Buddhism healthcare - Essay Example

Buddhism Buddhism is pth of prctic nd spiritul dvlopmnt lding to Insight into th tru ntur of lif. Buddhist prctics such s mdittion r mns of chnging onslf in ordr to dvlop th qulitis of wrnss, kindnss, nd wisdom. Th xprinc dvlopd within th Buddhist trdition ovr thousnds of yrs hs crtd n incomprbl rsourc for ll thos who wish to follow pth - pth which ultimtly culmints in nlightnmnt or Buddhhood.Buddhism is pth of trnsformtion. This mns tht it is not nough to undrstnd it intllctully. Following th Buddhist pth mns tht w must ngg th motions nd th imgintion.

To hv tht motionl nggmnt mns hving dvotion or fith, nd ritul is wy of dirctly ngging th motions.Buddhist rituls usully consist of thr min lmnts: rcittion, chnting nd th mking of offrings. Th vrss rcitd r usully ssocitd with th principl tnts nd idls of Buddhism; ND thy giv xprssion to th spiritul spirtion which mks somon Buddhist. Buddhists usully chnt in ithr Pli or Snskrit (two ncint Indin lngugs) nd chnting is wy of forging n motionl connction with motionl Buddhist idls. Somtims Buddhists chnt mntrs, Snskrit phrss which r blivd to b th vrbl xprssions of nlightnmnt.

Offrings usully consist of flowrs, symbolising both buty nd imprmnnc; cndls, symbolising th rdinc of nlightnmnt; nd incns which prvds th ir in th sm wy tht th truth s xprincd by th Buddh prvds th univrs (Boorstin, 2001). To liv is to ct, nd our ctions cn hv ithr hrmful or bnficil consquncs for onslf nd othrs. Buddhist thics is concrnd with th principls nd prctics tht hlp on to ct in wys tht hlp rthr thn hrm. Th cor thicl cod of Buddhism is known s th fiv prcpts, nd ths r th distilltion of its thicl principls.

Th prcpts r not ruls or commndmnts, but 'principls of trining', which r undrtkn frly nd nd to b put into prctic with intllignc nd snsitivity. Th Buddhist trdition cknowldgs tht lif is complx nd throws up mny difficultis, nd it dos not suggst tht thr is singl cours of ction tht will b right in ll circumstncs. Indd, rthr thn spking of ctions bing right or wrong, Buddhism spks of th bing skilful (kusl) or unskilful (kusl) (Twd, 2000).Th Fiv Prcpts r s follows:1. Not killing or cusing hrm to othr living bings.

This is th fundmntl thicl principl for Buddhism, nd ll th othr prcpts r lbortions of this. Th prcpt implis cting non-violntly whrvr possibl, nd mny Buddhists r vgtrin for this rson. Th positiv countrprt of this prcpt is lov. 2. Not tking th not-givn. Stling is n obvious wy in which on cn hrm othrs. On cn lso tk dvntg of popl, xploit thm, or mnipult thm - ll ths cn b sn s wys of tking th not givn. Th positiv countrprt of this prcpt is gnrosity. 3. voiding sxul misconduct. This prcpt hs bn intrprtd in mny wys ovr tim, but ssntilly it mns not cusing hrm to onslf or othrs in th r of sxul ctivity.

Th positiv countrprt of this prcpt is contntmnt. 4. voiding fls spch. Spch is th crucil lmnt in our rltions with othrs, nd yt lngug is slippry mdium, nd w oftn dciv ourslvs or othrs without vn rlising tht this is wht w r doing. Truthfulnss, th positiv countrprt of this prcpt, is thrfor ssntil in n thicl lif. But truthfulnss is not nough, nd in nothr list of prcpts (th tn prcpts or th tn kusl dhrms) no fwr thn four spch prcpts r mntiond, th othrs njoining tht our spch should b kindly, hlpful, nd hrmonious. 5. bstining from drink nd drugs tht cloud th mind.

Th positiv countrprt of this prcpt is mindfulnss, or wrnss. Mindfulnss is fundmntl qulity to b dvlopd th Buddh's pth, nd xprinc shows tht tking intoxicting drink or drugs tnds to run dirctly countr to this (Kshim, 2002).Mny Buddhists round th world rcit th fiv prcpts vry dy, nd try to put thm into prctic in thir livs.Th forms in which Buddhist truths r xprssd lwys dpt ccording to circumstncs. But th ssnc of Buddhism trnscnds cultur nd conditions.Now tht Buddhism hs com to th Wst, wstrnrs r fcd with th tsk of crting nw nd vibl Buddhist trditions for th modrn world.

Ovr th lst thirty yrs th FWBO hs grown to b on of th lrgst Buddhist movmnts in th Wst, with cntrs nd ctivitis in mny citis round th world.Bibliogrphy:1. Boorstin, Sylvi (1995). It's sir Thn You Think: Th Buddhist Wy to Hppinss. Sn Frncisco: HrprSn Frncisco.2. Boorstin, Sylvi (2001). Tht's Funny, You Don't Look Buddhist: On Bing Fithful Jw nd Pssiont Buddhist. Sn Frncisco: HrprSn Frncisco.3. Kshim, Ttsugn (2002). Buddhism in mric: Th Socil Orgniztion of n thnic Rligious Institution. Wstport, Conn.

: Grnwood Prss, Contributions in Sociology Sris, #26. 4. Twd, Thoms . (2000). Th mricn ncountr with Buddhism 1844-1912. Bloomington: Indin Univrsity Prss.