Buddhism and Its Cultural Impact - Essay Example

 Buddhism and Its Cultural Impact World civilisation as we know today have been shaped through centuries with a myrid of factors contributing the cultural diffusion process which had lead to the deveopment of diverse cultures across the globe. Culture is a key factor in gaining an insight in to how different groups of people behave in terms of their preferences, attitudes, values and beliefs. From such factors, religion can be consdired as a major force in shaping and continoually developing the human civilization. There can be implicit and explicit elements of culture embodied in rituals, symbols, gestures, traditions and mannerisms, which can be traced to the underliying belief systems and philosophies adopted by these different groups of people. The dissemination of such ideas and beliefs from one culture to another was facilitated through trade, migration and warfare in the historic times. Throughout the post-classical periods many groups of nomadic missionaries contributed to this cultural diffusion process. From such groups, Buddhist missionaries more commonly referred to as priests or monks succeeded in inculcating the Buddhist way of life across much of the Asian region. Although Buddhism has its many forms across the Asian continent, the core belief system is reflected in all forms being practiced in countries as India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, China and Japan. These core beliefs have contributed to the unique cultural aspects and practices that can be observed within these cultures. In order to discuss cultural manifestations resulting from religeious teachings, it is important to define what culture denotes. Culture according to Boas, “embrace all the manifestations of social habits of a community, the reactions of the individual as affected by the habits of the group in which he lives, and the products of human activities as determined by these habits” (Boas, 1930) Thus, it is important to understand the underpinning, belief systems and religious teachings which manifest in the form of distinct cultural characteristics, ideas and technologies. Considering the Asian countries, which influenced by Buddhism, the cultures are rich with history, heritage, religious practices and philosophies. Buddhist way of life seeks to achieve morality and well being of life through harmony and self-moderation. Buddhists are motivated by the need of wanting to break the cycle of life referred to as “Samsara”, which is perceived as a sorrowful journey even at its most luxurious state of living. “The aim of Buddhist practice is to end the cycle of rebirth by awakening the practitioner to the realization of true reality, the achievement of liberation called nirvana” (Wikipedia 2006). While most religions focus on materialistic life and how to further such materialistic wealth, Buddhism urges the followers to forsake their material wealth and seek moderation & simplicity in life. Buddhism which is considered more a philosophy than a religion is based on teachings of Gautham Buddha. The religeon initiated from Northen Inida during the period of 563 – 483 BC and continue to be a strong relegeous force mainly in the Asian region with over 700 million followers. In buddhism there are no strict codes of practice but a philosophy which promotes self moderation and training of mind to see reality in its true form. Laws of karma which explains the cause and effect nature promotes performing of good deeds and actions so that consequents will be positive. Negative deeds yielding negative consequences are to be avaoided. Thus, it can be seen that Buddhist teachings are primarily very practical and holds true across centuries without coming at odds with new leaenings in the modern society (Gethin 1998). One of the main contrasting aspects of Buddhism is that it does not uphold the concept of one omnipotent god but rather acknowledge the existance of gods and other forms of beings than humans without ascribing any power for creation, salvation or judgment to them (Wikipedia 2006). Buddhist worshipping practices uphold three main concepts of “Buddha”, “Dhamma” and “Sanga” refering to the Buddha himself, his teachings which is encripted in Dhamma and the Sangha which is represented by the priests. Buddhist teachings highlight the temporary nature of all matter and life and thus why people should not cling pocessively to any material ealth or emotial ties. It is said that such love of material or people will only yield surrow ultimately as every matter and life are temporary. This principle is cited in Budda’s teachings as Whatever is impermanent is subject to change. Whatever is subject to change is subject to suffering.( - The Buddha ). Buddhists are recommended of leading their life with Right Understanding , Right Thought , Right Speech , Right Action , Right Livelihood , Right Effort , Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration (Hahn 1999). These priciples are explained in great detail in preachings of Buddha with simple examples and reasons for such recommendations which allows any person to question, analyse and adopt the buddhist teachings. Buddha has stated that no person should adopt his teachings in blind faith but only after beocming aware of, analysing and then understanding the teachings. Albert Einstein has described Buddhism as having “ the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity” (Wikipedia 2006). At the core of impact of Buddhism reflected on cultural aspects and practices lies the five precepts of Budhhist teaching, which is the most basic form of practicing Buddhism. These includes a self promise to “refrain from harming or killing any life form, to refrain frm taking that which is not freely given (stealing); To refrain from sexual misconduct including adultry,To refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat), and lastly to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness” (Wikipedia 2006). Cultural manifestations of these basic belief systems inculcated through the above five precepts can be observed in many forms. One of the marked cultural practices is the vegetarianism practiced by most buddhists. Some countries as Nepal and India has vast majorities of vegetarians which upholds the first precept of teaching not to harm or kill any life form. Buddhism which promotes compassion not only to fellow humans but also to all living forms, does not approve of killing animals for their flesh. In countries such as Sri Lanka which has over 85% buddhists, practice vegetarianism is common while most of the country’s meat consumption is by the balance 15% of population comprising of Catholics and Muslims. Another disticnt characteristic which can be observed in cultures which has its roots in buddhism is the tendency to be compassionate, giving and naturing. The old and the disabled are nurtured by their families and are not treated as burdens. The family ties run deep with proper caring for the elders upheld as a sacred duty. Unlike in the west where old are mostly destined to homes for elders, the elders in these cultures are given respect and supremecy within their extended family units. The teachings of Buddhism encourages giving as a means of reducing your own greed. “Alms” giving is very common where poor people or priests are given lavish feasts of food and other essential necessities in packed form. Priests in some buddhist countries goes from house to house where people can make offerings of food. These priests carry the traditional “pathra” a wooden bowl to which the offerings are placed. The Buddhist’s inclination of sharing and giving has made most of these cultures more collectivist than individualistic. Adultry and sexual misconduct are negated by Buddhist teachings and its “sutra” carring the teachings of Buddha explains in legnth how family life should be led in peace and harmoney. The cultural aspects of marriage and family life in Buddhist countries have been impacted by these teachings where level of adultry and sexual misconduct is lesser in comparison to many other societies. However, a misnorm is obsreved in the Thai culture where the majority of population are buddhists but the third precept seem to be less observed. In understandinng the teachings of buddhism, its also a possibility that the original, meaning of the third precept covers “ more than the now generally standard meaning "sexual misconduct" and actually involves refraining from "wrong indulgence in all sensory pleasures” (Wikipedia 2006). The buddhist cultures are also bound by many symbolic rituals related to the practice of religion. Most obsevers will offer flowere, water, fragrannt incence and light an oil lamp every morning and evening in front of Buddha Statute located within a sacred area in the house. The location of this shrine room will vary from culture to culture. In some coutries as Nepal, these shrine rooms are placed at the front of the house in the garden. In some cultures, the place of worship is located within the house.To preserve the sacredness of the shrine room, the inhabitants of the house are expected to live cleanly, abstaining from breaking the observance of the five precepts (Hahn 1999). The Budhist religion observe the monthly full moon as religeous occasions where the full moon in May is celebrated as the day in which Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and finally died. This Full Moon “Poya” is a holiday which is marked by many religeous rituals as alms givings, medidation programs, as well as lighting of large lanterns, oil lamps etc.Budhist cultural aspects include meditation and attempts at controlling ones own desires and mind. With the acceptance of the principle of “Karma” which dictates the cause of detiny as per ones own doings, people of Buddhist background have a high resilience in absorbing distruction and turmoil. Buddhist philosophy breeds inner strength to face crisis without having to depend on anyone but oneself. People in these cultures tend to attribue most that happens in their lives to the “Karma” from last lives. With the firm beliefe on rebirth, the Buddhists see life as a cycle and a chain reaction of ones doings resulting in Karma which shapes the current and future life (Gaer 1954). Technologies have also been shaped by teachings and influences of Buddhism. In most Buddhist cultures, agricultural sectors operate on traditional preservation methods than resorting to pesticides. Even protecting of crops from wild animals as elephant herds and wild bores is done in humane manner without killing or inflicting pain. Such methods include, sounding of drums and trumpets as well as lighting large fire crackers to scare the invading animals. Due to influences of the Buddhist philosophies, the technology developments in these cultures have been widely stalled. Main contributing reason being the lack of pursuit of materialistic wealth and personal development. This has its roots in the lifestyle of moderation and simplicity, which is preached by Buddhism. Productivity levels of these cultures are also rather poor in comparison to western societies. People’s preoccupation with meditation, relaxing and seeking inner self is time consuming and is not productive in global standards of productivity. In conclusion, it should be noted that Buddhism as a religious philosophy has impacted upon the way of life of the people in the Asian countries where its widely practiced. Its teachings have manifested in unique cultural aspects and practices and have been passed through generations. Buddhism, which forsakes the amassing of wealth and materialistic success, can be seen as a key factor, which has held back these societies from seeking technological advances and furthering themselves in the modern world. While such cultural impacts may be perceived by some as negative, those who seek the Buddhist way of life may interpret such rustic life styles as a blessing in their pursuit for greater achievements in terms of attaining blissful nothingness of “Nirvana” where nothingness is the only thing in existence. Reference: Boas, F.Race, Language, and Culture. 1940 "Buddhism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2006. 19 Feb 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buddhism&oldid=40228608 Gaer, J. How the Great Religions Began, New York: The New American Library of World Literature Inc.1954. Gethin, R. Foundations of Buddhism, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Hanh, T. N. The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings. Broadway Books, 1999. Read More