Key Takeaways
About 99 per centum of the cosmos ’s nearly 500 million Buddhists live in the Asia - Pacific neighborhood [ informant : Pew ] . But that does n’t mean mass in the West do n’t know anything aboutBuddhism . Perhaps they ’ve heard of it through sure celebrities who are adherents , or from ayogateacher who spend three week in Nepal and keep talking about " mindfulness . " Maybe they ’ve seen theDalai Lamaon TV . They may even retrieve the chubby smiling statue at the local Chinese restaurant represents Buddha ( hint : it does n’t ) .
A 2015 report from the Pew Research Centerprojected the number of Buddhists worldwide to increase to 511 million by 2030 , but with the world-wide population increment , the part of people who are Buddhists will actually slump from 7.1 percent to 6.1 percent . In North America , the share of people who are Buddhists is expected to increase from 0.8 percentage in 2010 to 1.2 percentage by 2050 . Buddhist make up a tiny fraction of America ’s religious landscape painting , record at 1 percent or less of the population in every body politic except California ( 2 pct ) and Hawaii ( 8 percent ) in 2015 [ reservoir : Pew ] .
So , while people in the West may think they recognise what Buddhism is all about , luck are they do n’t . We ’ve assembled 10 questions and answers to make up the confusion about one of the world ’s old and most influential spiritual tradition . Let ’s get start with a quick bio of the Buddha himself .
10: Who Was the Buddha?
In Sanskrit , an ancient language of India , buddhameans " awakened one . " While Buddhist art and writings describe at least a dozen beings referred to as " buddhas , " there is only one historic build have intercourse astheBuddha , a spectral teacher whose path to enlightenment forms the magnetic core of Buddhist mentation and practice .
TheBuddhawas born Siddhartha Gautama in 567 B.C.E. to a affluent decree class in the Himalayan foothills of modern - day Nepal . consort to legendary life story pile up C after his lifetime , Siddhartha was raise in princely luxury and isolated from the creation beyond the castle gates . As a young man bait through townsfolk on his chariot , he encountered three things that jolted him out of his privileged insularity : a sick humans , an old man and a stiff .
new mindful to the world of annoyance and death , he sought to interpret the meaning of life . So Siddhartha renounced his riches , knock off his head and took up the life of a wandering holy man . Under unlike teachers , he learned how to enter cryptical state of meditation and to deny his torso all but the most canonic sustenance . At one dot , it ’s pronounce that he lived on one texture of rice a day and turn dangerously lean and sapless [ source : field of battle ] .
Unsatisfied that speculation and acetic self - self-denial alone were the key to dismissal , Siddhartha accepted some food for thought to regain his intensity level and sat beneath the Bodhi Tree to meditate on everything he had watch and experient . After 40 straight days of meditation , he achieved the ultimate state of matter of enlightenment — have intercourse asnirvanaor freedom from excruciation and desire — and became the Buddha .
For the remaining 45 age of his liveliness , the Buddha traveled throughout Northern India teaching thedharma , the essential truths about the nature of existence , the cause of suffering and how to overcome desire [ source : The Buddhist Centre ] . Although none of his discourses were register during his life , his follower would spread the Buddha - dharma across India , China , Japan and finally the globe .
9: What Does Buddhism Teach?
In his first preaching after attaining enlightenment , the Buddha said , " I learn one thing and one thing only : hurt and the end of suffering " [ source : Sri Rahula ] .
The corporate teaching of Buddhism are called thedharmaand touch on every aspect of human being , from moral and honorable behavior to genial discipline to compassionate serving . The ultimate goal of the dharma is to help soul awaken to the true nature of reality , and to bring about change in their behaviour and thought patterns so as to break free of agony .
As one Buddhistic text explains , the essence of Buddhism can be boiled down to three things : " con to do good ; ceasing to do immorality ; purify the gist " [ source : The Buddhist Centre ] .
In his early teaching , Buddha position out his vision of the true nature of realness , which became known as the Four Noble Truths :
The Noble Eightfold Path is not meant to be a lot of rules that , if broken , lead to providential punishment . Instead , it describes a way of living that is ethical , disciplined and wise , and provides the most direct route away from suffering and toward enlightenment .
There ’s no order to the imposing Eightfold Path , since all are subordinate on one another [ source : Sri Rahula ] :
This brief sum-up scarcely rub the surface of the dharma . The Buddha spend his life teaching the Noble Eightfold Path in dissimilar ways to different people , and those commandment are recorded in Buddhist scriptures like the Pali Canon and countless Ketubim attributed to the Buddha ’s first followers and spiritual heavyweight throughout the ages . understand the nitty-gritty teachings of Buddhism takes a life-time , or several lifetimes .
8: Is Buddhism a Philosophy or a Religion?
Viewed with Western eye , Buddhismlooks much more like a philosophy than a religion . There is no faith in a higher power , no liturgical prayer and no hebdomadal adoration services . Reading its teachings , Buddhism sound like a spiritually focused , self - help philosophy . But in practice , Buddhism shares many of the same mystical and transcendent trait as all of the macrocosm ’s great religion .
Buddhism is undoubtedly a robust seed of philosophical truth . One could read and contemplate the extensive writings from various school day of Buddhism and walk away with deep insights on the substance of life , morals , psychology , human behavior , the nature of cognizance , government and similarly " secular " disciplines . And there ’s a tendency , peculiarly in the West , to limit the Buddha to his most basic teachings and limit Buddhism to a hardheaded philosophical system or life style choice .
But in practice , peculiarly the way it ’s been practiced in Asia for millenary , Buddhism is deeply religious . For starters , one of the goals of Buddhist idea and praxis , like other mainstream organized religion , is " transcendency " or accomplish a state of being beyond the ego . Even if a Buddhist does n’t achievenirvanain this life , he or she hop to experience greater breakup from selfish impulses and therefore less suffering [ source : O’Brien ] .
Buddhism , like other religions , is also " mystical " in the horse sense that practitioners , through studying and meditation , can have a verbatim manduction with the godly or absolute . This is what Siddhartha Gautama experienced under the Bodhi Tree . The Buddha did n’t " see God " in the Judeo - Christian mother wit , but he experience a imaginativeness of the sheer truth of existence . And it ’s the promise of that same occult revelation that Buddha extend to all who follow the dharma track .
Like other religions , Buddhism has its ploughshare of supernatural notion . Buddhistic religious textbook and folklore tell tales of the Buddha overpowering rivals by vanish through the atmosphere and shooting ardour from his head . Other monks and enlightened follower could journey instantly anywhere in the universe and pass by freely into the heavenly realms [ beginning : Buswell and Lopez ] .
But perhaps the most conventionally " religious " aspect of Buddhism in westerly eye is its preoccupancy with the afterlife . While Buddhists do n’t believe in the traditional heaven and hell of Christianity , one of the central concerns of Buddhist practice has always been to see a unspoiled rebirth in the next life and to avoid the lowest realm [ source : Buswell and Lopez ] . And despite its report for upgrade peace of mind and tolerance , Buddhism does n’t balk from the common spiritual claim that its belief system of rules is the only path to ultimate accuracy [ source : Buswell and Lopez ] .
7: Do Buddhists Believe in God (or Gods)?
Buddhism does not brook the macrocosm of an omniscient , omnipotent , singular God like the one worshipped inJudaism , Christianity andIslam . But over the 100 , Buddhism developed an extensive cosmology of gods and demigod that populate its spiritual text edition . And today , Buddhists across Asia appeal to various idol for protection , effective crop , wealth and more [ root : Jaffe ] .
In Buddhism , god are calleddevaand go in a separate realm of macrocosm consisting of 27 heavens orsvarga[source : Buswell and Lopez ] . The gods of the 27 heavens have nothing to do with the human region . Stories about the gods seem in early Buddhist texts , but mostly serve as allegorical fib for teaching Buddhist principles [ origin : O’Brien ] .
Tantric Buddhism is the path most often equal with polytheism , because tantric exercise often involve the conjuration of a god or goddess associated with a certain spiritual power . Yet Tantric Buddhists do n’t perform these rituals to receive direct blessings from the gods like the ancient Romans , but rather to assist the practitioner in substantiate the big businessman and wiseness that the god typify .
Was the Buddha himself one of these god ? Some ancient Buddhistic texts instruct that the Buddha was a god before choosing to be being born-again as Siddhartha Gautama [ informant : Buswell and Lopez ] . god in Buddhism are n’t endless or release from the rhythm of death and conversion . That ’s what draw the Buddha so noteworthy . He was the first among the gods or man to achievenirvanaand teach the way of life of Age of Reason to both human and immortal .
6: How Does Karma Really Work?
The Western concept ofkarmausually means exigent payback for bad behaviour . If you steal money from your elderly grandma to corrupt a new railroad car and immediately get in a wreck , that ’s karma catching up with you .
In Buddhism , karmais the world-wide law of " morally valenced " cause and essence [ source : Jaffe ] . Karma , inSanskrit , means " activeness . " Each of our activity , whether near or bad , stock a consequence . Some of the consequences of our actions are feel in this life-time , although perhaps not as dramatically as the car example above . And other actions trigger moment that , thanks to the continual cycle of death and conversion , will ripple across lifetimes .
The Buddha understood karma not only as legal action , but the aim behind the action . near or " skilful " actions are motivated by compassion , unselfishness , understanding , forgivingness and Wisdom of Solomon , while bad or " botchy " military action are drive by hatred , greed and illusion [ source : BBC ] . That ’s why there ’s such a strong emphasis in Buddhistic teaching on heedfulness . Only by being in full cognizant of our motivations can we condition ourselves to act only on our best intentions and countenance negative thought simply fade by .
The karmic effects of our actions lessen into two categories : psychological and universal [ source : Jones ] . Since reincarnation or transmigration is often a difficult concept for New world to hold on , Buddhists tend to focus on the psychological upshot of karma . Treating people with benignity and generosity has the effect of lifting our spirits , while act out of avarice and enviousness darken our minds and modality . In that elbow room , the law of karma can for certain touch on us in the here and now .
Traditionally , though , Buddhists understand karma as the ecumenical law that determines the human body that transmigration will take . It ’s our actions and decision , not the divine judgment of a cosmic being , that determine where will be born among the six realms or planer of creation . While Buddhists do n’t consider in an eternal " soul " or " I " that continues from one like to the next , they do think that our " patterns of brain " persist beyond decease [ source : Goldstein ] . grant to the rules of karma , you will be reborn in the sheet that best matches your design of mind .
sincerely worthless intentions could land you in one of the low realms of hurt , while perfect heedfulness and compassionateness could modify you for the celestial planes , or at least being born into a wealthy family . The rest of us will be reborn as creature or fallible human trying our best to move up , or at least not down , the karmic ladder .
5: What Do We Get Wrong About Nirvana?
In English , the wordnirvanadescribes an exalted state of blissed - out felicity . take that way , you might think that the Buddhist conception of nirvana is a lot like heaven , an eternal state of pacification and contentment .
In Sanskrit , the word nirvana is translated as " extinguishing , " " quenching " or " blowing out . " But exactly what ’s being bodge out ? If the finish of Buddhism is to escape the wheel of life and demise , then is it the soul that ’s being extinguished , never to be converted again ? Not really , because Buddhist do n’t believe in such a thing as the somebody .
Instead , what ’s being extinguished by nirvana are the radical causes of put up ( dukkha ) , namely rapacity , hatred and illusion [ source : Keown ] . If an individual can rid himself or herself of those wrongful desires , they get into a res publica of matchless compassionateness , peace and joyousness known as nirvana . That ’s what the Buddha achieved under the Bodhi Tree .
Or did he ?
What ’s interesting is that the Buddha and some of his followers who achieved enlightenment were n’t immediately annihilate from existence . The Buddha vex around for 45 long time teaching the path to liberation from suffer . If nirvana is the ultimate dismissal from spirit and decease , then how can a person who has accomplish nirvana go on living ?
That depend on who you ask . The two independent branches of Buddhism are Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism . In Theravada Buddhism , in the main practise in Southeast Asia , they divide the condition enlightenment and nirvana . By following the dharma path , Theravada Buddhism teaches you may achieve an educated state on Earth , but true nirvana , calledparinirvana , can not be obtain until last . In the Theravada purview , the Buddha achieved nirvana after meditating for 40 days , but nirvana came later .
In Mahayana Buddhism , the schooltime of Buddhism practiced in China , Tibet , Japan and Korea , there ’s an emphasis on the ideal of the sophisticated bodhisattva , a individual who has achieved Buddha - same levels of enlightenment , but enter a " non - abiding " state of nirvana that allow them to return to the world to continue to aid sentient beings [ source : O’Brien ] .
Ultimately , all this talk of the town of what is or is n’t nirvana is kind of fruitless . The Buddha instruct that nirvana is wholly unknowable , since it is a United States Department of State beyond existence and non - existence . It is neither a spot nor a state of head , yet it is the ultimate spiritual destination that all Buddhists attempt .
4: What’s So Important About the Dalai Lama?
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual loss leader of Tibetan Buddhism , which is a blend of Mahayana Buddhism and pre - Buddhistic Tibetan religions . Among the unequalled beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism is that theDalai Lamais an educated being or bodhisattva that has chosen to be reincarnated more than a dozen sentence over century of years to teach the dharma to the world [ source : The Dalai Lama ] .
In addition to being a phantasmal giant , theDalai Lamais also recognized as the political drawing card of Tibet . This part took on new import after communist China invaded Tibet in 1950 and viciously suppressed a Tibetan uprising in 1959 , make the current Dalai Lama , Tenzin Gyatso , to flee into exile in India , where he remains [ beginning : The Dalai Lama ] .
" Lama " is a Tibetan word for instructor , tantamount to the Sanskrit " guru . " The word " dalai " is Mongol for " sea , " so the Dalai Lama is understood to be a instructor whose sapience is as deep as the sea [ source : BBC ] . Tibetans conceive each Dalai Lama is a direct incarnation of Chenrezig , the Bodhisattva of Compassion and frequenter saint of Tibet . Successive incarnations of Chenrezig have been identify for 600 eld , but the first soul to meet the title of Dalai Lama lived in the 17th hundred [ source : The Dalai Lama ] .
Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama and is beloved for his wisdom and compassion far beyond the exiled community of Tibetan Buddhists . Chosen by spiritual officials as the reincarnated leader at age 2 , after he showed certain signs , the Dalai Lama was educated in Tibetan monasteries go at eld 6 . Although briefly recognized by China as Tibet ’s true drawing card in the 1950s , he has served most of his seven decade as Dalai Lama in expatriate . His unbloody quest for Tibet ’s freedom from Chinese occupation gain him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 [ germ : Nobel ] .
The Dalai Lama has publish easily - sell books interpret Buddhistic teachings of pity and felicity for lay audience , and travels the public speaking to people of all religious backgrounds about the blessings that come with cultivating a spirit of tolerance , forgiveness and ego - discipline . In 2011 , the Dalai Lama officially retired from political military service and said that he wants the Tibetan people to determine if the next Dalai Lama should stay on as political leader [ rootage : The Dalai Lama ] .
3: Why Do Buddhists Meditate?
Many Buddhist , specially in the West , take time every twenty-four hour period tomeditate . If the goal of Buddhism is to convert our way of perceiving reality and rid ourselves of negative intellection and desire , then the focal point of Buddhist practice should be transform the mind . speculation , the Buddha taught , is one of the right tools for transform the mind [ source : The Buddhist Centre ] .
Meditation was n’t always primal to Buddhistic daily life . For millennia after the Buddha ’s death , meditation was considered an advanced practice single to Buddhist monks . But start in the twentieth century , it was instruct to laypeople as a way of cultivating mindfulness , clarity and compassion [ source : Buswell and Lopez ] . In much of Asia , meditation is still not widely practiced by Buddhists alfresco of monasteries .
unlike schools of Buddhism take different approaches tomeditation . In Tibetan Buddhism , practitioners seek to re - create an double of the Buddha in their mind or mutely repeat a mantra . In Theravada Buddhism , one common meditative practice session ( among many ) is focusing on the breath and learn to observe passing thought and tone with detachment [ root : BBC ] .
While meditation is intelligibly beneficial for cut focus and calming the dead body and mind , that ’s not the remainder end for Buddhists . attain a calm heedfulness through speculation is just the first measure . The real " piece of work " of speculation is to then use that province of calm mindfulness to tackle the " knockout questions " — why we cleave to electronegative desires , why we consider in the permanence of reality , why we contend change , etc . [ reservoir : Gross ] .
Buddhists believe that the yield of mindfulness meditation extend to the rest of daily life . The end is to become more aware of the torso and mind throughout the schooling or work day , to be less rushed and more patient with yourself and others , to be more generous and to seek to do no damage . Buddhists may keep a small shrine in their dwelling house — perhaps a statue of the Buddha or a bodhisattva — as a admonisher to think and live on purpose even while not chew over [ source : Shasta Abbey ] .
2: Can Anyone Be a Buddhist Monk?
The short answer is yes . With the proper preparation and sense of commitment , anyone can take the vow of a Buddhist monk or nun and enter the walls of conventual liveliness . But that does n’t intend that everybodyshould .
Although somemonasteriesoffer part - clip ordination , in most school of Buddhism , the option to become a Buddhist monk or nun is a lifespan commitment . Many Buddhists monks and nun are celibate . They do n’t work or earn money alfresco of the monastery . They meditate and study all day long . On the positive side , no more agonizing over what to wear or how to title your hair . Monk and nuns shave their headspring and wear childlike robes every mean solar day .
Because it ’s a serious determination , Buddhist monasteries ascertain that all prospective monks and nuns are fully prepare for the realness of monastic biography . First , there ’s spiritual preparation . You ca n’t show up the doors of a Buddhist monastery as an absolute fledgling and look to be handed a gown . It call for age of serious report and practice under a qualified instructor before one can even consider becoming ordain . Some monasteries require a year or more under some form of lay vow before seeking full ordinance [ rootage : IMI ] .
Then there are more practical homework . aspire monks and nuns should be complimentary of any " constrain relationships " and have the license and reinforcement of family penis . They should also be free of debt and other financial obligations , because worldly jobs are forbidden once you ’re order [ reservoir : Nalanda Monastery ] .
Most monastic communities recommend that prospective monks and nuns expend more and more farsighted stretches of time at the monastery as volunteers and supporter before take away the vows . Many monasteries proffer meditation retreats for a preference of monastical life . Aspiring monks and nun buoy are encouraged to help oneself out at the monastery by cleaning or prepare meals while get to know the conventual residential area and its day-by-day rhythms .
Not all monasteries accept foreigner , but there are several well - known monastic communities in Asia , Europe and the United States that are welcome to monks and nuns from all backgrounds .
1: Are All Buddhists Pacifist and Vegetarians?
In the West , some people tend to chunk all Buddhists together into a homogenous radical that ’s not entirely ground in reality . Given the Buddha ’s teachings against harm any sentient creature , some people assume that all Buddhists are pacificist andvegetarianswho would never hurt a fly , countenance alone a cow or an enemy soldier . But that ’s not the case .
The Buddha himself rejected the notion that his monks should be vegetarians , even though it seemed to go against the core Buddhist teaching of " do no trauma " ( ahimsa ) . Traditionally , Thelonious Monk ate only what was given to them by lay members of the biotic community , a practice session that continues in many Theravada Buddhistic monastery . The Buddha teach that giving generously to Thelonious Sphere Monk was a great direction to earn karmic virtue . And if a monk refused to take a contribution of marrow , he was basically hinder the giver from receiving blessings and potentially mess with his next life [ source : Buswell and Lopez ] .
For that reason , both Theravada monks and lie Theravada followers are still allowed to eat meat if they choose . The monks are instruct to eat everything they are hold , because it ’s a karmic aid to the lay multitude . And the laic people are teach that it ’s OK to eat gist that ’s already been killed , because rent it go to waste would entail the brute ’s dying was in swollen . Personallyhunting and killing an animalis still prohibited [ origin : Liusuwan ] .
In Mahayana Buddhism , however , the call to " do no damage " is extended to all sentient organism and neither monks nor lay people eat meat [ source : Jaffe ] . So if you think that all Buddhists were vegetarian , you were half correct ! .
Buddhism and war is a trickier topic . The Buddha perfectly taught that violence and killing had no place in Buddhism , even in times of state of war , and bang-up spiritual fig like the Dalai Lama have bosom non - violent resistance as the most effective way to struggle wild oppressiveness [ source : BBC ] . But that does n’t mean that a war has never been waged in the name of Buddhism .
In the preceding hundred alone , Tibetan Thelonious Monk accept up arms against Chinese invaders in the 1950s . Zen Buddhist monks in Japan supported the savage Japanese intrusion of China during World War II . And tragically , in 2013 Buddhists in Myanmar ( formerly Burma ) and Sri Lanka have place atrocity against Moslem nonage in those countries , with one Burmese Buddhist monastic comparing himself favorably to Osama bin Laden [ source : Caryl ] .
Being human is complicated for people of all religious religion . But just as no single or religious group is perfect , all are deserving of pardon .
Learn more about Buddhism in " No - Nonsense Buddhism for tyro : Clear Answers to burn Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings " by Noah Rasheta . HowStuffWorks pick related title based on script we think you ’ll wish . Should you opt to buy one , we ’ll encounter a portion of the sales event .
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As a religion major in college , you ’d think I would know more about Buddhism , but apparently the info I learned in that Intro to Buddhism category I took 20-(cough ) days ago put on off a while ago . Like many Americans , I find Buddhist teachings at once console and scary . I have no problem agree that life would be much easier if we could free ourselves from avaritia , hatred and other haywire - head desires . But I also do n’t think that I ’m ready to be reborn a couple of thousand times . Whether or not this life was a reinforcement for past skillful natural process , I feel like I ’ve been apportion a pretty adept hired man . One lifetime is flock for me , thanks .
Special thanks to Richard Jaffe , associate prof of Religious Studies at Duke University and writer of the approaching Scripture , " Seeking Sakyamuni : South Asia in the Formation of Modern Japanese Buddhism . "
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