Buddhism Class

Teacher: ???

Buddhism is a very complex religion. It is like no other religon you have ever been exposed to because it has no god and a complex rebirth system, unlike the Abrahamitic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.





Life After Death

Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Samsara can only be described as a ladder, and karma is the steps. If you are good in life you get another couple of karma points which gets you closer to the top of the ladder and Nirvana. Whereas if you are bad you loose karma points you will go further down the ladder.
Where you are on the ladder judges what you will be reborn as in the next life, at the top of the ladder is a monk and at the bottom of the ladder is the pig as pigs are greedy and foolish animals. Once you have been and died as a monk you go to nirvana, a heavenly place where your spirit can rest in harmony and be with buddha and look at the world go by, it is wonderful in nirvana.





Homage

 Homage is an act that all dedicated buddhists do everyday. It resembles a prair but is complicated as buddhism has no gods. Every morning the buddhist person must meditate for around about 1 hour and then pay homage to buddha. If you live near a local buddhist temple then you may want to go in everymorning for homage but otherwise you face north and kneel, then put your hands on your forehead in a prair position and say "Buddham Pujemi — I pay homage to the Buddha.

Dhammam Pujemi — I pay homage to the Dhamma.

Samgham Pujemi — I pay homage to the Samgha.

You are then finished and ready to carry on with your day! You have just payed homage!





Core Beliefs

The core beliefs of buddhism are as follows:

1. There is no god. There are saints and monks and buddhas but no gods.

2. Life after death called "Samsara". Buddhists believe that if you get bad Karma then you go down in Samsara but if you have good Karma then you go up towards Nirvana (sometimes called Nibbana in Arabic countries). Nirvana is a state of absulute bliss brought through going up Samsara with constant good Karma.





Variations of Buddhism

There are many different types of Buddhism, here are a few of the most popular and some of their origins:

Vajrayana- Tibetan buddhism. Leader is the Dali Lama.

Theravada- One of the first forms of buddhism. Very difficult to live with in a modern life as they expect days of meditation and fasting.

Zen- A Japanese Buddhism, the founder is Boddhidharma.

Pure Land- A style of Buddhism which is usually practised by modern, western buddhists. Leader is Hui Yuan.

Yogacara- One of the rarest types of buddhism. Usually practised in India and other Middle Eastern countries.





Calendars

Here is the Tibetan Buddhist Calendar:
Calendar of Buddhist Special Practice Days: 2004
FOUR COMMEMORATIVE BUDDHA DAYS
The four special days associated with the life of Shakyamuni Buddha are celebrated for example by taking Mahayana One Day Precepts before dawn, and performing a Guru Puja and Tsog Offering, but any virtue may be practised.

2004
Day of Miracles or Day of Offerings (Tib Chok-trul Düchen -15th day of 1st lunar month ): Sat 6th March
Saka Dawa (Tib Saka-Dawa - 15th day of 4th lunar month): the day commemorating the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana: Thurs 3rd June
Day of Turning the Wheel of Teaching (Tib Chö-kor Düchen-14th day of 6th lunar month): Wed 21st July
Day of Buddha's Return from Heaven (Tib Lha-bab Düchen - 22nd day of 9th lunar month): Thurs 4th November




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Past teachers: [urbanfairy]