Valuable facts on Buddhism

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion of the world. Originated by Gautam Buddha, it is a lane of spiritual development that assists a person in finding the true nature of life. Buddhism highlights on experiencing, rather than teaching or learning. It believes meditation as the means to enlightenment and is based on a number of principles. The followers of Buddhism do not worship any God and go behind the noble eightfold path to lead a significant existence.

In the following lines, we have provided some quick information on Buddhism in a brief form. Read on to recognize some facts about Buddhism ,

Meaning: System taught by the Buddha
Founded In: 6th Century BC
Place founded: North India
Founder: Siddhartha Gautama ("the Buddha"), an Indian prince
Followers: 376 million
Size: Fourth largest religion in the world
Main locations: China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia
Main Sects: Theravada and Mahayana
Sacred texts: Pali Canon (Tripitaka), numerous Mahayana sutras
Original language: Pali
Spiritual leader: Monk (lama in Tibetan Buddhism)
Place of ritual: Temple, meditation hall.
Theism: Varies - Theravada is atheistic; Mahayana is more polytheistic.
Ultimate reality: None, Nothing is permanent.
Holidays: Buddha's birthday, Buddha's enlightenment and lunar quarters

Moreover the following spiritual aspects are involved in the Buddhism facts .

Three Jewels/Three Refuges

Four Noble Truths

Noble Eightfold Path

Progressive Chinese farmer branches out by growing pears shaped like baby Buddha

For Britain's harassed fruit farmers, things could be concerning to go even more pear-shaped.

A Chinese farmer has invented baby-shaped pears - and he is scheduling to export his new idea over here.

Plucky farmer Gao Xianzhang has produced 10,000 of the mini marvels this season and he plans to take the fruits of his labor to the UK and Europe.

Britain could shortly see the appearance of the pears, which are shaped like mini Buddha’s.

If the idea holds on, sales of the mini pears could hit the earnings of British farmers who are already stressed to fend off sales of cheaper foreign produce in recession-hit Britain.

Gao spent six years perfect the complicated baby-shaped pears, carefully expertising each one which grows inside an individual mould.

In spite of their heavy cost of £5 each, locals in his home village of Hexia, in Hebia, northern China, have reportedly been breaking them up.

'People look like to think they are pretty or lucky and will purchase them as soon as they're off the tree,' Gao explained.

Luckily for Gao, he should have few problems getting his peculiar shaped fruits past EU officials.

TheLifeofBuddha

How to Meditate - In Buddhism

The reason of meditation is to make our mind peaceful and calm.

If our mind is calm, we will be free from worries and mental distress, and so we will understanding true happiness but if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very hard to be happy, even if we are living in the most excellent conditions.

If we train in meditation, our mind will slowly become more and more peaceful, and we will experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Finally, we will be able to stay happy all the time, even in the most complex circumstances.

Typically we find it difficult to control our mind. It appears as if our mind is like a balloon in the wind – blown here and there by outside circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it directly becomes unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new ownership or a new partner, we become excited and stick to them tightly.

Though, we cannot have everything we want, and since we will certainly be separated from the friends and belongings we currently enjoy, this mental adhesiveness, or attachment, serves only to cause us pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want, or if we drop something that we like, we become hopeless or irritated.

For example, if we are enforced to work with a coworker whom we dislike, we will perhaps become irritated and feel distressed, with the result that we will be unable to work with him or her proficiently and our time at work will become stressful and unrewarding.

Such fluctuations of humor arise because we are too closely involved in the external situation. We are like a child making a sand citadel who is excited when it is first made, but who becomes upset when it is cracked by the incoming wave.

By training in meditation, we can create an inner space and clarity that enables us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. Steadily we develop mental stability, a balanced mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unstable mind that fluctuates between the extremes of excitement and depression.

If we prepare in meditation systematically, ultimately we will be able to eliminate from our mind the vision that are the causes of all our troubles and suffering. In this way, we will come to experience an eternal inner peace, known as “liberation” or “nirvana”. Then, day and night in life after life, we will experience only calm and happiness.