Wednesday 24 April 2019

Meditation And Study Center For Tampa Buddhism

By Maria Williams


When it comes to the United States and religion, it can often be confusing. For, while the citizens of the country are afforded the right to freedom of religion and separation of state, laws are now being created based on religious beliefs. While church remains a strong focus of Christians, tampa buddhism is often practiced at places such as the Kadampa Meditation Center and others around the world.

Buddhism is now the world's fourth largest religion with over 500 million followers. These individuals often subscribe to a wide range of spiritual practices, beliefs and traditions. In fact, there are some Christians who see Buddhism as a practice rather than a religion, thus incorporating the various aspects of the practice into daily or weekly routines.

Individuals seeing Buddhism as a religion are often following the guidance and teachings of the first Buddha. Like with theologians whom study the Bible, doing so has led to different interpretations with regards to Buddhist philosophies and teachings. As such, it can be said that Buddhism and Christianity both leave a lot of doors open when it comes to interpretation.

The primary goal of Buddhism is to eliminate suffering during each cycle of death and rebirth while working towards Nirvana. Buddhists believe this can be achieved by following a path to enlightenment, neither of which are easy tasks. While this is the case, there are different schools of thought as to the process or possibility of doing so.

While Buddhist practices often vary, individuals identifying as Buddhists often cultivate virtue, meditate, observe moral dilemmas and consequences, eat a vegetarian diet, believe in Dharma and reincarnation and take refuge in the Buddha. Whereas, most Buddhists also attend long guided or unguided meditation sessions at various meditation centers and temples.

It is believed that the first Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama. In many early Buddhist texts, the given name appears to have been Gautama without any reference to other names. While the details of the first Buddha's life are featured in a number of early writings, the text is inconsistent while the details of life and social background have been difficult to prove. As such, like with Jesus, the precise dates of Gautama's birth and death remain a mystery.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, Gautama was inspired by the innate suffering of the world through the endless cycle of death and rebirth. As such, Gautama departed home at a young age in an effort to eliminate suffering and find the truth of the Universe. On Gautama's path, it was Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta which first taught the Buddha about nothingness and meditation.

As a result, people in and outside the Christian and other faiths, now incorporate different forms of meditation into everyday life. For, not only has meditation proved to help individuals grow spiritually but has also proven to have positive health aspects. As such, most Buddhists believe that once an individual begins the process of meditation and learns to let go of unnecessary wants and desires, the individual has the potential, as Gauatama, to discover the Buddha within and reach Nirvana while still on earth.




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