Analysis of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism

Buddhism

Summary of the History of Buddhism and the Life of Buddha

Buddhism is known to be a school of ethical thoughts and philosophies, in addition to being a religion of worship. Different from other religious sects, the sole purpose of Buddhism is not just worshiping a certain god. Buddhism purposes to expound the thought of divine growth that brings about compassion and knowledge. With respect to history, the ancestries of Buddhism can be traced back to 563 BC. The word Buddhism comes from the term "Budhi," which means awakening. Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Guatama, who was later on referred to as Buddha. Guatama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment when he was 35 years old. In terms of the life of Buddha, it is acknowledged that he lived between the years 563 to 483 B.C, although it is estimated that he went on to live 100 years more (Brown, 2003). Legend says that the birth of Buddha was extraordinary. Maya, his mother, conceived him in a dream where a white elephant moved into her right side. During birth, the baby came out from her right side, completely made and went on to take seven steps. The baby was brought forth to an oracle who prophesied that he would come to be either a great king or religious educator. As a result, he was handed the name Siddhartha, which means "The one who attains his goal" (Brown, 2003).

Siddhartha's father unmistakably assuming that any interaction with unlikableness may cause him to pursue a life of abandonment as a religious teacher, and not wishing to lose his child to that kind of a future, sheltered him from the actualities of life. However, when he attained 29 years of age, he came to the realization that affluence and luxury was not a surety of happiness in life, and therefore, he set forth on a spiritual expedition, reconnoitering dissimilar knowledge, faiths, and viewpoints of his day. 6 years subsequent to studying and meditation, Siddhartha finally claimed to have discovered the key to human happiness. After this, Siddhartha was handed the title Buddha, which means the one that is enlightened. Subsequent to this, Buddha spent the rest of his lifetime teaching the philosophies and ideologies of Buddhism (Brown, 2003).

Basic Teachings of Buddhism

The basic teachings of Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. To start with, the Four Noble Truths encompass the quintessence of Buddha's teachings. These truths include: the truth of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the path that set in motion the culmination of suffering. Dukkha is the first noble truth, which asserts that all life is suffering. It proclaims that life comprises bodily aching and psychosomatic suffering, for instance, fear, solitude and sickness. Teachings by Buddha elucidate how to evade suffering and finally attain a state of spiritual enlightenment (PBS, n.d). Samudaya is the second noble truth and proclaims that suffering is triggered by desire. Basically, it is the aspiration to attain an aspect that cannot be achieved, and is what brings about suffering. According to Buddhism, rather than stressing ourselves to acquire what we wish for, we ought to change what we desire. The third noble truth asserts that if desire can be done away with, then suffering can end. Basically, suffering can end if individuals relinquish impractical aspirations (PBS, n.d).

The fourth noble truth maps out the approach for achieving the end of suffering. This last noble truth is acknowledged as the Noble Eightfold Path. The stages of the Noble Eightfold Path consist of the right thought, right concentration, right action, right understanding, right mindfulness, right livelihood, right speech and right effort. In addition, there are three subject matters into which the Noble Eightfold Path is allocated, which are wisdom, meditation and moral discipline. Moral discipline includes: speech, thought and understanding. Secondly, meditation includes: effort, action and livelihood. Lastly, wisdom includes: concentration and mindfulness (PBS, n.d).

Explanation of what makes Zen Buddhism Unique

Zen Buddhism is a combination of Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. It started out in China and thereafter disseminated to Japan and Korea. It came to be prevalent in the Western world from the middle period of the 20th Century (CNN, 2002) and has been largely embraced in recent periods. The most distinctive feature of Zen Buddhism is its matchless system of meditation. Different from other schools of Buddhism, Zen Buddhism seeks to gain an understanding of the meaning of life in a direct manner, devoid of being misinformed by reasonable thought or language. This sect is not vested in Buddhist Scriptures (Seiler, 2015). Zen Buddhists have the belief that experience is the crucial and decisive justification of the reality of their religion. The whole essence of Zen Buddhism is satori, which is considered to be the vital experience. In particular, it is this practice that makes a distinction between Zen Buddhism and other sects of Buddhism. According to Seiler (2015), Satori is described as an impulsive and unexpected experience in which the individual comes to be cognizant of what life is all about.