Buddhism Vs Christianity
Buddhism to me has always seemed to be something similar to that of a fairytale. Not knowing much about the religion, I couldn’t understand how you could live happily ever after by looking up to a fat guy and making weird chanting sounds to who knows who. Needless to say, for my exploration of culture, I chose Buddhism. To pursue my study, I attended a class at the Heruka Buddhist Center on October 17, and talked, afterwards, with a Western Buddhist nun, Gen Kelsang Losel, who came to Fort Collins from England for the center. The class was on contemplating the faults of attachments, a core belief among Buddhists. The session began with a half hour of meditation to relax the muscles of the body and release tension. Then for forty-five minutes she lectured. She talked about how all of our attachments and desires in our life lead us to pain and suffering. So in order to be happy, one must let go of our attachments. Following, was another session of meditation. Siddhartha Guatama, the founder of Buddhism, was born into a Hindu family where he was sheltered from pain and suffering. At age nineteen, he married his cousin and had had a son. At twenty-nine he left his wife and began a quest of inner illumination
, recognizing that much of the world experiences suffering. Six years later he concluded that a life of self denial was futile. He sat under a tree and meditated for the first time, for this reason, Siddhartha was called Buddha which means enlightened one, and he realized that the cause of suffering was desire, attachment to material things. He spent the next forty years preaching the message of humility and compassion. He emphasized nirvana, which is what all Buddhists strive to achieve. It signifies the end of suffering and craving, the attainment of perfect peace. An Arahant is someone who has attained Nirvana. He said anyone can reach nirvana, by avoiding all extremes in accordance with the eightfold path, which consisted of: right views, right intension, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. They believe that one will continually come back to earth, be reincarnated, until Nirvana is reached. Buddha urged his followers to work at their own salvation. His life consisted of many miraculous tales which were preserved and recorded by his followers. He wrote nothing but his disciples memorized his teachings and wrote them in 3 main books, The Pitikas, during the first century B.C.E. I see Buddhism as having a very accepting outlook on life. It is a product of their values. I think the thing they place the most value on is reaching Nirvana and ending the cycle of reincarnation. Within that, they urge people to go at their own salvation. Buddha did not draw them a map of how to liv
Some topics in this essay:
Siddhartha Guatama,
Buddhism India,
Buddhism Attending,
Collins England,
Kelsang Losel,
Buddhism Buddhism,
Jesus Buddha,
Mahayana Buddhism,
Ceylon India,
Hinayana Buddhism,
pain suffering,
values value reaching,
gen kelsang,
map live,
values value,
value reaching,
own salvation,
product values,
buddhist center,
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gen kelsang losel,
kelsang losel,
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Approximate Word count = 1054
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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