The Noble
The Noble
| The only key different in my perception of reincarnation and the actual definition lies in the amount of time, or the number a times reincarnation takes place. Hinduism describes reincarnation has having a finite limit once a goal is reached; while I view it as have not limit, or being infinite.…
Moksha is when an enlightened human being is freed from the cycle of life-and-death (the endless cycle of death and reincarnation) and comes into a state of completeness. He then becomes one with God.…
During the time of instability, it is clear that many people began to turn to Buddhism. The followers of Buddha believed that those who followed Buddhism and gave up their sorrow would reach Nirvana; which is enlightment (doc 1). They saw sorrow is the foundation of all of Buddhism. They felt that Buddhism and sorrow went hand in hand because in order to be a true Buddhist, you had to believe in sorrow and be willing to give that up in order to reach nirvana. One should take into account the point of view of the author because they are one of Buddha’s disciples and know how to follow Buddhism. They followed Buddhism and gave up their sorrow and now they are preaching the religion to others. Another document was written by a Chinese scholar named Zhi Dun and he stated that if you believed in Buddhism and practiced all religions that you would enter nirvana when your soul passes (doc 2). The author of this document possesses a unique point of view because the belief of reaching nirvana after dying, all has to do with believing in Buddhism and practicing the religion. According to document three, written by an anonymous Chinese…
Buddhism originated in India in the sixth century B.C.E. and was brought to China by the first century C.E. Overtime, many Chinese people converted to Buddhism, especially after the fall of the Han dynasty. During the Era of Division between 220 C.E. and 570 C.E., many Confucian and Buddhist scholars viewed Buddhism as a positive, unifying force for China during that tough time of instability because it gave the people something to look to for hope. However, after 570 C.E., Confucian scholars started rejecting Buddhism, feeling that it was becoming a threat to the scholar-gentry class and the Confucian-based Chinese society as a whole. Despite this change of opinion about Buddhism after 570 C.E., some scholars continued to feel that Buddhism benefitted China due to its values and teachings. One additional document that could be useful would be one from the point of view of a peasant to see the way Buddhism effected the lower classes of China before and after 570 C.E. and to see if they saw Buddhism as a positive or negative factor in their lives.…
Reincarnation is a common belief in the eastern part of the world, with Buddhism as well as Hinduism, supporting the idea of rebirth. In Hinduism each person has an essential self which is called the Atman, and is eternal and seeks unity with God. At physical death, the Atman leaves the body and enters another at birth. The physical body is gone but the Atman remains the same. The status of the body that the Atman re-enters is depended on whether in the previous life the person was morally good or bad, if good it will be in a higher status body, and if bad will be in a lower status body. This cycle of rebirth, birth and death is called Karma which Buddhism also follows, except they do not believe in a soul, but instead the five skandhas which are woven together and make a person attract karma. These two religions are heavily followed in the eastern part of the world and so therefore it may be argued that because it is an accepted belief it is therefore normal to believe in such an idea, however in the western part of the world where religions such as Christianity are followed it is not as accepted. Some would also question the fairness of suffering in this life for something in a past life which they cannot remember and that punishment doesn’t have a value unless you understand what it is for; it needs to be associated with something. However, Hindus would argue that karma is not seen as a punishment; it is just bearing out the karmic fruits…
Hindus answer the question of what happens after we die with samsara, the continual round of birth, death, and rebirth. “The rishis taught that the soul leaves the dead body and enters a new one. One takes birth again and again in countless bodies—perhaps as an animal or some other life form—but the self remains the same.” (Fisher 77) With karma, every act we make, and even every thought and every desire we have, shapes our future experiences. Our life is what we have made it, and we ourselves are shaped by what we have done: “As a man acts, so does he become. … A man becomes pure through pure deeds, impure through impure deeds.” (Fisher 77) The ultimate goal of life is moksha, or liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. Its attainment marks the end of all the other goals. (Fisher 101) Many believe that to achieve moksha will take many lifetimes of upward-striving incarnations are required to reach this transcendence of earthly miseries. (Fisher 77)…
In the Hindu religion, there are nine essential beliefs that you must believe in to be considered a Hindu. One of those beliefs is the belief in one supreme being, saying that there is one “being” who creates and destroys the universe. The second belief is the belief that the Vedas, the Hindu sacred texts, are Divine and that they are truly a representation of how to live in the religion. The third belief, relating to the first, is that the universe goes through cycles of formation and deformation that never end. The fourth belief is that karma exists and it is that which determines fate through causes and effect. The fifth belief is that everybody will eventually achieve moksha, separation from a cycle of eternal reincarnation, and that there…
Buddhist accepts the basic Hindu doctrine of reincarnation and Karma, as well as the ultimate goal of the religious life, which is to the escape of the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddhist believe that what kept one bound to the birth and death cycle is desire. Buddhist also believe the life as Samsara, meaning perpetual wandering. Buddhist use the word rebirth rather than reincarnation. Rebirth implies the essence of a soul, while reincarnation means causality or independent origination. Buddhist philosophy preaches its people to detach themselves from the worldly pleasures and seek Nirvana that will ultimately pave the way for salvation.…
Buddhists have a very influential belief of the afterlife which most religions view as blasphemy, and a direct defiance of their religious ideology. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. This is the belief that after death the human soul lives on in a different form, and this form is determined by the choices they make during the previous life. Apart from returning either as a human or animal, hell and many stages of heaven can also be reached depending on the karma received during a lifetime. That is not to say that there is no final resting place, Buddha taught about ‘nirvana’ (not the band). Nirvana is a place of perfect tranquility; it is to the Buddhists what heaven is to Christians. However unlike in Christianity, nirvana is thought as…
In both Hinduism and Buddhism they have a form of rebirth apart of their religion. In this rebirthing/ reincarnation process the followers are trying to achieve perfect harmony and to get out of the process altogether. In Hinduism the people cannot fulfill everything thing they need to in the religion like get to the top of the caste system and live the perfect life. So when they die their soul is immediately transported into another living being while it is being born. When people are living they do not know that their souls have moved up in the caste system since their last body, so they know that they have to continue to live right so their soul can move up again. The Caste System is the social system Hindus follow to follow their rules of Hinduism. When a soul is ‘transported’ into a new body the owner does not know any details from its past life. Their soul completes this cycle by getting into the top of the caste system and it reaches Moksha. Moksha is when your soul is finally released into the universe. While in Buddhism you can fulfill the purpose of the religion in one lifetime, the purpose is to achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is being able to and capable of being completely content with your life, mainly not having any desires in this life. You can only achieve Nirvana if you follow the Eight Fold Path and the Four Noble Truths. Those are both the rules put in place to help guide the people in achieving Nirvana. In Buddhism if you do not achieve Nirvana in one life then your soul is placed in another body until your new body achieves it. Most of the time people achieve Nirvana in their life time and their soul is released into the universe for…
All Eastern religions have various things in common. The view of how a person should spend their lives in this earth is all too similar yet they all have a different way of living and showing their devotion. Many of these cultures revolve around a simple idea of reaching nirvana and finally leading to moksha- the release from the eternal circle of life or mukti in Sikhism. Many of the Eastern religions also focus of keeping good karma and respecting the spiritual world by praying to their ancestors. Many of them view the world as full of spirits, that there are spiritual beings in everything we see and everything we touch, and to respect these spirits will finally lead to the liberation from the earth.…
Buddhism: believes the main goal after death is to reach “nirvana” a state of clarification, and that there is no individual identity once deceased…
As a result of their shared heritage, Hinduism and Buddhism both have numerous gods, temples and instructions for their faithful to follow certain paths in order to ultimately achieve Nirvana (the place where all the enlightened beings reside). However, according to Buddhist religious text, "He (Buddha) set himself forty-eight vows to fulfill, which, he proclaimed, would allow him to reach Nirvana." (Encarta 98, "Amitabha,") Buddhism is a personal religion. Buddhists follow the instruction of one man who made strict rules and rituals for himself so that he may reach Nirvana. Because Buddhism is such a personal journey, the importance of the concept of a god or group of gods in Buddhism is downplayed to such a degree that, in the eyes of some, it is not even a religion. Hindus, on the other hand, have hundreds of gods governing every different aspect of Hindu life. The…
Reincarnation, salvation, prayer, 8 fold path, five pillars, and the five key relationships are all a part of both the Eastern and Western religions. The Eastern and Western religions both have some things in common as well as some things they can vary. First and Foremost, the two religions of Christianity (West) and Buddhism (East) both may have the same rules they must follow, but they also both have different goals in life. Both Buddhism and Christianity want to treat other the way they want to be treated, but according to class discussion ¨Jesus is the way to salvation (Christianity). Following the middle path is the way to enlightenment (Buddhism).¨ While the Christians think that following Jesus is only to achieve salvation and that…
Buddhism is based on "the awakening" of one man. Buddhism holds that life is full of suffering which comes from desire. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is nirvana, the extinguishing of human desire and suffering. This is accomplished by seeking enlightenment to end desire, and thus end suffering. Since desire is inherent in human nature, this results in an effort to renounce the self and "awaken" to the truth of reality. Once a seeker has awakened, he or she is said to be "enlightened." Buddhism was inspired by Hinduism which teaches intelligent indulgence in human desires. The Buddha thought desire to be the prime adversary to human life, and attempted to rid himself of all desire. During his awakening the Buddha resisted all desires, and nearly starved to death at one point. Soon after he realized that indulgence nor denial was the answer to end desire, and thus developed The Middle Way: the Buddhist philosophy of controlled response to human desire. The Western philosopher Spinoza summarized the Buddhist ethic as, "to understand something is to be delivered of it." (Smith, 75)…