But religion is not the practice of worshipping a god but rather it is a way of life and a system of faith. Buddhism is a religion because it is based on faith and self-understanding in replacement of being theistic based, it does not have a deity however it believes in what a god represents, and it follows the purpose of religion. Instead of worshipping and believing in a god to resolve life’s problems, Buddhism stands by the proposition of understanding one’s mind and believing in their self. Although the Buddha is the image and figure of the religion, he is not a god or a deity. Buddhists do not turn to him looking for salvation: “A Buddhist does not seek refuge in the Buddha with the hope that he will be saved by his personal purification” (Thera, 2012).
So we’ll have to escape the sufferings ourselves. Buddhists follow Buddha’s teachings and Buddha said he only teaches what causes suffering and how to free oneself from it. Thus whether there is a higher power is not relavent to Buddhism. Another reason why Buddhist don’t believe in soul (god) is because they think only they can save themselves from suffering. They reject the idea of human sacrifices and animal sacrifices in Hinduism and how by doing that god would help release them from suffering.
What are some of the fundamental differences you perceived? Besides the fact that Hinduism has no founder, and Siddhartha Gautama being the founder of Buddhism, a big difference between the two is that Hinduism is more spiritually directed but Buddhism is more focused on the practice. Also, the final destination for Hindu’s is a spiritual ending, but Buddhists, since they believe in life being an illusion, believe in the final ending is a void. Hindu’s also believe everyone has an atman, a soul, where as Buddhists believe there is no
Although a dancer needs inner balance in order to dance and portray rasa effectively, the need to establish a state of inner balance and harmony did not seem to be a goal of Kuchipudi. Also, I associate Kuchipudi with religion more so than I do yoga because there are many Kuchipudi dances that portray stories of Gods and praise these Indian Gods, which is not characteristic of yoga practices. Even though I associate Kuchipudi with religion, both practices do not contradict or interfere with any religion. I did notice a similarity between the goals of yoga and Kuchipudi in that both practices are not restricted to one sect or faith and are open to all learning these practices.
In Buddhist teachings, the existence of a personal creator and Lord is denied but Christianity believes in a creator and each may have a relationship with the creator, Jesus. According to Buddhist belief, human life is not considered to have much worth and having only temporary existence. Life is understood in such a way in getting rid of all desire (good and bad) and not placing any value on this life on earth. In Christianity people are of infinite worth, made in the Image of God and will exist eternally. Buddhism is not really a religion but a moral philosophy designed to overcome suffering and it was designed to obtain relief from suffering by means of human effort alone.
Buddhism spread into many other countries and Hinduism did not because of two main reason. One main reason was because Hinduism was much more complex then Buddhism. More people converted to Buddhism because it was much more comprehendible and understandable than Hinduism. The other reason was because Buddhism accepted everybody openly. Hinduism on the other hand was not open to people who were not born into the caste system.
This essay will explore why Zen Buddhism has proven so resilient in Japan and why its presence is felt by many Japanese in everyday life. This essay will also look at how other religions have been introduced into Japan but have not proven as effective in their staying power. First though, it’s important to realise what Zen Buddhism actually is and what it consists of. Zen Buddhism began to emerge as a separate strain of Buddhism in China as taught by Bodhidharama, an Indian sage who emphasised the importance of meditation. His teachings co-existed alongside other Buddhist developments that had already been founded.
Hinduism recognizes the Vedas as the most ancient and authoritative body of religious literature. They are the foundational scriptures common to all branches of Hinduism. Many say that Buddhism is a philosophy rather than a religion. One of the reasons for this is that worship is not directed towards a God or a creator. Buddhists are more concerned with the road to enlightenment, a state of being.
Then, explain the difference between Muslims and Arabs. Orientalism is a cultural feature associated with East Asia where people do not see the differences in people from the Orient. Such as Japanese, Chinese, Koreans and others in Asia where some people seem all the same. That is what has happened with Muslims and Arabs in the United States. That the people have been in the United States for a number of generations (Irish, Italians and others whose own ancestors went through similar events) cannot see the difference.
Not all Chinese parents are strict and achievement-oriented as well as not all Western parents are liberal. For example, Chua mentions an American whose father was definitely the type of Chinese mother. Moreover, in accordance with the articles I have read, tiger parenting is no longer so popular in China nowadays. Instead, more and more Chinese are copying Western parenting style. I will go further into this topic later in my essay.