Buddhism Luck
Buddhism Luck – Everything that Happens has a Specific Cause
Buddha Statue - Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mudra for Meditation & Healing - 13 inch: Click for info
Buddhism is the oldest culture and the fourth largest religion in the world. The founder of its principles and philosophy was Siddhartha Gautama who lived nearly 26 centuries ago in north eastern Indian subcontinent, which is now known as Nepal. The Buddhist ideals and ideas have guided innumerable people around the world. During his period of enlightenment, Buddha discovered three great truths of life. Firstly, nothing is lost in the universe; secondly, everything changes in life because the universe is not constant and thirdly, every action will have a reaction.
The triple Jewel in Buddhism is – Buddha is the guide, Dharma is the path and Sangha are the teachers or companions along the way. One who follows the Noble Eightfold Path that is Right View, Thought, Speech, Conduct, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness and Right Concentration cultivates wisdom in life. Swastika is the graphical representation of eternity and is considered to be a good luck charm in Buddhism. There are colors which represent cleanliness, holiness, purity and also the state or condition of mind.
In Japan, the Daruma Doll is considered to be the traditional Buddhism charm, fashioned after the Zen Monk Bodhidharma used in setting goals and wishing good luck. In Buddhism, meditation is defined as practice to control your emotions and to concentrate towards achieving spiritual progress. Buddha never preached his experiences but he wanted people to overcome from all these suffering by making themselves physically and mentally strong. There is nothing called good luck or bad luck, it is the game of mind and if you are pure from heart, honest, understanding, patience, loyal, generous and forgiving qualities in you, it will give you prosperity.
Buddha Statues
Buddhism teaches that the one, who is deeply learned and skilled, well trained using well spoken words with his father mother, cherishes his wife and child and leads an honest, humble and simple life should be no less than “good luck”. The dictionary defines good luck as believing that whatever happens to a person in the course of his/her life is because of chance or fate.
Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words; this is good luck.
Buddha
In Buddhism this is completely denied and redefined as everything that happens has a specific cause and there is some relationship between the cause and effect. The greed and the impatience towards achieving all the worldly luxury aspects of life makes the person suffer. To attain self contentment and satisfaction, one has to really work very hard on his emotions, body and mind. If one has to pass the examination of life, he has to prepare for it; without preparing, no luck can pass him in the examination. These things are prerequisites to Buddhism Luck.
Every aspect in Buddhism has its own importance and principles. The teaching of Buddha and his principles have enlightened people in all ways to lead a happy and peaceful life. Today, in the present situation, all the principles and aspects of life preached by Buddha are very essential because in order to progress and succeed faster, we are slowly forgetting our basic ethics of living. It is not just about any particular religion but it is all about the practical life. Our good luck charm is to make a promise to ourselves that we shall follow the right path of living.
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Questions about Buddhism
Susan asks…
Some Sincere Questions About Buddhism? (Buddhists Only, Please!)?
So, I have some questions about the life of Buddha.
First, concerning his birth and conception:
What is the significance of the manner of his birth and conception? Why a white elephant, why born out of her side, etc?
Second, concerning his life and teaching:
It was prophesied that Siddhartha would become a great teacher instead of a mighty king if he ever knew suffering, right? So, his father spoiled him, in hopes he would become a king.
BUT!
Suffering comes from desire, right? And Siddhartha had to know desire for his desires to be met. Doesn’t that mean he knew suffering before the Four Sights?
We never covered these in my World Religions class, so I’ve been wondering.
Let me know if I need to clarify.
But, as I understand it, he had to know suffering to become an ascetic. Suffering comes from deisre, which we all come to know, and suffering occurs all the time in everyone’s lives, even the luxurious lives. That’s the confusion. I’m saying, didn’t he know suffering before the Four Sights? According to what I’ve learned of Buddhism, that should be true.
He was an avatar of Vishnu? I thought that was in Hindu belief that he was regarded as such? But I know that Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, etc. can be very fluid, so I guess that’s one interpretation.
Suzi Q answers:
I am not a Buddhist but my answers are based on what I know.
“White elephant with 6 tusks entered her right side” was only a dream of Siddhartha’s mother (Gautama Buddha’s mother) before she gave birth to Siddhartha. Therefore, in a way, this dream has not much significance as this could be a legend.
The king consulted 8 Brahmin scholars, after the birth of Siddhartha (the name means “one who achieves his aim”) and 7 scholars predicted that Siddharta would either become an ascetic or a great king while the 8th scholar predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha. In order to prevent Siddhartha to become a Buddha or ascetic priest, Siddhartha’s father gave Siddhartha a very sheltered life (of luxury) – so that existential sufferings of the world were kept away from Siddhartha’s sight or knowledge.
At age 29, Siddhartha, while out of the palace, came across the aged, the diseased and the dead. He was troubled by what he saw and one night he left the palace. He looked for answers as an ascetic and one day, at age 35, while meditating under the Bodi tree he was “enlightened”.
Suffering comes from attachment to desires. Siddhartha then understood – what is suffering, what is cessation to suffering – and therefore he declared that he beat “the drum of the deathless”.
By his 4 noble truths and 8-fold paths, I reckon that he fully understood “attachment” – even attachment to “self”. That was why he explained on the impermanence of “self”. Another analogy is that for self to be totally not attached, how could one be in totally vacant, empty room, seeing/sensing/conscious of nothing, not even the self. Not possible, because almost everyone, in consciousness is still attached to self. People misunderstood him to mean nothingness, ceasing to exist – but the actual meaning is that how to attain the stage of existing and yet not being “self” – and this is nirvana, the cosmic stage of consciousness.
*Knowing what is suffering and he was suffering (from desires) are 2 completely different meanings. The fact that he renounced all his material possessions (he was a prince) could indicate to us that material needs was not important to him, and he did not crave after fleshly needs too (his wife was very pretty) and he ate the bare minimum and he traveled around to seek answers.
That Siddhartha had found a path leading to CESSATION of suffering was in his declaration: “And what is it, monks, that I have declared? This is suffering, this have I declared. This is the arising of suffering, this have I declared. This is the cessation of suffering,this have I declared. This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering, this have I declared.”
Richard asks…
Do Buddhists believe Karma could be responsible for all the awful things in China?
I’m not saying it is or anything. I just wondered how they think Karma works.
It being the year of the Chinese Olympics, 8 is a very lucky number in china, the games were to be 8th of the 8th 2008.
So far there has been crippling blizzards, a train crash and this earthquake, 88 days before the Olympic games.
not to mention the riots in Tibet.
Also do Chinese people think it’s to do with it being the year of the rat, an ‘earth and water’ animal.
I get that, just the numerology is quite interesting, wouldn’t you say?
Suzi Q answers:
Not sure what Buddhists believe, but I think there has to be some comeuppance for treating people so badly as China does.
David asks…
The conversation between Buddha and a herdsman has a connection with Jesus and the Samaritan woman?
Buddha was one day walking through a forest when he encountered a herdsman named Daniya who told him that he does not mind the rain because he has cut his rice paddies and milked his cows. Then Buddha told him that even though he (Buddha has no land to plough or cows to milk or has no home of his own ) that he is still happy and does not matter if it rains because he has taken refuge in the truth and compassion towards all beings, and how the herdsman too can elevate himself to that state if he renounces hate and greed and practice love and forgiveness.
In the gospels we read a similar story of great inspiration when Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well drawing water.
How come we Christians and Buddhists are so lucky to belong to 2 Great spiritual traditions that has inspired so many people on their life’s journey?
Suzi Q answers:
Of course there is a connection.
Buddha lived 500 BC.
Most of the Biblical stories are copied from other traditions.
Virgin birth was copied from Zoroastrianism for example.
The idea of the soul is basically Greek.
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