World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 57 стр.

Question for discussion:                                                            PA R T I V
    Several of the Founding Fathers of the United States, such as George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson were Deists, that is, they believed in the exis-                                        BUDDHISM
tence of God, a divine Providence, and a life after death. How does this differ
from Islam?                                                                                                               History
                                                                                         Buddhism was founded in Northern India by the Buddha, Siddhartha Gau-
Test questions:                                                                     tama. He was born circa 563 B.C.E. in Lumbini which is in modern-day Nepal.
     1. Explain the Moslem doctrine of God.                                         At the age of 29, he left his wife, children and political involvements in order to
     2. Explain what is meant by saying that social Mohammed is the “Seal of        seek truth; this was an accepted practice at the time for some men to leave their
the Prophets”. What is the significance of this for the Moslem view of Judaism      family and lead the life of an ascetic. He studied Brahmanism, but ultimately
and Christianity?                                                                   rejected it. In 535 B.C.E., he reached enlightenment and assumed the title Bud-
     3. Explain why Islam is not merely a private religion for individuals, but a   dha (one who has awakened). He is also referred to as the Sakyamuni (sage of
social religion requiring adoption by the civil society.                            the Sakya clan). He promoted The Middle Way, rejecting both extremes of the
                                                                                    mortification of the flesh and of hedonism as paths toward the state of Nirvana.
                                                                                    He had many disciples and accumulated a large public following by the time of
                                                                                    his death in his early 80’s in 483 B.C.E.
                                                                                         Two and a half centuries later, a council of Buddhist monks collected his
                                                                                    teachings and the oral traditions of the faith into written form, called the Tripi-
                                                                                    taka. This included a very large collection of commentaries and traditions; most
                                                                                    are called Sutras (discourses).

                                                                                                                    Buddhist Beliefs
                                                                                         Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into a
                                                                                    number of different traditions. We will deal in this essay with Theravada Bud-
                                                                                    dhism.
                                                                                         Buddhism is a religion which shares few concepts with Christianity. For
                                                                                    example, they do not believe in a transcendent or immanent or any other type of
                                                                                    God or Gods, the need for a personal savior, the power of prayer, eternal life in
                                                                                    a heaven or hell after death, etc. They do believe in reincarnation: the concept
                                                                                    that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, and death. After many
                                                                                    such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can
                                                                                    attain Nirvana.
                                                                                         The Buddha’s Four Noble Truths may be described (somewhat simplisti-
                                                                                    cally) as:
                                                                                         to be fulyl/understood – the universality of suffering;
                                                                                         to be abandoned – the desire to have and control things which cause, suf-
                                                                                    fering;
                                                                                         to be made visible – the supreme truth and final liberation of nirvana which
                                                                                    is achieved as the cause of suffering is eliminated. The mind experiences com-
                                                                                    plete freedom and liberation;

                                      113                                                                                  114