To begin… What is religion?What is philosophy?

IS BUDDHISM A RELIGION? NO ‘GOD-NOTION’ NO CREATOR NO ULTIMATE REALITY TO WORSHIP Buddhism is a way of life Ethical Psychological Philosophy of AWAKENING

1993 CHICAGO PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD RELIGIONS “The Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was not God or a god. He was a human being who attained full enlightenment through meditation and showed us the path of spiritual awakening and freedom. Therefore, Buddhism is not a religion of God. Buddhism is a religion of wisdom, enlightenment and compassion. Like the worshippers of God who believe that salvation is available to all through confession of sin and a life a prayer, we Buddhists believe that salvation and enlightenment are available to all through the removal of delusion and a life of meditation/ However, unlike those who believe in God who is separate from us, Buddhists believe that Buddha, which means ‘one who is awake and enlightened’ is inherent in us all as Buddhanature or Buddhamind.”

Buddhism It has been said that “as Judaism is to Christianity, so is Hinduism is to Buddhism.” Buddhism arose out of Hinduism as a direct result of the influence of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha or “Enlightened One; the religious worldview of the Buddhist is very similar to the Hindu worldview, but it is important to recognize that Buddhism is very much distinct from Hinduism. Buddhism is the world’s fourth largest religion, comprising around 6% of the world’s population. The 350,000,000 adherents to the religion are found mainly in China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Korea, and Tibet. There are around 800,000 Buddhists in the U.S.

BUDDHA

Four Noble Truths: 1 Life is painful (dukkha) SUFFERING “Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of pain: birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, death is painful, sorrow, lamentation, dejection, and despair are painful. Contact with unpleasant things is painful, not getting what one wishes is painful. In short the five khandhas of grasping are painful.”

Four Noble Truths: 2 Desire (tanha) causes pain –“Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cause of pain: that craving which leads to rebirth, combined with pleasure and lust, finding pleasure here and there, namely, the craving for passion, the craving for existence, the craving for non-existence.”

Four Noble Truths: 3 Eliminating desire can eliminate pain –“Now this, O monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of pain: the cessation without a remainder of that craving, abandonment, forsaking, release, nonattachment.”

Four Noble Truths: 4 The Eightfold Noble Path (the Middle Way) eliminates desire: Right –Thought –Intention –Speech –Conduct –Livelihood –Effort –Concentration –Meditation

Nirvana: The Result of the Eightfold Path Although Buddha’s immediate goal was to eliminate the cause of suffering, his ultimate goal was to become liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth. This was to be accomplished by teaching how we can cease craving and thereby eliminate our attachment to and beliefs in the existence of self When we are successful in eliminating such attachment, then the effects of karma cease to matter because all is seen for what it is – no longer are we tied to the longings of the earth. At that moment, the moment of enlightenment, the person achieves the state of… NIRVANA – the ultimate goal of the Buddhist, and Buddhism’s equivalent of salvation or heaven.

Theravada Temple, Laos

Theravada Temple, Burma

Theravada Temple, Mandalay

Temples-South East Asia

Theravada Temple, Thailand

Mahayana Temples