Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism are considered as two popular schools in Mahayana Buddhism. The two are regarded as polar opposites. In this paper, I argue that Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism are not entirely different, they still have underlying similarities instead. Firstly, I am going to talk about the two themes, Bodhisattva’s compassion and emptiness in Mahayana. Bodhisattva is a practitioner who experiences millions of rebirths before becoming Buddha. However, in order to make sure that others are also enlightened, Bodhisattva put off his chance to enter nirvana (liberation). For Bodhisattva, it’s selfish that you only want to attain the perfection of awakening for yourself instead of being compassionate to the people who haven’t …show more content…
They are Zazen and Kōan meditation. Zazen is simply sitting meditation and Kōan is mainly the stories of conversation between master and disciples. Both of them are difficult and are performed in the monastery. As Victor Hori (4) said “the Kōan as irrational instrument”, Kōan is “using poison against poison”. The importance of Kōan is to be unsolvable in order to obtain what is rational. As the story of questioning the sound of one-hand clapping shown, you can only find the answer if you stop intellectualizing, abandon rationality but beyond your consciousness. No matter how hard you are looking for the one sound of one hand, you cannot find it because you only see the duality but not the non-duality. (Li, March 21, …show more content…
Firstly, they both emphasize on naturalness. D.T. Suzuki creates a term of “isness” which is the same as what a Zen master said “if you want to see, see right at once. When you being to think, you miss the point.” This depicts that things are all in itself naturally not from something added outside. Also, there is a term called jinenhoni (naturalness) in shinran’s teaching representing our deep entrusting to Amida Buddha. (Li, March 21, 2016; Li, April 6, 2016) Secondly, both of them reject religious practices and magical benefits. According to D.T. Suzuki, Zen is not a religion and there are no god or eternal soul existing. As for Shinran, he refuses the reliance on prayer and divination. (Bloom 231; Li, March 21, 2016). Thirdly, shinran believes that emptiness is beyond language. This is the same as a Zen master story. Master Yunmen stuck a monk after he asked about what was the primary phrase. Yunmen’s purpose to strike is to teach him without using language. (Li, March 18, 2016; Shinran 144) Lastly, Shinran said his teaching is transcending or immediate which is the same as Zen’s sudden awakening. (Bloom, 231; Li, March 21,
Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism are just schools of practice. The difference is mainly in practice. Buddhism, in general, does not worship what you call "Gods", but their existences are acknowledged as a heavenly being of intense merits and blessings, often with the leadership of qualities of that sort. Other cases of belief, Gods may or may not be acknowledged. However, this is hardly accurate to the whole of the Buddha Dharma. Zen Buddhism is the focus of meditation to attain enlightenment. This is the practice of sitting in stillness, focusing on single-mindedness and investigating Zen. Whereas, Pure Land Buddhism is the focus of reciting Amitabha. However, recitation of Buddha 's name can cause one to enter Samadhi. It employs the single-minded focus that aims for in Zen meditation. Pure Land 's main goal was from the recitation of Amitabha Buddha for
Even though Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are usually considered to be quite different, they are actually part of the same type of Buddhism, Mahayana, and thus have an underlying similarity. This essay will argue that, in particular, the Mahayana concepts of non-duality and no-self are present in both schools, and that the ways employed in each school to reach their respective goals can be analyzed in a similar fashion, proving that these two schools are part of, rather than deviations of, Mahayana Buddhism.
Christianity and Buddhism are two different religions that developed and spread contemporaneously in during the Classical Period different territories. Both of them share some similarities as well as differences. Both of these religions were founded based upon different principles taught by different people; in Buddhism’s case Gautama Buddha a thinker and in Christianity’s it is Jesus Christ who is a prophet. These two universal doctrines spread in times of chaos, in which citizens of their own territories were looking forward to achieve salvation of any kind. Although alike these two doctrines didn’t have a
Buddhism and Confucianism are both unique religions that have their origins in the continent of Asia. While they both share similarities, Buddhism and Confucianism are also very different from each other and through the elements of religion I will be comparing what makes Buddhism and Confucianism so unique. The elements of religion I will be covering in this essay are founders, history, practices, teachings, scripture, worship, worldview, and ultimate goals. The objective of this essay is to emphasize the qualities these two religions share, as well as to identify what makes them different.
The Mahayana and Theravada schools, while both following the Buddhist belief, have different understanding of the religion and the idea of Buddha The Buddha is the founder and leader of this religious tradition whose teachings make up the key Buddhist beliefs. The stimulus piece would be interpreted in a different manner for each Buddhist school, while also holding some similarities. While both Buddhist schools agree upon the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, interpretation and how they are applied differ in certain areas of Gautama 's teachings (Dickson, 2004). Traditional Theravada is described as ‘classical’ Buddhism as it is more ancient and
The aspiration of all sentient beings is to reach enlightenment; to realize their Buddha-nature and ascend to Buddhahood. The path and method to reach enlightenment, however, differs depending on the perspective from which one views Buddhism. Dogen, in his teachings on Zen Buddhism, promotes the practice of zazen to reach enlightenment. Shinran and the Pure Land sect are devoted to Amida Buddha, who they believe will bring them to the Pure Land, and enlightenment. The ways espoused by Dogen and Shinran are similar in some aspects, but differing enough in others to warrant the separate sects of Buddhism in Japan. For the purposes of this examination, the two sects can be summarized by how they look at reaching enlightenment: Zen Buddhism focuses inwardly, while Pure Land focuses outwardly. By examining their own words on how one is to reach enlightenment, the similarities and differences in their methods can be seen, allowing a better understanding of the teachings of their respective sects.
This paper will explore the question of how to understand the nature of perceived ultimacy in Zen Buddhism. This will be achieved through providing a justification for why this question should be of any interest and then hypothesizing about possible implications of the results. Next, the framework that is to be used in categorizing the core beliefs in Zen will be explained and made clear. After this description is complete the author will proceed to fit Zen Buddhism into this framework and will demonstrate that the Zen religion is no exception to the employed framework. Finally the author will describe the perceived ultimacy of Zen Buddhism.
An organization of Buddhists that maintain the website Buddhaweb hold these teachings as the core concepts of Zen Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths state that suffering exists, suffering arises from attachment to desires, suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases, and freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path teaches three disciplines in wisdom, morality, and meditation. Wisdom, or panna , is learning to have the right view and thoughts. Morality, or sila , teaches to control your speech correctly, act correctly, and pursue a correct livelihood. Meditation, or samadhi , has you discipline your efforts, your mindfulness, and your contemplation. These teachings in qualities are meant to be practiced to obtain peace, and for some to travel the path towards Enlightenment. (“ buddhaweb ”)
The Zen monk’s teaching techniques used in Japan that Mori introduced to us rely heavily on the students’ effort and desire to achieve. This Zen technique is based off satori, or enlightenment and in this style of teaching the teacher presents “a series of koans-- questions that are meant to puzzle and disturb rather than provide answers” (Mori). The goal of these koans is to break down the students’ confidence about their
Evidently, all of the religions in the world have different beliefs. Beliefs are the basis of one’s behaviour. Everything an individual does, traces back to the beliefs they have about the world. Hinduism and Buddhism are two religions that originated from the same nation, India. Both religions share beliefs on different paths to enlightenment, beliefs on reincarnation, and both believe in the spiritual practices of meditation. The purpose of this paper is to further discuss these beliefs, along with their similarities.
The two most common forms of meditation are practicing Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapana Sati) and Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta Bhavana) (Dhammika 2015).
Both Hinduism and Buddhism focused on nature and both believe in several hells and heavens. For example, they both believe in Karma which is the effect a person’s actions in this life will change his/her next life. They all also both focus on peace.
Rinzai and Soto are the two sub divisions of Zen, and are the two largest Zen sects in Japan today. Rinzai was brought to Japan by Eisai in the 12th century and focuses on sudden enlightenment. This practice believes that unless one awakens the absolute, Rinzai will have no effect. Rinzai master Hakuin used koans, a puzzling or paradoxical story or statement for aid in meditation. The most well known koan, “what is the sound of one hand clapping?” was created by Hakuin Ekaku.
In this essay, two world religions will be compared to see how similar and/or how different they are; these two religions are Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism speaks about the wise thoughts that Confucius came across throughout his life. Buddhism speaks about how to acquire great knowledge throughout life. Confucianism was founded by a Chinese man, but Buddhism was founded by an Indian man. These quick comparisons show how the religions differ, but more detailed comparisons will be seen throughout the essay.
Jainism and Buddhism share some common ground and similarities in their beliefs and practices, and they also have features that make them unique and distinctively different from the other. Some of the central similarities of Jainism and Buddhism can be found in when and where their traditions originated, resemblances in their primary teachers, their religious goals, nonbelief in a creator, and their values of nonattachment and nonviolence. Some differences between Jainism and Buddhism are found in their karmic principles and the conception of the soul. There seems to be more parallels shared between Jainism and Buddhism than discrepancies.