Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama is referenced by a number of different titles, but mostly as Buddha. Sometimes he is referred to as Sakyamuni Buddha where Sakyamuni (Sage of the Sakyas) is a refernce to the tribe he was born into (Sakya) or at times he is called Gautama Buddha, as you indicated, where Gautama is his family name. Both of these are used when referring to the actual historical person of Siddhartha Gautama as opposed to another enlighten person who has attained Buddhahood (who would be called a Buddha also).

They have to go throgh a couple of stages before the actuall ceremony. Firstly they shave their heads and dress in white. That represents the transition from a householder to a monk.They also have to make a sacrifice - limited amounts of sleeping in comfortable beds, food and entertainment.

If you are describing the cushions that Buddhists use for meditation, the round cushion that is sat upon is called a Zafu in Chinese / Japanese. The rectangular cushion that the Zafu is sometimes placed upon is called Zabuton in Japanese.

The goal of all Buddhists is to reach enlightenment, which is a state in which suffering ends.

Jesus is God graciously reaching out to man.

Buddha is man striving to be godlike.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. - John 14:6

This is not a personal name but an epithet of those who have achieved enlightenment (bodhi), the goal of the Buddhist religious life. Buddha comes from the Sanskrit root 'budh', meaning to awaken, and the Buddhas are those who have awakened to the true nature of things as taught in the Four Noble Truths.

Source: http://www.answers.com/buddha?gwp=11&ver=2.3.0.609&method=3

In his life, Buddha help people in need and help the poor. He also teach students about Oanh Vu and about being respectful. There is also a book written which tells what Buddha did from him leaving his home to his death which is basically all of it; I think its called 'the buddha'.

A Buddhist monk believes that enlightenment exists and has dedicated his life for the pursuit of the same.

He is also the carrier for the Buddha's teachings and can be an inspiration to those who are on the path to enlightenment.

He also guides the common folk on the teachings of the Buddha and meditation.

The historical Buddha is known by several names. His original name is said to have been Siddharta Gautama (with many variations on the spelling such as Gotama). He is also known as Sakkyamuni as he belonged to the Sakkya tribe. As in Christianity there are many Buddhist traditions and some believe there are other previous Buddhas before the historical, so there are many names.

It is estimated that there are 1.5 to 6 million Buddhists in the United States. Many references give an estimate of about 1% of the population.

Buddha does not speak of overcoming ignorance. He does indicate that desire is a product of an unskilled approach to life and desire is the cause of suffering. Controlling desire by following the Eightfold path's suggestions reduces or eliminates pain. Understanding and following the Eightfold Path leads to enlightenment. A Enlightenment allows Buddhists to reach the end of the cycle of death and rebirth and may, if the enlightened person desires, lead to entry into Nirvana.

Existing in Nirvana allows the Buddhist to reach a state of selfless existence devoid of ego.

Buddah sat under a pipal or a bodi tree for 49 days waiting for truth to be revealed to him. He meditated daily and vowed not to get up until he had received his enlightenment.

Well, As far as I know there are a few primary goals of meditation because there are a number of different meditation techniques, but I would hazard a guess and say that the most important type is Insight (Vipassana) Meditation.

With Insight Meditation we are learning that:

(1) Our thoughts are transitory and come unbidden. We call the untrained mind a "Monkey Mind" because, like monkeys jumping from one branch to another, our minds jumps from one thought to another. Many times these thoughts come out of the blue. The problem is not that the mind does this; the problem is that when a thought enters our mind we follow that thought and expand it and it takes over our lives. This is where worry and anxiety starts. We think a random thought and instead of acknowledging the thought and let it go we make a whole story around it with all kinds of dire results. For example; the boss calls you up at 12:00 and says, "Please see me at 1:30". You start to think maybe he is going to fire you, and for the next hour and an half you think about what you might have done wrong to get your fired and you think of all the pleas you are going to use to change his mind…etc. Then at 1:30 you go see the boss and he gives you a raise! So much for all that worrying! You, yourself, just made the last 1½ hours a total hell on Earth.

(2) Our thoughts do not define us. We all get bad thoughts. We all think things like "I'd like to punch that guy out!" when someone makes us angry. Don't worry; it's natural. Through meditation when we realize that we are not our thoughts, so when we get a thought like that, we can acknowledge it, and let it go and then think of a better way to react.

When we truly learn and accept these insights it helps us to calm our minds, leads to the decrease of stress and increases our ability to reacting skillfully (saying and doing the right things) to situations. In a nutshell Insight Meditation is self-transformation through self-observation.

Some people believe that if you have done something wrong in a past life, you are born again with "bad Karma" meaning that in this life you will automatically attract bad things and have bad things happen to you because you "desserve it" because of the bad things you done in your past life.

Some people believe this, but I believe we create our own karma, in this life anyway.

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In the universe there is five (5) Natural Law of which one of them is the Natural Law of Kamma. The Law of Kamma is not as a form of reward and punishment delivered by any celestial being or Gods but as consequences of intentional action, good or bad. Today is the result of Yesterday while Today is the cause of Tomorow.

Kamma means intentional actions of good or evil; these action causes the production of corresponding kammic energy which is accumulated as unspent kammic energy. The kammic energy derived from good actions tend to elevate one's mind strength while the evil actions tends to reduce the mind strength. Spiritual beings are evolved beings with high mind strength while human with low mind strength is no better than a dog or lower beings

By a man named Sidharata Gautama. He was originally born in India and he had never seen the outside world. He made 4 trips outside of home and this is what he saw:

1. he sees a dead man

2. he sees a beggar

3. he sees an old man

4.he sees a holy man.

then he comes with a way to end human suffrage which is when he discovers 4 noble truths,

1. all life is suffering

2. desire causes suffering

3. end desire to end suffering

4. follow the eight fold path

eight fold path- middle path between too much and too little.

Sidharta Gautama wanders through the forest for the next 6 years and debated with religous leaders,meditates and fasts. After 49 days of straight fasting... he found that this was the way to end human suffrage. Then China adapted and made the "budha" into their own version...

Source: My history notes

Tibetan monks do not marry. Tibetans lamas (priests) fall under 2 categories, monks (celibate) and yogis (not necessarily celibate). The vast majority of Gelugpa Lamas are monks who are celibate.

The farthest west reported is till Herat, Afghanistan. In east, it reached Japan.

Nirvana is best thought of as the skill of living well, in other words, with abiding peace and ease. Reaching it requires freedom from thought addiction, which is responsible for the greed, anger, and delusion that create dissatisfaction (suffering, trouble). The only purpose of Buddhist practices is to reduce dissatisfaction by creating clarity, insight, and present-moment awareness.

As Buddhists don't necessarily believe in a god or divine being as the Abrahamic religions do, salvation isn't something reached by relying on another being or entity. We are responsible for our own path to enlightenment and spiritual freedom. Letting go of beliefs that the physical world exists is a path to enlightenment.

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Buddhists' method of meditation is called "anapan sati dhyan".In this method of dhyan,incoming and outgoing of breath is watched.Inhalation and exhalation are watched.In otherwords, they witness the incoming and outgoing breath. Normally,our breath is shallow,but the moment you watch the breath, it becomes longer and deeper.Simply by waching,all the involuntary functions of the body become subject to qualitative change in their movements.Watching affects even the circulatory system of the body.

Buddhism. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism He was born in a Hindu kingdom and spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilvastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.Hence, he must have been a Hindu.

Buddhists believe that people are reincarnated, and they can be reincarnated in the form of other species than human beings. So, all animal life would be deserving of respect as a possible vessle of a human spirit.