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☆☆☆☆☆Nirvana is a term coined by the Buddha, and is said to be the goal of all Buddhists. The Buddha was a Hindu prince, and he was trying to understand the meaning of Moksha. Moksha is liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth. The Buddha, who was earlier prince Siddhartha Gautama, realized that this world is full of dukkha or suffering, and he said that the only way to escape from the cycle of suffering in this life as well as in future lives, when we are reborn after the death of the body, is through Nirvana. Nirvana means escape from rebirth, it means freedom from Karma or our actions. How does one do that? Buddha said we have to go within and switch on the light - what we call Enlightenment. Enlightenment is overcoming ignorance, it is realizing the Truth. Then we attain the state of Nirvana, a state of awareness, of consciousness, of mindfulness. And this leads us to becoming one with the Divine, we escape from coming back to earth.
Jerusalem
Mencius
Southern Baptist Convention with 16.2M members. 2nd largest is United Methodist Church with 7.8M members.
Buddhism was started by the Buddha who was a rich Hindu prince. However, he wanted to realize the Truth. He wanted Enlightenment. Therefore, he turned away from Hinduism, which had led to the division of society, created the caste system and other malpractices and ills including meaningless rituals and superstitions. The young prince went in quest of Enlightenment, and he realized the light within. He realized that we are not this body, we are not this mind and he called it Nirvana. It was the same belief advocated by the ancient Hindus through Sanatana Dharma but he gave it a new name. He removed all the ills that Hinduism had acquired. So essentially, Buddhism has grown from the original Hindu faith called Sanatana Dharma.
~ Bar Mitzvah.
It's not actually the ceremony; nor does it indicate "full membership" in Judaism. As soon as a Jewish baby is born, it is a full-fledged Jew. When a boy turns 13 years old, he is called a "bar mitzvah" meaning "son of mitzvah". When a Jewish boy becomes a bar mitzvah, it means that he is old enough to be obligated with the religious responsibilities of an adult and this includes being called up to read from the Torah.
Anglican
The candelabra used during Hanukkah actually holds 9 candles and is called a Hannukiah (Hanukkah-menorah).
shogun
Shavuot "sha-VOO-ote" in Hebrew. The word means "Weeks", probably because of
the holiday's timing: It's the only holiday in the Torah without a date of its own,
defined only as commencing seven weeks after the beginning of Passover.
In 2011, Shavuot begins at sunset on Tuesday, June 7.
Mantrayana is a path to enlightenment based on mantras.
