The Buddha
One of the oldest religions on earth is Buddhism. Siddhartha, an Indian born 544 years ago before Christ began the religion (Hirakawa 290). He gave up on his family and kingdom and started learning as well as training spiritual teachings of the period. It was until one time when he swore not to go from his seat under a Bodhi tree waiting to grasp the reality of all existence. As a result, he achieved his goals by trying to understand the nature of his mind.
However, what is precious to us is a problematic and wrenching procedure. This is because the attempt by Buddhist to create an approach that the body is like an old vehicle that a driver has dumped. What’s more, the worth of future reincarnation is known to extensively rely on the value of end of awareness period. Therefore, Buddhists are expected to be conscious at all times.
Others may also deny that pain relieving medication makes them feel under the influence of the drugs. It is therefore imperative to create the right balance between being pain free and in the entire administration procedure. I agree with most of Buddhist teachings based on the fact that they are realistic and applicable in modern life.
He also accepted the fact that every made deed, with the body and utterances or what we often perceive to be left behind is a slight impression of what is on our minds. The human mind has ability to mature from happiness or from future suffering depending on whether the deed was really bad or good.
This is also a very clear description in the real sense because it is not black or white. As a matter of fact, it is the best consideration of different shades of grey. For example, if a person learns how to use a piano, he will end up with the possibility of being a pianist in the future depending on underlying factors. These impressions generally remain behind on slight mind until they mature or till the time they are wiped away by spiritual deeds.
It is also the subtle mind and ensues as a river popularly known as life to another. This is also known as Reincarnation. The type of a reincarnation that a person undertakes is affected by goals, strength and the source of a person’s Karma. Buddha further teaches that because of the persistence of energy and the slight mind, it is an individual’s status of mind and awareness during death that determines his or her reincarnation.
If a person’s mindset is calm, quiet and has good feelings, then he or she will have an enjoyable reincarnation. If the person’s mind status depicts bad aspirations, fear and anger, the end result will be a bad or a negative reincarnation. This is true based on the fact that many scientists have clearly shown that the mind often merges at the time of death and it is usually the one that the person is familiarized with.
Teachings of Buddha strongly emphasizes that the period to plan for death is at present. This is because if we can manage our minds presently and make constructive rewards in the future, we will end up with a controlled and peaceful mind at the time of death. The people will therefore be free of panic and they will have no regrets.
There is also a highly developed foresees that sees death as a probable rewarding experience for great realizations and explanations. Therefore, many individuals will try as much as possible to appreciate and prepare for death to create a good use of the event. As a matter of fact, a Buddhist needs to understand as early as possible the likelihood of death to prepare family, friends and to be ready for the purposes.
Dying Buddhists will also ask for clear intervention from a monk or a nun in their customs to create change of death calmly and in the most liberated way possible. Before and in the event of actual time of death, the nun, monk or spiritual friends as well as relatives will recite different prayers and sing songs from Buddhist scriptures. In different customs, a chanting deathbed is usually taken very seriously and quite momentous. It is also known as the last thing that is listened to by Buddhist.
Death is considered as a sophisticated and mutually dependent process in which the body and the mind split up in a concurrent manner. The event comprise of two sections including the outer ending where the senses end and the inner end characterized with the ending of subtle and gross brains. Therefore, even if a person dies from the medical point of view, the inner part is usually based on proceeds for some period.
It is therefore, preferably to die in a person’s residence and in a Buddhist hospital where a person can enjoy a calm meditative environment and the body remains uninterrupted for a period of time after the death of a person. Karma simply refers to ‘Action’ and it entails a clear link between the basis of actions as well as its related consequences (Gethin 120).
While the idea of effect and cause emerges as quite sensible in daily observation, Buddhists educate on the consequences of Karmic actions and that they can be brought about in the future, based on the principle that a section of awareness doesn’t disappear in the event of death but it is also not taken to the next event.
Alaya consciousness is also at times referred to non-vanishing because Karmic seeds are designed to not vanish in the event of death. A person’s life therefore goes together with latency by entire Karma consequences (Ikeda 160). Apparently, the after death kingdom strongly dwells on past scientific studies and it remains a big belief issue.
The contention and significance of the idea that Karma mainly focuses on trouble is often worsened by the argument that the rule of Karma is not justifiable. Nevertheless, it is an individual constitutive procedure on deeds, pleasure and pain generated that cannot be fully comprehended by any other strategy apart from empirically.
The religion also educates on the eternity doctrines of life in the process of death and birth that signifies the reincarnation belief of a person’s life in future appearance even after death. Reincarnation is also recurrence of the same Karmic inclination not to the person in reincarnation. Our personal lives are also escorted into inclinations by entire Karma effects (Ikeda 160). The process of reincarnation is nonetheless past the ability of science to verify or reject its validity.
Despite the fact that Buddhism was measured with Existentialism, it was also disapproved by Nietzsche, taking the religion to mean a philosophy that is life opposing and attempts to overlook the subsistence taken by suffering. The Doctrine of the 4 Noble Truths was characterized by disapproval because of its core point on suffering. There are different Buddhist teachings that consider the factor of joy in life for example, the matters of the Lotus Sutra has different events including enlightenment of individuals with their minds dancing with joy.
Nichiren Buddhism education also considers pains and joys: therefore, enjoy a situation that is characterized with joy and suffer in place where there is suffering. This is because the religion takes both joy and suffering as life’s essentials.
Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
Here are four noble truths that have proven to be very realistic and it makes Buddhism and its teachings quite significant especially in the understanding of modern life.
The 1st Noble Truth-The truth of dukka
Suffering comes in different ways. There are three major types of suffering that reflect the first 3 highlights that Buddha saw on his trip outside the palace and they include illness, death and ageing. People are often subject to desires and needs but even when we are in a position to meet them, the satisfaction generated is not just enough or permanent.
Pleasure is not long and if it is, it turns out to be used. (BBC n.p) This truth highlights that chasing following the world’s amusement with expectation that is set to bring long term pleasure in the end, leads to frustration.
The 2nd Noble Truth-The truth of the origin
From time to time, our problems can disappear and from time to time, they may seem to have notable causes including pain from grieve following loss of friend or relative, thirst and injury. The inability to achieve satisfaction with what we are or what is in our possession fills our minds with suffering, desire and greed of all sorts automatically. The attitude of selfishness and greed is also another source of displeasure that robs our peace of mind (Buddha Mind n.p).
The 3rd Noble Truth-Cessation of Suffering
Cessation refers to origin or end of suffering (Boddhi n.p). Buddha teaches that the way to put out desire resulting in suffering is to release a person from close associations to desire. Buddha was a great example that it is likely to occur in person’s life’s span. As a matter of fact, Estrangement leads to disenchant: a Buddhist aims at familiarizing him or herself with a sense of an individual to understand that they are not being misled by them (BBC n.p).
A person who achieves nirvana does not necessarily vanish to heavenly kingdom. Nirvana is therefore better known as a condition characterized with a mind that a person can attain. Witnessing the suffering that comes through such attitudes liberates our hearts from displeasure and suffering and ends them.
The 4th Noble Truth-path to cessation of dukkha
This noble truth is the recommendation of Buddha for the termination of suffering. These are sets of regulations and are Eightfold. The eightfold can be called the Middle Way and it keeps away from indulgence and severe asceticism, none of which, Buddha got to be any importance in enlightenment studies. This path therefore, concludes sufferings.
It also states that every individual at any point in life can achieve ideal happiness is we avoid harming each other. That is if we focus, achieve wisdom and focus (Buddha Mind n.p).
Even though Buddhism has some importance, it has also been criticized for a number of reasons. Admission of females into Sangha group of believers occurred at the time of Buddha’s life. A variety of temples laid extra regulations to be adhered to by nun’s bhikkunis as opposed to monk’s bhikkus following the creation of the Buddhist Council of Theravada Buddhism.
The event was seen as a step characterized with favoritism. The main condemned doctrine also takes females as under graded and not males as established in Amida Buddhism’s vow. Buddha also set revolution vows of women into men, thus vowing to help females reach Buddhahood. There were however earlier restrictions on the achievements of Buddhahood by females and they were eliminated by Lotus Sutra. This ensured equal treatment of males and females.
According to Nichiren, it is just in Lotus Sutra that we can find out a female holds on to sutra only to super-cede entire females and exceed all males (Gakkai 463). Theravada Buddhism has also been criticized a great deal because it takes females and more specifically female monks as substandard to males (Gutschow 207).
Many of Buddhism institutions have a lot of regulations on nun’s monk ancestries. Buddhist clarify that in the end of Buddha, nuns faced troubles in regards to security especially if they were to be taken in equally as monks who took trips around cities and in forests. Many regulations consequently have to be created for nuns, for example: nuns are not allowed to take unaccompanied trips (Lucinda 219).
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Work cited
BBC, “The four Noble Truths,” Nov. 11, 2009. Web. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/fournobletruths_1.shtml
Bodhi, Bhikkhu, “Noble Eightfold Path: Chapter 1,” 2nd edition, Buddhist Publication Society
“Noble Truth: First teaching,” buddhamind.info, n.d., web. 29 November 2013 <http://www.buddhamind.info/leftside/under/buddha/4truths.htm >
Gakkai, Soka, “Writing of Nichiren Daishonin,” Web. 21 November 2013 <http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/54#p463>
Gethin, Rupert , “Foundations of Buddhism,” Oxford University Press, 1998. Print
Gutschow, Kim, “Being a Buddhist nun: the struggle for enlightenment in the Himalayas.” Harvard University Press, 2004. Print
Hirakawa, Akira. A History of Indian Buddhism: from Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. Motilal Banarsidass. 2007
Ikeda, Daisaku, “unlocking the mysteries of birth & death: And everything in between, a buddhist view life.” Middle Way Press, 2004. Print
Lucinda Joy Peach, “Buddhism and Human Rights in the Thai Sex Trade”, in Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women, Courtney W. Howland (Ed)., Palgrave Macmillan,2001. Print