April Krommenhoek

04/05/15
Religion Research project
HUMA 2400

Buddhism
Buddhism is a new religious movement that has come from a small country and area
of Asia that has thrived in all different parts of the world, has even come over to America.
Buddhism has an interesting story behind it. The history of this religion starts with a
young boy that was born into the life of a prince in 624 BC in Lumbini, which is now in a
part of Nepal, but at that time was part of norther India. This young boy from the
beginning his parents knew he was destined to change the world. They named him
Shakya which is the royal family name, Muni which translates into Able One. In the
early years of his life Shakyamuni lived his life comfortably in his palace as the prince he
was born to live. He live his prince life till he turned 29 years of age. At that time he
decided to make a change in how he lived, so he left to go to into the forest and started
his six year journey into meditation. At the end of six years he reached enlightenment
under the Bodhi Tree in India.
Under that tree it is said the he met Buddha and taught him the first Wheel of
Dharma. The first Wheel has the Sutra of the Four Noble truths as well as some other
discourses and principals. Next Buddha came and taught him the second and third Wheels
of Dharma, that have the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and the Sutras Discriminating the

Intention. All of these parts make up the Great Vehicle, or the Mahayana of Buddhism. As
he is under the tree Buddha also explain the liberation and how to attain it from the self
suffering for oneself. Buddha also explains thought the teachings of the Mahayana
teachings the ability to become fully enlightened that is also called Buddhahood. In
Buddha Shakyamuni life time he was able to give 84 thousand teachings. His primary
goal when founding Buddhism was to help people have permanent liberation from life
suffering. He wanted to make it permanent because he knew that temporary liberation
was not enough for living being to have for suffering in life. All of his teaching he was
motivated by his love and compassion to help others find lasting peace.
In the Buddhist temple in Salt Lake there are some specific things that I did on the
Sunday morning service. First before everything starts we lite some incense sticks in
front of an alter. The alter is called Onaijin. They call this ritual Oshoko and it is
symbolic of cleansing or opening of the mind so you can be ready to listen to teachings
and take into your heart. Also with this ritual is where people can give donations that they
call Osaisen. After that the service of chanting starts. The chanting is of the Sutras that
are in a service book, it reminded me of something like a hymnal. The sutra chants are to
praise of the Buddha. The chants were written in Chinese and English. Next is Gassho,
it is what the congregation does when they come up to the onaijin. And what they do for
this ritual is they put their palms together in front of themselves. And around their hands
is a string of beads and that is called Onenju. An onenju around ones hands is to
symbolize the joining of Buddha and yourself. Most people that i watched were reciting
something that they call Nembutsu which is a chant that shows appreciation, and
literally translated into the refuge that you take in the Buddha.

As Buddhism has moved across the world I think that this religion is one of the most
diverse religion. "The Buddha's teaching begins with the recognition of human diversity.
The humanism of the Lotus Sutra comes down to the tenet of treasuring the individual.' In
Nichiren Buddhism, enlightenment is not a matter of changing ourselves into something
which we are not. Rather, it is a matter of bringing forth those positive qualities we
already possess." (SGI Buddhist). Buddhism is open and welcoming to people of all
kinds. When I was at the SLBT there was majority of Asian ethnicity, but surprisingly
there were some different races and backgrounds there. From what i understand from
what I was told was that Buddha is open and welcoming to all and challenges us to do the
same. Buddhism is a self enlightening religion. So there for it would make sense that this
religion would do well with diversity. And from what I have heard and seen, it does well
all over the world. Buddha teaches that every being is unique and has an unique
experience and journey in life. Therefore distinctions such as backgrounds, race, culture,
and gender are only limited qualities. And that the person or energy behind that outer
shell is unlimited. And this religions main goal is for individuals to find the infinite
values of the human life. And they teach that with every difference we can learn to
understand everything is connected through Buddha. Practitioners of Buddhism are
taught to be flexible and open to different cultures and people. And this is how this
religion has been able to go so much and so far.
Buddhism has a response for religious pluralism. Buddhism has changed over time
with different cultures. And has the Four Holy Truths, the truths of suffering, conditioned
arising of suffering, of the ultimate freedom from suffering, and the path to ultimate
freedom. There is still the issue that people tend to have self interpretation. And that is a

problem that the Four Holy Truths point out. Our subconscious tendency is to have our
own idea of self and enlightenment, which will hold them back from freedom. Buddha
came up with two different concepts. The first one is that he pointed out that nonBuddhist rituals contribute to the clingy and need for your own idea on what freedom or
enlightenment is. And the second one is for the non-Buddhists to be curious and explore
how others symbols and rituals. So they can communicate with each other more
effectively. This way Buddha characterized this as special doctrine of Skilled means,
which is what triggered the missionary journey of Buddhism.
Researching Buddhism has really opened my eyes and mind to another world of
different ways of thinking about religion. I am really impressed to look more into how
more religions and how they think. I can see why this religion has grown so much, but am
also surprised on why it isn't more universal. But the fact that the Buddha has pointed out
that those who are not Buddhist are encouraged not discriminated for not being one, and
should look at other religions and discover what else is out there. Being LDS I find that
very comforting. Being in this religion we have so many people judging us and making
wrong opinions of what I believe in. Now that I have been given the opportunity and have
learned so much and appreciation for other religions.

Work Cited
http://www.sgi.org/buddhism/buddhist-concepts/treasuring-diversity.html
http://www.aboutbuddhism.org/buddhism-beliefs.php/
http://www.slbuddhist.org/general-buddhism.html