Throughout the history of Buddhism, the main goal of Buddhists has been to attain enlightenment. This paper investigates how the Pram膩a and the Chan schools define enlightenment and their ways of attaining it. The Pram膩a school deals with enlightenment and problems relevant t...
In Hinduism and Buddhism, nirvana is thehighest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away. This belief emphasizes meditation and how much it helps achieve this state. “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ...
‘I vow to attain Buddhahood, to universally practise these [forty-eight great] vows [i.e. as later proclaimed]. Of all with fear, for them creating great peace.’ (吾誓得佛,普行此愿。一切恐惧,为作大安。)For all existential fears of life and death, those moments with physical pain a...
The Buddha — Siddhartha Gautama — called mindfulness “the path to enlightenment.” To spread the word of enlightenment, he asked that his senior monks (called bhikkhus) teach a doctrine called The Four Foundations of Mindfulness. When the bhikkhus asked the Buddha which four foundations they ...
he taught that all can attain this perfection too. Not many other religions’ founders taught that their followers have the chance to experience the same ultimate peace and liberation as themselves. Yet the Buddha taught that everyone can attain the same bliss of supreme enlightenment if we practi...
Or, is this like the Christian heaven? Isn’t Buddhism supposed to be a logical, self-directed path to Enlightenment? Understanding Amitabha Sutra requires an understanding of “absolute reality” and “Buddha Nature.”[Note: full Amitabha Sutra in English at end of this feature...
In fact, Buddhist and Shinto beliefs coexist easily. One school of Buddhist teaching, Zen Buddhism, encourages followers to attain enlightenment through intense meditation and contemplation of seemingly nonsensical questions. This discipline was popular with samurai, who understood the need to train and...
others. It may decide who gets to be the authority. That’s scary because as I said in the chat above, each of us can have a different and equally valid experience as a result of meditation. It need not lead to enlightenment, which is of questionable value anyway. It may lead ...
In Pure Land Buddhism’s Main Practice (正行), there is no need to guard each sense one by one, or be with constant vigilance of all in an overly busy way. Without need to see or visualise anything, smell any smell, taste any taste, or touch anything, these four senses are ‘deactiv...
is no suffering, only with pure bliss. If you do not chant along, and become a hungry ghost and such, there will be much suffering. Please do not think of anything else, and only sincerely be mindful of Amituofo, so as to swiftly depart from suffering to attain blissfulness. Amituofo...