Introduction to Buddhism

This document provides an introduction to Buddhism and explores its teachings and principles. It focuses on using Buddhism to provide moral support and charity to a village in Zimbabwe affected by floods.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM
INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Background Information
Gautama Siddhartha is the progenitor of all the ones who follow Buddhism. He is the god
head, the philosophical guide and the point of reference for all Buddhists to lead a life like a
faithful. Like Christianity which derives its being from Jesus Christ, Buddhism derives its being
from Gautama Siddhartha. To be very precise, Gautama Siddhartha is the founder of the
Buddhist faith, who wanted to do so in order to make a departure from the Brahminical
orthodoxy, caste hierarchy and the ritualistic complicacies of Hinduism and find a faith which
shall be inclusive (Ingram, 2018).
Statement of Purpose
For the present purpose, the discussion shall be focusing upon the elements in Buddhism
as a religion to provide the people of a village in Zimbabwe with the moral support and the spirit
of charity to help the people out there who have been devastated by the floods. The reason
behind choosing Buddhism as the religious philosophy lies in the fact that it is inimical to
Christianity in a number of ways and Zimbabwe being an overwhelmingly Christian nation, the
hope has been nurtured that the teachings from Buddhism shall be received well by the people
and they shall in turn translate them in to actions. The chosen village in Zimbabwe has been in
dire need of help at the face of the crisis that has hit the residents. Devoid of any substantial aid
and humanitarian intervention from the outside world, the village and its residents are more often
than not left unto themselves to cater to their requirements on their own. It is very evident that
Zimbabwe being an African nation poverty and lack of resources shall be the generic prevalent
scenario. More over being located in a remote rural area, not only is the village deprived of the

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essential facilities available in an urban area, but it is also difficult for the facilities to reach there
traversing the difficult terrain. In the following sections, the use of Buddhism and its tenets to
help the people out in the moment of crisis by providing certain principle chosen from the
religion. The principles shall be explained and then the reason behind using it to help the people
out and its usefulness shall be discussed simultaneously.
The Chosen Tenets to be disseminated
Christianity as a religion like Buddhism believes and lays emphasis in penance and
abstinence from sinful indulgences of life. Both being monotheistic and having a single god head
to which each of the faiths trace its origin makes them similar (Finnigan, 2017). Buddhism
derives its nomenclature by virtue of the fact that it progenitor is Lord Buddha, similarly the
progenitor of the body of Christian faithfuls is Jesus Christ. Both Buddhism and Christianity is
thus based on the tenets propounded by Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ respectively.
Meditation, a counter intuitive approach in conducting prayers, chanting the sacred hymns in a
monotonous manner are typical to both the chosen faiths for discussion (Levman, 2018). The
element of self purification incessantly through the means of prayer and actions is something
which is integral to both the religions. The goal as it has already been said that it concerns itself
with helping the people to cope up with the sufferings and overcome them. Hence only those
elements have been chosen which are similar to Christianity, the dominant faith of the nation, so
that the people find it easy to grasp the essence of the religion and apply it to their lives (Siderits,
2017).

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The Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism are concerned with the cause of sufferings and the
way to put an end to it. Buddha considered life to be comprising of sufferings, and the desire for
physical pleasures being the cause of sufferings. Sufferings could be destroyed and that could be
done by following the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold path consists of Right faith, Right conduct,
Right view, Right resolve, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness and Right
meditation (Thera, 2017).
This particular principle shall be important in helping the people suffering from the
ravages of the flood as this is a moral prlinciple which seeks to put the idea across the people that
sufferings are an inevitable part of life. The goal herein is not to make people into believing that
sufferings are normal, but to disseminate the idea that sufferings despite being a part of life can
be turned into a manageable affair by means of resolving the problems with compassion and
solidarity.
The Three Roots of Evil
Like in Christianity, there is a mention of the seven deadly sins, Buddhism has the three
roots of evil which is considered to doom the human beings to sufferings. They are Lobha
(Greed); Dvesha (vengeance) and Moha (Attachment) (Keown, 2016).
Like Christianity, Buddhism too has the concept of abstinence from sin. At the face of
crisis it is thus extremely important for the people suffering as a result of the natural calamity to
give up on the sinful aspects of life and lead a life of purity. Indulgences in the sinful pursuits of
life shall lead an individual and the community at the face of the crisis to go deeper into the

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quagmire of miseries. Hence this particular tenet is important as this shall prevent the people
from going deeper into the miseries and shall facilitate the people to reduce their sufferings.
The Fire Sermon
The Fire Sermon concern itself with the method of liberating oneself from the sense of
attachment. It is a historic speech that was delivered by Buddha to a congregation of a thousand
priests by using fire as a symbolism of desire (James, 2017).
This particular tenet is important as this shall be providing the people with the necessary
moral support that the villagers shall be needing at the moment of crisis. The villagers can be
oriented to the fact that nothing is permanent in this world and that things shall not always go the
way we envisage it to be. Life is extremely unpredictable hence the people must be prepared to
deal with any unforeseen undesirable situation. Desiring is something which is intrinsic to human
nature but the desires are the root cause of all the problems of the humankind. Hence, human
beings must desire but their desires must not be unrealistic.
The Dharma
It is a Hindu legacy that one can find in Buddhism which means an individual’s duty
towards others and to oneself. Fulfillment of duty determines what shall one beget. Observance
of one’s Dharma with piety is the key to achievement of salvation. The Karma of an individual
depends upon the way one fulfills the Dharma (Waterhouse, 2017).
This particular tenet is important for the sake of generating the spirit of compassion
among the masses and forging the spirit of solidarity along with the intention to help others in
distress. Karma implies that one shall get what one does as per the law of the universe. Hence at

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times of distress if the people help each other then they shall be receiving help from others in
times when grave distress shall plague their lives. The aim is not to instill fear in the minds of the
people but to instill the fact that people must stand by each other in times of their need. Human
beings ought to come to the rescue of each other in times of need impthat is the main argument
which is being attempted to disseminate through this principle.
The Sangha
The Sangha refers to the congregation or the order of monks and nuns who reside in
monasteries away from the pleasures of the world involved in deep meditation and simple
lifestyle without the luxuries of the world and also the lay persons. Thus it is the entire body of
faithfuls (Lama, 2018).
This particular principle is important as it tends to instill the spirit of unity among the
masses and binds them in unity. Monastic orders preach the vitality of unity and standing by
each other, and that is important in times of distress. It is equivalent to both spirituality and
religiosity at the same time.
Of all the sects of Buddhism I have personally chosen Tibetan Buddhism as it is quite
balanced in its approach towards and allows the followers to indulge in the pleasures of the
world. For example, other sects of Buddhism prescribe strict vegetarian diet but Tibetan
Buddhists do eat non vegetarian products as it is permitted. Faith is considered as a personal
connection between human and the God, and no external agent is supposed to determine the path
to spirituality. That is the beauty of Tibetan Buddhism (Green, 2018).

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Conclusion
Thus at the concluding section, it can be said that the teaching from Buddhism shall be
beneficial and shall be helping the people out to deal with their problems. It can be expected that
the people of the village in Zimbabwe shall be benefitting out of the teaching by means of
implementing the teachings into their lives and their actions and help each other out.

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References
Finnigan, B. (2017). Buddhism and animal ethics. Philosophy Compass, 12(7), e12424.
Green, P. (2018). Engaged Buddhism East and West: Encounters with the Visions, Vitality, and
Values of an Emerging Practice. In The Warrior and the Pacifist (pp. 56-76). Routledge.
Ingram, D. M. (2018). Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore
Dharma Book (Revised and Expanded). Red Wheel/Weiser.
James, S. P. (2017). Zen Buddhism and environmental ethics. Routledge.
Keown, D. (2016). Buddhism and bioethics. Springer.
Lama, D. (2018). The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Inner Peace: The Essential Life and
Teachings. Hampton Roads Publishing.
Levman, B. (2018). Response to Ven. Anālayo’s “Once Again on Mindfulness and Memory in
Early Buddhism”. Mindfulness, 9, 1043-1046.
Siderits, M. (2017). Buddhism as philosophy: an introduction. Routledge.
Thera, V. N. (2017). Buddha and His Teachings. Pariyatti Publishing.
Waterhouse, H. (2017). Representing western buddhism: a united kingdom focus. In From
sacred text to internet (pp. 117-160). Routledge.