do not try to convert people because they do not believe that other religions hold back world progress or peace; that is why no wars have ever been fought over Buddhism.

Buddhism is much more than just a religion; it is a path to Enlightenment and a way of life. It is different from other religions because it does not worship an unattainable god; it has moral philosophies and allows science to exist with it. It does not treat other religions as obstacles to world peace, but encourages them.

Works Cited
White, Brian. "A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute Introduction." BuddhaNet - Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network. 1993. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm

Dhammananda, Sri. "Buddhist Attitude Towards Other Religions." Know Buddhism. 13 Mar. 2009. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://www.knowbuddhism.info/2009/03/buddhist-attitude-towards-religions.html

Essentialsof Buddhism - Core Concepts. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. http://buddhaweb.org/