Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Modern Theravada Buddhists have also written various critiques of a Creator God, which reference Christian and modern theories of God. These works include A.L. De Silva's Beyond Belief, Nyanaponika Thera's Buddhism and the God Idea (1985), and Gunapala Dharmasiri's A Buddhist critique of the Christian concept of God (1988).
(See Greco-Buddhist art.) Buddhism was known in the pre-Christian Greek world through the campaigns of Alexander the Great (see Greco-Buddhism and Greco-Buddhist monasticism), and several prominent early Christian fathers, including Clement of Alexandria and St. Jerome, were aware of the Buddha, even mentioning him in their works.
[11] [38] Buddhist scholar Masao Abe pointed out that while "the event of the Cross" is central to Christianity, it is not possible for Buddhism to accept its importance. [38] Buddhist philosopher D. T. Suzuki stated that every time he saw a crucifixion scene it reminded him of the "gap that lies deep" between Christianity and Buddhism. [39]
In the religious art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism (among other religions), sacred persons may be depicted with a halo in the form of a circular glow, or flames in Asian art, around the head or around the whole body—this last form is often called a mandorla.
The early Buddhist texts depict the Buddha as promoting the life of a homeless and celibate "sramana", or mendicant, as the ideal way of life for the practice of the path. [366] He taught that mendicants or "beggars" ( bhikkhus ) were supposed to give up all possessions and to own just a begging bowl and three robes. [ 367 ]
Buddhism (/ ˈ b ʊ d ɪ z əm / BUUD-ih-zəm, US also / ˈ b uː d-/ BOOD-), [1] [2] [3] also known as Buddha Dharma, is an Indian religion [a] and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. [7]
[4] [5] To some Hindus, the word Bhagavan is an abstract, genderless concept of God. In Buddhism's Pali and Sanskrit scriptures, the term is used to denote Gautama Buddha, referring him as Bhagavā or Bhagavān (translated with the phrase "Lord" or "The Blessed One"). [6] [7] The term Bhagavan is also found in Theravada, Mahayana and Tantra ...
Buddhist mythology contains legends of the Buddhas of past ages, such as Vipassi. An important source for these is the Pali Theravāda Buddhavamsa (Buddha Chronicle) which chronicles the stories of 24 past Buddhas. [37] Buddhist works also include a wide range of prophetic myths, which speak of future events.