The quote “There is no way to peace, peace is the way” with reference to Buddhism obviously has heavy reference to the word peace, both inner and world peace. “There is no way to peace” demonstrates that within the Buddhist religion there is not a set path to Nirvana, which is the ultimate goal for Buddhists living peacefully. However “peace is the way” shows that as the old saying goes – it’s not about the destination it’s about the journey. And the journey for all Buddhists includes both world and inner peace. There are many factors that influence a Buddhists interpretation of how “peace is the way” such as the sacred texts within Buddhism E.g Sutta Pitaka and the Dahhmapada along with the principal teachings of the religion and what inner and world peace means to the individual.
The Sutta Pitaka is the second basket of the Tripitaka and is referred to as “The basket of instruction” and it contains over 1000 teachings from Buddha and his disciples. Peace is mentioned notably throughout the Sutta Pitaka with peace being a major theme. The Sutta Pitaka encourages meditation as the wa...
Puja is an auspicious activity that Buddhist adherents practice at a Temple or at home in their daily lives which may assist their path to nirvana. “Single-minded intense sitting…” is the key to proper meditation (Dogen) highlights that for one to transcend into a higher state, they must be able to meditate without the need to burn incense which distracts their senses from the environment. Puja portrays that rather than having the focus on physical matters, one should give focus on the spiritual side. Hence, the belief of mind over matter exists. Temple Puja is a place which adherents may practice rituals, allowing adherents to take on Buddhahood and contemplate about one’s self. The practice involves reciting prayers, chanting, bowing, and lighting incense which is all symbolic; Incense symbolises the purifying of oneself which represents the concept of achieving nirvana as the incense distracts one from their senses. During Puja, the adherents see the image of Buddha, hear the chanting, and smell the burning incense which make their experience multi-sensory. The monks of the Sangha usually chant ‘Hail Jewel of the Lotus’, bringing the adherent closer to nirvana, or they chant ‘Perfection of Wisdom’, enhancing the adherent’s understanding of their life. In Temple Puja, offerings are also made to bring about good Karma. Temple Puja is the interaction point between the Sangha and the adherent, thus creating a connection in the Buddhist community. The three jewels become non-existent if the connection between the Sangha and adherent did not exist. The Eightfold path plays an immense role in Puja: Right intention and view relates to the way an individual offers something. Right speech and action is the making of offering, bowing and chanting. Right effort and mindfulness is much more difficult for an adherent to attain but belongs to the meditation and chanting process. Right
Buddhists believe that life is pain, and pain is caused by desire. They believed that ridding themselves of all desire would also end any pain they felt. These beliefs are known as the Four Noble Truths. The last step to end pain is to follow the Eightfold Path. If an individual has right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right recollection, right effort, and right meditation all pain would cease (Doc 6). Without the interference of pain, Buddhists strive to reach a state of higher truth, peace, and enlightenment known of nirvana. Reaching nirvana also real eases the soul from its constant cycle of
Buddhist teachings focus on the idea that letting go of attachment and accepting the four noble truths will provide everlasting happiness: Nirvana. Nihilism, as argued by William T. Stace, focuses on truth’s opposition to happiness. Truth does not equal happiness; nonetheless, truth does not stand as happiness’ adversary either. Understanding the truth of the universe allows one to finds peace within themselves, as the illusions of attachment lead to suffering.
Michael W. Doyle’s book Ways of War and Peace systematically analyzes classic theories like realism and liberalism that try to explain why nations wage war. However, not all theories discussed within the text are equal. In this paper I will try to argue that within the book written by Michael Doyle he paints a picture that the theory of realism is more applicable today then liberalism, even if that was not his original intention. Through careful evaluation I will prove that not only is realism a more pragmatic and realistic approach for the present time compared to liberalism, but I will also argue that fundamentalism is the best of Michael Doyle’s four different forms of realism.
Thinking about peace requires understanding peace itself as thought, as knowledge, and as a critique of its others, its opposites: violence, terror, and war. Peace is encyclopedic in terms of the knowledge that it generates as well as the knowledge upon which it draws. This essay is a brief attempt to explore what the circumstances are for peace as thinking and what goes into that thinking. What I'm saying here rests on three important assumptions: first, we cannot simply point outward to terror and "hit" the right target; second, to have peace one must extend peace; and third, the necessary counter to notions of a "just war" is a "just peace."
Peace, in simple definition, is measured by the absence of violence. However one must then ask what form violence must take in order to be considere...
Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Lipper/Penguin, 2004. 66-98. Print.
The novel Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh shows how the world can be made a better place though the application of Buddhism and meditation in our daily lives. Thich Nhat Hanh describes practices and suggestions that the common person can apply in their daily lives immediately in order to create peace in their life and in the world.
In the world, there are five major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the past few classes, I have been exposed to and absorbed a tremendous amount of information on the religion of Buddhism. According to the dictionary, Buddhism is a religion of which originated in India, was founded by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and teaches that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps it’s believers to find the happiness and contentment us humans seek. One thing I found
Buddhists focus on what an individual can do morally in order to achieve nirvana. “Buddhists believe that individuals can overcome the misery in the world and reach their own Buddha status by a process of mental and moral purification. Morality also asks how one determines right from wrong and this is illustrated in the religion of Buddhism by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. There are two paths that a man who has given up the world must not take; the practice of attachment and the practice of asceticism. However, there is a middle path which opens eyes, bestows understanding, leads to peace of mind, higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, and to nirvana; the Noble Eightfold Path.
...s toward peace”. Proving that being pacifist does not necessarily mean that war is unacceptable, it can also stand for bringing peace by a different point of view.
I have struggled personally with trying to find my own inner peace through any form of faith. The world just seems so separated and people seem so unwilling to open up their minds and hearts to the ways of others. The Buddhist faith gives me great hope that someday others will catch on to its values and implement them into their own faiths. I can not call my self a Buddhist but I can call myself a supporter to that which will end world suffering and it all starts with understanding and eliminating that which makes the world so hard to live in.
Sayings of the Buddha: A selection of suttas from the Pali Nikayas. Gethin, Rupert. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
The lives and prosperity of millions of people depend on peace and, in turn, peace depends on treaties - fragile documents that must do more than end wars. Negotiations and peace treaties may lead to decades of cooperation during which disputes between nations are resolved without military action and economic cost, or may prolong or even intensify the grievances which provoked conflict in the first place. In 1996, as Canada and the United States celebrated their mutual boundary as the longest undefended border in the world, Greece and Turkey nearly came to blows over a rocky island so small it scarcely had space for a flagpole.1 Both territorial questions had been raised as issues in peace treaties. The Treaty of Ghent in 1815 set the framework for the resolution of Canadian-American territorial questions. The Treaty of Sevres in 1920, between the Sultan and the victorious Allies of World War I, dismantled the remnants of the Ottoman Empire and distributed its territories. Examination of the terms and consequences of the two treaties clearly establishes that a successful treaty must provide more than the absence of war.
First, what does world peace mean? Wikipedia offers this definition- World peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, an...