世界上大约99%的近5亿佛教徒生活在亚太地区[来源:皮尤]。但这并不意味着西方人不了解佛教。也许他们已经听说过通过某些名人追随者,或从一个瑜伽老师花了三个星期在尼泊尔,谈论“正念”。Maybe they've seen the达赖喇嘛在电视上。他们甚至认为,胖乎乎的微笑雕像代表佛(提示:在当地的中国餐馆它不)。
印度的梵文,一种古老的语言,佛意思是“唤醒。”While Buddhist art and writings describe at least a dozen beings referred to as "buddhas," there is only one historical figure known as的佛,精神启蒙老师的路径形成佛教思想和实践的核心。
在佛教中,业力的普遍法则是“道德价”因果关系(来源:Jaffe)。因果报应,梵文,意为“行动。”Each of our actions, whether good or bad, carries a consequence. Some of the consequences of our actions are felt in this lifetime, although perhaps not as dramatically as the car example above. And other actions trigger consequences that, thanks to the continual cycle of death and rebirth, will ripple across lifetimes.
在梵语,涅槃这个词翻译成“灭火”,“淬火”或“吹”。But exactly what's being blown out? If the goal of Buddhism is to escape the cycle of life and death, then is it the soul that's being extinguished, never to be reborn again? Not really, because Buddhists don't believe in such a thing as the soul.
“喇嘛”是藏语词汇老师,相当于梵文“大师”。的word "dalai" is Mongol for "ocean," so the Dalai Lama is understood to be a teacher whose wisdom is as deep as the ocean [source:英国广播公司]。西藏人相信每个达赖喇嘛是一个观音法门的直接化身,慈悲的菩萨和西藏的守护神。连续化身的仪轨已确定了600年,但第一个个人接受达赖喇嘛住在17世纪的标题[来源:达赖喇嘛]。