Was meditation part of the culture in the east before Buddha became enlightened?
473029
Yes. There were a number of Brahmin hermits, Hindu ascetic & Vedic monks and Yoga masters (Yogi's) all advocating meditation. The Buddha studies with several masters from many of these tradition's.\n\nIf you are interested in an in depth look at the Buddha, what he studied and the word around him, go to the link below. It has a lot of information. \n\nhttp://www.buddhanet.net\n\nIn particular, for the life of the Buddha, check out this page:\n\nhttp://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/lifebuddha/index.htm\n\nI hope this helps.
96377
Because there are different Buddhas :) \nBuddha simply means enlightened one, so thus there are many figures of the many people who became enlightened, became a Buddha.\n\nNo, once the man has been enlightened, they have achieved what is called moksha, it's a release from the cycle of birth, karma and death. Thus they can not be reborn again. \nSome Buddhists believe that you have 18 incarnations (or so) until you achieve enlightenement, others see it as limitless, however they are all searching for the same thing :) \n\nWhat's most interesting is that Siddhartha asked them to not make "a god" out of him: ie: make these huge and wonderful sculptures that they pray to. Now, they've made sculptures of all the many ancient Buddhas, but I just think they're all amazing. I hope to go over to Thailand/Japan sometime to see a few of them in person.\n\nTri- Thank you for your input too, I wasn't aware about the difference between the Buddha and the bhodisatva.
1086608
You forgot about Amrapali- the prostitute who became a nun , a follower of Buddha. Sounds familiar?\n\nBuddhas mother had dreams about an extraordinary son. Christians took the tale one step ahead.\n\nThere are more similarities if you really start comparing.\n\nADDED:\n\nJesus did not predated Buddh. Buddha predates .Jesus by 500 years and was already a well established religion.\n\n"..... Buddhist monks lived in Central Asia, the conduit through which Buddhism traveled from India to the East. \n\nThe giant Buddha statues at Bamian in Afghanistan lay on the same road. \n\nThey have been destroyed, but a wonderful sleeping Buddha, 16m long, still lies peacefully in Tajikistan. \n\nAnd near Kampyr-Tepe, we were invited to the site of a Buddhist lamasery, where the mendicant monks lived underground in a labyrinth, to protect them from the terrible heat and cold of the plain. "\n\n(source: Uzbekistan's best kept secret - BBC news.com).
857378
Just come back from a Buddhist temple 1 hour ago!Had a visiting monk from California giving a sermon on morality!\nSo what goes on in the temple?When there is no function devotees might come and do meditation.Not much decoration,but we have a big Buddha image with neon light behind the head!You are welcome to visit any of the Buddhist temple!
1089034
Buddhism is sort of an offshoot of Hinduism.  The Buddha that we usually think of Siddhartha Gautama, grew up in Hinduism and went off to do his thing.  The major difference, that I am aware of is reference to a belief in God.  Siddhartha did not refer to God, because God is too big a concept to be explained without diminishing it.  Buddha was more concerned with living compassionately and in such a good way that God would manifest through you without being named.  I hope this makes sense.
1091057
Yes, also referred to as the Buddha of Everlasting Light or the Pure Land Buddha.\n\nInterestingly, the "Amida" is not a historical "person" rather a fictional character created by Mahayana Buddhism to represent the ultimate nature of Shakyamuni Buddha as well as the Dharma or universal Buddhahood.\n\nNirvana is more of a Zen term rather than Pure Land. Pure Land develops out of Mahayana Buddhism in India and became wildly popular in China, where the invocation of Amida became the most common of all religious practices. It spread to Japan and was incorporated into Zen.\n\nUnlike many forms of Buddhism, Pure Land can be considered the Easy Path to Enlightenment. By practicing Nembutsu (concentration on the Buddha and his virtues, or recitation of the Buddha's name) and following the Right Practices, one is assured of rebirth in the Pure Land as the result of Amida Buddha's Vow. Once reborn in the Pure Land, Enlightenment can be achieved through proper study and practice of the Holy Path of Buddhism.
692195
Zen is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which strongly emphasizes the practice of meditation.\n\nTraditionally, Zen traces its roots back to Indian Buddhism; it takes its name from the Sanskrit term, dhyāna, which means meditative concentration (zen is short for the rarely-used form zenna). According to traditional accounts, Chan was established in China around 500 CE by an Indian monk named Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma is said to have been the twenty-eighth patriarch of Zen and the last Indian successor in a line begun by the Buddha's disciple Mahakaśyapa. His school was also known as the Buddha Heart School
225218
Confucious teaching started a whole new religion/philosophy called Confuciamism.\nDuring the Qin Dynasty in china,Qin Shihuang banned confucianism and executed anyone found hiding books on it.He also burnt most of the texts on confucianism.\nCenturies after that,rulers saw the value of Confucian teachings and used them as a basis for ruling. During the Han Dynasty,Confucianism became the state ideology(a set of beliefs on which people or countries base their actions on).People who wanted to work for the Chinese Government back them had to pass examinations which tested them on the teachings of Confucius.\nThe values that confucius imparted have lasted till today(since Ancient China thousands of years ago) and are still as relevant as ever.Many people still learn about Confucianism and practice it till today.\n\nIs this what you're looking for(u should be more specific)?Hope it is.If not you can tell me :)
635067
Scholars of South Asian religions are - at the very least - of the opinion that Sanatana Dharma represents one of the oldest spiritual traditions known to humanity. Many of these scholars go as far as to say that it is probably the oldest spiritual path on earth. Yoga practitioners would certainly agree with this latter view. The oldest writings known to humanity are the Vedas, the revealed scriptures of Sanatana Dharma, and date back to perhaps 3800 B.C.E. This is when they were first put into writing; these sacred scriptures are known, however, to have been transmitted orally from generation to generation for an extensive period of time previous to even this.\n\nFollowers of Yoga spirituality themselves hold the view that this spiritual tradition, known in the ancient, sacred language of Sanskrit as "Sanatana Dharma," is an eternal and ever-present (even if not ever-visible) way of life. No one actually knows when Sanatana Dharma was first started. Both practitioners of Yoga spirituality, as well as all academicians, agree that there was no one specific time in known history when the path of Yoga Dharma was founded. Additionally, there was no one individual - a prophet, saint or priest - who can be claimed as the founder of the religion. As far as followers themselves are concerned, Sanatana Dharma was never actually founded. It is an eternal spiritual phenomena that is as old as the Earth herself.  \nMoreover, Dharma (God's Natural Law) is the sustainer of the Earth. This is indicated by the meanings of the two words that constitute the very name of this culture: sanatana means “eternal” and dharma means “natural law."   \n\n  \n\nYoga Dharma is a way of life and world-view that is also trans-geographical.  Yoga and Sanatana Dharma do not pertain only to India.  Traces of Yoga and Sanatana Dharma are to be found in many of the ancient cultures of the world. We see ideas and practices that are very similar to Yoga philosophy, not only in ancient India, but also in Chinese culture, Native American, Celtic, Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Mayan, Germanic, Mesopotamian, and Persian cultures, as well as many others.  The concept of "Dharma", as the natural law inherent in our cosmos, is found in almost all ancient civilizations.  In Chinese, Dharma is translated as "Tao". In Ancient Egyptian, it is known as "Ma'at".  In Latin as "Liga Natura" (Natural Law).  In ancient Persian as "Asha".  The great Twentieth Century Italian philosopher, Baron Julius Evola, refers to this concept as "Tradition".  There is a word for Dharma in almost every ancient language on earth.  So when we speak of "Dharma", we are not just referring to some sect, denomination or creed.  Rather, we are referring to those principles that serve as the very foundation of all authentic religious experience.
939846
Buddhism originated in India and then spread all over Asia due to trading and immigration of people. As it gets stronger elsewhere it has become less prevalent in India. \n\nIt is said the next upsurge of Buddhism will come in the West. I think that is true.
894684
Lao-tzu said that if a man could concentrate fully on a single question for just five minutes he could conquer the world. \n\nZen meditation is, in fact, a discipline. On the surface it may appear that a "meditator" is blissed out, the zen features are a grounding of one's self so as to respond to the world in a non-reactive way. \n\nPeace.
634045
Lin-chi lived roughly from 810 to 866 A.D., in the Tang dynasty; this book was collated by his disciples soon after his death. He stands in the Ch'an (Japanese Zen) school of Mahayana Buddhism. This school emphasised immediate enlightenment over doctrinal concerns. The teaching goes something like this. \n\nThe prime concern of Buddhism is to free the mind from clinging to the world. The root of this clinging is distinguishing sense experience into good and bad, desirable and undesirable. Such dualistic thinking needs to be transcended. Ultimate reality is wholistic, without distinctions. However, if there are no distinctions in ultimate reality, then the immediate world and our everyday life itself is part of this ultimate reality (for to distinguish it from this reality would itself be dualistic thinking). Put another way, the Buddha nature is not esoteric and other-worldly, but permeates everything. So our own Buddha nature or (in more Taoist terms) our True Human-ness is not something to be sought for, but something that already exists in us. We must be brought to realise this, but trying to realise this takes us further from this realisation. Instead, the realisation (enlightenment) must be immediate, unmediated, unreflected-upon. (I must apologise for this clumsy exposition. Both Watson and Watts explain this much more clearly)\n\nThus Lin-chi's teaching is concerned with exhorting his students to realise their immanent Buddhahood.
1040660
Meditation from Thais by Jules Massenet.
519333
these people online might not give you accurate information. You may want to search "Buddhism" online.
1157868
Yes, and Buddha didn't claim to be a god, only an offering to enlightenment, study Buddhism.
328822
3 page article, hope this might help:\nhttp://www.wie.org/j14/tworkov.asp?page=1\n\n\nand this (scroll down to 'america'):\nhttp://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/to-west.htm
583535
Yes, Buddha says the mind is all and controls all.\n\nIf we control mind ... we control all.