Buddhist Religious Traditions Paper :: essays research papers

Buddhism is a philosophy/religion that was created by Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) everywhere 2500 years ago, founded on Hindu beliefs. There are two major(ip) divisions Mahayana and Theravada, and many subdivisions. Fundamentally, Buddhists believe that one must rise above desires, to concern a state of enlightenment. Buddha was idolized, and subsequently deified, but he never claimed to be anything more than a man (dictionary.com, 2005). The goal of this paper is to answer the pursuance questions based on the assigned readings for week two What scared elements restrict Hindu religious traditions? And what are their significance consequences?Buddhism Is A Quest For paradiseAfter reading the book Buddhism by Malcom David Eckel, if I had to define Buddhism it would not be by principle that governs a Buddhist way of keep but the ultimate goal to which that heart is directed, the key would be nirvana. paradise is the definitive cessation of the suffering that plagues human exist ence. The concept of nirvana gains its meaning and much of its importance in classical Buddhist thought from the self-confidence of reincarnation or transmigration (samsara), an assumption that Indian Buddhist share with their Hindu counterpart (Eckel, D., 1946). Classical Buddhist sources pictured human life as a continuous cycle of death and rebirth. A person, or sensate being could rise on the scale of transmigration as far as the gods in heaven or fall down by means of the earth of animals to one of the lowest hells. The realm of a persons life in a future life is determined by the actions or karma performed in this life (Eckel, D., 1946). Good actions could bring a good rebirth and bad actions could bring a bad rebirth. In either case, however, the results in are impermanent. According to Eckel even the actions that brought rebirth in the highest heaven at long last would decay and condemn a person to wander again through the realms of rebirth.