The Importance Of Karma In Buddhism

Brummette 3 Hindus think of life as something you should embrace, but Buddhists think of life as something that you suffer through because of desire(Harrington Enlightenment Lecture). The Buddhists believe that you should transcend worldly desires. They say to avoid desires of life because they will lead to suffering. Hinduists have a more positive view of life. In conclusion, the theory of life after death in Buddhism relates to Hinduism 's theory of life after death.

In Buddhism, it aims to obtain the enlightenment and releases from the cycle of rebirth and death. Most importantly, it wants to open the door to Nirvana in order to escape from the six realms of existence. On the other hand, in Taoism, it aims to reach the immortal state and stress on performing exercises and ritual to improve physical health. In this essay, I will compare the views of life and death in Taoism and Buddhism and state two differences between them. Comparison and Contrast First of all, Daoism and Buddhism have different explanations and perspectives on reincarnation.

Karma is the law of moral causation. Buddhist believe that what we do now will bring the effect in the future. That is the similarities of the Utilitarianism and Karma. The differences between Western and Buddhism is western principle place on moral authority in the utility of an action but Buddhism ethics find it that are the responsibility to do so and they will not care about the return. In western principles, rights is concerned with respecting and protecting individual liberties and privileges.

The Buddhist believe that suffering is lack of knowledge in and failure to retrieve it.and the primary way to remedy this ignorance is through the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.The Four Noble Truths are a diagnosis and remedy for the disease of suffering: Suffering is inevitable in existence, desire causes suffering, desire can be removed and the Buddha has the prescription to remove it. The Eightfold path is Buddha 's prescription to end suffering through self-discipline. Hinduism explains suffering with the concept of karma, which is a moral law of cause and effect. If someone is suffering, Hinduism says it is due to a person 's own actions. The problem can be in the present, but because Hinduism believes in reincarnation, the problem could also be in the past.

Neo-Confucianism is the ethical and moral Chinese philosophy made to create a more rational form of Confucianism. Scholars of Neo-Confucianism removed any superstitious and mythical elements of Daoism and Buddhism. Although it was originated from the Tang Dynasty, it became more prominent in the Song Dynasty due to the rising of Buddhism power while Neo-Confucianism was getting rid of Buddhism elements. In the midst of their competition against Buddhism, Confucian scholars challenged Buddhism morals by making their own ideas of the human and natural world. It was attempt to remove any superstition from Buddhism and Daoism that had influenced Confucianism during the Han Dynasty.

In Stephen Batchelor’s book, Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening he goes into depth about the idea that Buddhism is not a religion or something to believe in, but rather a mindset that is a way of living with a course of action. Throughout the book he gives examples and tells stories to defend the idea that Buddhism is more than just something to believe in, but it is a way of living. Batchelor noted that when it comes to viewing Buddhism as a religion it is important to know the way Buddha viewed himself “Instead of presenting himself as a savior, he saw himself as a healer” (6). His ‘job’ was not to convert people to believe in his beliefs, rather, he wanted to show them through actions how fulfilling his way of living

The general beliefs of the buddhist teachings allows individual to reach enlightenment (Nirvana) thus changing the lives of adherents. Furthermore, Dharma creates a guideline to adherents into living a free life without suffering (Dukkha) thus impacting the buddhist community. This is exemplified through the Five Precepts, an ethical code which is forbids individuals from harming living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. Due to this acts of commitment, this show’s the individual initiation and devotion to Buddha changing the community’s perspectives on the laws of nature. Additionally, the Four Noble Truths creates an insight on the truth of reality revealing the existence of Dukkha.

Unaccompanied by Gandalf, the group is ultimately doomed, and thus falls apart after his “death”. Gandalf makes Frodo and his group stronger and more knowledgeable with his presence, so that they can complete their quest, which would be nearly impossible without him. Similarly, in the myth of Prometheus, Athena, the Olympian goddess, raises Prometheus and “[teaches] Prometheus mathematics, navigation, astronomy, architecture, medicine, and many other arts” (Prometheus 1). Prometheus becomes extremely clever and intelligent, and he is able to create the human race with Athena’s help. Without her, he would never have become as smart and powerful as he needed to be in order to create humankind.

Gilgamesh displays all three of these qualities because he goes on a quest for immortality, he was created part god and part human, and he is assisted by a mythical creature named Enkidu throughout the story. To begin, one of the qualities of an archetypal hero is to go on a quest which Gilgamesh does in “The Search for Everlasting Life.” When Gilgamesh’s second self, Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh realizes his fate. His fear of death encourages him to take on a journey. Gilgamesh proves that he possesses this quality by

The other possibility is reincarnation. Rendering to the Anatta doctrine reincarnation is dictated by karma, which is taught in Buddhism to mean “volitional action”. If a person creates karma he creates energy that will manifest itself after death into a new form, otherwise thought of as rebirth. Buddhism and Christianity are both religions that have an abounding amount of history and millions of sincere followers all over the world. In some ways, the two beliefs are comparable, being established largely on the teachings of a single man; for instance Buddha in Buddhism and Christ in Christianity.