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Buddhist Vegetarianism
Buddhist vegetarianism is the practice of vegetarianism by significant portions of Mahayana Buddhist monks and nuns (as well as laypersons) and some Buddhists of other sects. In Buddhism, the views on vegetarianism vary between different schools of thought. The Mahayana schools generally recommend a vegetarian diet because they claimed Gautama Buddha set forth in some of the sutras that his followers must not eat the flesh of any sentient being. Early Buddhism The earliest surviving written accounts of Buddhism are the Edicts written by King Ashoka, a well-known Buddhist king who propagated Buddhism throughout Asia, and is honored by both Theravada and Mahayana schools of Buddhism. The authority of the Edicts of Ashoka as a historical record is suggested by the mention of numerous topics omitted as well as corroboration of numerous accounts found in the Theravada and Mahayana Tripitakas written down centuries later. Asoka Rock Edict 1 dated to c. 257 BCE mentions the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism (the other being ''Theravāda'' and Vajrayana).Harvey (2013), p. 189. Mahāyāna accepts the main scriptures and teachings of early Buddhism but also recognizes various doctrines and texts that are not accepted by Theravada Buddhism as original. These include the Mahāyāna Sūtras and their emphasis on the ''bodhisattva'' path and ''Prajñāpāramitā''. ''Vajrayāna'' or Mantra traditions are a subset of Mahāyāna, which make use of numerous tantric methods considered to be faster and more powerful at achieving Buddhahood by Vajrayānists. "Mahāyāna" also refers to the path of the bodhisattva striving to become a fully awakened Buddha (''samyaksaṃbuddha'') for the benefit of all sentient beings, and is thus als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pali Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During the First Buddhist Council, three months after the parinibbana of Gautama Buddha in Rajgir, Ananda recited the Sutta Pitaka, and Upali recited the Vinaya Pitaka. The Arhats present accepted the recitations and henceforth the teachings were preserved orally by the Sangha. The Tipitaka that was transmitted to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Asoka were initially preserved orally and were later written down on palm leaves during the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE, approximately 454 years after the death of Gautama Buddha. The claim that the texts were "spoken by the Buddha", is meant in this non-literal sense. The existence of the bhanaka tradition existing until later periods, along with other sources, shows that oral tradition conti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ajahn Chah
Chah Subhaddo ( th, ชา สุภัทโท, known in English as Ajahn Chah, occasionally with honorific titles ''Luang Por'' and ''Phra'') also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" ( th, พระโพธิญาณเถร, Chao Khun Bodhinyana Thera; 17 June 1918 – 16 January 1992) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was an influential teacher of the ''Buddhadhamma'' and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of ''Cittaviveka'' (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) in the United Kingdom, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages. More than one million people, including the Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Meat
Elephant meat is the flesh and other edible parts of elephants. History Elephant meat has likely been a source of food for humans during the entire time of the species' coexistence. By the beginning of the Middle Palaeolithic, around 120,000 BCE, African societies were hunter-gatherers proficient in exploiting herds of elephants for their meat. A specimen of the now-extinct straight-tusked elephant was discovered in the Ebbsfleet Valley, near Swanscombe. The 400,000-year-old skeleton was found with flint tools scattered around, suggesting the elephant had been cut up by a tribe of the early humans existing at the time, known as ''Homo heidelbergensis''. Modern times Today, all species of elephant are hunted specifically for their meat. This occurs notably in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. During ivory hunts by poachers, meat may be taken as a by-product for eventual sale, or to feed the hunting party. , wildlife expert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Ethics
Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the Enlightenment in Buddhism, enlightened perspective of the Buddha. The term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is ''Śīla'' or ''sīla'' (Pāli). ''Śīla'' in Buddhism is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path, and is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principal motivation being nonviolence, or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue, moral discipline and precept. ''Sīla'' is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. It is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality" (i.e., obedience, a sense of obligation, and external constraint). ''Sīla'' is one of the Threefold Training, three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement; ''sīla,'' ''Samadhi#Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kassapa Buddha
Kassapa Buddha (Pāli), known as Kāśyapa (काश्यप) in Sanskrit, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 24 of the ''Buddhavaṃsa'', one of the books of the Pali Canon. He was the last Buddha before the "historical" Gautama Buddha, though living long before him. According to Theravāda Buddhist tradition, Kassapa is the twenty-seventh of the twenty-nine named Buddhas, the sixth of the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, and the third of the five Buddhas of the present kalpa. The present kalpa is called a ''mahabhadrakalpa'' (great auspicious aeon). The five Buddhas of the present kalpa are: # Kakusandha (the first Buddha of the bhadrakalpa) # Koṇāgamana (the second Buddha of the bhadrakalpa) #Kassapa (the third Buddha of the bhadrakalpa) #Gautama (the fourth and present Buddha of the bhadrakalpa) # Maitreya (the fifth and future Buddha of the bhadrakalpa) Life Kassapa was born in Isipatana Deer Park. This place is located in Varanasi, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upāsaka
Upāsaka (masculine) or Upāsikā (feminine) are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism (or, historically, of Gautama Buddha) who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows. In modern times they have a connotation of dedicated piety that is best suggested by terms such as "lay devotee" or "devout lay follower". Precepts The five vows to be held by ''upāsakas'' are referred to as the "Five Precepts" (Pāli: ''pañcasīla''): # I will not take the life of a sentient being; # I will not take what has not been given to me; # I will refrain from sexual misconduct; # I will refrain from false speech; # I will refrain from becoming intoxicated. In the Theravada tradition, on Uposatha days, devout lay practitioners may request the " Eight Precepts" from monastics (Pali: ''uposathaṃ samādiyati''). It was a widespread practice in Chinese Buddhist communities as well, and is still pra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right ''samadhi'' ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness). In early Buddhism, these practices started with understanding that the body-mind works in a corrupted way (right view), followed by entering the Buddhist path of self-observance, self-restraint, and cultivating kindness and compassion; and culminating in ''dhyana'' or ''samadhi'', which reinforces these practices for the development of the body-mind. In later Buddhism, insight ('' prajñā'') became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the path, in which the "goal" of the Buddhist pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Uppalavanna
Sister Uppalavannā (Else Buchholtz) was a German violinist who converted to Buddhism, becoming the first European Buddhist nun since the time of Greco-Buddhism. She lived as an ascetic in Sri Lanka from 1926 until her death. Early life Else Buchholtz was born in Hamburg in 1886. Both her parents died in a Cholera epidemic soon after.''The Inspiring and Remarkable Life story of Sister Uppalavannaa the German Buddhist Nun (1886–1982) who was Ordained in Sri Lanka'', Sir Lalita Rajapakse Charitable trust (n.d) https://web.archive.org/web/20150415123704/http://metta.lk/english/sister-uppalavanna.html Adopted by wealthy foster parents, she was brought up in the Tiergarten quarter of Berlin. She led a carefree life, with all the comforts of German high society, and music, singing, dancing and horseback riding were an important part of her upbringing. She was proficient in the violin and possessed a trained musical voice. In 1912, her foster parents also died and she inherited a co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unpublished
To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, article 3(3) URL last accessed 2010-05-10.Universal Copyright Convention, Geneva text (1952), article VI . URL last accessed 2010-05-10. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other content, including paper ( |
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being Rishabhadeva, whom the tradition holds to have lived millions of years ago, the twenty-third ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha, whom historians date to the 9th century BCE, and the twenty-fourth ''tirthankara'' Mahāvīra, Mahavira, around 600 BCE. Jainism is considered to be an eternal ''dharma'' with the ''tirthankaras'' guiding every time cycle of the Jain cosmology, cosmology. The three main pillars of Jainism are ''Ahimsa in Jainism, ahiṃsā'' (non-violence), ''anekāntavāda'' (non-absolutism), and ''aparigraha'' (asceticism). Jain monks, after positioning themselves in the sublime state of soul consciousness, take five main vows: ''ahiṃsā'' (non-violence), ''satya'' (truth), ''Achourya, asteya'' (not stealing), ''b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
