The subject of analysis I have chosen this week, are the ethical teachings that can be found within Zen Buddhism. Soyen Shaku was a Zen master and Buddhist monk from Japan. He wrote the book “Zen for Americans” from which we will review the teachings he discussed regarding spiritual enlightenment. The mixture of Buddhism and Taoism is what composes Zen Buddhism. Zen in its essence, involves a process of self-discovery. Meditation is a vital process of self-discovery and is also an essential process of both Zen Buddhist and Buddhist alike. Which is what is said allows the individual to reach a connection with the universe.
Shaku described a fundamental turmoil we can find within convergence of science and the unknown. “Spiritual enlightenment is indispensable in
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Continuing the theme of the spiritual enlightenment, focusing on making the correlation that all religions make, which is to have faith, does not require intellectual knowledge. Understanding the process of enlightenment is not something that is studied within books. Enlightenment is a spiritual process and therefore has a religious aspect, which links in the belief of the unknown.
“If we distinguish faith from knowledge, the latter can be understood as simply intellectual, while the former is intuition gained through the exercise of the Prajñâ” (Shaku). Distinguishing the difference between faith and the spirt vs. knowledge as separate institutions. Shaku is trying to make the distinction that to have intellectual knowledge such as a doctor, professor, or lawyer might possess, does not constitute a spiritual person or a religious individual. His process of attaining the spiritual enlightenment is a process call Prajñâ, which is a process in which one is able to achieve wisdom and is required for
Analysis of Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen The book Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen, caught my attention and became more interesting to me than I thought. I have always heard of the religion Buddhism, but I never knew what it was all about. I never thought that Buddhism was as huge as it is. I knew that it existed in other countries, but I never knew what exact countries. Many of the views in this book surprised me and the book taught me a lot about morals and better ways to live your life.
The Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason) is described by scholars a method of thinking and knowing (“epistemology”) based off of the ideas that the natural world is in fact better understood through close observation, as well as dependence on reason. An important note to point out is that the Enlightenment added a more secular environment to colonial life, which had always been based on religion. The ideas of the Enlightenment actually originated in eighteenth century Europe, allowing for the birth of colonial “deists” who often looked for God’s plan in nature more than the Bible as they had in the past. Many of the deists began to look at science and reason to divulge God’s laws and purpose. This period of Enlightenment encouraged people to study the world around them, think for themselves instead of what others had to say, as well as ask whether the chaotic appearances of things were masking a sense of order. The...
What is Buddhism? What do we understand by Buddhism? It can be comprehended differently and can mean a variety of things to many people. For one it can be only an explanation of the life of the Buddha. To another, Buddhism means the massive doctrine recorded in the Buddhist literature, which is voluminous and comprise of several thousand pages recording the words of the Buddha. Moreover it is described as a very lofty, abstruse, complex and learned philosophy of life. However based on whatever the Buddha taught, there has grown a very rich culture, a culture which has extended to all parts of Asia for over 2500 years, and to which people from various walks of life with various backgrounds from all these countries have made a lasting contribution. Another definition of Buddhism is the kind of ritual that has grown around the doctrine of the Buddha, as a result of his teachings and the way of life preached by him. But to me Buddhism is the perfect combination of all these definitions. Buddhism has influenced my life by making me adopt the Eightfold Path known as the “Middle Path”, increased the practice of spirituality, comprehend law of impermanence and thus lead a righteous life. It’s mainly thought that Buddhism is a teaching for monks only, as it is sometimes wrongly conceived.
“For enlightenment of this kind, all that is needed if freedom” (Kant, 53) this freedom is of Kant to be wise for own understanding. In order to be free for the self, first one must be able to explore oneself inner motives in life and what they expect in the end. To truly be free there must not be a single factor influencing a decision to make it ones own true decision that is best. Kant sees the enlightenment to start once arguing and questioning anything currently going on, this method is the free as a mind can be, to explore. In Luther “faith alone, whose nature is it to open the ears and shut the eyes…” (Luther, 111). This acceptance of faith is all belief of everything you can hear for what is said is more valuable to one self if you agree to what is being said, than merely seeing where people are aliening themselves. This is the faiths own form of enlightenment for being able to question and find what makes sense in the own inner self by word of mouth and understanding. All are possible by the free expression of publicity and access of
The third main spiritual path that can lead to enlightenment was established by the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. Ramana Maharshi lived in Southern India during the first half of the 20th century. Because of the need to have guidance or a guru in many of the above spiritual paths, it is great that there is this spiritual path that can lead to enlightenment without the guidance of an enlightened teacher. The core of his teaching is that we can start asking the most fundamental question of a human being: who am I in my deepest identity? (Ramana 1902; Ramana 1995; Osborne 2000). We are not our bodies, minds, thoughts or emotions. Our soul is the witness of those things. However, we are not even our soul in the deepest sense, because our soul receives its power from an even deeper source. So, who then are we? This is the final question of all other questions we may face.
Today, faith is the cornerstone of all major religious knowledge claims because there is no definitive way of...
This course has helped to improve my understanding of Buddhism and Buddhist precepts. It has also showed me better ways to live my life and that Buddhism can be acutely studied under the pretenses of scientific means. Buddhism and Buddhist meditation is scientifically proven to be psychologically changing and meaningful.
Rationalists would claim that knowledge comes from reason or ideas, while empiricists would answer that knowledge is derived from the senses or impressions. The difference between these two philosophical schools of thought, with respect to the distinction between ideas and impressions, can be examined in order to determine how these schools determine the source of knowledge. The distinguishing factor that determines the perspective on the foundation of knowledge is the concept of the divine.
Each of us has innate desire to understand the purpose of our existence. As Hermann Hesse illustrates in his novel Siddhartha, the journey to wisdom may be difficult. Organized religion helps many to find meaning in life but it does not substitute careful introspection. An important message of Siddhartha is that to achieve enlightenment one must unite the experiences of mind, body, and spirit.
Batchelor, Stephen. Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. New York: Riverhead Books, 1997.
Religion cannot be lived in textbooks, it is about the personal consciousness of those that believe and “their own account of their religion and its relevance in contemporary life” (Fisher, 1996). It is performed, experienced by the individuals living within society and communities. For some it is a sense of hope, to connect with a supreme power, to end the cycle of birth and death, find inner peace and/or a way of life. Traditional understanding of religion through textbooks, television, and internet does provide one with understanding about the religion doctrine and what they believe in. The majority of people will know what religion is when seeing it, for example, a Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation. However, it is important to study religion off campus in order to grasp an explanation and a clear understanding of how beliefs change personal lives, how individuals tackle certain situations due to belief for example, Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation, but w...
As Kant would put it, “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity” (Kant 1784, p. 1). However, what does this truly mean? Kant says that this said immaturity is not due to man’s lack of understanding, but rather man’s lack of courage and confidence to use his understanding willingly and without the direction of others. In other words, Enlightenment to Kant is to resist authority and traditions, allowing us to think for ourselves. “’Have courage to use your own understanding!’—that is the motto of enlightenment” (Kant 1784, p. 1). Furthermore, enlightenment cannot be achieved overnight. It would be foolish to say otherwise. As a person grows slowly yet surely out of this self-imposed condition of immaturity is when one
When reading, “An Open Letter to Students: On Having Faith and Thinking for Yourself”, C. Terry Warner (1971) expounds concerning the conflict between knowledge and faith in our lives. In doing so Warner asserts how people assume if they have knowledge then they cannot have faith. The reason for this separation is the misconception humans have concerning knowledge. According to Warner, the misconception humans have towards knowledge is, we are centered in the assumption that knowledge exists as a collection of facts which can all fit together nicely into a puzzle, or as Warner states, a large picture of human reality. Warner connects the misconception of knowledge with faith which he identifies as spiritual beliefs one holds even though these beliefs can be disproved and shaken by facts of knowledge. Warner brings forth the idea in which faith is not searched for in hopes of gaining secular knowledge, but in hopes of acquiring divine security. He affirms these misconceptions on secular knowledge and faith and provides reasons why humans believe they can have only one or the other.
Buddhism is the philosophy of being awake and conscious in life. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, shared his wisdom with the world and believed that the path to enlightenment was a process of elimination. These eliminations can be conquered through a process called Zen. He believe it was the only way to get rid of the burdens human’s carry of, ignorance, desire and suffering. Buddhism is almost the complete opposite of our western world because our society requires us to act a certain way in order to thrive or even survive.
Buddhism is unlike any other religion I learned about throughout my time in this class. There is no god in Buddhism and Buddhist do not worship any supernatural being. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. His teachings, the Dharma, are a guide to follow to reach ultimate liberation. Understanding the four noble truths and following the noble eightfold path would lead to nirvana. As with any religion there are a few different types of Buddhism such as Theravada, Mahayana, and modern day Buddhist. Starting in Asia, Buddhism has spread to the west and all over the world. I hope to convey my thoughts on Buddhism’s past, present and future.