Religion is a belief system that has a purpose and a meaning in the lives of people. It grants people an appreciation of the past, presents understanding and creates hope for the future. A religion integrates ceremonies, life philosophies, rituals and ethical guidelines and concerns one or more deities. There are different kinds of religions across the globe, and from the early times of paganism, religion has diversified significantly to include major religions like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Indian religions like Buddhism and Sikhism. While peace and goodwill are dictated by religion, many divisions and battles culminate from religion. Religious beliefs play a vital role in the world history and the world population could benefit from learning the different religion types.
Buddhism happens to be one of the leading global religions in terms of social cultural influence, geographical distribution and adherents, but still remains to be one of the religions I am least familiar with. Buddhism denotes enlightenment rooted from dreaming a dream well known as the human life waking state. It is a distinctive religion in its own right and largely an eastern religion but increasingly becoming influential and popular in the Western world. Buddhism is looked different from other religions, and some people are questioned if it being a religion. For instance, the fundamental view of most religions is God but Buddhism is nontheistic. The teachings of Buddha were that it was not useful believing in gods for those seeking enlightenment. Beliefs define majority of the religions, but in Buddhism, adhering to the doctrines is close to the point.
The most intriguing part of Buddhism lays on its founder Siddhartha Guatama. He was born in India’s royal family and lived a luxurious life with little exposure to the external world. It was his parent’s intention to protect him from pain and suffering and religion’s influence. However, it was not long before he had a revelation and abandoned his life of affluence and wealth to pursue enlightment through severity. He taught people on how to get enlightenment. He left the princely lifestyle in his quest for discovering the true nature of man. His discoveries were that enlightenment never lays in self-mortification or luxurious indulgence, rather, transforming people’s lives that follow the path to enlightenment.
By the Buddha teachings, life is viewed as a subject of age and death. Feelings of suffering translate into those of happiness and vise versa. While young, our bodies are a source of pleasure, and when we become aged, the same body becomes a basis of suffering. Pleasure and pain are of a similar nature. The question of where the realm of life lies in Buddhism religion offers conclusion that Buddhism utmost power is its capability to take a reflective position to life and at some instance being critical of its own tradition that seems rare in my own experience of reviewing much of Buddhist contemporary writing.
In conclusion, in spite of Buddhism emphasis on free examination, the religion is not whatever you want to be. It may be well understood as a discipline, and additionally, an exacting discipline. Though Buddhist teachings should not be accepted on blind faith, understanding of the Buddhist teachings is a significant part of that discipline.