Eastern Religious Traditions - Essay Example

Running Head: Eastern Religious Traditions Eastern Religious Traditions [Institute’s Eastern Religious Traditions With around 400 million believers, the Eastern religious tradition of Buddhism is the fourth largest, most practiced religion in the world after Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Having started in around the 6th to 4th centuries B.C.E, Buddhism owes many of its beliefs, practices, and traditions to the teachings of “Siddhartha Gautama, more commonly known as Buddha, who was a teacher in the northeastern Indian subcontinent” (Calyaneratne, 2011). He wished to eradicate ignorance in society and bring about enlightenment, in order to relieve oneself from distress and escape what Buddha called the cycle of suffering and rebirth. The concept of rebirth in Buddhism states that a being, after death, is reborn into the world in another form as a creature superior or inferior to the one in the previous life, depending on how ignorant or enlightened one has been in one’s lifetime. For example, an ignorant human being is likely to be reborn as an animal in the next life, whereas a human being, who has tried to be righteous and upright in the ways prescribed by the religion, can be reborn as a spirit or an angel. Buddhism is, in a way, in addition to being a religion, a philosophy explaining the nature of life and existence. It talks about suffering, which is an inevitable part of life for all human beings - whether among the affluent in society, or one of the deprived – and further goes on to explain that there is not only a cause for that suffering, but also an end of the suffering and a method to end the suffering. These are the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. The method to the cessation of suffering is the Noble Eight Fold Path, which states that making use of “right perception, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration” (Calyaneratne, 2011), in that order, leads to the attainment of the state of final liberation called Nirvana (Calyaneratne, 2011). This state is, according to Buddhism, the ultimate purpose of a person’s life. Successfully reaching this stage of liberation requires a human being to forgo all worldly things and desires, as Buddhism declares all worldly objects as temporary. The idea is that these objects hinder a human being from complete liberation of the soul and from reaching the superior state or Nirvana; hence, Buddhism condemns the yearning for such objects. Furthermore, since there is no concept of worldly happiness in Buddhism and the only path that deserves focus is the Noble Eight Fold Path (Calyaneratne, 2004). The word ‘religion’ brings to one’s mind a guide defining for its followers a code of conduct, a way of life. All religions, no matter how distinct and unmatched they are in their backgrounds, their beliefs about life and their practices, the fundamental values taught by each religion can, certainly, be penned down as quite similar; the dissimilarity lies in the way those values are taught. At the end of the day, all religions, using the similar means of prescribing various ethics, are working towards the ‘good life’, in the interest of an individual and for the improvement of society. Even though this is a very overarching, umbrella perception on religions around the world and religions are gravely different from each other on many grounds, one can draw links between Buddhism and the various other Eastern religious traditions, which consist of “Hinduism, Confucianism, Jainism, Taoism, and Shinto” (Calyaneratne, 2011). Hinduism and Buddhism origins belong to the same subcontinent – Indian – and the two faiths are known to share a long and interesting relationship (Religion Facts, 2011). While some even consider Hinduism to have been an offshoot of Buddhism, it is widely acknowledged, despite the fundamental differences, that both religions have influenced each other in some way or the other. Confucianism, prevalent in China, values ethics that complement various other religious beliefs, including Buddhism. Taoism too, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, is an essential factor of the traditions and the culture of the Chinese. Jainism and Buddhism are two branches of the same tradition, Shramana (Religion Facts, 2011); Jainism is another Indian religion. Shinto and Buddhism are two compatible religious traditions, which, although quite distinct, continue to co-exist in Japanese society. The fundamental tenet defining a religion is whom you worship, or in some cases, how many you worship. According to the Hinduism tradition, there exist many gods and it is up to the followers to worship whichever god they wish, along with the precondition that they will still accept the existence of the other gods. Followers of Jainism worship various deities, which consist of powerful heavenly souls with supernatural powers. Shinto emphasizes on love for nature, which it considers sacred, and thus this religion worships various objects from nature. Taoism, too, is a polytheistic tradition as it also involves worship of various deities (Religion Facts, 2011). Quite on the contrary to this, the religious tradition of Buddhism does not entail the need to worship a god or any superior, sacred beings, but more so, to try to work towards becoming a superior creature. Confucianism is a slightly similar case as it too does not teach worshipping of any gods but is more humanistic and involves ancestor worship. Buddhism, along with the other religions, does not believe in any prophets, except in the case of Hinduism, which preaches belief in prophetic beings in the form of various “Swamis, Gurus, and Yogis” (Religion Facts, 2011). The goals of each religious tradition also vary in some cases. While Confucianism focuses on the importance of working towards social harmony, with each person in society playing his/her part well, and Taoism teaches its followers to obtain balance and moderation in life, the point of Shinto is simply to worship the Shinto deities. These goals are very different from the ultimate target that Buddhism preaches all beings should try to achieve – one of ultimate liberation through the enlightenment of the soul. Jainism and Hinduism, however, as per their objectives and goals, are still closer to the Buddha concept. Hinduism preaches striving towards breaking the cycle of “Karma (Good and Bad Deeds) and Samsara (Cycle of Birth and Rebirth)” (Molloy, 2010), which, according to the Buddhist tradition, can occur by treading onto the earlier mentioned Noble Eight Fold Path. According to Jainism, too, the objective is to liberate the soul from wrong thoughts and wrong behavior. Very similar to the “Buddhist tradition’s Path is Jainism’s Ratnatraya – Triple Gems of Jainism” (Molloy, 2010). Another essential characteristic of a religion is the way it explains life after death. This is also a categorization where most differences arise. Confucianism is simple in its approach and states that after death, beings become ancestors who are worshipped. Taoists believe that the soul continues to exist after death and wanders around as it can travel through space. Shinto claims that the dead go into a place called “Yomi, an underground territory where a river separates the living and the dead” (Molloy, 2010). Jainism believes in the cycle of “death and rebirth and says that after several such cycles, death results in a liberated individual state of total knowledge and bliss for the soul” (Molloy, 2010). The Hinduism belief is very close to the Jainism belief in this regard, as the Hindus also believe in Reincarnation in accordance with a being’s deeds, until the ultimate release from the circle, followed by earning reward in Moksha, or punishment in Hell (Religion Facts, 2011). Buddhism tradition, too, follows a belief very similar to the Hinduism religion when it comes to life after death. The major difference is that in Hinduism, there exists a surviving soul, whereas in Buddhism, there is none. The soul, upon reaching the stage of Nirvana, frees from its shape and form and escapes the circle of birth, death, and rebirth. While Hinduism teaches to strive for Moksha, Buddhism preaches to strive for the achievement of the state of ultimate liberation (Religion Facts, 2011). Certainly, Buddhism provides its followers a code of conduct to help guide their souls into enlightenment and liberation. Although it takes an individualistic perspective on life and preaches to seek towards improvement of the self, the Buddhist way of life, when seen in synergy as practiced by a whole society, points to the fact that the values are such that they help society improve as a whole. If there are two things Buddhism condemns, they are harming one, and harming other living beings in any way. This means it preaches a peaceful life of no violence and criminal activities, as well as no sinful actions that would harm one. The first part is what Sociology tells us is a requirement for the maintenance of social order in order for the society to work. Buddhism emphasizes greatly in purifying the soul from wrong thoughts and ideas, about the self and about the world. The Buddhist culture includes a habit of meditation, as well as Yoga, to help cleanse the mind. This almost divine act allows a person to reflect onto himself and, conclusively, improve himself in accordance with the way of life as described in Buddhism. Meditation and reflection are methods recommended by psychologists as they lead to being at peace with your life. Contentment in a person’s life makes him a better person, and a well-wisher of those around him. Even when it comes to the ecology and the environment, Buddhist way of life is all about least wastage and acting sustainably. It is about sustenance and prohibits enjoying luxuries. This means that minimum environmental damage, in the form of cutting down trees and industry wastage, is to take place since those practicing the Buddhist way of life need very basic things. Furthermore, even economists and businesspersons can learn from this religious tradition. Since it forbids exploitation and the use of unlawful means for personal gains, Buddhism can bring corruption and disparity in an economy to an all time low. Sid Kemp (2005) is an author who writes books on Buddhist ideas for businesses; his two famous renowned works are “Perfect Solutions for Difficult Employee Situations, and Quality Management Demystified” (Kemp, 2005). In his books, he talks about what practices and ideas of the Buddhist culture can be of help to businesses and businesspersons and how to solve business problems abiding by the Buddhist way of life (Kemp, 2005). Put in context with any other religious traditions, very similar parallels can be drawn. But a large difference is that while most religions say it is one’s duty to help others and stay on the right path, Buddhism takes a very straight, self centered view and states that all that is condemned to the followers of Buddhism is for their own well being and improvement. It is only one’s own enhancement that one should focus on; it is only as a byproduct of this self-centeredness that society improves in its entirety. In addition to this, Buddhism has been widely accepted as part of philosophical thought and Buddha was a popular philosopher of his times, as his teachings explain many a matters of the minds. Even in matters of science, Buddhism’s contributions have earned it great success. Nobel-prize winning philosopher, Bertrand Russell, has described Buddhism in the following words: “Buddhism is a combination of both speculative and scientific philosophy. It advocates the scientific method and pursues that to a finality that may be called Rationalistic. In it are to be found answers to such questions of interest as, What is mind and matter? Of them, which is of greater importance? Is the universe moving towards a goal? What is mans position? Is there living that is noble? It takes up where science cannot lead because of the limitations of the latters instruments. Its conquests are those of the mind” (Verhoeven, 2001) At another occasion, an American physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, drew analogies to Buddhism when explaining a principle in quantum mechanics: “If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say no; if we ask whether the electrons position changes with time, we must say no; if we ask whether the electron is at rest, we must say no; if we ask whether it is in motion, we must say no. The Buddha has given such answers when interrogated as to the conditions of mans self after his death; but they are not familiar answers for the tradition of seventeenth and eighteenth-century science” (Oppenheimer, 1954) The origination of the eastern religious tradition of Buddhism dates back to many centuries ago. Certainly, as times evolve, so do opinions and perspectives. Religions, however, do not evolve or change, and are practiced in the same way as they were at the time of their origination. Because of this process of evolution, Buddhism has divided into two traditions, Theravada and Mahayana, with the former stating there is no god, while the latter teaches about the existence of gods. Such division can lead to conflict between the two schools of thoughts and remove the purity maintained by Buddhism concepts. Furthermore, Buddhism is too peaceful and too idealistic in its approach of non-violence at all times. Sometimes, violence becomes a necessary instrument when trying to expunge the evils in society. Buddhism does not talk about how to purge such evils from society other than focusing on the point of cleansing one. While each person’s piety will eventually bring about a change in society, the domino effect is sometimes not worth the wait. When something like a civil strife is at hand, as in the case of South Africa, where years of non-violence did not bring down the terrorist situation of the nation, eventually the government had to turn towards violent means. Although a wide base of followers exists, Buddhism appears to be a religion of the poor, and of those who are willing to give up all their privileges and walk onto the noble path. The fact that the Buddhists are too absorbed in their own selves, abiding by their religion’s teachings, not much effort is being undertaken to spread this noble religion. Consequently, the young generations do not know much about this tradition, and thus, Buddhism is facing the grave problem of dying out, at least in Japan as well as some other parts of the world. References Calyaneratne, D. (2004). A Brief Summary of Buddhism. Retrieved on November 07, 2011: www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism6.htm Kemp, S. (2005). Perfect Solutions for Difficult Employee Situations. McGraw-Hill. Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the World’s Religions (Fifth Edition). McGraw-Hill. Oppenheimer, J. R. (1954). Science and the Common Understanding. Oxford University Press. Religion Facts. (2011). The Big Religion Comparison Chart. Retrieved on November 07, 2011: www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm Verhoeven, M. J. (2001). “Buddhism and Science.” Religion East and West. Issue 1, pp. 77-97. Read More