Trace the river motif from the beginning of the novel to its discussing its importance, role, and meaning. ... Its importance in the beginning is to provide itself for the people. ... Siddhartha does return to the river after he realizes the life of indulgence will not help him reaches his goal of enlightenment. ... The combination of the two is what leads Siddhartha to Enlightenment and the Middle Path. ... It takes Siddhartha awhile to realize the river's importance because it was right in front of him. ...

• Word Count: 472
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Integrating the ideals of early Buddhism and Daoism, Chan Buddhism reflected the importance of a non-idealistic nature where the mind was prominent over the use of language. ... Instead, the Zen master would meditate and expect his disciples to understand and reach enlightenment by themselves. No words were actually exchanged to describe how to reach enlightenment. ... Buddha-nature is the belief that every living thing has the potential to reach Buddha-hood and enlightenment. ... Originally from India, Bodhidharma came to China to spread the importance of meditation as an integral part of C...

• Word Count: 1302
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"In Siddhartha," by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha searches for the meaning of life and his enlightenment. ... Siddhartha noticed how the common people lived and "He envied them [for]...the sense of importance with which they lived their lives, the depth of their pleasure and sorrows, the anxious but sweet happiness of their continual power to love. ... Siddhartha learned to let the soul die to understand the path to enlightenment like the eldest Samanas but gave up on his journey as a Samana before he ever did find enlightenment. ... Siddhartha attains enlightenment from the river and listening to...

• Word Count: 1461
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

These were their youth, their quests to find enlightenment and their success and failures. ... The quest to find spiritual enlightenment is a long and agonizing quest. ... He read the holy books, learned meditation and the importance of "om". Siddhartha left the Brahmins in offer to find spiritual enlightenment, he joined the Samanas. ... Even through the Buddha Siddhartha found no enlightenment. ...

• Word Count: 774
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

This is crucial in understanding the path to enlightenment. ... After reaching enlightenment, the cycle of rebirth comes to an end at the time of death. ... If we ruminate in such concepts, we cannot reach enlightenment (Young). ... On the contrary, Buddha indeed supported healthy relationships and other acquisitions of happiness and pleasure, but he also taught the importance of discerning that these things are momentary and do not carry on after this life so as not to hold them to too high of a significance (Kumar). ... Enlightenment is possible....

• Word Count: 816
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Beck implies to the reader that they can find within themselves the ability to be a better person, reach enlightenment, and become a bodhisattva or Buddha. ... Buddha-nature can also be seen as an environment in which enlightenment can develop (Strong, 158). ... Beck stresses the importance of meditation in Zen practice. ... You are the only one who can change you, make you whole, or help you reach enlightenment. ... Just don't hold on to them;- This is telling us that is ok to have aspirations and dreams, thought and ideas, but it expresses the importance of being able to roll with...

• Word Count: 1358
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

; a quiz titled "How Enlightened Are You About Enlightenment?"... In exploring Beliefnet for the first time, I discovered that it was rohatsu, or Enlightenment Day, which takes place from December 1-8. On the eighth day of December, Buddha realized enlightenment: People vow to experience this very same experience of the Buddha as they approach the rohatsu sesshin. ... This time of year is of great importance to all who practice zazen, or sitting meditation, because it occurs after a year's worth of practice. ...

• Word Count: 777
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Zen Buddhism Zen or Chan Buddhism represents a movement within the Buddhist religion that stresses the practice of meditation as the means to enlightenment. ... With the importance of lineages, Chan stressed the master-disciple relationship, and Bodhidharma was followed by a series of patriarchs each of whom received the dharma, or religious truth, directly from his predecessor and teacher. ... According to a later and clearly biased legend, Huineng defeated Hung-jen in a stanza-composing contest, thereby demonstrating his superior enlightenment (Davids 104). ... Zen meditation highlights...

• Word Count: 1355
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

There is the Upanishads, which are later groups of writings that reflect a decline in the importance of the sacrificial rituals. ... Many of the festivals celebrate the Buddha's life, teaching or enlightenment. ... There is Vesakha, which falls on the full moon of Vesakha and marks the birth of the Buddha, enlightenment, and his passing into nirvana. ...

• Word Count: 1230
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

., attained enlightenment by the age of 35, thus becoming the buddha (literally "awakened') and died in c. 563 B.C. ... From these short examples one can see that the enlightenment, which Buddha has attained, is not only about being able to see 'things as they are', but also about opening your heart towards others. ... These terms are pretty self-explanatory, the goal of the Hinayana practitioners was to attain enlightenment for oneself. ... As opposed to this Mahayana's philosophy differed in that the practitioner can only attain the salvation by helping others atta...

• Word Count: 1977
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

This Buddhism acknowledged that there were two paths to enlightenment (exceeding the identification of the personal ego). ... I was fortunate to have a great conversation with a Tibetan Buddhist who helped me understand the prayer wheel and its importance. ... No matter what language is used to speak of his collections of teachings, their meaning is for those beings" achieving enlightenment. Some people complained when the Buddha was passing away that he was leaving nothing behind to show them the way to enlightenment. ...

• Word Count: 2130
• Approx Pages: 9

For example offering of flowers is meant to remind the Buddhist that everything in the world is temporary and offering of fruit is a symbol of ultimate enlightenment which is the goal of every Buddhist. Hindu religious practices center around the importance of fulfilling duties associated with one's social position and the stages of life. ...

• Word Count: 893
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography

His desire for enlightenment takes him on a path of rigorous ascetic discipline and for six years, he survives on nothing but "one palmful of water and one of food per day" (Oxtoby 381). ... They both regarded altruism to be of the utmost importance. ...

• Word Count: 1137
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School