The book I picked up for review is “An Open Heart” by The Dalai Lama. The title of the book indicates how one can actually become compassionate towards others, how can one transform from self centered heart to generous heart .The book depicts the Buddhist psychology and their way of living that can be adopted by anyone of any faith. Author has discussed various meditation techniques .This book will help to break free the reader from mental blocks set by him and will make him think about his role in making world a more loving and peaceful place.…
Thich Nhat Hanh and Abraham J. Heschel used their writing in order to educate outside people about their religions. They both addressed the importance of the human person, God or Ultimate Reality, and the world. These authors came from completely different parts of the world and have completely different beliefs in regards to their religion. Yet, so much is similar in their thoughts of being a devout or right practitioner of Buddhism or Judaism. In both of the readings a theme present throughout the books was the concept of suffering or embarrassment in order to achieve a higher state of life such as Nirvana (Buddhism) or Heaven (Judaism) and also the connection one has with the world.…
His Holiness the Dalai Lama´s advice proves very beneficial for Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. At present, we enjoy the harmonious co-existence of the Buddhist followers of all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. It is universally known that religious fundamentalism breeds antagonism, recrimination, confrontation and factionalism among the religious people. We Tibetan should learn from our political history how religious fundamentalism triggered the proxy war in the late 15th century and the early 16tth century. The mainstream Tibetan Buddhism has made it very clear that Shugden practice is not a part of it from now on. We owe lots of gratitude to His Holiness for his incredible work. Any other person in his place would have easily succumbed to the pressure. His consistent work to promote peace and harmony in this world has earned him respect and love from people around the world. He will be remembered in Tibetan history as the greatest political and religious leader…
In the Buddhist teachings there are three marks of reality impermanence, insubstantiality, and frustration. Impermanence is everything that is conditioned changes. Insubstantiality (or no self) means the denial of the teaching that there is an atta (Pali) or atman (Sanskrit), which roughly translated means a soul. Frustration means what sense our unenlightened experience of the world is one of suffering, frustration, or un-satisfactoriness. There are four noble truths which are there is suffering which is common to all. Cause of suffering we are the cause of our suffering. End of suffering stop doing what causes suffering. Path to end suffering everyone can be enlightened. The noble eightfold paths are, Right View the right way to think about life. Right Thought, We are what we think. Right Speech, By speaking kind and helpful words, we are respected and trusted by everyone. Right Conduct, No matter what we say, others know us from the way we behave. Right Livelihood, This means choosing a job that does not hurt others. Right Effort, A worthwhile life means doing our best at all times and having good will toward others. Right Mindfulness, This means being aware of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Right Concentration, Focus on one thought or object at a time. By doing this, we can be quiet and attain true peace of mind.…
Buddhism Lucy Smith Kendra Krim Buddhism originated in Northern India. Cultural Diffusion No clear pattern of diffusion.…
The film Kundun tells the story of the fourteenth Dalai Lama’s first twenty four years with the use of symbolism and cinematic prowess that can only be described as spellbinding. The film provides insight into Martin Scorsese’s more sensitive style of directing without losing any of his incredible talent at weaving a story one can’t help but get lost in.…
1. All living creatures on this unique world we call Earth have some type of meaning for there purpose of life. As history shown us, humans however, sometimes struggle to understand what their purpose of life is. Well in my opinion, the purpose of life is not just to find happiness, reproduce, or to become wealthy off riches but rather for an individual to become successful. Success has many different meanings to it so I'm going to define what the term success means to me. Success is a person who achieves their goals, becomes a righteous person, breaks free from there ego and discovers there purpose to life. However, reaching success is not a simple walk in the park, it takes an individual to awaken, become aware, and work to get out of the "cave," so they can be enriched in the light. Plato, in "The Allegory of the Cave," gives a great understanding about a person reaching success on what the purpose of life is. Plato is a ancient greek philosopher, born in 428 B.C. who was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. David Wallace, in his vidoe "This is Water," also gives great insight on how to be a successful person. Wallace is an american novelist and professor of English and creative writing. He was born on Febuary 21, 1962 and unfortunately passed away in 2008. Also, the Dalai Lama, author of "His Holliness" talks about how to achieve success in many different perspectives than Plato and Wallace. The Dalai Lama was the 14th Dalai Lama born July 6, 1935. He is still living and is still the most current Dalai Lama. According to all three, Plato, Wallace, and the Dalai Lama, they all suggest that for a person to reach success, one must know there self, be understanding, make a choice, become more knowledgable, experience, embrace failure, awaken and become free; therefore, a person will obtain a state of enlightenment and truly understand what there purpose of living is.…
Buddhism can be defined as a religion, originated in India by Buddha, focusing on compassion. The main teaching of Buddhism is that desire causes life’s suffering. To end this suffering one must go through enlightenment. Support for these teachings are the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that suffering is inevitable. Secondly, suffering is caused by desire and ignorance. Thirdly, is the belief that we can end suffering by eliminating our cravings and desires achieving Nirvana. Finally, the fourth truth is that one must develop understanding, positive intentions, skillful speech, action, livelihood, good effort, mindfulness, and skillful meditation for Buddhist success.…
Every religion seems to have a leader that proclaims the message of their particular faith. I realized that Buddha is a very significant figure to many people around the world. I was shown a video in religion class about heaven (Heaven Where is it? How do I get there?) and the different viewpoints about it. The Dalai Lama was featured in the video and it is believed that he is the fourteenth reincarnation of Buddha. Since I was shown this video, I was curious to learn about the teachings of Buddhism and how it is connected to Buddha. I have wondered a lot about other religions given the fact that I have not been exposed to a lot of individuals of other faiths throughout my life. When presented with this, I felt the need to base my inquiry off of my questions…
-The Buddha shared his teaching July of 1996, 2 day teaching in London. Buddha got an invite by 26 different groups who are a part of the organization networks of the UK. It was the first time giving the lectures in the west in such detail. It also was the first in modern history that a major teacher was requested and attended by origin clergy from just about every Buddhist nominated. He taught Buddhism because he believes that people should be happy for other people’s happiness.…
Buddhist beliefs follow a path of Karma and rebirth. The soul of the individual moves on into another being to take a new path. The individual’s previous lives determine the quality of the move on. Followers of Buddhism refer to Buddha as “the Awakened One”, and pay their respects to Buddha by bowing to likenesses of “Him”. It is an expression of gratitude for the teachings of Buddha. Buddhist followers strive to be better, to develop peace and love within themselves, and to improve all areas of their lives, and of those around them.…
and China could cause great suffering not only among Tibetans but also could put China on a path of confrontation with the West potentially leading to a new "Cold War" or even World War III. Meanwhile, if the United States and its confederate are able to help Tibetans and Chinese reconcile their differences, not only might Tibetans enjoy peace and self-determination but China might also become a responsible global power that respect. even personify human rights and democratic values. His Holiness is considered to be the reincarnation of each of the previous thirteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet (the first having been born in 1391 AD), who are in turn considered to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara. holder of the White Lotus. “I am often asked whether…
Robert Thurman is one of the first Americans to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He is a scholar, translator, activist, and lecturer. Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. The section “Wisdom” is taken from the book Infinite Life (2004). Thurman.…
The Thousand Teachings, The Upadesasahasri of Sankara consists of two parts. In Part one Sankara discusses “How to Enlighten the Pupil” where he talks about the different forms of Brahman and Atman and the some philosophical problems of non-dualism. In the Second Part the “Awareness”; he explains to a student how his teachings can lead to self-realization, and with that a person can be lead to enlightenment.…
I'll begin with how the discovery of the current Dalai Lama came about. On December 17,1933 the 13th Dalai Lama passed away at the age of 57. The Tibetan Government was confronted with the task of searching for and discovering a child in whom the Buddha of Compassion would incarnate. The current Dalai Lama was born into a peasant family on July 6th, 1935, in a small village called Taktser in north eastern Tibet. His Holiness was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. In 1935 the Regent of Tibet went to a sacred lake that for centuries was believed by Tibetans to hold visions of the future. The Regent had a vision of three Tibetan letters, Ah, Ka, and Ma, followed by a picture of a monastery with roofs of jade green and gold, and a house with turquoise tiles. In 1937 high lamas and dignitaries carrying the secrets of this vision were sent to all parts of Tibet in search of the place that had been seen in the…