Introduction to Buddhism

    Buddha is deified. He was a man in the early forma of Buddhism. Buddhism originated in modern India today. It eventually grew into a religion practiced by monks, nuns and the buddha people. They not only worshiped the Buddha they worshiped sacred places. They spread throughout Asia. The Buddha’s greatest spiritual accomplishments was the doctrine of the Middle Way. The experience convinced him that one should shun the extremes, avoid the pursuit of worldly desires on the one hand and serve, and discipline on the other. He did not pursue himself as a creator of a new religion, but as a promoter of it. To purify the religion.

Standing Buddha Offering Protection

    Samsara means round or cycle; initially means the endless cycle of rebirth and death, meaning there is no beginning and no end. The endless cycle is governed by karma, also known as causality. In ancient India, their time is measured in kalpa; meaning that there is always an endless cycle of of destruction, rubble, renovation, and duration. This time period is 20 kalpa long. Kalpa is thought of as a circle. All 4 endless cycles have a meaning. Destruction is a great beginning, but aggressively gets worse with scourges of fire, water, and wind. Rubble is a dark and empty space, the only existence is wind with seeds of karma. Renovation is the phase when you build from the bottom up; such as earth, metal, water, and wind. “Whirling wind forms a disk breaks down and forms the Earth.” (1) Finally, duration is the phase is preservation, the sentient beings appear. 

Mount Sumeru also know as Meru is the cosmic axis. That is the link between heaven and earth. The mountain is literally the middle of the world, it is a cosmological conception. That means that both physically and in terms of importance. The palaces of the Gods are on the top of Mount Sumeru. The mountain is surrounded by 7 chains of mountains and an ocean that has 4 continents such as, North, West, South, and East. North is a rectangle, West is a circle, South is a trapezoid, which is where humans live (Jambudvipa), and East is a crescent moon. As stated in the article, the universe is vertically structured. At the top of the mountain is the realm of “no form.” The realm’s senses cannot be perceived with qualities. It is very challenging and impossible to have any conception of it. The realms of form are next, they can be perceived as various states of meditation. The mountain is seen as pleasant sights, bright lights, and perceive coolness. Below is a realm of desire. It is divided into 6 levels. It is represented as “our” realm, it is the 6 paths of rebirth. The highest realm is accompanied by the Gods (deva). Next are the demi-gods, the mix of have god and half human (asura). After that are the humans and animals upon the surface of Jambudvipa. Hungry ghosts live in the shadow world below the animals. This level causes much pain and suffering, everyone here is always hungry and unsatisfied. The lowest level occupies the hell beings. Within this level there are 8 different levels, and the eighth being the lowest level where there is nothing but torture. This is very similar to ‘Dante’s Inferno’ with the different levels within hell and what happens in those levels. 

Karma is a way of life, it means action or deed. Karma is the law that regulates all life in Samsara, for example, existence in time and space is ruled by karma, every action has a result. Karma is a universal scale of good and bad. Good things lead to good karma, or results, and bad things lead to bad karma. It governs the short and long-term, it can never be taken away. It is always present in your life. Karma moves for life to life. It determines how a being will be reborn, in the higher or lower lifestyle. Your circumstances in life are depended on your deeds in your past life. 

Dr. Jennifer N. McIntire, "Introduction to Buddhism," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed October 21, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-buddhism/.