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Duḥkha, 'unease', "standing unstable," commonly translated as "suffering", "pain", or "unhappiness", is an important concept in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Its meaning depends on the context, and may refer more specifically to the "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease" of mundane life, not being at ease when driven by craving/grasping and ignorance.
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Vipāka is a Jain and Buddhist term for the ripening or maturation of karma, or intentional actions. The theory of karmic action and result (kamma-vipāka) is a central belief within the Buddhist tradition.
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Upāsaka (masculine) or Upāsikā (feminine) are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows. In modern times they have a connotation of dedicated piety that is best suggested by terms such as "lay devotee" or "devout lay follower".
Buddhism, also known as Bauddha Dharma, and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in the eastern Gangetic plain as a śramaṇa–movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population.
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of non-violent social activism and environmentalism. The non-profit BPF is an affiliate of the international Fellowship of Reconciliation working toward global disarmament and peace, helping individuals suffering under governmental tyranny in places such as Burma, Bangladesh, Tibet and Vietnam. Headquartered in Oakland, California, BPF was incorporated in 1978 in Hawaii by Robert Baker Aitken, his wife Anne Hopkins Aitken, Nelson Foster, Ryo Imamura and others. Shortly after other notable individuals joined, including Gary Snyder, Alfred Bloom, Joanna Macy, and Jack Kornfield. Generally speaking, the BPF has a tendency to approach social issues from a left-wing perspective and, while the fellowship is nonsectarian, the majority of its members are practitioners of Zen Buddhism.
BPF's work includes:
- Sparking conversation at the intersection of Buddhism and social justice;
- Training Buddhist political activists;
- Mobilizing people to action from a Buddhist perspective;
- Building a network of radical Buddhist activists.
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Saṃsāra in Buddhism and Hinduism is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be dukkha, suffering, and in general unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma.
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The Buddha is considered the ninth avatar among the ten major avatars of the god Vishnu, according to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.
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Phala is a Sanskrit term that means “fruit” of one's actions in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Buddhism, the following types of phala are identified:
Buddhist ethics as an academic discipline is relatively new, blossoming in the mid-1990s. Much like Critical Buddhism and Buddhist modernism, it is a result of recent exchanges of Eastern and Western thought. While generally thought of as a sub-field of Buddhist studies, the discipline of Buddhist ethics draws together history, philosophy, religious studies, anthropology, and more in an attempt to understand what may be the fundamental question of Buddhism: how ought man live?
In contrast with many Indian religious traditions, Buddhism does not regard the body and the mind or spirit as being two entirely separate entities - there is no sense in Buddhism that the body is a "vessel" that is guided or inhabited by the mind or spirit. Rather, the body and mind combine and interact in a complex way to constitute an individual. Buddhist attitudes towards the body itself are complex, combining the distaste for sensual pleasure that characterizes the general Buddhist view towards desire with a recognition of both the individuals dependence on the body, and the utility of the body as an aide in the development of insight. Issues of gender, the mortification of the body, and the body as a source of troublesome desire are all addressed within the Buddhist scriptural tradition directly, while Buddhist attitudes towards other, more contemporary issues have continued to develop and change in response to the social and material changes in modern society.
Buddhist modernism are new movements based on modern era reinterpretations of Buddhism. David McMahan states that modernism in Buddhism is similar to those found in other religions. The sources of influences have variously been an engagement of Buddhist communities and teachers with the new cultures and methodologies such as "Western monotheism; rationalism and scientific naturalism; and Romantic expressivism". The influence of monotheism has been the internalization of Buddhist gods to make it acceptable in modern Western society, while scientific naturalism and romanticism has influenced the emphasis on current life, empirical defense, reason, psychological and health benefits.
Buddhist views, although varying on a series of canons within the three branches of Buddhism, observe the concept of euthanasia, or "mercy killing", in a denunciatory manner. Such methods of euthanasia include voluntary, involuntary, and non-voluntary.
Many different major religious groups and denominations have varying views on organ donation of a deceased and live bodies, depending on their ideologies. Differing opinions can arise depending on if the death is categorized as brain death or cease of the heartbeat. It is important for doctors and health care providers to be knowledgeable about differentiating theological and cultural views on death and organ donations as nations are becoming more multicultural.
Kenneth Lewis Kraft was a professor of Buddhist studies and Japanese religions (emeritus) at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is a Catholic academic institute based in Oxford, which engages in scholarship, public debate, and education. Established in 1977, it is the oldest bioethical research institution in the United Kingdom.
References
- 1 2 "Professor Emeritus Damien Keown". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ↑ "Stem cell research: Clash of faiths". The Economist . 1 December 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ↑ Keown, Damien (1998). "Suicide, Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Buddhist Perspective". Journal of Law and Religion. 13 (2): 385–405. doi:10.2307/1051472. JSTOR 1051472. PMID 15112691. S2CID 10435118 . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ↑ Keown, Damien (2010). "Buddhism, Brain Death and Organ Transplantation". Journal of Buddhist Ethics. 17: 1–36. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ↑ Keown, Damien (2007). "Buddhism and Ecology: A Virtue Ethics Approach". Contemporary Buddhism. 8 (2): 97–112. doi:10.1080/14639940701636083. S2CID 144689054 . Retrieved 26 December 2022.
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