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Buddhism
By Alan Hood | August 4, 2007
Buddhism
Buddhism is one of the world’s oldest and continuous religions. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama whose birth is referred to by (Fisher, 2005, 130) “as an immaculate conception in which a white elephant carrying a lotus flower entered his mother’s womb in her dream.” Most Buddhist followers believe that Young Siddhartha was born to a wealthy father, and lived in the lap of luxury until he gave it all up to find and end to suffering for the world. Buddhism is an interesting religion where the followers do not pray to a supreme being, but do recognize the Buddha as a fully enlightened being, who laid down the path, for them to follow. Buddhist followers spend a great deal of time each day in meditation; Buddhists believe that meditation is an important step in becoming enlightened. Buddha laid down the Four Noble Truths and an Eightfold Path for all Buddhists to follow, also incorporated into Buddhism is a concept called Karma. The four noble truths of Buddhism are life means suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable, and there is a path to the cessation of suffering. The final Noble Truth leads to the eightfold path that is broken down by three distinct divisions. The first division is Wisdom, and encompasses the first two paths Right View and Right Intention. The second division is ethical conduct and contains three paths Right Speech, Right Action, and Right livelihood. The third division is about mental development and is embodied by the final three paths Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. Together with the Four Noble Truths, walking the eightfold path and realizing ones Karma all Buddhist could reach Nirvana. The Name Changed Center in Someplace, AZ was visited for this report; interviews were given by Innocent Name, and Christopher Samuel. Together with their input this paper will demonstrate why Buddhism will continue to grow in prominence and may become the final religion of the world.
Every day more people are drawn to Buddhism, because of its ability to allow people to figure out what it is that is missing in their lives. The concept of “finding yourself” is relatively new by religious standards, but that very concept has been what has moved Buddhism around the world and to America. Buddhism attracts people who are spiritual but are possibly disheartened by the state of western religions. As the spirituality movement grows so will Buddhism. Buddhist teachings make it clear that life is about suffering, and that there is a way for people to end the suffering in the lives of all people. To understand that concept we have to take a very close look at the teachings of the Buddha. One of the greatest concepts in the world is the Four Noble Truths. All the Noble Truths lead to a path called the Eightfold Path which is about how a people should lead their lives. Whether a person is a Buddhist or not if everyone could walk down the Eightfold Path, life on earth would involve much less suffering, and misery, for everyone. The first Noble Truth is an easy concept for people to understand. Life is about suffering, we suffer as humans both physically and mentally. When we are sick or injured our physical bodies suffer. We suffer mentally when we are stressed, teased, sad, or depressed. The second Noble truth may be a harder concept for people to understand because of the physical suffering that we all do. The second Noble Truth states that all suffering evolves from attachment. The mental attachment is easier to understand because people understand that they suffer from their desires that they may never reach or their mental attachment to an object they want. Physical suffering from attachment is harder to understand because people feel so connected with their bodies. If people will look at their bodies as just a vehicle and understand that one day inevitably all the suffering they do physically will end, they are on the right path to understanding the second Noble truth. The third Noble truth lets everyone know that there can be an end to the suffering. An end to the suffering is a key concept in Buddhism, which a Buddhist must believe is possible to even bother learning about the religion. The fourth Noble Truth clearly point to the path that people must take to end their suffering. This brings us to the Eightfold Path.
As outlined above the Eightfold Path teaches a Buddhist how they must live in order to end their suffering and the Eightfold path is a guide to being a good human being. The fist two paths are about teaching wisdom, if a person has the wisdom to understand the first two paths then rest will be easy. The first path Right View teaches that a Buddhist must view the world as it truly is, full of suffering, impermanent, and imperfect. The first path is also the last path because once a people have right view they also understand that the Four Noble Truths are correct. The second path Right Intention shows that a Buddhist must always have good intentions towards other people, and themselves. The Buddhist must have right intentions towards other people, so they do not act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and that they have compassion for other people. They must also have right intentions towards themselves, so they are committed to learning, and so they can resist the pull of desire. The next three paths teach the Buddhist that they must conduct themselves ethically in order to reach Nirvana. The third path of Right Speech proves very useful in today’s society, because it would not only end slander and lies but would also do away with gossip. Right Speech teaches a Buddhist not only to be honest and sincere, but also to only speak when it is necessary. The fourth path of Right Action is a guide to living a life of wholesomeness and abiding by laws. This path can be equated to the 10 Commandments of Christian religions. The fifth path of Right Livelihood acknowledges that people must make a living in order to sustain themselves, but they should do so in a manner which would not cause harm to other people, animals or the environment. The last three paths are about the mental development of Buddhists. The sixth path is Right Effort, meaning that effort evolves from the mind as an act of will. If a Buddhist does not have the will or put in the effort then nothing can be achieved. The seventh path of Right Mindfulness is difficult to explain. Better to let a Buddhist explain Right Mindfulness as it can best be described by (The Big View, 2006) as “Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualization in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go.” To this author it is best describe as staying focused and directed. The eighth path is Right Concentration. Right concentration is obtained by Buddhist though a means called meditation. Meditation is an act of concentrating on a single thing and directing oneself into that single thing. Meditation sounds easy but in practice is an extremely hard thing to do, as it is very easy for a person to let his mind wonder into distant thoughts.
Karma is another important concept in Buddhism. Karma is an ancient Sanskrit word that means action and dates to long before Buddhism. Karma is used by both Hinduism and Buddhism but there are distinct differences between the ways it is used. In Buddhism Karma has a focused meaning and is described very well by (The Big View, 2006) as “What we are is determined largely by what we thought, said and did in the past, while what we are thinking, saying, and doing now will form our future.” While walking the Eightfold Path a Buddhist is very conscious of their Karma, they would not want to do anything today that would lead to their suffering tomorrow. Karma is a concept that if it were followed by all people of the world would have an impact on they way that people chose to conduct their business. Karma also fits in well with scientific studies of the environment. Many scientists today believe that people are directly influencing their own ability to live comfortably on the earth.
The Name Changed is a house located in a residential neighborhood. The grounds are typical for a residential neighborhood in Someplace, with large trees including palms and pines, but more typical of a business than a house the landscaping and structure are immaculately clean and primped. Innocent Name greeted me warmly at the entrance and asked me if I would like to take a tour. Innocent Name is a very soft spoken small man with a cleanly shave head. While the grounds were immaculately clean there was nothing very special about the outside of the white with light brown wood trimmed house. We walked slowly, and I sure that I am mistaken because it would go against all that he stood for, but I felt sense of pride coming from Innocent Name during the tour. I am sure it was just the calmness in which he easily smiled, walked slowly, and very securely. When we ventured inside Innocent Name walked in and sat down in a main worship room that was sparsely decorated with just a painting on the wall and Buddha statue underneath it. Innocent Name had two cushions facing each other already set up and made me feel right at home, it was a truly amazing feeling to know that he had taken time out of his day to prepare for our meeting. About halfway though our meeting one of Innocent Name’s followers named Christopher Samuel walk in, Innocent Name asked if it was all right for Christopher to join us. When Christopher sat down Innocent Name got up and headed off to a kitchen and came back with three glasses of water.
The hardest part of this report is trying to describe the conversation I had with Innocent Name, because it was just that a conversation and not an interview. I must admit that even though I felt completely comfortable with the surroundings, I was a little intimidated by Innocent Name’s presence. I went into the interview with a plan and thought that I would be able to act like a professional reporter, but those were grand illusions. We had a fabulous conversation, I sure we will have many more, but as an interviewer I was a flop in this case. I started the interview well and asked Innocent Name what got him interested in Buddhism, he responded “For me it was a natural evolution because my mother taught yoga classes at our house when I was growing up, and I always joined in on the classes.” (Innocent Name, personal communication of May 9, 2007) Innocent Name went on to describe a childhood that was full of spirituality and meditation, but his mother was not a Buddhist nor did she know much about Buddhism. Innocent Name grew up in Bend, Oregon with his mother and a younger sister, he did not offer any information about his father nor did I want to ask. Innocent Name said that life growing up in a small town was easy and simple and although his family did have money they never needed anything. At just 22 years old Innocent Name traveled to a Buddhist retreat and met his mentor Annon a Zen Buddhist monk who founded three monasteries. “I knew the moment I fist spoke with him that he would be my mentor and I would follow in his footsteps.” (Innocent Name, personal communication of May 9, 2007) Innocent Name then went on to speak about Annon at length and there is no doubt that the two have a strong bond. Christopher Samuel then joined us; we talked at length about Buddhism, and what it means to each of us. After the discussion Innocent Name offered to lead us in a chant which I declined, I thanked Innocent Name profusely and promised it would not be my last visit. After thinking about the visit for many days since I am sure it will not be my last visit to that wonderful place.
Buddhism could be closely related to Hinduism when only looking at the surface of the two religions, but Buddhism contrasts very nicely with Christianity. (Kreeft, 1987) said that “there have been only two people in history about whom others asked not “Who are you?” but “What are you: a man or a god?” They were Jesus and Buddha.” Each man had distinctly different answers to the question, Buddha was a man and only claimed to be just a man, Jesus on the other had was crucified because of his claims of divinity. Both Buddhism and Christianity employ a guide for the way that their followers should act, with Christianity it is called the 10 Commandments and with Buddhism it is called the Eightfold Path. These guides to living give an insight to both religions, where Buddha taught that the release of self and the release of desire was the right road, Jesus taught that more love and desire for Christ was the road to redemption. Buddhism teaches compassion for every man, Buddhists never engage in war nor do they spout hatred. Christian leaders throughout history have encouraged wars, and taught hatred through their lack of compassion for other religions.
With the spirituality movement growing larger everyday because of people’s contempt for western religions, Buddhism will gain many new followers, because it allows people to see that there is a reason for their suffering, and that there is a way to end it. In the future people will want their religion or their spirituality without all the political turmoil and Buddhism will be their answer. Buddhism may become the final religion of the world because of the teachings of the Buddha. Even the bible says that the meek shall inherit the earth.
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