Buddhism

[ATeutonicKnight]

I know this has most likely been done to death, but what are the beliefs of Buddhists? Why are they most commonly known as people that practice peace and tranquility? And, most importantly, why do half of them worship Buddha when he was clear that he wasn’t a God and didn’t want to be worshiped?

 

[Ahimsa]

I know this has most likely been done to death, but what are the beliefs of Buddhists? Why are they most commonly known as people that practice peace and tranquility?

There are a few major traditions of Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism can serve as a useful introduction to Buddhism as a whole.

And, most importantly, why do half of them worship Buddha when he was clear that he wasn’t a God and didn’t want to be worshiped?

The definition of “worship”: “To regard with extreme respect or to venerate”. Buddhists venerate the Buddha, because the Buddha shows the Path to the Deathless.

 

[rossum]

I know this has most likely been done to death, but what are the beliefs of Buddhists?

How many years do you have?

To avoid all evil,
to cultivate good,
and to cleanse one’s mind -
this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

• Dhammapada 14:5
  Good and evil are close enough to Christianity that you don’t really need to change much. Meditation (“cleanse one’s mind”) is not common in Christianity, but there are plenty of meditation classes and not all meditations are explicitly religious. Counting breaths, for example, has no specifically Buddhist content: just breathing and counting to ten.

The usual summary of Buddhist beliefs is the Four Noble Truths:

1. 
   *]Suffering: the world we live in is unsatisfactory, and cannot provide lasting happiness.
   *]Origin: the cause of this suffering is our selfish desires.
   *]Cessation: the suffering will cease when our selfish desires cease.
   *]Path: the eightfold path leads to the cessation of selfish desires and hence to the cessation of suffering.
   
   For a summary of Buddhism, see Buddhism in a Nutshell.
   

   Why are they most commonly known as people that practice peace and tranquility?

   Because Buddhism works. It has spent 2,500 years developing techniques that work to reduce or eliminate selfish desires. The Buddha explicitly said that we were to work pragmatically, keeping techniques that worked and rejecting techniques that didn’t (see the Kalama sutta).
   

   And, most importantly, why do half of them worship Buddha when he was clear that he wasn’t a God and didn’t want to be worshiped?

   In theory, Buddhists “worship” the Buddha in the same way that Catholics “worship” Mary and the Saints. Offering great respect, but not actual worship. In practice, the difference is more philosophical than actual.
   
   rossum

 

[ATeutonicKnight]

How many years do you have?

To avoid all evil,
to cultivate good,
and to cleanse one’s mind -
this is the teaching of the Buddhas.

• Dhammapada 14:5
  Good and evil are close enough to Christianity that you don’t really need to change much. Meditation (“cleanse one’s mind”) is not common in Christianity, but there are plenty of meditation classes and not all meditations are explicitly religious. Counting breaths, for example, has no specifically Buddhist content: just breathing and counting to ten.

The usual summary of Buddhist beliefs is the Four Noble Truths:

1. 
   *]Suffering: the world we live in is unsatisfactory, and cannot provide lasting happiness.
   *]Origin: the cause of this suffering is our selfish desires.
   *]Cessation: the suffering will cease when our selfish desires cease.
   *]Path: the eightfold path leads to the cessation of selfish desires and hence to the cessation of suffering.
   
   For a summary of Buddhism, see Buddhism in a Nutshell.
   
   Because Buddhism works. It has spent 2,500 years developing techniques that work to reduce or eliminate selfish desires. The Buddha explicitly said that we were to work pragmatically, keeping techniques that worked and rejecting techniques that didn’t (see the Kalama sutta).
   
   In theory, Buddhists “worship” the Buddha in the same way that Catholics “worship” Mary and the Saints. Offering great respect, but not actual worship. In practice, the difference is more philosophical than actual.
   
   rossum

1. 
   I see. Thank you for the information.

 

[Daedelus76]

I know this has most likely been done to death, but what are the beliefs of Buddhists? Why are they most commonly known as people that practice peace and tranquility? And, most importantly, why do half of them worship Buddha when he was clear that he wasn’t a God and didn’t want to be worshiped?

Buddhism is not a religion of dogmatic belief so much as practice. There are Buddhist beliefs but they are to be lived out. Impermanence is a truth about reality but it is not a metaphysical claim, it is an observation meant to help a person along to an enlightened mind.

Buddha was/is the greatest being possible so worshipping him is meritorious. In devotional sect, nianfo or nembutsui (mindfulness of the buddha) purifies the mind of afflictions and leads to faith. In some sect, devotion eventually leads to a person bringing forth their own true nature, which is the same as the Buddha, and is already enlightened and pure. In Pure Land Buddhism the Buddha or Buddhas is not just an historical figure but also a cosmic presence that embraces us in our deluded, ignorant state and guides us wisely through compassoinate mean.