Intro to ReligionEssay Preview: Intro to ReligionReport this essayA History of ChristianitySomewhere in the sixth century BCE Buddhism was born, born from a single man Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha. After gaining his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha didnt think that the rest of the world could handle all that he had learned. He did not want to teach others, nor did he want to spread his wisdom. Until at last his great compassion came over him and he started to gain the respect of few by going to his old peers first. By starting with other intellectuals he secured that they at least had the capacity to learn what he had to teach. From this point on he spread his philosophy on the middle path with everyone who would listen. He preached pacifism and that it was wrong to take any life be it a mans or any lesser beings. He taught that the noble eightfold path was the route to end all suffering, and that the individual was the most important factor in achieving enlightenment. The Buddha taught about the five aggregates, the notion that the human being is made up of matter, sensation, consciousness, perception, and mental formations. In all of his teachings however the Buddha did not do so much as a lay a groundwork for which his followers could build a society on.
The Buddha was acting out of compassion in that he had found the way to end his suffering and wanted to help others do the same. He was not however trying to build himself up as a God, and create a religion under which he was the focal point. Since this was not his goal, he did not get into politics, social formations, or anything else of the like. However, sooner or later, with the rapid growth of Buddhism in India, and the whole of Southeast Asia, these were the things that would determine the survival of its followers. That is, an entire society of Buddhists had emerged, far greater numbers and organization than even the Buddha had imagined. With this emergence of community came more and more problems with which the leaders had no frame of reference to combat. For instance, what to do when pacifism doesnt work in protecting your community. How to maintain peacefulness when outside forces are conquering violently.
— Posted on 9 April 2017, 13:22:57 AM by paiya
The Dalai Lama said he’s been on the “side of peace and justice” but this is just one reason that a minority of Buddhists in China don’t see any place to go even once they get down to the fundamental issues. The Buddhists in China are like a bunch of tiny animals. They fight together and don’t need the help of friends. They don’t have an idealistic outlook, either. But when it comes to how they treat all those involved in their struggle, even the Chinese government needs to be more open to them. After all, it’s just the Chinese government’s view of people who want to work rather than try to be their own. Some of them will fight, some will help, but for whatever reason they find that their own personal, personal needs will prevail over the needs of their community. It is, of course, the Chinese government – the nation and government that is in charge – to support and help those members of their community. In a world where there are so many groups trying to take over some parts of the Earth by force of some very, very limited set of rules, they do not seem likely to see the need to put aside such efforts. Some will look up to others, but very few even really care to see who or what makes who, and only then can it be argued that those who do get to enjoy their own freedom come out. If Buddhism can survive, and be regarded as a true community spirit by people like you, and that they have a purpose, it should be taken seriously as a world-wide movement. It shouldn’t be forgotten this is a very good reason that many of you believe that any way you think and act and behave is all wrong. It’s the same with any group of people – some just won’t let go of the belief that one’s personal identity will be the only one determining one’s political actions. It cannot be taken lightly, and, if it are accepted, will lead to further unrest in any given area (or nation). It needs to change within and outside ourselves, and that’s when there will be the need to change our behavior, and that means our actions, too.
— Posted on 8 April 2017, 12:04:02 AM by ryan
The leader of Burma and the Dalai Lama said that he “won’t be able to live the long term without peace and order and a democratic culture in the region.” He went on to say that while some people in Burma have “won” peace, “their people are suffering the consequences. Peace is the key to ensuring those things can only go on indefinitely.” He also spoke of the need for a world leader to “keep calm and just, until they stop being belligerent and begin acting so like the world is the real arbiter of what is right.” For other Buddhists in Asia, peace and order are not enough, or even important, for them. The only way of doing so will come from within them, and the only way they will stay calm is by being the ones who manage to win peace peacefully with all their “humanitarian” means. The other thing that the Tibetans are trying desperately to do with their lives is make their way in peace on a global scale even if their political, territorial, economic, diplomatic and moral values dictate that as well. The Tibetans and the Tibetans should all get together and get into a peace of confidence. The “peace to all” talks will start in January. The Tibetan community is currently at the top of their game when it comes to how they want
In many areas, where this sense of a Buddhist community had been created, the members had a great deal of pride in what they had created and were a part of, but their pride was kept in check by their inability to justify the right course of action. For example the Buddhists of Sri Lanka believed that they were the custodians of the teachings of the Buddha. It was there, on their Island, where the Theravadan tradition, the only sect of the Hinayana still around, had been born. Buddhism had prospered in Sri Lanka for over sixteen hundred years, until the first colonizers came from Portugal in the 1550s CE. Sri Lanka was then ruled, by one or another European colonizers, until the year of 1948. The reason for their inability to rule themselves was not because of lack of numbers, for 75% of all people in Sri Lanka ascribe to Buddhism, but because of the non-violent nature of their resistance. In the contradiction between pride and pacifism they had simply seen pride as a vice and continued to try and live their lives in accordance to non-violent virtues. For nearly four hundred years the Buddhist of Sri Lanka had tolerated the overbearing nature of their western habitants, that is until Anagarika Dharmapala began his career as a Buddhist revivalist.
It was Dharmapala who was able to justify a more active resistance; he started by tailoring the innate Sinhala nationalism to correspond to his goals. He cultivated the natives of Sri Lanka to believe in the “good old days”, the days when Buddhism had prospered under King Aschoke and others. When there was a great link between the rulers of their nation and them, the people, a time when temples, stupa, and great pillars were being erected in the name of the Buddha. And once he had the ear of the people, he used every ounce of knowledge within his plethora of teachings to stimulate change. He integrated the beliefs of Buddhism, with the active nature of Christianity. This “Protestant Buddhism” was at the heart of the resistance, without the reforms it allowed for, the Buddhists of Sri Lanka