Buddhism is a religion and philosophy with between 230 and 500 million adherents worldwide, the vast majority living in Asia but with an increasing number in the West.http://www.trcb.com/en-Us60Thu, 9 Feb 2012 21:03:40 ESTCopyright 2012 Newness Of Life Ministries , TRCB.com All Right Reservedhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/relationship-9979.htmGod is not an impersonal force. He is like a parent. Children do not doubt the existence of parents and they understand parental rules and desires. They may disobey, but they disobey understanding the consequences. The news is full of stories of those who mock sin. Thu, 14 May 2009 07:02:31 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/relationship-9979.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/happiness-and-buddhism-2937.htmBuddhism holds the secret of happiness and the key method of achieving this is meditation. From meditation Buddhists train their brains to feel true happiness and control aggressive instincts. It is backed by research.Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:23:22 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/happiness-and-buddhism-2937.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/assimilation-with-the-vedanta-625.htmAsanga and Vasubandhu perfected Vijnaanavaada. With this, the Buddhist philosophy entered the phase at which, except for a few differences, it became easy for it to enter the Vedanta, and for the Vedanta to assimilate and absorb it. In fact, even its doctrine of causation underwent serious transformation.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:24:40 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/assimilation-with-the-vedanta-625.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/meditational-practices-624.htmA standard list of moral practices in Buddhism is the five precepts (pancaseela). The list comprises abstinence from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxicating drugs or drinks. A Buddhist layperson is to practice them during his ordinary day-to-day life. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:24:08 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/meditational-practices-624.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/lifes-ideal-622.htmFor all the Indian schools of thought, except the Caarvaakas and the early Mimaamsa, the ideal of life is to obtain salvation. Salvation lies in transcending the world of becoming, which is the world of action (dharma). But becoming is a combination of being and non-being for the Buddhists.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:23:39 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/lifes-ideal-622.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/dharma-and-the-passing-of-the-concepts-of-substance-quality-action-and-force-621.htmDharma, as an idea, has set afoot a very significant line of thought in Buddhism. In Buddhism, this word means everything. It means elements, categories, qualities, things, law, way of life, form, and even Ultimate Reality. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:23:10 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/dharma-and-the-passing-of-the-concepts-of-substance-quality-action-and-force-621.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/tathataa-tathyam-satta-and-satyam-their-interrelations-620.htmWhen we seek to understand ultimate concepts like truth, reality, existence, and Being, etymologies can be of help. In Indian philosophy, including Jainism and Buddhism, the relevant words are sat (existent, existence), sattaa (existence, Being), satyam (truth, reality), tathyam (truth), and tathataa (truth, thusness, reality). Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:22:33 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/tathataa-tathyam-satta-and-satyam-their-interrelations-620.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/relativism--its-positive-and-negative-expressions-619.htmThe Empty, the Void (suunyataa), the cornerstone of the Buddhist philosophy, is considered to be of the sense neither true, nor false, nor both true and false, nor neither true nor false, and of the other four-cornered forms of negation. From this standpoint, Buddhism is considered as having been helpful for tolerance of all the rival views, particularly the ethical, by denying absolute truth to everyone.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:21:56 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/relativism--its-positive-and-negative-expressions-619.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/how-is-existence-known-618.htmNon-being is a referential or relative notion, and belongs to thought. Without the intervention of thought, there is no cognition of any negative idea. On the other hand, Being must have been first known before referential ideas are formed out of it.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:21:38 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/how-is-existence-known-618.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/being-and-non-being-are-not-coordinates-617.htmThe Buddhists contend that Being and Non-being are coordinates. So Nirvana, the state of salvation or emancipation, has to be neither Being nor Non-being. This contention does not stand critical examination.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:21:13 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/being-and-non-being-are-not-coordinates-617.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/causal-law-and-i-consciousness-616.htmThe Buddhist theory of causation as independent origination or as a kind of occasionalism has both merits and demerits. In a way, it is consistent with its doctrine of momentariness. Everything is momentary; so is the cause; it dies giving rise to the effect. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:20:50 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/causal-law-and-i-consciousness-616.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/momentariness-vs-apperception-and-historical-consciousness-615.htmIf momentariness is applied to knowledge, apperception becomes impossible. Apperception is of the form, I know that I saw the book, while that is a book is perception.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:20:33 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/momentariness-vs-apperception-and-historical-consciousness-615.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/body-as-the-only-sense-organ-614.htmBuddhism is religion par excellence in the sense that it is concerned first and foremost with man's spiritual life, apart from his social and political life. As a result, it can fit into every society and political structure.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:20:13 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/body-as-the-only-sense-organ-614.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-doctrine-of-illusion-613.htmThere seem to be many doctrines of illusion among the main Buddhist schools, namely, the Sautraanika, the Vaibhasika, the Maadhyamika and the Vijnaanavaada. Again there are differences of opinion within every one of the four main schools. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:19:55 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-doctrine-of-illusion-613.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/time-612.htmGenerally, Buddhism takes it as canonical that things are fleeting, lasting for only a moment. This leads to a few questions. How long is a moment? Are there things which occupy moments past, present and future? Is a dharma confined to the present only?Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:19:35 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/time-612.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/verbal-and-validity-of-knowledge-611.htmThe Buddhists do not accept verbal knowledge as a distinct means of valid cognition. Hearing the word as a sound is perception; and knowing its meaning is inference.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:18:44 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/verbal-and-validity-of-knowledge-611.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/inference-610.htmThe Vijnaanavaadins have an interesting theory of the relation between perception and inference. According to them, all perception is indeterminate in the sense that it is without any inner distinctions, and is non-relational.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:17:16 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/inference-610.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/perception--perception-of-particular-609.htmThe Vijnaanavaadins define perception as non-illusory sense-cognition devoid of determinations (kalpana). Determinations are the characteristics and their relations. The rival schools of Buddhism severely criticize this definition of perception.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:16:47 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/perception--perception-of-particular-609.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/epistemology-608.htmEarly Buddhism did not show much interest in epistemology. But later schools, from the time of the Sarvaastivaadins, began developing their epistemological doctrines. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:16:07 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/epistemology-608.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-abhidharmamahaavibhaasa-607.htmThe Mahaavibhaasa is a massive sourcebook of Sarvaastivaadin doctrine, compiled according to tradition in the first half of the second century AD, at the time of the third sectarian council convened in Kashmir, sponsored by King Kanishka.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:15:41 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-abhidharmamahaavibhaasa-607.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-jnaanaprasthaana-606.htmAll sources agree that the doctrinal edifice of the Sarvaastivaada School is built upon the Jnaanaprasthaana, ascribed to Kaatyaayaniputra around the second half of the first century BC. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:15:14 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-jnaanaprasthaana-606.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/prakaranapaada-605.htmThe Prakaranapaada, in its content and style, appears to be the latest of the six padasaastras. Its one hundred citations in the Mahaavibhaasa are second in number only to those of the Prajnaptibhaasya.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:14:43 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/prakaranapaada-605.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/dhaatukaaya-and-vijnaanakaaya-604.htmThe Dhaatukaaya is representative of the middle stratum of Sarvaastivaada Abhidharma texts. It is a preliminary attempt to systematize the burgeoning numbers of mental phenomena into a coherent matrix.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:13:55 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/dhaatukaaya-and-vijnaanakaaya-604.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-buddhist-way-to-liberation-the-philosophy-of-liberation-623.htmThe Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu helps to get an orientation to the Buddhist view of the path to liberation.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:13:33 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/the-buddhist-way-to-liberation-the-philosophy-of-liberation-623.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhismhttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/sarvaastivaada-school-600.htmAmong the traditional eighteen schools of early Buddhism, it is the Sarvaastivaadins who exerted the most profound influence on the subsequent development of the religion.Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:54:46 ESThttp://www.trcb.com/religion/buddhism/sarvaastivaada-school-600.htmTRCB.comReligion / Buddhism