Theology Assignment: Buddhism, Dalai Lama, and Global Impact

This theology assignment explores Buddhism from multiple perspectives. The student expresses admiration for the Dalai Lama and his teachings, highlighting his significance as a Buddhist leader. The assignment details the core principles of Buddhism, including non-violence, simplicity, and the importance of meditation. It examines the factors contributing to Buddhism's spread as a world religion, such as its universal appeal, the Buddha's travels, the absence of rituals, and the emphasis on equality. The student also reflects on an article about Buddhism, summarizing key aspects like the Four Noble Truths and Karma. The paper provides a well-rounded overview of Buddhism, its practices, and its global impact, supported by relevant academic references. The assignment is contributed to Desklib, a platform providing AI-powered study tools.

Running head: THEOLOGY
Theology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. Opportunity to Visit an Authority on Buddhism
If I had the opportunity to visit a Buddhist leader in any part of the world, then the person
I would like to go and meet is his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is one of the
most well known Buddhist spiritual leaders in the world. He lived originally in Tibet but took
asylum in India in the decade of the 1960’s due to Chinese atrocities in Tibet followed by the
Chinese occupation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been living in India ever since and is
credited with having established the Tibetan Government in Exile with the consent and the
support of the Indian government. He follows the Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy (Dunn &
Jensen, 2019).
When I read or hear preaching of the Dalai Lama, when I watch his interviews on
television and when I hear about the miracles that he has brought into the lives of people, I
am filled with a sense of awe. The Dalai Lama and his followers overcame many hurdles to
cross the mountains of Tibet and come to India. His life was threat in Tibet because he
opposed the Chinese occupation and takeover of Tibet. He and his followers and later on
scores of Tibetan refugees were granted asylum on Indian soil. The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist
monk or Bhikshu and he lives the life of a monk even now, though he travels all around the
world to spread the message of The Buddha. His is a life of simplicity as is the life of any and
every Buddhist monk. The Buddhists believe in austerity and simplicity and in compromising
on all the good things of life. The life of a Buddhist monk is devoted to spreading the
teachings of the Buddha and in the attainment of salvation. This core essence of Buddhism is
ahimsa or non violence. This is why Buddhists don’t consume flesh or meat. Buddhist monks
live in monasteries, and are known to lead a life of simplicity (Huang & Wang, 2019). The
Buddha advocated spending long hours in meditation for the attainment of salvation and this
is something that the Buddhist monks are seen to engage in, with the Dalai Lama being no

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exception. I would like to visit him in Dharamsala, seek his blessings, and understand more
about the Buddhist way of life, as the beauty and simplicity of this religion has intrigued me
ever since my childhood.
2. Factors that have contributed to the Spread of Buddhism as a World Religion
There are a number of factors that have contributed to the growth and development of
Buddhism as a world religion. The first of these is the fact that Buddhism is universal in its
scope and appeal. The main tenet of Buddhism involves refraining from acts of violence or
aggression, which is easy to implement for the average peace loving person and which also
fills the person who engages in such an act of non violence with a tremendous sense of
fulfillment and integrity. Buddhism is therefore one of the most therapeutic of religions as it
gives individuals the scope to heal from their personal issues and trauma’s. Buddhism as a
religion upon the time that it was being preached and established and even hundreds and
thousands of years after the passing of the Buddha continues to be received well and accepted
well by people from diverse ethnic communities and cultures because of its universal
message of love, violence and peace, values that relate to people living in each and every part
of the world (Baker, 2018).
The second important factor that led to the growth and development of Buddhism as a
world religion lies in the fact that Buddhism was itself preached in international destinations
by Gautama Buddha himself. The Buddha travelled far and wide, to Ceylon or modern day
Sri Lanka to the country of China and other parts of Asia in order to make his message
known. The Buddha believed that travelling was one of the best ways by which one could
attain enlightenment in this lifetime and to spread the word of enlightenment as well, and for
this reason alone, Buddhism gained the international appeal that it did, at the time and age of
Gautama Buddha itself (Lopez, 2018).

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A third crucial reason for the development of Buddhism as a world religion can be
situated in the fact that it does not involve the use of rituals at all. There are hardly any rituals
to perform for a practicing Buddhist, making it a religion that became widely accepted by
people all over the world. Buddhism is a religion that does not believe in idol worship and it
also does not believe in the implementation of rituals for the appeasement of God. It is
therefore no surprise that people looking to refrain from organized religious practices across
the globe found Buddhism a religion that was easy to embrace and to practice (Davids, 2018).
Buddhism does not believe in the caste system, treating all men as equal in the eyes of
God. This disbelief in caste and hierarchy and its perception of all human beings as equal in
the eyes of God is the fourth major reason why Buddhism was so well received when it was
preached and which is why it eventually became a world religion. The element of equality
and fairness as established by Buddhism is something that rang well with people from diverse
economic and cultural backgrounds in the countries where the religion was preached in
ancient times, leading it to find followers to today in all countries of the world (Shipton et al.,
2018).
3. Reflections on Article on Buddhism in The Globe
I read an article on Buddhism in The Globe and Mail which is entitled “A Primer on
Buddhism”. It is an interesting and informative piece and reveals crucial information about
The Buddha and his teachings. The article provides an overview about the birth of The
Buddha, the four noble truths as stated by the Buddha, the emphasis of morality in Buddhism
and the concept of Karma which is a central aspect of Buddhism, and which states that goods
deeds or good acts are those that lead to a state of happiness while bad deeds result in
unhappiness and which keeps human beings chained to the cycle of life and death ("A primer
on Buddhism", 2019).

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References
A primer on Buddhism. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-primer-on-buddhism/article694488/
Baker, D. (2018). World religions and national states: Competing claims in East Asia.
In Transnational Religion and Fading States(pp. 144-172). Routledge.
Davids, R. (2018). Revival: Outlines of Buddhism: A historical sketch (1934): A historical
sketch. Routledge
Dunn, S. L., & Jensen, J. D. (2019). Buddhism and Buddhist Business
Practices. International Journal of Business Administration, 10(2), 115-128
Huang, T. R., & Wang, Y. H. (2019). Perceiving Self, Others, and Events Through a
Religious Lens: Mahayana Buddhists vs. Christians. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 217
Lopez Jr, D. S. (2018). Prisoners of Shangri-la: Tibetan Buddhism and the west. University
of Chicago Press.
Lopez Jr, D. S. (Ed.). (2018). Religions of Asia in practice: an anthology. Princeton
University Press
Shipton, W. A., Wright, J., Wright, T., & Srisai, N. (2018). Reaching Thai Buddhists and
Those with a Background in Thai Buddhist Beliefs. Journal of Adventist Mission
Studies, 14(2), 66-73.