The Basic Beliefs Of Buddhism Philosophy Essay

The Basic Beliefs Of Buddhism Philosophy Essay Buddhism, like most of the major religions in the world, divided into different traditions. However, most of the traditional shares of common basic beliefs. (Robinson) I. Basic Points of Buddhism About 35 years of age, Siddhartha Gautama sat under the shade of Bho tree to meditate, and he decided to meditate until he reached the enlightenment. Seven weeks after that, he received the Great Enlightenment which are The Four Noble Truths and the Eight fold path. From that time, he was known as Buddha. The Middle Way is a philosophical idea and psychological causes and healing of suffering and evil. People should understand the four noble truths and follow the Eightfold Path, making them able to reach the complete state of Nirvana. (Theory of Buddhism ) The Buddha told their followers not to have many earthly possessions. By this way, they will not feel pain or unhappy. Buddha taught people to be good, sincere and kind. They should not kill or harm living things. He wished that the people have good thoughts and help each others. According to the teachings of the Buddha, each person experiences life many times. We call this reincarnation . If a human do something bad in one life time, he or she might be an little insect or an animal in his or her next life. Buddha also taught that if the people are good during a life, they will not have to return to Earth anymore. Then they would reach a state of Nirvana, a state where there is no death or birth. (Theory of Buddhism ) The basic belief of Buddhism is often called the reincarnation the idea that people are reborn after death. (Robinson) In fact, many people go through the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth again and again. There are some practical difference between the Buddhist concepts of reincarnation and rebirth. The Reincarnation, a person can be repeated several times. But rebirth, the man is not necessarily a return to the earth as the same thing ever again. He compared it with the leaves that grow on the tree. When the leaf falls off the tree, a new leaf will later replace it. It looks similar the old leaf, but not look exactly the same. (Robinson) After several cycles, if a person can abandon their devotion to desire and the self, they can reach Nirvana. It is a state of liberation and freedom from suffering. (Robinson) Buddhists believe that Buddha is their only Master and there is no god. They take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. They Following the example of the Buddha and consider that the goal of life is to develop sympathy for all living creators without any perception and to work for their happiness, their good and peace and to enlarge wisdom leading to the understanding of Ultimate Truth. They also accept the Four Noble Truths and accept that there is no self(anaatma). They also accept that in different countries there are differences in the life of Buddhist monks, Buddhist practices and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, habits and customs. These superficial forms and expressions should not be confounded with the basic teachings of the Buddha. (The Basic Points of Buddhism) Buddha accepted the law of karma and reincarnation. He said that Nirvana is not just a state of extinction but the highest destiny of the human spirit. Buddha did not believe that their is deity and he believes that all men had no soul. He denies the existence of every kind of substance. Ones life after achieving Nirvana is unfathomable and reborn does not belong to him anymore. (Theory of Buddhism ) II. The Four Noble Truths In his first preachment after attaining enlightenment, Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, which form the fundamental belief for all branches of Buddhism (The Purpose of Life According to Buddhism) The Four Noble Truths, forming the basic of Buddhism, are: The Noble Truth of Suffering (Dukkha) The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering (Samudaya) The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (Nirodha) The Noble Truth that leads to the an end of Suffering (Magga) The First Noble Truth shows that the Suffering is real and it causes from sickness, failure, pain, and impermanence of pleasure. (Theory of Buddhism ) The Second Noble Truth shows us the cause of suffering. Suffering are caused by indulging in inherently endless desires. All forms of selfishness that separate us from others, life, and reality, such as, jealousness and anger. (Theory of Buddhism ) The Third Noble Truth states an end of suffering . suffering will stop when we are able to overcome these cravings and desires. We must try to not stick to the objects of the world. (Robinson) The Fourth Noble Truth tells us how to end suffering. We must follow the Noble Eight-fold Path. (Robinson) III. The Eight-fold Path In Buddhism, it is believed that a person can escape from the cycle of birth and death by following the noble eightfold path, by following these eight steps. (Buddhist Belief) 1) Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths 2) Right thinking, following the right path in life 3) Right speech: no criticism, lying, gossip, harsh language, condemning 4) Right conduct by following the Buddhists Five Precepts 5) Right livelihood; assist yourself without harming others 6) Right Effort: promote good thoughts and overcome bad thoughts 7) Right Mindfulness: Become conscious of your body, mind and feelings 8) Right Concentration: Meditate to attain a higher state of knowledge. (Robinson) The Buddha analyses the problems of life as Four Noble Truths. And the Eight-fold Path is the way of treatment. Anyone who have followed the eight-fold path and reaches the point of attending Nirvana are called arhat, or saint. (Theory of Buddhism ) IV. Buddhist Deities Theravada sect of Buddhism does believe that there is no god. But the Mahayana sect, celestial Buddhas and bodhisattvas are at the universe as Gods. The most popular Buddhist supernatural include the Kuan Yin, the Medicine Buddha, the Green, Laughing Buddha and White Taras, etc. (Buddhist Deities) V. Human Nature In Buddhism, there is no soul or spirit. But a human being is believed to be made up of five elements, feelings, namely physical form, mental developments, ideations and awareness. These elements combine to form a human being at the time of birth. However, because Buddhism believes in reincarnation and karma, people find a little contradiction here. (Buddhist Belief) VI. The Purpose of Living The main goal of life of all Buddhists, is the end of suffering by knowing the four noble truths of life and following the noble eightfold path. The Buddha taught that humans suffer because we always seek for things that do not give lasting happiness. We attach to persons, health, material things , that do not last and this causes sadness. (Buddhist Beliefs) The Buddha did not say that there are nothings in life that give joy, but say that none of them last long and if we stick to them, it only causes more suffering. His teachings were focused basically on this problem and its solution. (Buddhist Belief) VII. Buddhist Beliefs about the Afterlife According to Buddha s teaching, after death one is either reborn into another body or attains nirvana. (Buddhist Beliefs about the Afterlife) A. Reincarnation (Transmigration) Based on his teaching that there is no soul, the Buddha described reincarnation, in a different way than the others understanding. He compared our life to the flame candle. Although each flame is some how connected to the one that came before it, but it is still not the same one. And in Buddhism, reincarnation is usually referred to as transmigration. B. Nirvana Nirvana is the state of freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth again and again. It is also the end of any suffering. VIII. Theravada Buddhisms Teachings Hinayana (Little Vehicle) or Theravada Buddhism centered in Southeast Asia is traditional, and they try to follow the original teachings of Buddha. They see human as completely dependent on individual effort. They teach wisdom as the key virtue and consider religion as a duty, mostly for monks. They also consider Buddha as a saint, avoid ritual, and limit prayer to meditation. Their ideal is arhat or sainthood. (Theory of Buddhism ) IX. Mahayana Buddhisms Teachings Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism has spread all over the world and has the principle that Buddha taught many things in secret to the follower who could properly interpret them. It sees human as associated with others. It considers sympathy as their key virtue and believes that its religion is suitable to life in the world. Hence, it is a religion for everyone not only for monks. The Mahayana Buddhists sees Buddha as a savior. Their ideal is the Bodhisattva or a person who has achieved enlightenment but postpones Nirvana attainment to stay in heaven and answer prayers and help humans who are in need. Mahayana Buddhism regards Buddha as a incarnate, divine savior, sinless person. For them, Buddha is all knowing and everlasting. For them, Buddha is a member of the Buddhist Trinity. (Theory of Buddhism ) According to Mahayana believe, those who is regular person could also attain enlightenment and end the cycle of rebirth Mahayana also provided us the faster routes to enlightenment than Theravada, This makes it possible to reach the goal in a single life time. As it spread into the north of India and throughout Asia, Mahayana Buddhism splited into several groups, each with a different view on the path to enlightenment. But the common believe in all forms of Mahayana Buddhism is that anyone can achieve the goal in this life. (The Purpose of Life According to Buddhism)

Freedom :: Essays Papers

Freedom College. It screams freedom. You plan and prepare for months and make decisions that will affect the rest of your life. You pack your room up and move it hundreds of miles from your controlling parents. This is it; freedom at last. No more curfews, no more rules, no more high school â€Å"mystery meat† day, and no more boring hometown. No need to worry about money, there’s plenty of it. Your parents are going to help pay for your living expenses and your scholarship and loan will get you through the tuition and fees. Everything will be perfect. The first week or so after moving into your new territory, be it a dorm or apartment, you realize how uneasy it feels to be away from the familiarities of your life before the move. You start to miss the little things. You wish that the ceiling fan made the same rattling noise that your fan at home made. You wish you were able to here the crickets outside at night instead of noisy neighbors or roommates. It doesn’t as seem perfect being in college as it did in your imagination. College can be a fun and exciting part of your life. But fun and excitement usually cost money. You have to pay for movie tickets, the late runs to Taco Bell, snacks, soda, and all the extras you want to decorate your new place with. Money is hard to come by in college. You spend most of your day in classes and if your parents have decided to not give you lots of money, you spend most nights working part-time. Working while attending school is not fun at all. It leaves you with little time to study or get homework done. And the little time you have is usually in the early hours of the morning, depending on how late you stay up. But you have to work in order to buy the things you want and to be able to eat out instead of eating the dorm food (which is surprising just as bad as high school lunch). Another thing college can do to a person is separate them from a boyfriend or girlfriend. Imagine spending every night with a person while you were in high school and then up and leaving one day.

Hamlet’s Contradicting Traits Essay

William Shakespeare created many complex characters in his play Hamlet. One of these complex characters being the protagonist, Prince Hamlet. Hamlet has many contradictory traits, two of them being that Hamlet sometimes thinks rationally, and that being overcome by the command left by the ghost of his belligerent father, King Hamlet, he tends to make irrational decisions. When Hamlet is first introduced to the ghost’s commands in scene one, act 5, they begin to consume him with thoughts of vengeance, to murder Claudius, his father’s murderer. Throughout the play, Hamlet acts in such a way to provide evidence supporting both traits. Conflicted by these two opposing traits, Prince Hamlet has a war of two spirits in his mind, deciding which side is right. During the length of the play, Hamlet frequently argues with himself. Many of his soliloquies are debates between Hamlet and the warring side of his mind that believes he should listen to the vengeful plan of his father’s ghost. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, is a rational scholar from Wittenberg. When he returns from Wittenberg, his mother, Queen Gertrude confronts him concerning his melancholy. He replies â€Å"Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not ‘seems’† (1. 2. 76) He is very straightforward with her and speaks in a sensible and rational manner. This conversation happened before Hamlet encountered the ghost; therefor the militant and vengeful spirit has not yet influenced him. When Hamlet is preparing to rig the play to gage a reaction from Claudius to prove he is guilty of murdering his father, he is thinking rationally. I’ll have these players/Play something like the murder of my father/Before mine uncle: I’ll observe his looks; /I’ll tent him to the quick: if he but blench, /I know my course. † (2. 2. 601-605) it takes and intelligent, sensible, and rational person to develop such a precise and functioning plan, therefor proving Hamlet is able to think rationally. Once Hamlet has met and been influenced to his father’s ghost, he becomes consumed with the thought of avenging his father. Hamlet is not a violent person; therefor the thought of murdering Claudius causes a lot of internal conflict for Hamlet. As Hamlet and Laertes fight in Ophelia’s grave, Hamlet says to Laertes â€Å"For, though I am not splenitive and rash, /Yet have I something in me dangerous, /Which let thy wiseness fear† (5. 1. 265-267). This quote proves that Hamlet is aware that though he is not generally a violent person, he now possesses something dangerous in him due to his dead father’s command. Later, Hamlet claims to Laertes that he is mad. â€Å"Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. /†¦ Who does it, then? His madness: if’t be so, /Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong’d; /His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy† (5. . 224-233) according to Hamlet it was not him who killed Polonius it was his madness. Again, Hamlet is aware that avenging his father has driven him to be something he is not, and to do irrational things such as murdering Polonius. Hamlet had stabbed Polonius through a curtain simply because there was a slight chance it would have been Clau dius hiding. Before checking, he quickly stabbed Polonius, this is completely irrational and risky on Hamlet’s part. This dramatic turn of events caused negative repercussions towards Hamlet. By killing Polonius, Hamlet pushed Laertes to decide to avenge his own father and in the end, he murders Hamlet. The overwhelming urge to avenge his father caused Hamlet to act without thinking, putting Hamlet in a dangerous situation. Due to Hamlet’s strongly contradicting traits, he frequently argues with himself, usually in his soliloquies. Hamlet’s soliloquy â€Å"To be or not to be† is a literal debate between scholarly, rational Hamlet and Prince Hamlet as the soldier-son, seeking revenge for his pugnacious father. In this soliloquy, Hamlet questions his motives and morals. To be, or not to be: that is the question:/Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, /Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, /And by opposing end them? † (3. 1. 56-60) he is debating with himself on whether or not it is worth it to avenge his father. This way of making a decision is a rational and logical thought process in which Hamlet is evaluating all of his options and their repercussions. However, had Hamlet not had irrational thoughts to begin with, he would not have to go through with this process. Eventually Hamlet`s irrational urge to avenge his father consumes him. Most of his rationality has vanished and all of his thoughts concern revenge, or are not fully thought through. In his â€Å"My thoughts be bloody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  soliloquy, the irrational part of Hamlet`s divided soul is convincing him that if he does not avenge his father essentially he has no purpose â€Å"What is a man,/If his chief good and market of his time /Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more† (4. 4. 36-38) Hamlet says if he has no purpose, he is nothing. At the end of the soliloquy Hamlet decides â€Å"My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! (4. 4. 68) this is him saying that if his thoughts are not concerning violent actions towards Claudius, they are worthless. These thoughts are completely irrational, and the benefits and downfalls of this decision have not been taken into consideration. Later when Hamlet is asked whether he would prefer to battle Laertes now, or give himself some tim e to prepare, he quickly responds that he will fight him now, leading to Hamlet’s death. Again, Hamlet has irrationally made a decision without considering each side of the argument. The command left by the ghost of his father has completely overcome his mind leaving him not thinking logically or rationally as he was at the beginning of the play. Hamlet is an irrational rationalist. Before the ghost confronts him, Hamlet is a rational scholar from Wittenberg, however afterwards, the ghost’s vengeful thoughts consumes him, giving Hamlet an irrational and violent mindset. During the play, these two combative traits are warring in his mind, and expressed through soliloquies. Many of Hamlet’s soliloquies are debates between these two opposing traits. Eventually, the vengeful thoughts consume Hamlet and he becomes highly irrational. He does not plan or think anything through as he did at the beginning of the play. Hamlet’s irrationality is potentially the cause of his madness, and death. Had Hamlet not been so irrational whilst making decisions and allowing the vengeful thoughts left by his father to consume him, Claudius would not be seeking to murder him. Though Hamlet is genuinely a rationalist, his need to avenge his father’s death consumes him, causing him to make irrational and illogical decisions.

The Environmental Hazards Of Oily Sludge - 1330 Words

AUTONUMLGL INTRODUCTION The nature of threats to the environment posed by oily wastewater containing hydrocarbons, has led to it being recognized as hazardous waste. Literature has shown that hydrocarbons contribute to the greenhouse effect and global warming, deplete the ozone, increase occurrences of cancer and respiratory disorders, and reduce the photosynthetic ability of plants. In addition, such hazardous waste is primarily generated at growing rates, by various industries which utilize petroleum products as energy sources and raw materials. The effective remediation of oily sludge has become a worldwide problem due to its hazardous nature and increasing production quantity around the world. More specifically, in third world†¦show more content†¦Thus, the issue remains a pressing one that does not fade away especially in developing nations. Today, emerging economies such as Nigeria have a growing realization of the importance of the environmental friendly policies and systems. This research a ims to examine... In this research proposal, we begin with an introduction to put in context the changing demands on the treatment of oily sludge residue a short description of the status quo of the treatment of oily sludge residue followed by a discussion of the research problem. Then we discuss the approach used to undertake the research, followed by a work plan and schedule. 2. Overview of oily sludge treatment from petroleum 2.1 What is Oily Sludge? It is worthwhile to examine the various definitions of oily sludge to recognize the multi-layered issue its clean up entails. It is also noteworthy that many definitions of systems engineering describe what it does and not what it is. This is particularly prevalent in the earlier standards. The definition that depicts what oily sludge is comprised is as follows: Oily sludge is one of the most significant solid wastes generated in the petroleum industry. It is a complex emulsion of various petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), water, heavy metals, and solid particles. Another definition of sludge - A dense, slushy, liquid-to-semifluid product that accumulates as an end result of an