Comparing Religious Concepts

It is crucial for them to find the secret of enlightenment in the present world. For both the film, To The Land of Bliss and the book, The Sacred Quest, every Buddhist must do good deeds, believe in the dharma, and to understand life is temporary. Good deeds in life will give you good outcomes yet, wrongful actions will result in karma and can ruin anyone’s chances of attaining their goal. Buddhists must believe in the dharma which are simply the Buddha’s teachings. Life being temporary is true for everyone, in every religion.

Question 3: Comparing Buddhist Nirvana with Hindu Moksha Nirvana is a word that is commonly used in Buddhism with varied meanings depending on the use. It means the state of blowing out from certain detractors in life. To “blow out” has great meaning and refers wholly to the extinguishing or dispelling of oneself from certain characters that are considered to be iniquitous. It is characterized by peace of mind and it saves man from the sufferings, the cycles of rebirth, and death. Nirvana could only be achieved by individuals who observed the laid down rules and detached themselves from sin.

If all positive was stationary, there would be little value which gives us nothing to live for. Each day should be lived by moving on and accepting the next obstacle, while still appreciating the fortunate past and enjoying the immediate presence. Without recognition of pain and sorrow, there is no initiation for solution. According to Buddha, one must accept suffering and live based on the laws of the Eightfold Path in order to achieve salvation. Because of the Four Noble Truths, people have been given a structural opportunity of hope that there is reason to live our lives to the fullest.

It is commonly practiced in Japan, Tibet, and Mongolia. The path to nirvana in Pure Land focuses primarily on faith, whereas, Theravada, the focus is on the individuals’ actions. Theravada, reinforces that one must follow the four noble truths to achieve nirvana. In a person’s life, they accumulate both good and bad karma. The good karma will aid a person in breaking the cycle of rebirth, but if too much bad karma accumulates then the person is automatically reincarnated.

The Four Nobel Truths of Buddhism, which is about impermanence, is one of its defining aspects of the main concepts. The Four Nobel Truths are as follows. One, “All of life is marked by suffering,” two, “Suffering can be stopped,” three, “Suffering is caused by desire and attachment,” and four, “The way to end suffering is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path.” (Anonymous) The end results of The Four Nobel Truths is the end of suffering and the rebirth into a better realm. The hope of a Buddhist is to be enlightened and escape the cycle of rebirth in the realms and to be born into the Buddha Fields. However, this is a lucky rebirth and does not happen to all Buddhist.

Kristen Knopf Comparative Religions Thursday 8:30-11:15 March 6th, 2014 Ancient Religions Buddhism and Hinduism share many similar beliefs. The idea of being reborn after death until one reaches a certain point to which they reach their Nirvana, or Moksha as they refer to the action of being set free of the life, death, rebirth cycle. Both of these religions share a belief in karma being one of the defining factors of a person’s place in the world. Similarly, both religions advocate for nonviolence against all living beings. In Hinduism and Buddhism there are many different levels of heaven and hell and higher or lower worlds.

By not going with their instincts and ending all desire for the illusion of this world, one is able to reach enlightenment and finally rest from his suffering. The Buddhists worship the Buddha and follow the four noble truths in order to reach salvation. The four noble truths are: life is suffering, all suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment and grasping that result from such ignorance, suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance, and the path to the suppression of suffering is the Eightfold Noble Path. The Eightfold Noble Path is divided into three categories: morality, wisdom, and concentration. In contrast, Hindus say, “…that thou art.” This statement means that Brahman is the same as one true self, or his Atman.

Since the goal is to reach this level of bliss, all anger, ignorance, and desire (called trishna) has to be eliminated. These feelings are the root of suffering for Buddhist followers. When these negative feelings and emotions are realized and eliminated, nirvana and the escape from the death and rebirth cycle would then be reached. It’s an inner-awakening of the self and a realization of what reality truly is, and it is then one becomes enlightened as a Buddha. Though both Hinduism’s moksha and Buddhism’s nirvana are more or less synonymous, they both hold distinctive differences in the path that leads followers to the end goal of enlightenment from samsara.

Once we reach Nirvana, instead of ending the cycle of rebirth, we answer the prayers of those who need our help; we are compassionate even in death. The family of a deceased one must also pray for an extensive time to help the process of rebirth. We accept the Pal Canon as our sacred scripture, but we have many additions such as the Sanskrit, and the Sutras. We may not believe we have to be monastic like our Theravada elders, so we are considered the “liberal” Buddhists. The Buddha has unselfishly delayed Nirvana in perfection to help those seek enlightenment in their life and throughout it.

Siddhartha was brought up in a sheltered lifestyle but when he left, he began his path onto reaching the ultimate goal: Nirvana. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to break the cycle of death and rebirth; this happens when you reach Nirvana. However to get to Nirvana, one must understand the Four Noble Truths and follow the Eightfold Paths. There are some beings who give up Nirvana to help others reach it; they are known as bodhisattvas. They devote their life to the wellbeing of others and thus without Bodhisattvas, Nirvana would be difficult to reach for some but not all.