BUDDHISM

Buddhism is a religion and a philosophy surrounding a

variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on
teachings attributed to Siddharta Gautama, commonly
known as the Buddha (The Awakened One), and is
classified as an Indian Religion. It originated from
Northeast India from the late 6
th
century to the early 4
th

century BC, a period of great social change and intense
religious activity. The religion is over 2,500 years old and is
the main religion in many Asian countries.


Buddhism is different from many other religions
because it is non-theistic which means no
God. The Buddha taught that believing in gods
was not useful for those seeking to realize
enlightenment. This religion does not also
believed in doctrines because the Buddha said
that doctrines should not be accepted just
because people read them in scripture or are
taught by the priests.

Buddhism is considered one of the most popular religion
among other religions, having approximately 330 million
followers worldwide. Furthermore, this religion had spread
from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea,
and Japan. In the Eastern World, this religion had been
significant in influencing the spiritual, social, and cultural
life.
[The main Buddhist Language is Pali, but it used to be
Sanskrit.]



Siddharta Gautama Buddha, commonly known as
Buddha is considered the The Enlightened One. It is
believed that his family name is Gautama and later the
name Siddharta, which means He Who Has Reached
His Goal, was added. Buddha was born around the year
580 BC in a village in Nepal and died in Northeastern
India between 500 and 350 BC. He was born in a royal
family and for many years lived within the palace walls
away from sickness, old age, death and other sufferings
in life. He first saw these sufferings when he went
outside the palace walls and decided to abandon his
family life to wander as a sramana or ascetic, in which he
searched of religious understanding and a way of release
from human condition, suffering. Through meditation he
achieved Nirvana, the highest peace. Buddha taught his
followers sangha the truth-dharma and the path-
Middle Way between a worldly life and extremes of self-
denial
The Four Noble Truths
In his First Sermon after attaining Enlightenment, the
Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths which formed the
foundation of belief for all branches of Buddhism.
Life is fundamentally disappointment and suffering.
Suffering is a result of ones desires for pleasure, power,
and continued existence.
In order to stop disappointment and suffering one must
stop desiring.
The way to stop desiring and thus suffering is the Noble
Eightfold Path right views, right intention, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right effort, right awareness,
and right concentration.


Books
The sacred book of Buddhism is
called the Tripitaka three baskets. It is
also called the Pali Canon, after the
language in which it was first written. It
is written in an Indian language called
Pali. The tripitaka is a very large book.
The English translation of it takes up
nearly 40 volumes.


The Tripitaka means Three Baskets

The Vinaya Pitaka (Basket of Discipline) the shortest
collection and the earliest to have been committed to writing.
As the name suggests, it contains the Vinaya, the monastic
codes for monks and nuns. These codes are still ideally in
practice in the majority of Theraveda monasteries, though
some monasteries have relaxed their regulations somewhat.
The Sutta Pitaka (Basket of Discourses) the largest of the
three divisions. It contains all the doctrinal and ethical
discourses and sermons attributed to Buddha, and includes a
smaller number of teachings from his disciples.
The Abhiddhamma Pitaka (Basket of Scholasticism)
contains the schematics concerning doctrinal material found
in the suttas. These works are centered on topics related to
Theraveda scholastic thought. However, this basket of the
Tripitaka was only accepted by two of the early Buddhist
schools (the Theraveda and the Sarvastivada); each schools
version of its contents survives in every different froms.



The Concept of Person in Buddhism

A concept of person plays significant role in modern
bioethical debate as a number of the biomedical problems
are concerned with a question: That a thing should be
counted as person or not. The question concerning
personhood is problematic in that it is closely involved with
human biological developments in the womb. Certainly, at
some stage of developments we could point out that the
fetus is person because he/she can express some human
basic qualities such as the response to outer objects, the
reaction implying the feeling of pain, and so on.

But at some stage of developments, the very beginning
state in which the fetus has no any biological properties
indicating that it is different from a cluster cells, the concept
of person seems to be hardly attributed to the fetus. It could
be said that such a definition of personhood is more
practical than philosophical. Something practical does not
necessarily need strong justifications. Buddhist philosophy
is naturalistic truths are out there in the nature, not in
human imagination. So by exploring truths, Buddhism
explores nature. In the case of personhood, what is
explored by Budddhism is the nature of human being.

Normally, Buddhism is viewed as a religion that rejects the
existence of the self. Buddhism states that human life is
composed of five aggregates namely materiality, feeling,
perception, mental formation, and consciousness.
Buddhism defines personhood through psychological facts.
Buddhism believes that all human beings share a set of
psychological properties such as self-love, death-hatred,
and willing to have a good future. These psychological
facts are something ti be respected by other persons.

Summary
The Buddhist concept of person is centered on the belief in the
equal roles of the five basic parts/aggregates that constitute
human life. According to that belief, there is nothing playing the
role as the core of human life, like the soul in theistic belief. For
Buddhism, the mind and the body are not completely
independent. Buddhism accepts that the body as biological
organism has its own history. Buddhism accepts that desire is not
completely located in the mind only. It is also located in the body.
So in practicing Buddhism, Buddhists are advised to take care of
the mind and the body equally.
Dont use Buddhism to become a Buddhist. Use Buddhism to
become better at whatever else in your life you are doing
already. Dalai Lama
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for
the past, not to worry about the future nor to anticipate troubles,
but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. Buddha
Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the
other person to die. Buddha