Buddhism According to Websters definition, Buddhism is not a religion. It states that religion is the "belief in or worship of God or gods"(Websters New World Dictionary pg.505). "The Buddha was not a god"(About Buddhism pg.1). " There is no theology, no worship of a deity or deification of the Buddha"(Butter pg.1) in Buddhism. Therefore "Buddhists dont pray to a creator god"(Buddhism FAQs pg.1). Consequently, Buddhism is categorized as a philosophy, but is still regarded it as a religion. "The name Buddhism comes from the word budhi which means to wake up and thus Buddhism is the philosophy of awakening"(What is Buddhism pg.1). Fittingly, "Buddha literally means awakened one"(Buddhist Basics pg.1). "Buddha are aimed solely to liberate sentient beings from suffering"(About Buddhism pg.1). They dedicate their lives to showing others the way to end the viscous cycle of samsara, or reincarnation. Buddha are enlightened beings who had the opportunity to reach the ultimate goal, but turned back to help the rest of the world get to where they were. The ultimate goal is to attain Nirvana. "Nirvana simply means cessation"(The Goal pg.1). "It is the cessation of passion, aggression and ignorance"(The Goal pg.1). "Nirvana is the highest happiness"(What is Buddhism pg.5). "It has become equated with a sort of eastern version of heaven."(The Goal pg.1). The way to reach Nirvana is " to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrow- to let the Self die"(Hesse pg.11). "Freedom from the Self liberates"(About Buddhism pg.1). Once Nirvana is achieved one can escape the cyclical repetition of life, in which one is reincarnated over and over again.In Buddhism, "the world is in flux, coming into existence and passing away"(Buddhist Basics pg.5). It is a continuous cycle. Time is often viewed to be like that of a river. If youve seen a river youd have seen that "the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always ...
