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Buddhism, Buddhism book,
Buddhism meditation,
Buddhism religion,
Buddhist, Buddhist
meditation, Buddhist
temple, Mahayana,
Theravada, meditating,
monk, teachings,
monastery.
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-The two
main direction in Buddhism
teaching and beliefs are
Theravada Buddhism and
Mahayana Buddhism.
The
teaching and beliefs are
written down in a Buddhism
book called
Tripitaka,
actually its not one book,
there are thousands.
To maintain a
acceptable moral standard in
Buddhism, monks and
nuns keep strict discipline.
Although the rules are
strict, the monasteries and
Buddhist temples are
always open to anyone who
wants to go there and maybe
stay their, either for a
short period of time or a
longer.
-Buddhism
followers consists of
monks,
nuns and
laypersons which are laymen
and laywomen.
Buddhist monks
usually are more devoted to
spirituality development,
they
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shave their heads, have only
three robes and possess
only a few necessary items.
They depend on the
laypersons for such as food,
clothing, support to the
monastery and other
necessities and give
spiritual advice guidance
and the right interpretation
of
Buddhism beliefs.
Currently the Dalai Lama
is probably the one Buddhist
Monk
who get the highest respect,
Tibetan Buddhism is also
very well known.
In
Thailand and
Myanmar or
Burma almost every
younger male person stay for
some time in a Buddhist
monastery. This tradition
anchors the people strongly
into Buddhism. In Myanmar
there are thousands of
Buddhist monasteries with
all together around one
million Buddhist monks and
novices. In Thailand are
around half a million monks
and novices living in
monasteries.
Monks form the
Sangha, one of the
three parts of
Buddhism; the
other is the Buddha and the
Dharma, his teachings. They
follow and teach the three
main virtues of Buddha:
wisdom, purity and
compassion.
Buddhist abbots and
monks still play a vital
social roles in the rural
areas.
Usually the
villagers supply the
funds by donations
to build the
monastery for their
community. The
village Buddhist
temple and monastery
serves as the centre
of social life and
activities of the
village, observing
the Buddhist
holidays, temple
festivals and
merit-making
ceremonies.
It is
necessary to keep in
mind that in most
Buddhist countries
in Asia
there is also a
large community of
Muslims living side
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by side with their
Buddhist
compatriots. This
sometimes leads to
tensions and when
these tensions are
note eliminated but
exploited by
politicians and
other careless
people, clashes
occur.
-One of these
Buddhist countries
is Thailand
who
has a big problem of
this type in their
southern provinces
on the border to
Malaysia. There,
almost every day
people are killed,
sometime even
Buddhist monks and
novices. Schools are
burned down and so
on.
-Similar problems
are in Myanmar or
Burma
at their
northern border
state to Bangladesh.
But there its not
the people who fight
each other, it’s the
Myanmar military who
fight insurgents
coming in from
Bangladesh.
Actually in whole
of south East Asia a
immense amounts of
Muslims trying to
move into the
primary Buddhist
countries. As a
example, the capital
of northern
Myanmar’s Rakhine
State,
Sittwe had
about ten percent
Muslim population in
1985, now in 2009
there are already
40% Muslims and most
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moved in
illegally from
Bangladesh. This
illegal immigrants
are also very
visible in Thailand
and Malaysia, even
in Singapore but on
a lesser scale.
-The Buddhist
monks of the
monastery
are in
continuous contacts
with the local
people and advice
them in secular and
spiritual terms.
If there are disputes,
maybe
with the neighbor or
at other occasions
he or she can’t
handle, they turn to
the Buddhist
monastery and ask
for help. Sometimes
when parents lost
control over their boys
they might
place them in the monastery
for a while, orphans are cared
for in the novice
way.
Buddhist
monasteries and
temples are also
used for public
events and many have
their own schools
and teach basics,
arts and other
subjects, plenty of
social problems are
solved in the rural
society via the
Buddhism way.
The abbot of a
Buddhist monastery
is the
undisputed spiritual
leader of a Buddhist
community. It is
an honor and gaining
merit to feed the
monks when they come
to doors in the
morning or give them
other daily
necessities
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There are people
saying that with no
definite belief in
an eternal God,
Buddhism is not
a religion but a
philosophical and
ethical system based
on compassion only.
A study of
Buddhism in several
south East Asia
countries like
Thailand and Myanmar
or Burma seems to
confirm that and the
spirit-worship offer
further
confirmation.
The devotees claim
that their Buddhism religion
is above all a
search for truth and
to connect the
present with the
life after death.
In this way Buddhism
actually is the responsibility of
the individual for
here and now. This
is a very important
factor compared to
other religions
where they move
their personal
problems to the
upper layer, called
god and say he will
fix it. Since this
will not happen the
problems never get
solved. In Buddhism
it's different it is
clear that everyone
has his
responsibility and
also to solve the
problems here and
now.
Buddhism does
insist on some kind
of law and rational
thinking in the
spiritual and moral
spheres and urges
the individual to
work out his own
salvation.
With the
move from the
personal presence of
the founder of any
religion to the
society formed to
carry on his message
and work, there is a
loss of understanding.
Even the wisest and
most devoted
disciples of Buddha
don't know his spiritual
thinking in every
aspect.
-This is somehow
offset by Buddhist art.
In times when
faith is dim its
time to return to
the study of
Buddhism, to
study the
ideas and teaching
of the Buddha and
try to find
new life and
inspiration.
Buddhism has a
strong relation to
tradition. Some
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Buddhism |
Buddhist
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Buddhism
pictures |
Buddhist Art |
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claim superiority for
Buddhism because it has
never been attacked by
modern criticism in the way
that Christianity and Islam
has. |
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Buddha,
Buddhism,
Buddhist,
Buddhism book,
Buddhism meditation,
Buddhism religion,
Buddhist, Buddhist
meditation,
Buddhist
temple,
Mahayana,
Theravada,
meditating,
monk, teachings,
monastery. |
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