Buddhism

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Buddhism (known throughout the East as Buddha-Dharma) is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama). He probably lived from the latter half of the sixth to the early 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddha's death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Theravāda (Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda), Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and, with around 350 million followers, it is considered a major world religion.

When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of reality through years of spiritual cultivation, investigation of the various religious practices of his time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" (more commonly called "Enlightenment"). Any person who has become awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature of reality is called a Buddha. Śākyamuni is said to have been only the latest of many of these; there were other Buddhas before him and there will be others in the future. According to the Buddha, any person can follow his example and become enlightened through the study of his words "Dharma" and putting them into practice, by leading a virtuous, moral life, and purifying his mind. In general, the aim of Buddhist practice is to end all kinds of suffering in life. To achieve this state, adherents seek to purify and train the mind by following the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Middle Way, and eventually to gain true knowledge of reality and thus secure the ending (nirodha) of ignorance and of unhappiness and the attainment of liberation: moksha or nirvāṇa (Pāli nibbāna).

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According to all Buddhist traditions, the Buddha of the present age, called Siddhārtha (Sanskrit) or Siddhattha (Pāli) of the Gautama (Pāli: Gotama) gotra or clan, was born in the grove of Lumbinī near the town of Kapilavastu (Pāli: Kapilavatthu), the capital of the kingdom (mahājanapada) of the Śākyas (Pāli: Sakyas). Lumbinī and the Śākya realm were known to have been in the north, adjacent to the kingdom of Kośala and the republic of the Koliyas along the Ganges, separated from Koliya by the river Rohiṇī. The exact location of Lumbinī is fixed in what is now south central Nepal by a pillar inscription of King Aśoka from the 3rd century BCE commemorating the Buddha's birth. Despite weighty evidence for this location, Mr. Chandrabhanu Patel of the Orissa Museum has claimed that the birthplace was actually in Orissa state, hundreds of miles to the southeast.

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Siddhārtha's father was Śuddhodana (Pāli: Suddhodana), then the chieftain (rājā) of the Śākyas. Traditions state that the Buddha's mother died at his birth or a few days later. The legend says that the seer Asita predicted shortly after his birth that Siddhārtha would become either a great king or a great holy man; because of this, the king tried to make sure that Siddhārtha never had any cause for dissatisfaction with his life, as such dissatisfaction might lead him to follow a spiritual path. Nevertheless, at the age of 29, he came across what has become known as the Four Passing Sights: an old crippled man, a sick man, a decaying corpse, and finally a wandering holy man. These four sights led him to the realization that birth, old age, sickness and death come to everyone. He decided to abandon his worldly life, leaving behind his privileges, rank, caste, and his wife and child, to take up the life of a wandering holy man in search of the answer to the problems of birth, old age, pain, sickness, and death.

Siddhārtha pursued the path of the śramaṇa and meditation with two Brahmin hermits, and, although he quickly achieved high levels of meditative consciousness (dhyāna, Pāli jhāna), he was still not satisfied with the results. Siddhārtha then began his training in the ascetic life and practicing vigorous techniques of physical and mental austerity. Siddhārtha proved quite adept at these practices, and was able to surpass his teachers. However, he found no answer to his questions. Leaving behind established teachers, he and a small group of close companions set out to take their austerities even further. After six years of ascetism, and nearly starving himself to death without any profit, Siddhārtha began to reconsider his path. He then remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing; he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state in which he felt a blissful and refreshing feeling and time seemed to stand still.

After discarding asceticism and concentrating on meditation, Siddhārtha discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way – a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. To strengthen his body, he accepted a little buttermilk from a passing goatherd. Then, sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. At the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment and became a Buddha. He preached his first sermon in Sarnath a place very near Vārāṇasī (Benares) in North India.

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For the remaining 45 years of his life, Buddha Gautama traveled in the Gangetic Plain of northeastern India, teaching his doctrine and discipline to all – from nobles to outcaste street sweepers, including adherents of many different schools and teachers. The Buddha founded the two saṅghas (monastic communities) of monks and of nuns, which continued to expound his teaching after his death.

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Numerous distinct groups have developed since the passing of Gautama Buddha, with diverse teachings that vary widely in practice, philosophical emphasis, and culture. However, there are certain doctrines which are common to the majority of schools and traditions in Buddhism.

The enlightenment (Bodhi) of the Buddha was simultaneously his liberation from suffering and his insight into the nature of reality. The widely accepted doctrine of dependent origination states that any phenomenon ‘exists’ only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect. For sentient beings, this amounts to a never-ending cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra) according to the law of karma (Pāli: kamma) and vipāka. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anitya, Pāli anicca), they have no real, independent identity (anātman, Pāli anatta) and so do not truly ‘exist’, although to ordinary minds they do appear to exist. All phenomena are thus fundamentally insubstantial and empty (śūnya'). Wise human beings, who possess "insight into the knowledge of how things are" (yathā-bhūta-ñāṇa-dassana, Sanskrit yathābhūtajñanadarśana), renounce attachment and clinging which cause suffering (duḥkha, Pāli dukkha), transform the energy of desire into awareness and understanding, and eventually attain nirvāṇa.

The Four Noble Truths
Main article: The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha taught that life was dissatisfactory because of craving, but that this condition was curable by following the Noble Eightfold Path (Sanskrit: Āryo 'ṣṭāṅgo Mārgaḥ , Pāli: Ariyo Aṭṭhaṅgiko Maggo). This teaching is called the Catvāry Āryasatyāni (Pali: Cattāri Ariyasaccāni), the "Four Noble Truths".

duḥkha (Pāli: dukkha) "suffering": All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing suffering.
samudaya "arising (of suffering)": There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire (tṛṣṇā, Pāli taṇhā) rooted in ignorance (avidyā).
nirodha "cessation (of suffering)": There is an end of suffering, which is nirvāṇa (Pāli: nibbāna).
mārga (Pāli: magga) "path (to cessation)": There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths was the topic of the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment, which was given to the ascetics with whom he had practiced austerities.

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The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. In order to fully understand the noble truths and investigate whether they were in fact true, Buddha recommended that a certain path be followed which consists of:

Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths (samyag-dṛṣṭi, sammā-diṭṭhi)
Right Intention - Commitment to mental and Ethical growth in moderation (samyak-saṃkalpa, sammā-saṅkappa)
Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way (samyag-vāc, sammā-vācā)
Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding action that would hurt others (samyak-karmānta, sammā-kammanta)
Right Work - Ones job does not hurt oneself or others; directly or indirectly (weapon maker, drug dealer, etc.) (samyag-ājīva, sammā-ājīva}
Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve (samyag-vyāyāma, sammā-vāyāma)
Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness (samyak-smṛti, sammā-sati)
Right Concentration - State where one reaches enlightenment and the ego has disappeared (samyak-samādhi, sammā-samādhi)
The word samyak means "turned to one point or against each other, universus or adversus; whole, entire, all; correct, right, true." [1] There are a number of ways to interpret the Eightfold Path. On one hand, the Noble Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a progressive series of stages through which the practitioner moves, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another, whereas others see it as the states of the 'Path' as requiring simultaneous development. It is also common to categorise into prajñā (Pāli paññā, wisdom), śīla (Pāli sīla, virtuous behaviour) and samādhi (concentration).

Bodhi (Pāli and Sanskrit. Lit. awakening) is a title given in Buddhism to the specific awakening experience attained by Buddha. Bodhi is most commonly translated into English as enlightenment, however, a more accurate translation is awakening or understanding. After attainment of Bodhi, it is believed one is freed from the cycle of saṃsāra: birth, suffering, death and rebirth. Bodhi is attained only by the accomplishment of the pāramitās (perfections), when the Four Noble Truths are fully grasped, and when all karma has reached cessation. At this moment, all greed (lobha), hatred (doṣa, Pāli dosa), delusion (moha), ignorance (avidyā, Pāli avijjā)), craving (tṛṣṇā, Pāli taṇhā) and false belief in self (ātman, Pāli attā) are extinguished. Bodhi thus includes anātman (Pāli anatta), the absence of ego-centeredness. All schools of Buddhism recognise three types of Bodhi. They are Śrāvakabodhi (Pāli: Sāvakabodhi), Pratyekabodhi (Pāli: Paccekabodhi) and Samyaksambodhi (Pāli: Sammāsambodhi), the perfect enlightenment by which a Bodhisattva becomes a fully enlightened Buddha. The aspiration to attain the state of samyaksambodhi, known as the Bodhisattva ideal is considered as the highest ideal of Buddhism.

The primarily guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way which was discovered by Gautama Buddha prior to his enlightenment (bodhi). The Middle Way or Middle Path is often described as the practice of non-extremism; a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and opposing self-mortification. It is also another name for the Noble Eightfold Path, which is often divided into prajñā (Pāli: paññā, "wisdom"), śīla (Pāli: sīla, "morality") and samādhi ("meditative mind").

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Acknowledging the Four Noble Truths and making the first step in The Noble Eightfold Path requires taking of refuge, as the foundation of one's religious practice, in Buddhism's Three Jewels (also called Three Treasures, Triple Gem, Triratna or Ratna-traya (Sanskrit}, Tiratana (Pali), 三宝, Sānbǎo (Chinese), Sambō or Sampō (Japanese), 삼보, Sambo(Korean).

The Three Jewels are:

The Buddha: The Awakened One. This is a title for those who attained enlightenment similar to Buddha and helped others to attain it. See also the Tathāgata and Śākyamuni Buddha.
The Dharma: The teachings or law as expounded by the Buddha. Dharma also means the law of nature based on behavior of a person and its consequences to be experienced (action and reaction).
The Saṅgha: The individuals comprising the: noble Sangha (Ārya Saṅgha), those beings possessing some degree of enlightenment. The term can also apply to the ordinary Sangha (Bhikkhu Saṅgha) which refers to the community of people practicing the Dharma, but the refuge properly applies to the Ārya Saṅgha.[2]
The Buddha presented himself as a model and beseeched his followers to have faith (śraddhā, Pāli saddhā) in his example of a human who escaped the pain and danger of existence. The Dharma, that is, the teaching of Buddha, offers a refuge by providing guidelines for the alleviation of suffering and the attainment of enlightenment. The Saṅgha, in this sense meaning the group of Buddhists possessing at least some degree of enlightenment, provides a refuge by preserving the authentic teachings of the Buddha and providing further examples that the truth of the Buddha's teachings is attainable.

Many Buddhists believe that there is no otherworldly salvation from one's karma. The suffering caused by the karmic effects of previous thoughts, words and deeds can be alleviated by following the Noble Eightfold Path, although the Buddha of some Mahayana sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Angulimaliya Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra, also teaches that powerful sutras such as the above-named can, through the very act of their being heard or recited, wipe out great swathes of negative karma.

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Prajñā (Sanskrit) or paññā (Pāli) means wisdom that is based on a realization of dependent origination, The Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path. Prajñā is the wisdom that is able to extinguish afflictions and bring about bodhi. It is spoken of as the principal means, by its enlightenment, of attaining nirvāṇa, through its revelation of the true nature of all things. Prajñā is also listed as the sixth of the six pāramitās.

In initial stage, prajñā is attained at a conceptual level by means of listening to sermons (dharma talks), reading and sometimes reciting Buddhist texts and engaging in discourse. Gautama Buddha taught dharma to his disciples mainly through the mean of discourse or sermon, many attaining bodhi upon hearing Buddha's discourse. Once the conceptual understanding is attained, it is applied to daily life so that each Buddhist can verify the truth of the Buddha's teaching at a practical level. Lastly, one engages in insight (vipassanā, Sanskrit vipaśyanā) meditation to attain such wisdom at intuitive level. It should be noted that one could theoretically attain bodhi at any point of practice, while listening to a sermon, while conducting business of daily life or while in meditation.

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موعود در آيين بودا


او براي مردم رفاه و بهروزي مي آورد و آموزه هاي بودا را ترويج مي كند. آنگاه كه چنين فضاي بهشت گونه اي فراهم شد، ميتريه از آسمان نزول مي كند و بودايي خويش را به كمال مي رساند.


پدر سدارته به شدت علاقه مند بود كه پسرش جهانشاه شود، و بر اساس يك پيشگويي، سعي داشت او را در كاخ نگه دارد و نگذارد او با رنج و دردهاي موجود در جهان آشنا شود. اما سدارته، كه اتفاقاً دردهاي جهان، مثل پيري، مريضي و مرگ را ديده بود، با مشاهده يك راهب ـ كه گويا از همه رنج ها آسوده بود ـ به اين نتيجه رسيد كه، اگر چه سراسر جهان، رنج است ، اما راهي براي رهايي از آن وجود دارد.

آشنايي با بوديسم

آيين بوديسم كه در حدود پنج قرن پيش از ميلاد در هندوستان پديد آمد، در واقع واكنشي در برابر تفكرات انحصارطلبانه برهمنان هندو بود. اگرچه در بوديسم، وجود شخص بودا و شناخت زندگي او در برابر اصل معنوي بودا شدن ، اهميت چنداني ندارد، ولي اصول كلي آيين بوديسم، به نحوي در مطالعه زندگي شخصي بودا روشن مي شود.

در مورد وجود و زندگي بودا اطلاع علمي دقيقي نداريم، و معلومات ما در اين مورد، به داستانها و افسانه هاي موجود در متون بوديسم ـ كه البته داراي يك نوع وحدت نظر است ـ منحصر مي شود.

مطابق اين روايت ها، بودا (به معناي بيدار شده)، لقب پسر حاكم قبيله «شاكيا » است كه در حدود سال 560 (ق. م.) به دنيا آمد، و نام او را «سدارته » گذاشتند. البته بعدها به نام «شاكياموني » و گاهي به نام قبيله اش «گوتمه » هم خوانده مي شد.

پدر سدارته به شدت علاقه مند بود كه پسرش جهانشاه شود، و بر اساس يك پيشگويي، سعي داشت او را در كاخ نگه دارد و نگذارد او با رنج و دردهاي موجود در جهان آشنا شود. اما سدارته، كه اتفاقاً دردهاي جهان، مثل پيري، مريضي و مرگ را ديده بود، با مشاهده يك راهب ـ كه گويا از همه رنج ها آسوده بود ـ به اين نتيجه رسيد كه، اگر چه سراسر جهان، رنج است ، اما راهي براي رهايي از آن وجود دارد.

براي يافتن همين راه رهايي بود كه سدارته از كاخ فرار كرد و چند سال فراگيري تعاليم برهمنان و شش سال رياضت را تجربه كرد، اما در هيچ كدام راه رهايي را نيافت. سپس مدتي را به مراقبه و تفكر پرداخت و پس از مبارزه با شيطان، به مقام بودايي رسيد و حدود چهل و پنج سال از عمرش را به تبليغ آيين خود پرداخت؛ تبليغي كه ابتدا از شاگرداني شروع شد كه بودا را ترك كرده بودند.

انديشه هاي بودا، اگر چه متكي بر نوعي جهان بيني است و از اين نظر داراي فلسفه اي خاص است، ولي بيشتر آموزه هاي بودا، جنبه عملي و اخلاقي دارد. مجموعه انديشه هاي بودا در «تري پيتكا » يا همان «*سه سبد» كه به آن «كانون پالي» مي گويند، چند قرن پس از او جمع آوري شد.

همه فرقه هاي بودايي در اعتقاد به جوهر نظريات بودا، كه به چهار حقيقت مطلق مشهور است، مشترك هستند.
اين چهار حقيقت عبارت اند از:
حقيقت رنج: اين جهان پر از رنج و محنت است.
حقيقت علت رنج: سبب رنج آدمي، شوق و علاقه جسم خاكي و هواهاي دنيوي است.
حقيقت پايان رنج: وقتي ميل و هوس از بين برود، همه رنج ها پايان مي پذيرد.
حقيقت راه رهايي از رنج: راه رهايي از اين رنج در هشت چيز خلاصه مي شود:
بينش درست، انديشه درست، گفتار درست، كردار درست، معاش درست، تلاش درست، حضور ذهن و آگاهي درست، تمركز حواس و يكدلي درست.

بعد از مرگ بودا و در حالي كه تنها راه انتقال آموزه هاي او، سنت شفاهي بود، در اثر تفاسير مختلف گفته هاي او، فرقه هاي گوناگون بودايي پديد آمد. دو فرقه مهم كه در آيين بودا وجود دارد، عبارت اند از: "هينه يانه" و "مهايانه"

مكتب «هينه يانه» به معناي چرخ يا ارابه كوچك( لقبي كه توسط مهايانه و به منظور تحقير به آنها داده شد و بعدها به همين نام مشهور شدند)، در حقيقت خود را حافظ سنت اصيل بودايي مي دانست. در اين مكتب، رستگاري براي همگان ميسر نيست؛ چون پيمودن اين راه، توانايي هاي خاص خود را مي خواهد.

«مهايانه» به معناي چرخ يا ارابه بزرگ، در واكنش به مكتب هينه يانه شكل گرفت، كه با بازنگري در اصول آيين بودا و تحولي كه در مفهوم «بودي ستوه» انجام گرفت، دامنه دستيابي به رستگاري را وسيع تر و گسترده تر دانست، و همين امر، موجب گسترش اين مكتب شد.

موعود در بوديسم

براي روشن شدن مفهوم موعود و منجي در بوديسم، لازم است با دو مفهوم «بودا» و «بوديستوه » بهتر آشنا شويم. بودا و بوديستوه، در واقع عنوان هايي هستند براي موجوداتي علوي، كه در رستگاري انسان مؤثرند.

بودا به نجات دهندگاني گفته مي شود كه در زمان گذشته به دنيا آمده اند و ابتدا صورت بشري داشته اند، سپس به مرتبه اشراق رسيده و پس از اينكه انسان ها را به راه درست زندگي رهنمون شده اند، به مقام نيروانا (فناي مطلق) رسيده اند. سدارته گوتمه (بودا) از اين نوع است. در اعتقاد بوداييان، بودا يك نوع اصل است كه در زمان هاي مختلف، خود را توسط شخصيت هاي مختلف متجلي مي كند.

اما بود ستوه ها، در حقيقت، بوداهاي بالقوه هستند كه حيات جسمي فعلي ندارند . هر فرد بودايي، قبل از رسيدن به مقام بوداييت، يك بوديستوه است، مثلاً سدارته پيش از بيداري، يك بوديستوه بود. مفهوم بوديستوه اگر چه در متن تفكرات اصيل بودايي وجود داشت، ولي بيشتر توسط مهايانه مورد توجه و پردازش قرار گرفت.

در مكتب هينه يانه، تنها دو بودا از اين قبيل ذكر شده است كه يكي همان گوتمه ( سدارته؛ بودا) است و ديگري «ميتريه» كه يك بوديستوه است و بوداييت او در حال كمون است.
اما در مهايانه توجه بيشتري به اين موجودات علوي شده است . در اين مكتب، سدارته (بودا) چهارمين بودا از بودايان زميني است كه به دنيا آمده است و پنجمين بودا كه خواهد آمد و اكنون بوديستوه است، همان ميتريه است.

ميتريه؛ منجي موعود بوديسم

همان طور كه گفته شد، مفهوم منجي و موعود در بودا را مي توان در همين مفهوم ميتريه ـ كه علي رغم اختلافات موجود، در هر دو مكتب عمده بودايي مشترك است ـ به وضوح ديد.
ميتريه بود يستوه اي است كه در آينده مي آيد، و هم اكنون در حال كمون است. او منتظر است كه زمان بروز و ظهور او در روي زمين اقتضا شود؛ در آن وقت، مرتبه شهود و اشراق را حاصل كرده، خلايق را در عصر خويش، همانند گوتمه، به سرمنزل سعادت رهبري كند، و به همگان مژده رهايي داده آنها را از چرخه برگشت به دنياي سراسر رنج نجات مي دهد.
مفهوم ميتريه در بوديسم ـ و خصوصاً در مهايانه ـ مورد احترام و بزرگي خاصي است، و از او تمثالها و پيكرهايي ساخته شده، و او را در نهايت مجد و بزرگي، به هيئت مردي نشسته كه آماده برخاستن است، نشان داده اند.
اگر چه در مورد جزئيات اتفاقات و زندگي ميتريه به هنگام زندگي در اين دنيا، معلومات يكسان و زيادي در متون مقدس بودايي وجود ندارد، ولي اعتقاد به آمدن او در بوديسم، يك اصل انكارناپذير است.
در «كانون پالي»، نام ميتريه در بخش «چكه وتي سيهه ناده» برده شده است و در آثار بودايي غيرپالي نيز چند اثر به ميتريه اختصاص يافته است.

در «مهاونسه » چنين اتفاقاتي را در مورد زمان آمدن ميتريه مي خوانيم: پس از آنكه شاكيه موني به پري نيروانه رسيد، جهان پاي به سراشيبي اجتماعي و كيهان شناختي نهاد. پنج هزار سال پس از آخرين بودا، آفتابِ آموزه هاي بودايي افول مي كند و طول عمر آدميان به ده سال فرو مي كاهد. در اين زمان، چرخه وارونه و زندگي متحول مي شود؛ به طوري كه متوسط عمر مردم به هشتاد سال مي رسد. با اين عمرهاي طولاني و زمينه مناسب براي تعاليم بودا، يك راهنما خواهد آمد. او براي مردم رفاه و بهروزي مي آورد و آموزه هاي بودا را ترويج مي كند. آنگاه كه چنين فضاي بهشت گونه اي فراهم شد، ميتريه از آسمان نزول مي كند و بودايي خويش را به كمال مي رساند.

[RedWine]

To the contemporary Buddhist thinkers, violence is the result of the development of greed, aversion, and different views and beliefs hrough science, technology, and modern society.

The development of 'lobba', the Buddhist term for desire and greed, through technology and modern society has increased violence in our world. Technology is used as a tool for acquiring material wealth. Through technology industrialized enterprises such as factories are able to get the most productivity out of their workers. Hourly wages and measurement of the productiveness, has motivated workers to work harder in order to better their material standard of living.

This striving for money has increased greed and competition between people. Our laws today enforce the supremacy of individual profit making. The modern capitalist society is based on greed and material acquisitiveness. The values of capitalism include getting the largest share, and beating out all competitors. Capitalism redesigned society by separating human material desires and thus expanding its importance. This increases the value of material wealth and so results in more competition between people.

Buddhists see 'dosa' or aversion as one of the causes of violence in today's society. The technology that is used for acquiring resources has increased greed and thus created hatred through contention and dispute over material wealth. People compete for wealth and scarce natural resources. This competition intensifies hatred between them. This hatred and competition over material wealth and resources can also lead to wars between countries.

Views and beliefs, known as 'dittbi' by Buddhists, have also increased violence. Ideologies, religious beliefs, and social values are the views that strengthen greed and hatred in our society. The beliefs that control modern society are categorized into three groups. The first belief is that humans are separate form nature and so they must control and manipulate it according to their desires. The second belief states there are differences between humans. And the third belief is that happiness is dependent on plenty of material possession.

The belief that humans are separate from nature has resulted into heedless consumption and thus limiting our natural resources. The combination of this idea and the use of modern technology have resulted in a large consumption of our natural resources. Many industrial enterprises disregard the damages done to the environment and continue to consume the resources to their own benefit. Hatred and discrimination are the products of the competition for the limited natural resources and material wealth.

Violence can result from ideologies based on the belief that humans are different from one another. This belief originates from set of institutions including religion. Religious groups address humans in terms of small groups and not on a global level. This creates division between the different groups. Anti-Semitism was created by Christians. Humans have been classified into different groups, social classes, and races.

The Nazi ideology was a combination of racism, social Darwinism, and Manichaeism. Nazis singled out Jews for these ideological reasons. The dehumanization of the Jews and the use of modern technology enabled the Nazis to perform the mass murder of Jews. Through technology the Nazis focused on instrumental reasoning rather than decision making. So, the murders were performed without thinking and any moral sense. The technological and bureaucratic structure made the Nazi ideology seem natural.

The belief that happiness is dependent on abundance of material wealth results in greed, competition, hatred, and violence. The goal of this belief is to acquire the material wealth by the power to control other things such as nature or other humans. So the freedom and human happiness is associated with the power to control external circumstances.

To resolve this issue of violence in our society, equality and freedom among humanity is required. In our society, equality is divisive since it is based on competition, suspicion, and fear. In order to have equality, there must be unity and humans should see each other as equal beings. Today freedom and happiness is expressed by being free from external restrictions such as nature and other humans in order obtain more material wealth.

True happiness comes from physical, social, and inner freedom. Physical freedom is to live with nature and environment, free from want and deprivation. Social freedom is people living together without being exploited. The foundation of total happiness is the inner freedom which is being free on the personal level. This solution will free us from oppressive influence of greed, hatred and delusion.

[RedWine]

Hinduism is not only one of the world's major religions with approximately 900 million adherents, but in its roots also lie three other major religions of the world: Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. This column focuses on Buddhism. This faith has its beginnings in about 560 B.C.E. and gets its name from the person who established it, Gautama Buddha.

Gautama Buddha was born into a Hindu royal family in northeastern India and was named Siddhartha. When he was born, a sage told his father that Siddhartha would either be a ruler or a wandering monk. Afraid of the latter possibility, the father reared his son in the sheltered confines of his palace and endeavored to protect him from the life and the inevitable suffering that lay beyond the palace walls. Siddhartha, however, was a restless soul and would not be limited by his father's concerns.

When, as a young man, he wandered away from the palace compound, he encountered human suffering in many forms. The only contented and fulfilled person he met was a wandering monk. Siddhartha was so influenced by the contrast between those immersed in matters of this world and one who had renounced it that he vowed to follow the monk's example.

He left his royal abode and immersed himself in seeking salvation through meditation and a complete life of the spirit.

After a time he is said to have attained enlightenment, and as Gautama Buddha began preaching the knowledge and wisdom he had attained. He did so for about 40 years, and his teachings are embodied in the faith that bears his name.

Though Buddha is revered as the founder of Buddhism, he did not consider himself a savior or a messiah in any sense of the term.

Buddhism and Hinduism have much in common, but there are significant differences between them.

Buddhism does not recognize any sacred books or divine personalities, or any form of authoritarianism. Even more than Hinduism it preaches that individuals are creators of their own destiny. Buddhists believe that suffering is a universal characteristic of all existence, that it is caused by ignorance, desires, and greed. Suffering can be overcome by following the faith's Eightfold Path, which can be summarized as a life of simplicity that is pure in thought and action and driven by the journey toward Nirvana - eternal bliss or release from the cycle of birth and death.

Buddhism teaches that until a soul attains Nirvana, it can be reborn but does not have the karmic burdens of a previous existence - a key teaching of Hinduism.

Buddhism rejects all ritual aspects of the faith from which it derives, and hence sometimes it is thought of as Hinduism cleansed of one of its aspects that can lead to corruption. Buddhism advocates a monastic life as the prime way to attain Nirvana. Hinduism, by contrast, teaches that Moksha/eternal salvation is equally attainable by all people if they rigorously follow its teachings.

It is interesting to note that though founded in India, Buddhism failed to take deep root in the country.

The faith is prevalent in Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, Sikkim, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.