Bringing knowledge to children and children to God

THE EIGHTFOLD PATH

Though listed as eight steps, in practice, the steps do not come one after the other, but rather, are lived all at once.

The first step is the “right view” which involves believing in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

The second step is the “right resolve” which involves making a firm decision to live according to the Eightfold Path.

The third step is the “right speech” which involves speaking in a manner that doesn’t harm others; no gossiping, lying or using angry words.

The fourth step is the “right conduct” and involves acting in a way that doesn’t harm others; no killing or stealing and also not acting selfishly.

The fifth step is “right livelihood” and involves earning a living in a way that doesn’t harm others.

The sixth is “right effort” and has to do with striving to get rid of any unwholesome action or attitude.

The seventh is “right mindfulness” and refers to having a constant awareness and attention in all activities.

And the eighth step is “right meditation” which involves developing tranquility and concentration of mind, which lead to insight in reality.

Depending on who you talk to, Siddhartha did not believe in a soul or in any kind of Creator God, but taught that what continues lifetime after lifetime is the karma that has been set in motion by all one’s thoughts, words and deeds.

According to this belief, an individual’s personality does not make this journey, only their wholesome karma and unwholesome karma travel to the next life. However, once a person is successful in getting rid of all desires and in overcoming ignorance, that person will reach the goal of enlightenment.

However, it’s my understanding the Buddha accepted the Hindu teachings on reincarnation, along with karma, meaning that the soul gains merits or demerits according to how one lives life, and that one can be reborn as a human, an animal, a hungry ghost, a demon or even as a Hindu god.

The Buddha taught that reaching the goal of Enlightenment was helped by compassion and selfless love.

THE THREE JEWELS

The Buddhist tradition is made up of three parts called the three jewels. The first jewel is the Buddha himself. The second jewel is the Dharma, the law of the Buddha passed on to his followers. The third jewel is Buddhism’s religious community, called the sangha.

In the sangha are monks and nuns. As time went on, devoted monks built centers of learning which are called monasteries.  Here they practiced the Buddhist way of life. Gradually Buddhism extended beyond the subcontinent of India.

Today, Buddhism takes a wide variety of forms. However, the three main branches are Hinayana, Mahayana and Tantrism.

HINAYANA BUDDHISM

Hinayana means "the doctrine of the lesser way." It refers to the belief that only a few fortunate lifelong monks can find nirvana, which is accomplished by following the way of Buddha absolutely.

Since the name was a derogatory slam coined by critics, proponents of this branch later changed the name to Theravada Buddhism, which means “way of the elders.”

According to Therevada Buddhism, the best that laypeople can hope for is to rise to a higher level when reborn in their next life so they can become monks.

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM

Mahayana Buddhism is the doctrine of the “greater way.” It teaches that Buddha believed that Nirvana is available to all people. It takes Buddha’s original teaching, which is that the only person who can save you is you, and adds the idea of savior gods.

The followers of this branch reason that since Buddha remained on the earth for 45 years when he could have gone straight to Nirvana, he must have decided to stay to save mankind and become the first and supreme savior god, or Bodhisattva—a savior to mankind that can be called on by the faithful.

They believe that other Buddhist monks who achieve nirvana and become enlightened as Buddha did are also Bodhisattva.

So then, the Mahayana have exalted Buddha to the status of a savior-god for all people, which differs from the Therevada belief that Buddha was only a teacher, which is what Buddha himself claimed.

ZEN BUDDHISM

A popular form of Mahayana Buddhism in the West is known as Zen, which made significant inroads in the West after World War II through the influence of the Japanese scholar named D.T. Suzuki, and has as its primary goal the experiencing of enlightenment through meditation.

Indeed, Buddha did incorporate into his teachings yoga and meditation, which were highly developed skills in Hinduism.

TANTRISM

The third main branch of Buddhism is called Tantrism, which is a blending of Mahayana Buddhism with the ancient occult practices of Tibet. It contains strong elements of animism—the attributing of conscious life to inanimate objects or objects in nature.

REVIEW

So then according to Buddha, to live is to suffer, which is due to ignorance and craving...desire or attachment of any kind. For Buddha, all desire was bad and had to be eradicated. He taught that the only way to rid oneself of selfish desire was through self-effort.

Buddha said that to end desire one had to follow the Eightfold Path, a goal that must be pursued solely through one's own determination and resources, but that once such desire had been completely removed, one could escape the endless cycle of death and rebirth, and reach the state of nirvana.

Judaism

Early civilizations of blah, blah, blah and their geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures.

By Shepherd's Life Blend School

TrinityTutors.com

ORIGINS

What we know about the origin of Buddhism comes mainly from Buddhist writings and from oral tradition. The religion can be traced back over 2,500 years to an individual founder, a real person who actually existed, Siddhartha Gautama.

Siddhartha was born a Hindu somewhere around 563 B.C. on the Indian subcontinent in a small kingdom near the border of northern India in what is now Nepal, and died somewhere around 483 B.C.

THE PROPHECY

According to tradition, when he was born, it was prophesied that Siddhartha would become the greatest ruler in the history of mankind. However, the individual that gave this prophecy added that if he ever saw four things, Siddhartha would give up his rule and find a way of salvation for all mankind.

THE FOUR SIGHTS

• Sickness
  

• Old age
  

• Death
  

• A monk who had renounced the world
  

To counter the prophecy, the boy’s father, the king, built a palace for his son, issuing orders that neither the sick, the old, the dead nor monks might be allowed near the palace. The boy grew up in this manner, protected from the world, and later married a beautiful young woman who bore him a son.

But, despite the father’s efforts, one day, as the Prince road through the park that surrounded his palace, he saw a man covered with terrible sores, a man tottering with age, a corpse being carried to its grave and a begging monk who appeared to be peaceful and happy.

That night, Siddhartha began to think about the look of peace on the face of the monk. He began to wonder if there was more to life than the luxuries of his palace. Late that night he took a last look at his sleeping wife and child, then left the palace forever.

At the age of 29, he was determined to solve the riddle of life. He shaved his head, put on a yellow robe and wandered the countryside as a beggar monk, seeking new ideas to live by.

Siddhartha wasn’t the only one seeking answers to spiritual questions such as how to escape suffering, for his search for truth took place during a time of great religious unrest on the subcontinent of India.

First Siddhartha studied the Upanishads with the finest teachers, but found no satisfaction in the writings. So, he tried to find salvation through self-denial, starving himself until he was a virtual walking skeleton, but this too brought him no happiness.

Unable to find answers in the great religions, he decided to look within himself for wisdom. He sat under a tree for 40 days and nights, swearing he would not move until he found what he was searching for.

During this time, Mara, the evil one, tried to make him give up his quest, but Siddhartha prevailed, meditating and thinking so deeply that nothing could disturb him.

And at the end of the 40 days, he discovered what he sought. Understanding flooded his mind like a great light as he reached the height of understanding, the highest degree of God consciousness, what the Buddhists call enlightenment—Nirvana—literally, the "going out" of the flame of desire and the negation of suffering.

Through this experience, he felt he had found "salvation." From then on, he was known as the Buddha, a title meaning the "enlightened one."

He began to teach in a park, speaking to five followers. Within days, 60 more joined him. He sent them in all directions to spread the Buddha Dharma, the law or teachings. The Buddha traveled and taught wherever and whenever people gathered and listened.

The Buddhist teachings centered on how people should think and act. Siddhartha realized that greed for possessions and power was wrong, yet he didn’t want people to give up the necessities like food. His answer was moderation—not too much of anything and not too little. He called this in-between path the Middle Way.

There were a number of reasons for the popularity of his teachings. For one thing, his Dharma freed people from the control of the priests. He taught that everyone could find peace, without the help of the priests’ rituals. He held out hope to all, men, women, young, old, servants, rulers, rich and poor.

Similarly, he did not accept the caste system which placed people in one social group for their entire lifetime. He taught that all people are equal and that everyone should have the right to try to live a better life.

Thirdly, the Buddha believed it was wrong to take a life and was therefore against religious rituals in which animals were put to death, a position that was popular at least in part because of the expense involve in offering so many animal sacrifices.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

The Buddha set forth what are known as the “Four Noble Truths.” These teachings give the Buddhist view on why people suffer and how suffering can be avoided.

The first truth is that people experience suffering and sorrow. The second is that suffering and sorrow are caused by people’s greed, hatred and ignorance.

The third is that we can be freed from suffering by overcoming its cause.

And the fourth is that people can overcome their greed, hatred and ignorance by practicing the Eightfold Path. This path gives eight steps for living a correct or right life.