Pure Land Buddhism Case Study

Document 5 is from the writings of Zong Mi, a Buddhist scholar. Zong Mi compares the Buddha to other sages such as Confucius and Laozi. He does this because although someone may support one sage, they could disagree with another. He says however, that all three teachings should be observed the same. An additional document that could be helpful in the analyzation of the question would perhaps be a simple account of Buddhism from a lower class citizens point of view.

However, some people didn’t care if the two religions co-existed or blended together. Mahayana Buddhism in China was profoundly accepted by the lower class people who didn’t have much and liked the idea of giving up materialistic things to reach nirvana. In document 2 Zhi Dun supports Buddhism and talks about how Buddhism was the way to reach

I find this to be the strongest example of the sway these miracles held, even non-believers respected and were drawn to them. I personally can easily put myself in the shoes of one of the curious non-believers of the time, since for me nothing pulls quite like the mysterious. Wriggins also touches on the power of miracles in her depiction of the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang. Xuanzang set out to gather facts on The Buddha’s life, however a large focus of his was on the miracles The Buddha performed(Wriggins 95). The miracles in these stories were not just agents to recruit new followers to Buddhism, they also held a lot of emotional significance to the practitioners of the time.

Debates as to whether the ritual should be performed due to ethics and the effect it has on the economic status of Tibet have altered the observance of the ritual. Despite the influence of modern culture and ethics affecting the observer’s significance of the Tibetan Buddhist Sky Burial, it is still performed regularly in modern society as it assists in the deceased accumulation of karmic merit and reaching Enlightenment. The Tibetan Sky Burial begins immediately after the adherent has passed away; the body is placed in the foetal position amongst burning Juniper incense whilst a Lama (spiritual leader) chants necessary prayers from the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead). The prayers are recited as a means of readying the soul for the next stage of Samsara.

Inside 668, the empire of Silla became popular in unifying the entire Korean peninsula, giving rise to a period involving political stability that lasted approximately one millennium. This generated a large point inside the scholarly reports related to Buddhism all around Korea. In continuity, many in-demand areas involving study have been Wonyung, Yusik, Jeongto (Pure Land), along with the native Korean Beopseong. This monk Wonhyo tutored the "Pure Land"-practice involving Yeombul, which would become very well liked amongst the two scholars along with laypeople, and has had the lasting effect on Buddhist imagined in Korea. His / her work, which tries a

Buddhism influenced many kinds of people. Buddhism showed them all about Architecture. They also showed

The author of Lives of the Nuns name is Shi Baochang and he constructed this article during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 CE). Shi Baochang was a Buddhist himself, his intention of writing these pieces is to spread the belief of Buddhism throughout the world. Lives of the Nuns is not the only Buddhist piece he has constructed , he has written many more to prevent the belief of Buddhism from going extinct. His theme in his writings is not to just spread the idea of the religion, but also to show the people what Buddhism really is about. Shi Baochang, writing pieces were so influential, they made the people of the empire have more of an open minded thinking of the idea Buddhism and saw it differently.

Many people practice a religion because they desire order in their lives. However, there are many religions, each with their own belief systems. In Philip Kapleau’s Three Pillars of Zen, Harada-roshi explains the concept of Buddhist spirituality to an American businessman. Harada-roshi tells him, “You must break out of your self-imprisonment…you must put your mind in your hara and breathe only mu in and out… The center of the universe is in the pit of your belly!”

As Buddhism spread across Asia, particularly towards the north and through the region of Tibet and China, there was an emergence of the Mahayana tradition that adopted the regional and local customs which began to augment, reevaluate and reshape fundamental early Indian Buddhist concepts. Thus, early Indian Buddhism had inevitably evolved and formed a new school of Buddhism known as Mahayana. The Mahayana school of Buddhism shares vast similarities with Early Indian Buddhism in their fundamental beliefs but have contrasting differences on certain aspects such as the five pathways towards liberation and enlightenment. In Buddhism, one of the most important beliefs is “The Five Paths (lam-lnga)” in which there are five levels of spiritual pathways to reach liberation and enlightenment or towards a purified state or “Bodhi.”

It’s defined by societal standards and often associated with wealth. People live within their own bubble of privileges and fail to realize it. Buddha recognized his privilege and he acted upon it when he left his royal life to help others obtain a life of spiritual meaning and fulfillment. Privilege exists in many forms and when acted upon can reduce disparity. At a commencement speech at Wellesley College, the speaker decided instead of glorifying the term privilege regarding college education, she used the opportunity to inform the graduates that their education hampered them.

After Buddhism’s arrival in China, the Chinese defended the policies and beliefs of Buddhism. Zhi Dun described Buddhism as providing a way to reach nirvana, or total enlightenment. Due to Zhi Dun’s position as an upper class scholar, his writing doesn’t reflect the lower classes’ feeling of danger due to invading nomads. As an upper class scholar, Zhi Dun was not directly threatened by such nomads.

While Chinese initially accepted Buddhism and defended its policies, over the centuries others increasingly scrutinized Buddhism’s absence from past texts and used it as a scapegoat for political and social problems. When there was no empire to enforce laws, Buddhism gained popularity, but after imperial authority reemerged, Buddhism faced mounting opposition. An additional document that shows the actual numbers of converts to Buddhism during this time, preferably in a graph, would be useful in determining whether or not the worries of the authors in documents against Buddhism were grounded. For a few centuries after arriving in China, Chinese defended and supported Buddhism. Zhi Dun praised Buddhism as providing a path to nirvana, though as an upper class scholar who probably did not personally feel threatened by invading nomads, his testimony does not necessarily reflect the danger lower classes likely felt.

The sufferings created by the war disturbed Asoka. He found relief in Buddhism and became an emperor with values that differed from those of his grandfather. Asoka was no opponent but there were changes. Several years past and Asoka mixed his Buddhism with material concerns that served the Buddha 's original desire to see suffering among people moderate.

The Mongols did not trust the Chinese, so they had foreigners come in to govern the people. They took away the traditional Confucian way of government. In the Middle East, the Mongols took the highest positions, but gave the lower positions to the people showing that there was more trust. The Mongols didn 't disrupt the original government, instead they used it to their advantage. Mongols

I chose Buddhism as the world religion I am studying. I chose this religion because I am curious to why it hasn 't spread to the United States like Christianity, or even Islam has. It has a booming prevalence in India, and other regions of Asia but it still hasn 't made a large impact on The U.S. Buddhism started with the a birth of Siddhartha Gautama in c. 6th-4th century BCE in current day Nepal. Siddhartha lived as a prince in a grand castle with every whim catered to.