Buddhism Religion

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There are several Buddhist rituals but not every Buddhist participates in every ritual. A couple of rituals include meditation, praying, becoming a vegetarian, and alter offerings. Meditation is deep thinking and focusing on relaxation many Buddhist sit with their legs crossed hands on knees and eyes closed but this is not the only way of meditation. Praying is just the act of talking to Buddha thanking him and asking him for guidance. Vegetarian is refraining from eating any kinds of meat there are different levels of being a vegetarian some of which are very extreme. Alter offerings are to thank Buddha for the good things he has done and for his teachings they usually include laying flowers or fruits and vegetables in the temple at the foot of Buddha (Jaksa, 2015).

When the family of someone that is passing soon suspects that death is in the near future they sit with them keeping them peaceful and reminding them of the goof deeds that have accomplished over their life. After death the family then cleans and dresses the body but not in fancy clothes rather in their everyday attire. If the family chooses to cremate during the cremation a monk must be present and lead chanting. At the funeral rather than wearing black the family and friends must wear white. Buddhist believe in reincarnation they can observe the world of the living but cannot interact with the living. The main goal after death is to achieve nirvana (Gray, 2015).

Prior to contrary beliefs Buddhist do not believe that Buddha is a God, rather they believe that he is a normal human being that has seen the world for what it really is and achieved enlightenment. Buddhist believe that life is full of sufferings; the four noble truths. Birth, old age, sickness, death they believe everyone must experience these truths in order to achieve enlightenment. The religion of Buddhism teaches that there is no God rather than belief in just one God and teaches that Buddha was divine. They believe in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth and that the key to the religion is meditation (ARC, 2006).

In early Buddhism women were seen as not able to achieve enlightenment as the men were. Now there is no discrimination towards women in the Buddhism religion. Both men and women can become monks the women still have to shave their heads as the men would. There is not an age limit on being a Buddhist. Children from the Buddhist religion are introduced to its practices at an early age by their parents but it is up to them whether or not they choose to practice (Toda, 2015).

The Buddhist religion among several other religions is very interesting starting with the creation of Buddha through the life of Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism teaches that there is not just one God and that Buddha was not a God himself but a human being who experienced trials and hardships just like every day people. This is what makes the Buddhism religion so simple because Buddha experienced the same things as we do instead of being all worthy.

References

ARC. (2006). Faiths and Ecology. Retrieved from www.arcworld.org/faiths

Gee, L. (2007). Who does a Buddhist worship. Retrieved from http://people.opposingviews.com/buddhist-worship-4207.html

Gray, J. (2015). The Immortality Project. Retrieved from www.sptimmortalityproject.com

Jaksa, C. (2015). International Buddhist Society. Retrieved from www.buddhisttemple.ca

Matrimony, C. (2015). Buddhist Matrimony . Retrieved from www.buddhistmatrimony.com/articles

Toda, J. (2015). Buddhism in action for peace. Retrieved from www.sgi.org