Brochure on Buddhism

BUDDHISM

The Buddhist religion started in the Indian sub-continent 2,500 years ago. Generally, the religion assists its members find peace within the self. Those who practice the religion are known as Buddhists. Buddhists through their daily practices develop peace, perception, and gentleness. The goal of the religion is universal peace and harmony among all living creatures (Gayley, 2004).

The founder of the religion Buddha Shakyamuni explains that all human misery arises found a negative state of mind. Happiness and good fortune arise from a positive state of mind. Only through overcoming the negative mind, such as anger and jealousy and developing a positive mind, such as love and wisdom can one achieve lasting peace and happiness (John 1995).
Buddhism is the most common religion in India and the Far East countries. These include countries like china, Vietnam, Korea (north and south), Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Japan, and Mongolia. The teachings of the religion are applicable to anyone regardless of age, color or nationality. Buddhism is increasingly gaining popularity in the western countries, especially the United States (Gayley, 2004).
MEDITATION
Meditation is the conscious effort to alter how the mind functions. Bhavana is the Pali word for meditation meaning to develop. It is central in Buddhism but differs depending on the traditions. Ultimately, this form of mental deliberation leads to illumination and spiritual autonomy (Adam & Peter, 2009).
Buddhist meditation has two main types. They include samatha (tranquility) and Vipassana (insight). When the two are in combination samatha follows Vipassana (Duangmee, 2012).
Tranquility meditation

The purpose of this type of meditation is to train the mind to concentrate. One requires a kammatthana or object of concentration. These vary between individuals (Gayley, 2004). The objects of concentration may include:
Qualities
Revolting Things
Devices/objects
Reminiscences
The objective of this kind of meditation is to progress through a process involving four stages. These stages are also known as dhyanas and include dissociation with the external environment and a consciousness of joy and tranquility, concentration with inhibition of reasoning and exploration, the passing away of joy, but tranquility remains; and the passing away of tranquility resulting in a state of pure composure and equability (Duangmee, 2012).
Insight meditation
Most of the skills applied in tranquility meditation are applicable to insight meditation; however, the goal is different. The purpose of this kind of meditation is the comprehension of the important truths of life. The specific truths targeted by the practitioners of this reflection are impermanence, misery, and no-self (Adam & Peter, 2009).
The Buddhists already know the doctrines; however, one must understand the truths at a personal level. Because insight meditation leads to the attainment of liberation, it is superior to tranquility meditation (John 1995).
Insight meditation focus is mindfulness. It involves not only blocking everything else other than the object of focus but also involves an attempt to comprehend the object. Mindfulness is the first step in insight meditation. The methods of developing the skill include walking and sitting mindfulness, and mindfulness of the everyday activities (Adam & Peter, 2009).
Walking mindfulness

Walking mindfulness is practicable anywhere. One finds a quiet place to walk with minimal distractions. When walking, only focus on the movements and sensations involved in the walking. If the mind drifts to something else, note that mindfully and focus back to the walking. According to those who practice the meditation, one can easily lose himself in the activity and walk for a long time. Time seems to slow down and hours seem like a few minutes. The activity is blissful by itself but also brings the practitioner closer to the fundamental truths (John 1995).
Sitting meditation
Sitting meditation is similar to walking meditation; however, the focus is on the breathing. One result of the activity is tranquility; however, the ultimate goal is realizing the fundamental truths of life. With practice, one has less distraction and has more focus on the object of focus (breathing). One must note distracting thoughts mindfully, and set them aside to focus back on the movement of air in and out (Adam & Peter, 2009).

Mindfulness in daily activities
The practice enables the full involvement of an individual in what he or she is doing. One can live in the now. One applies the skills learned in the sitting and walking meditations to the everyday activities. These practices ultimately enable the enjoyment of life to the fullest (John 1995).
Major festivals
Buddhist New Year

The Buddhist calendar varies throughout the world. The Theravadin countries celebrate the New Year for three days in April. This is during the full moon. The new year in the Mahayana countries starts during the opening full moon date in January. The Koreans, Chinese, and Vietnamese observe in late January or early February, depending on the lunar almanac (John 1995).
Vesak

This is the Buddha Birthday. It is the most significant festival in the Buddhist calendar. This is because it celebrates the dawn, illumination, and bereavement of the Buddha. It occurs during the first full moon in the month of May apart from in a leap year when it takes place in June. Vesak is a month in the Indian calendar. The festival is also the Visakah Puja (Gayley, 2004).
Magha Puja Day
Buddhists follow the lunar calendar. The festival occurs during the full moon day of March. The festivals celebrate a significant event in the days of the Buddha. On this day, 1,250 disciples of the Buddha converged in Rajagaha city without prior notice to pay tribute to the Buddha (John 1995).
The festival is also the fourfold assembly. There are four factors contributing to this. They include the disciples converged without prior notice, it was on a full moon, they were ordained by the Buddha, and all the 1,250 disciples were present (Gayley, 2004).

Other important festivals in the Buddhist calendar include Asalha Puja Day or "Dhamma Day," Uposatha or Observance Day, Pavarana Day, Kathina Ceremony or Robe offering ceremony, Anapanasati Day, Abhidhamma Day, Songkran, Loy Krathong or Festival of Floating Bowls, The Ploughing Festival, The Elephant Festival, The Festival of the Tooth, Ulambana or Ancestor Day, and Avalokitesvaras or Kuan Yin Birthday (John 1995).
Rites of passage
Buddhism encompasses all spheres of life and is an integral part of it. It plays an important role at the important stages of life of the practitioner. This includes birth, ordination, marriage, house warming, and death (Duangmee, 2012).
At birth, the childs parents consult a monk to help with choosing a name. At one month of age, the child is shaved and the monks recite passages from the sacred text. When the child reaches adolescence, he or she is ordained. The teenager is dressed like a prince or princess and his or her head shaved (John 1995).
In marriage, the monk plays an important role. They conduct the ceremony and sprinkle holy water on the bride and bridegroom. The monk reads from the holy text, and the family offers him food. House warming often accompanies marriage. It involves the monks blessing the area around the house with a Buddha image on one end (Duangmee, 2012).
At death, the monks clean the body with scented water and chant text from the sacred text before cremation occurs (Gayley, 2004). Burial or cremation may occur on any day except Friday. Friday is for the happy occasions only.
 References
Adam Moore, Peter Malinowski. (March 2009). Meditation, mindfulness and cognitive flexibility, Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 18, Issue 1. Pages 176-186.
Duangmee, P. (2012, Aug 02). RITES OF PASSAGE. The Nation. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1034258966?accountid=458
Gayley, H. (2004). Buddhism in the modern world: Adaptations of an ancient tradition. The Journal of Asian Studies, 63(3), 760-761. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230397501?accountid=458
John R. Mcrae. (May, 1995). The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2 pp. 354-371 Published by: Association for Asian Studies.