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Religious Ramblings on the Wall

[Paganism] [Buddhism] [Confucianism] [Ninja] [Lillith]

Paganism:

Since I am a religious studies major, and I am a pagan, I figured it only fair to ramble on incessantly about religion for all those interested in hearing the insane rantings of a mad man. I myself, as stated above, am classed as a "Pagan". For all those out there who don't know what a pagan is, or thinks we are Satanists or some radical new modern cult...please allow me to enlighten you.

Paganism can be defined in several different ways. According to many Christians, a "Pagan" is everybody who isn't what they are...Christian. These people also tend to drag their knuckles on the ground as they walk, grunt in monosyllables, and club each other over the head with big sticks.

The other way to define what a Pagan is is slightly more accurate. We're nature worshippers. Yup. Nature worshippers. Some call us tree huggers, some call us radical environmentalists, others call us heathens, but we call it us. All I got to say to those people is this: Ug!

Okay. Now your probably thinking that all pagans are alike... not so. They may have some similarities, but they are no more alike than Christianity is to Islam or Judaism is to Satanism. Like the different schools of Christianity, Paganism too has it's various off shoots and branches. A long time ago when Christianity was slowly pounding its way North into Europe and Great Britian, the peoples it was encountering were Pagan. Some of them worshipped a bunch of different gods, like the Greco/Roman gods (Mars/Aries, Zeus/Jupiter, Venus/Aphrodite, etc, etc, etc.)and the Egyptian gods (Osiris, Ra, Anubis, etc.), while others worshipped other dieties like Gaia, Fenrir, Odin, and about a trillion or so other ones. In each of these areas, there were rovers, wanderers, nomads, vagabonds, etc, who wandered all over the place, not settling down in one specific area long enough to really choose one specific system of worship. They developed their own faith based on all the other religions they encountered, kinda like getting dinner at a buffet: "I'll take some of that...and some of those, none of that...some of this..."

One faith, mine, was based on these rovers. The nearest I can tell, they must have been from Sourthern Greece in the area called Arcadia and then travelled into the Roman territories along the east and west sides of their Empire, up along into the Gaul lands, then up into Scandinavia and finally into the British territories where my family got mixed up with them. They are poly theistic, but in a monotheistic kind of way.

We worship nature as divine, which is made up of two aspects: physical and non-physical. The physical aspects were declared "of the mother" since women gave birth, and the non-physical aspects were declared "of the father", since children looked like their dad kinda, "of their spirit" and he didn't give birth to them.
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Buddhism:

In this essay, I will examine the life of Siddharta Gautama and the origins of Buddhism from its Hindu roots, what Buddhism is and the various branches and beliefs of the various schools of Buddhism, as well as some facts about Buddhism now in the global society of today.

Buddhism is an ancient religion of the east, dating back over 2500 years, making it older than Christianity by roughly half a millennium. It was founded on the philosophies and teachings of a man called by others as "the Buddha", or, "one who has awakened" circa 535 BCE

"The Buddha" otherwise known as Prince Siddhartha Gautama, was born in Northern India in the city Kapila to Queen Maya and King Suddhodana Gautama of the Shakya people. Queen Maya died shortly after the birth of her son, and in following Hindu custom, her younger sister, Prajapati, became Siddharthas foster mother.

He was named Siddhartha, which translated means "Every wish fulfilled" and his birth was seen as a wonderful and glorious event. He was conceived in their twentieth year of child-less marriage, after Queen Maya had a dream of a white elephant entering her side, which is considered today by Hindus and Buddhists alike to be a good omen.

According to some Buddhists and religious scholars, Prince Gautama from the moment of his birth is said to be no ordinary child. He is said to have stood up immediately after being born and announced, "At last I am in my final incarnation and will at last be free of the endless cycle of Samsara"(Chung, World Religions 102: 1995).

According to legend, a mountain hermit noticed a glory about the castle and went to visit the newborn child. (This is somewhat reflective of the birth of Christ and a noticeable aura about the area of his birth. Also in Christian resemblance, some religious scholars state that the Buddha was said to be born of a virgin, as well as having performed miraculous acts in his early childhood.) The hermit announced that he had a prophecy about this child, and when asked what it was he said;

This Prince, if he remains in the palace after his youth, will become a great king to rule the Four Seas. But if he forsakes the household life to embrace a religious life, he will become a Buddha and the world's saviour. (The Life of Gotama Buddha 1).

King Suddhodana was glad to hear of the future greatness of his newborn son, but later as the child grew older he became worried that his son would live a life of poverty and humility as a forest dweller or Sannyassin. King Suddhodana began to coddle his son, hiding him from the evils of life, and only exposed him to the pleasures and good things that life had to offer in an attempt to keep him ignorant about the outside world and of the cruelties of life.

Prince Gautama was kept inside the castle walls for his early childhood years, and at age seven he was taught the essential teachings of ruling such as military arts, philosophy, and literature. Much to his fathers dismay however, he also began to contemplate the more abstract concepts of existence such as suffering, death, and the purpose of life.

According to legend, he was travelling with his charioteer through the city streets one day when he seen three sights which forever changed him.

"...he saw an old man, ‘gnarled and bowed as a rafter, decrepit and sorely afflicted, long past his prime, leaning on a staff, tottering as he walked.' Shocked at this sight, Siddhartha asked his driver what was wrong with this man: ‘Why is he so different from the other men?' Upon being told that this was an old man and that this is what happens to people when they get old, Gautama could not understand, for he had no experience with old age. But when the driver explained that being old meant suffering, being nearly finished, and about to die, the young lord began to understand and became increasingly troubled. ‘Tell me, my good driver, am I too subject to old age? Have I not gotten past old age? " he asked. ‘You, my lord, and we too, we are all of a kind to grow old. We have not gotten past old age,' replied the driver. Shocked and horrified at the prospect of all people having to endure life in the miserable condition of this decrepit old man, Siddhartha returned to his palace. There he found no relief or comfort in all the gaiety and delights surrounding him, for he now knew how temporary all this was; old age lay ahead for everyone"(Koller 141).

Koller also goes on to tell the rest of the tale, how Siddhartha seen a sick man an then a dead man, and how upon seeing these sights how they forever changed him and made him ponder the meaning of life. Upon seeing these sights he realized that everyone grows old, everyone can become ill, and everyone dies. He left the palace shortly after at age 29, and in following Hindu custom, left his wife and newborn son behind and left to became a wandering ascetic.

Siddhartha tried to attain enlightenment for 6 years through the normal Hindu paths: fasting, meditation, and severe mental and physical disciplines. When this failed, he sat under a bodhi tree and declared that he would meditate there until either enlightenment or death came to him. Seven days later, on December 8th at age 35, by way of total focus of his entire being on this single goal and analysing what it is we truly wish for in life and our restrictions in having it, he accomplished his purpose and attained the realization of perfect wisdom or "enlightenment".

He realized that craving was the source of human suffering, and that by craving nothing, he could be free. He then became known as a Bodhisattva, which is a person who goes through an intense period of development and practice in order to attain the realization of perfect wisdom and total supreme enlightenment, otherwise known as "Buddhahood", then he began to teach others the path he had followed. He did this selfless act of teaching others his wisdom for forty five years until his death of food poisoning at age 80.

Buddhism is a religion which shares few concepts with mainstream Christianity. For example, according to the early teachings in primary Buddhist belief, they do not believe in a transcendent or divinity or any other type of God or Gods, the need for a personal saviour, the power of prayer, eternal life in a heaven or hell after death, etc. One of the branches of Buddhism named "Pureland Buddhism" have adopted a divinity focused on Buddha himself as a god like creature, and they perform prayers which are chanted. Pureland Buddhism was later divided into two schools, Jodo, and Jodo Shinshu which were started by Honen and his pupil Shinran.

Buddhists, as a rule, believe in reincarnation: The concept that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, death, and rebirth. This is linked directly to the Hindu concept of Samsara. After many such cycles, if the devout Buddhist releases their attachment to desire and the self and cease all craving, they can attain the state of bliss known as Nirvana. The religion itself is composed of the teachings of Buddha and his instructions on becoming enlightened. The main body of guidelines consist of the five precepts for monks, the eightfold path, and the four noble truths.
The Buddha's Four Noble Truths are:

To be fully understood: The universality of suffering.
To be abandoned: The desire to have and control things which causes suffering
To be made visible: The supreme truth and final liberation of nirvana which is achieved as the cause of suffering, craving, is eliminated. The mind experiences complete freedom and bliss.
To be brought into being: The truth of the eightfold path leading to the cessation of suffering.

His Eightfold Path consists of:

Right understanding
Right thinking
Right speech
Right conduct
Right livelihood
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration

The five precepts for Buddhist monks consist of:

I. Refrain from harming living things.

II. Refrain from taking what is not given.

III. Refrain from the misuse of the senses.

IV. Refrain from wrong speech.

V. Refrain from taking drugs or drinks which cloud the mind.

Buddhism is not a single faith religion. Many of its followers have successfully combined its teachings with other religions and customs. Little conflict occurs, because Buddhism at its core is more related to a philosophical system then to a religion per SE. After the Budda's death, several splits occurred and various branches and sub- branches developed. The main branches of Buddhism, as well as their location and other oints of interest are as follows:

Southern Buddhism (Therevada Buddhism) has about 110 million followers, and it is mainly located in southeast Asian countries such as Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and parts of Vietnam. It started in Sri Lanka when Buddhist missionaries arrived there from India. They promoted the Vibhajjavada school (Separative Teaching) and by the 15th century, this form of the religion reached almost its present size.

Eastern Buddhism (which is the primary form of Buddhism found in China, Japan, Korea and the rest of Vietnam) belongs to the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. It is believed to have started in China during the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE). It began to grow among the workers and lower classes, then as time passed, it gradually began to be practiced by the nobles and ruling class as well.
Eastern Buddhism became further divided in various sect-like groups such as the T'ein-t'ai, Hua-yen, the two Pure Land teachings of Honen and Shinran as mentioned earlier, and the Meditation school.

Northern Buddhism has about 10 million followers in the northern parts of China, Mongolia, Russia, and Tibet. Later, after it finally gained acceptance in Tibet, the head of the Gelu school of Buddhist teaching became the Dali Lama, and became the ruler and spiritual leader of the country. Currently, the Dali Lama is not permitted to enter China and is now living in exile.

Southern Buddhism became established in Europe early in this century, mostly due to a repression of Christianity by several European philosophers and World War One. The Zen Buddhist tradition of Eastern Buddhism has reached North America and has been growing by both immigration of Buddhists from birth, and also by conversion of many Christians. There are 163,415 Canadian Buddhists according to the 1991 census, and the number is approximately ten times that in the United States.

In conclusion, the Buddha tried to abolish the caste system and believed in the idea of universal brotherhood and enlightenment. He had a complete disregard for forms and rituals and emphasis on purity of the heart and sincerity in dealing with others. He preached in the spoken language of the people and did not believe in the sanctity of any one language. This, and the ability to meld and complement the teachings of other religions, could be why Buddhism is seen by many potential converts as an ideal faith and the only real way of life to lead.

The Buddha referred to his teaching as the middle path because it avoids the extremes of both ends of the spectrum. Buddhism does not encourage over-indulgence of pleasure, nor does it encourage the absence of it in daily life. The path Buddha taught mixes both mental development of the self and spirit with a faith that encourages compassion, morals, and wisdom, while at the same time seeing and understanding the world as it truly is. Perhaps the best example of how the common man can live according to Buddhist ideals can best be explained by the following quote by Ninjutsu Grandmaster Hatsumi, of the Togaryu Ninjutsu association when he said;

"Hold life as the most important, superseding value; and; Strive to live according to the laws of nature"(Hatsumi 12).

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