Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The religion of Buddhism

Sidhartha Gutama is the founder of Buddhism, he came from accient India. Sidhartha was born in 624BC in Lumbini, he was a royal prince in his early life. When he was 29 years old, he left the palace and followed a spiritual life of meditation in the forest. After six years of meditation, he achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India. Then, Sidhartha was known as "Buddha" which means "awaken one" or "the enlightened one."



Buddhism is a religion and philosophy compassing of a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings of Buddha. In addition, there are five fundamental concepts in Buddhism.The five concepts are training rules in order to live a better life in which one is happy, without worries, and can meditate well:


1. Refrain from killing other forms of life and have a non-violence towards sentient life forms, or ahimsā

2. Refrain from stealing from other

3. Refrain from sensual pleasure and sexual misconduct

4. Refrain from lying and speaking the truth always

5. Refrain from drinking alcohol and taking drugs because it leads to ones loss of mindfulness




Also, Buddha realized that karma which is the law of cause and effect govern people's lives. Karma refers to those actions of body, speech, and mind that cause a consequence or result . Additionally, Buddhist also believe in Rebirth, in which known as a process of human go through a cycle of lifetimes as one of many possible forms of life.



Each rebirth takes place within one of the five realms according to Theravadins, or six according to other schools. These are further subdivion into 31 forms of existence:

1. Naraka beings: those who live in one of many Narakas (Hells).

2. Preta: beings share some space with humans, but they are invisible to most people; an important being in this is the hungry ghost.
3. Animals: they share space with humans, but are considered another type of life

4. Human beings : are form of the realms of rebirth in which acheives Nirvana is possible
5. Asuras: is translated as lower deities, demons, titans, antigods; they are not recognized by Theravāda (Mahavihara) tradition as a separate realm

6. Devas including Brahmas: they are translated as gods, deities, spirits, angels, or left untranslated higher beings.


Wesak Day



Wesak is the holiest day in Buddhism, it is an annual holiday observed traditionally practicing by Buddhists in South Asian and South East Asian countries like Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India. Wesak Day is celebrate on the 15th day (full moon) of the 4th Lunar Month.On this day, Buddhist celebrate the birth, the Enlightenment, and the death of the Buddha. The celebration begins much before dawn when Buddhists gather in Buddhist temples for worship. The celebration is done with prayers, chants, offerings and giving alms. The Buddhist eat a vegetarian diet prior to the festival in order to cleanse and purify themselves. Some of the temple even organize a procession with some well decorated float for the purpose of sending blessing to all the people around the area.

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