Friday, April 23, 2010

11. Applying Seven Dimensions to Buddhism


(1) As the seven dimensions of religion can apply to Buddhism, the myth dimension is directly relevant to the life and death of Buddha, himself. This historical myth, which does hold some truth value although not entirely attestable to pure historic fact, discusses the childhood and enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautauma. Since the life of Siddhartha Gautauma was recorded approximately 200-300 years after his death, details and exact information havebeen blurred. From what little information that has been saved over thecenturies, Siddhartha Gautauma was born a privileged prince, who renounced his wealth and power to be enlightened, and lived a life of simplicity, and thus began Buddhism.
(2) As for the ritual dimension, Buddhists practice meditation, where they have concentrate their mental energy. Buddhists also recite mantras, which aresayings that are repeated to have a spiritual power. Dharanis are longer sayings that are also chanted to ward off evil. Through repetition, Buddhists feel these words have a sense of power. Mudras, a nonlinguistic mean of communication and self expression with hand movements and finger positions, is also highly ritualized with Buddhists.
(3) Buddhist’s “core doctrine” is the Eightfold Path, and also the Four NobleTruths.(4) As for the ethical dimension, Buddhists follow the Eightfold Path.Buddhists live by the belief system of the Four Noble Truths, which state that“All Life is suffering, Suffering is due to attachment, Attachment can be overcome, and there is a path for accomplishing this.” Also, Buddhists believe in karma, which is defined as “the sum and the consequences of an individual's actions during the successive phases of his existence.” Therefore, Buddhists choose to be vegetarians. Buddhists also believe in dharma, which if followed,can lead them to nirvana.(5) As for the social dimension, there are approximately three hundred million Buddhists found all over the globe.
(7) With the material dimension, Buddhists build stupas which are beautifully pointed shaped towers that accommodate sacred relics, and symbolically represents the “enlightened mind of the Buddha.” They symbolize the five elements with the square base representing the earth, the cone-shape is fire,the rounded dome for water, the canopy is air and the volume of the stupa is space itself. The Begging bowl represents when a young woman named Sujata offered the starving Siddhartha Gautauma a bowl of milk-rice, which he then accepted because he needed more physical strength to reach enlightenment. The bowl symbolizes the Buddhists’ monk's way of life by surviving off of what people place into their bowls as they travel from their monastery into local villages. Mantras are also recited through Tibetan prayer wheels.

7 comments:

  1. I always wonder what we would be like without resources like these... Ahh I love being a student in the modern world :)

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  2. I think you need to learn how to count the number. The number goes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 not 1,2,3,7.

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    1. I think you need to count it's supposed to go 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 not 1,2,3,4,5,7

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