World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 27 стр.

Part II                                                                                   4) and the means of attaining nirvana is prescribed in the “eightfold path”
                                                                                     that combines ethical conduct, mental discipline and wisdom.
                                     Buddhism                                             The religion numbers 3,000/5,000 million (5)……, including those in
      Buddhism is one of the great world religions, which originated in India        Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia.
about 500 B.C. It derives from the teaching of the Buddha, who is regarded as             Zen is a sect of Japanese Buddhism, which developed in China from circa
one of a series of such enlightened beings: there are no gods.                       500 C.E. and spread to Japan circa 1200. The word means “meditation”. Zen
      The teaching of Buddha is summarized in the Four Noble Truths, the last        (6)…… greatly from traditional Buddhism, rejecting images and ritual, scrip-
of which affirms the existence of a path leading to deliverance – from the uni-      tures and metaphysics.
versal human experience of suffering. A central tenet is the law of Karma, by             Shinto (“way of the gods”) is the indigenous religion of Japan (7)…… on
which good and evil deeds result in appropriate reward or punishment in this         the belief that the royal family was descended from the sun – goddess
life or in a succession of rebirths. Through a proper understanding of this condi-   Amaterasu Omikami. It later absorbed much Buddhist thought and practice.
tion, and by obedience to the right path, human beings can break the chain of        Shinto shrines are plain wooden (8)…… in which priest and people perform
Karma. The Buddha’s path to deliverance is through morality, meditation and          simple rites. Worship of the Emperor and the Zen influence on martial arts re-
wisdom. The aim is to break the chain of karma and achieve dissociation from         sulted in a close (9)…… between Shin to and Japanese militarism.
the body by attaining nirvana (“blowing out”) – the eradication of all desires,
either in annihilation or by absorption of the self in the infinite. The aim is to   Task 3. Give as much information as possible about the following:
create the conditions favourable to spiritual development, leading to liberation
or deliverance from bondage to suffering. This is generally seen as involving               Four Noble Truth, Buddha, Shinto, Zen, shrines, the law of Karma.
meditation, personal discipline, and spiritual exercises of various sorts. This
common purpose has made it possible for Buddhism to be very flexible in              Task 4. Before you read the interview with the Dalai Lama, answer the follow-
adapting its organization, ceremony, and pattern of belief to different social and   ing question in a written paragraph. Then discuss your answer with a partner.
cultural situations. Reliable figures are unobtainable, but over 1000 million        Do you think the world will be better or worse 100 years from now?
people live in lands where Buddhism is a significant religious influence.                                              Peace Prevails
                                                                                           In the Buddhist tradition, the future counts for little. Nonetheless, when
Task 1. Make up 10 statement to agree or disagree with them.                         Tenzin Gyatso, fourteenth Dalai Lama and the spiritual and temporal leader of
                                                                                     Tiber in exile, was asked to speculate on the landscape of faith a century from
Task 2. Restore the omitted parts of the text using the words given in brackets.     now, he gave it his best try. He was interviewed in Bloomington. Indiana, on a
     (connection, religion, differs, bringing, themselves, based, goal, buildings,   brilliant summer morning, after having laid the cornerstone1 for a new Buddhist
followers)                                                                           temple.
                                                                                           Question: In the next hundred years, thanks to organ transplants and ge-
     Buddhism is a widespread Asian (1)…… and philosophy developed from              netic therapies, people may be able to live much longer lives. It you had the
Hinduism in the 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. His            chance to do that. Would you take it?
monastic disciples shaved their heads, dressed in rags and devoted (2)…… to                Dalai Lama: The mere living is not so important. The important thing is
the philosophy of Enlightenment. The Pali canon is the scriptural basis of Bud-      usefulness. So if I could get another hundred years more and be useful, then . . .
dhism. Buddhist teaching advocates a middle course between mortification             good. Otherwise, you just create more problems for others. And then, from the
((3)…… one’s body and soul into subjection by self denial or discipline) and         Buddhist viewpoint, isn’t it better to have another young body (through reincar-
the pursuit of ambition. The basic teachings of Buddhism are contained in the        nation)? There is a Buddhist story about an old monk who was dying and eve-
“four noble truths”:                                                                 ryone was very sad. He said, “Don’t be sad. Right now, I have an old, decaying
     1) all existence is suffering;                                                  body. But very soon ... I will get a fresh young body”.
     2) the cause of suffering is desire;
     3) freedom from suffering is nirvana (the final (4)…… of harmony and sat-
isfaction);                                                                             1
                                                                                            Cornerstone: a foundation; a stone laid at a formal ceremony.
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