Mood:Insomnia
Topic:Sleepless Rant
S.O.C.: "Understanding in a Crash" by Thursday
::grumbles:: God Fammit...I can't sleep...I hate that I've been lying in bed thinking for nearly 2 hours that's not good. You know the only reason I got out of the damn bed because Lisette told me once it's not good to lay in bed with wakfulness. She said your mind creates association with...restlessness and the bed or laying down or such. So I got up. I read some Red Dragon...I like the character of Will it's rather funny. I went to the library today to find A Clockwork Orange...checked it out but my dumb self didn't check to see if all 21 chapters were there...it only has 20 of course.
Hmm I've nothing to say...I wanted to do this in hopes that staring at the screen or something would make me sleepy or something....man....Oh! My November born people (Lum CAt and Peter) I finally got your presents (I found out UPS only comes over here like 2 times a month the 10th and the 25th I think or somewhere in that window.) Now....due to the fact that I just got them you will be RECEIVEING them for Christmas--but they are really late birthday presents ^-^ and uh...I'll handle Chrsitmas later on because my mom said no more ordering online for a bit. Hmm so basicaly.......no one has Christmas presents form me yet ^_^ But you guys know you'll get something.
Man....not sleepy...Johnny syndrome I tell you! Hm....would anyone like to read my monk paper due tomorrow? THat I shoulda put off til now because then I sure as hell would be sleepy right cause that's the way it works!
(edited for length)
Comparing Monks
Many religions of the world have different rules and doctrines. Some state that it is necessary to pray five times a day others say that one must dunk oneself in water in order to become holy enough to live on in the after life. With so many different ways of viewing the proper way of living a life, is there anything that they share in common? An aspect one might consider is that of monks. A monk is a person who isolates himself from typical ways of life to immerse himself completely in his religious activities. Tibetan monks and Christian monks are perhaps the easiest monks to compare because it seems that their teachers, their beliefs and their interaction with the outside world are similar.
King Songsten Gampo’s two wives are believed to have introduced Buddhism to Tibet, but it was Trisong Detsen, more than 100 years later, that first to truly accept Buddhism. The first diffusion began when King Trisong Detsen adopted the religion and built the first monastery at Samye. Buddhism prospered for a short time until King Langdarma seized power and began monk persecution. Ironically, Langdarma was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. Two hundred years later, the second diffusion began in the 11th century. After thriving for almost nine hundred years, the Tibetan monks became, arguably, the most religious society on earth and the most scholarly branch of Buddhism (Bowker 975). Sadly, their religious activity was banned from 1966-1979 due to Chinese communist occupation.
The Tibetan Buddhist monks have been fiercely persecuted throughout their inhabitance in Tibet; however, the Indian government has taken action to see that the monks’ life style is preserved. The discrimination of the monks began with King Langdarma. This intolerance was so relentless that some historians separate Buddhism in Tibet into the “first and second diffusions” (Bowker 974). The Chinese communists demolished monasteries, imprisoned monks, and forced them to give up their religious beliefs (Tsechen Damchos Ling Buddhist Monastery). Thankfully, the Indian government established refugee resettlement areas. One of the biggest refugee areas is known as “Tibetan village No. 1 in the Tibetan colony of Mundgod” (Tsechen Damchos Ling Buddhist Monastery). This village has a population of 13,200 people and about 4,000 are monks. Today Buddhism in Tibet remains under strict regulation. The number of monks within the monasteries is limited to only those who have been evaluated by the Communist Party committee that governs each monastery. Also, humane rights groups estimate that the majority of China’s Tibetan political prisoners are monks (Bowker 975).
Christian monks also flourished in the beginning, but sadly, as time passed, like the Buddhist monks, they too became the target of government discrimination. Christian monasticism began with desert monks aspiring to live life in the strictest ordinance of Christ’s teachings. As time elapsed, the founders each left their own mark on the monk way of life by building sets of rules that were to be followed. The rules for living in a monastery were called the rule. A monastery can be in a pastoral area or in a city. “It may consist of a small walled in group of huts, or a huge complex that houses hundreds of people. But it is designed to isolate its people from the world outside” (Monasticism” 701). In 271 AD, Saint Anthony of Thebes traveled to the desert alone to lead a holy life. Eventually others followed his example. In the early 300’s Saint Pachomius gathered some of the desert hermits into monasteries. Saint Pachomius also wrote a set of rules for monks to inhabit an area under the rule of a superior (“Religious Life” 226) Shortly after, Saint Basil in Asia Minor adopted Saint Pachomius’ rules and Christianity spread. In the 500’s Saint Benedict built upon the ideas of the formers and set up instructions for setting up a monastic government for the daily lives of monks (“Religious Life” 226). There are three vows that Christian monks take: Poverty, which requires that the monk not own any private property; chastity, which is refraining from sexual relations; and obedience, which consists of following orders of those above one on the monk hierarchy. Although monks grew throughout the ages they too suffered from government persecution. In the 1800’s, some forms of government did not tolerate affiliates of any religion that treated the sick or who taught the poor (“Religious Life” 226).
Although both sets of monks had different teachers, they seemingly said similar things. The lives of Jesus and Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, never intersected their teachings are very much the same; however, they both led very different lives. Gautama, on the other hand, began his quest for enlightenment at the age of 29 and practiced asceticism, “the principle of self denial for the purpose of attaining a heightened state of spiritual awareness” (Rohmann 29), for six years. Eventually, he found these to be ineffective means and decided to go into contemplation. Guatama meditated under a bo tree,better known as a fig tree, for seven weeks and there he attained “perfect enlightenment, or Buddhahood” (Rohman 47). Enlightenment is defined as “perfect awareness or understanding” (Rohman 48) or “coming to truth out of ignorance” (Rohman 115). After reaching enlightenment the Buddha spread his knowledge to five disciples. His teaching sought to be released from life’s unavoidable suffering and reach Nirvana, a pure spiritual state free from suffering, delusions, and all attachments” (Rohman 48) . The first step to being free from suffering, attain enlightenment, and reaching Nirvana lies in accepting the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths stated that life is suffering, that suffering steams from desires and ignorance, suffering ends when want is overcome, and to overcome want, one must follow the Eight Fold Path or Middle way (Zen Guide).
Jesus’ ministry, on the other hand, only lasted from one to three years commencing with his cousin John baptizing him in the River Jordan and ending with his crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus’ followers believe that he was the Messiah, or the prophesized one that would create God’s Kingdom on earth. Jesus stressed following the Ten Commandments and stated that salvation could be attained by believing that he was the son of God (Rohmann 210). In believing this, it is stated that one would achieve everlasting life. Jesus sought to reunify the people with God. Christians, or the followers of Jesus, believe that with Jesus’ sacrifice he had ensured the deliverance of the souls of mankind forever. Christians reenact several of Jesus acts through sacraments, ceremonies symbolizing the presence of God’s grace, favor, and blessing (Rohmann 61), that they believe will help them attain salvation and reunification with God in his kingdom.
After studying the teachings of the Buddha and Christ, one could see that they are much alike. Guatama’s The Eight Fold Path consists of: “right understanding” or the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths; “right thoughts” which are thoughts against “sense-pleasure” and benevolent thoughts; “right speech” means to speak sparingly and positively; “right action” states that one will remain a virgin and one will not kill or steal; “right livelihood” states that one must earn a living in a way that doesn‘t harm others, “right effort” says that one must stop evil that already exists, prevent evil from rising again, encourage good, and spread good in the future; “right mindfulness” is being aware of one’s actions, thoughts and speech; “right meditation is to train the mind to focus on a single object and to remain fixed upon the object without wavering” (Zen Guide). However, Jesus emphasized strictly following the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments state:
Insert commandments
Jesus also stated to “Love God with your whole heart, and your neighbor as yourself” (Rohmann 210), which some believe to summarize the main focus of Jesus’ ministry. Also in Jesus’ teachings is the idea of being selfless and perform acts of charity. Christians also sought to turn away from material possessions, rejecting acts of violence and acting only with love and kindness to their fellow man. Although they had different rules and means, both Jesus and the Buddha wanted the same thing. They both desired to bring people freedom from suffering and pain either by giving up superficial items, acting in a way that abstained from harming other, and believing in something to come that would release them from their sorrow.
Although monks are mostly peaceful educated beings, both Tibetan Buddhist monks and Christian monks have been persecuted by the governments they coincide with. The monk way of life is portrait by their teachers, Buddha and Jesus, as a way of reunification with what or who created them. Sadly, their peaceful way of life has often been pestered by outside forces due to their nature of educating the poor and giving hope that by following the teachings of the Buddha or Christ they may find paradise. One can see that both sets of monks are similar in many aspects from their teachers to their desire to help the people.
Grr well now I have to go to bed sleepy or not...stupid father...hmm one day I'll be free of your tyranny!
Night everyone
Kim
Topic:Sleepless Rant
S.O.C.: "Understanding in a Crash" by Thursday
::grumbles:: God Fammit...I can't sleep...I hate that I've been lying in bed thinking for nearly 2 hours that's not good. You know the only reason I got out of the damn bed because Lisette told me once it's not good to lay in bed with wakfulness. She said your mind creates association with...restlessness and the bed or laying down or such. So I got up. I read some Red Dragon...I like the character of Will it's rather funny. I went to the library today to find A Clockwork Orange...checked it out but my dumb self didn't check to see if all 21 chapters were there...it only has 20 of course.
Hmm I've nothing to say...I wanted to do this in hopes that staring at the screen or something would make me sleepy or something....man....Oh! My November born people (Lum CAt and Peter) I finally got your presents (I found out UPS only comes over here like 2 times a month the 10th and the 25th I think or somewhere in that window.) Now....due to the fact that I just got them you will be RECEIVEING them for Christmas--but they are really late birthday presents ^-^ and uh...I'll handle Chrsitmas later on because my mom said no more ordering online for a bit. Hmm so basicaly.......no one has Christmas presents form me yet ^_^ But you guys know you'll get something.
Man....not sleepy...Johnny syndrome I tell you! Hm....would anyone like to read my monk paper due tomorrow? THat I shoulda put off til now because then I sure as hell would be sleepy right cause that's the way it works!
(edited for length)
Many religions of the world have different rules and doctrines. Some state that it is necessary to pray five times a day others say that one must dunk oneself in water in order to become holy enough to live on in the after life. With so many different ways of viewing the proper way of living a life, is there anything that they share in common? An aspect one might consider is that of monks. A monk is a person who isolates himself from typical ways of life to immerse himself completely in his religious activities. Tibetan monks and Christian monks are perhaps the easiest monks to compare because it seems that their teachers, their beliefs and their interaction with the outside world are similar.
King Songsten Gampo’s two wives are believed to have introduced Buddhism to Tibet, but it was Trisong Detsen, more than 100 years later, that first to truly accept Buddhism. The first diffusion began when King Trisong Detsen adopted the religion and built the first monastery at Samye. Buddhism prospered for a short time until King Langdarma seized power and began monk persecution. Ironically, Langdarma was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. Two hundred years later, the second diffusion began in the 11th century. After thriving for almost nine hundred years, the Tibetan monks became, arguably, the most religious society on earth and the most scholarly branch of Buddhism (Bowker 975). Sadly, their religious activity was banned from 1966-1979 due to Chinese communist occupation.
The Tibetan Buddhist monks have been fiercely persecuted throughout their inhabitance in Tibet; however, the Indian government has taken action to see that the monks’ life style is preserved. The discrimination of the monks began with King Langdarma. This intolerance was so relentless that some historians separate Buddhism in Tibet into the “first and second diffusions” (Bowker 974). The Chinese communists demolished monasteries, imprisoned monks, and forced them to give up their religious beliefs (Tsechen Damchos Ling Buddhist Monastery). Thankfully, the Indian government established refugee resettlement areas. One of the biggest refugee areas is known as “Tibetan village No. 1 in the Tibetan colony of Mundgod” (Tsechen Damchos Ling Buddhist Monastery). This village has a population of 13,200 people and about 4,000 are monks. Today Buddhism in Tibet remains under strict regulation. The number of monks within the monasteries is limited to only those who have been evaluated by the Communist Party committee that governs each monastery. Also, humane rights groups estimate that the majority of China’s Tibetan political prisoners are monks (Bowker 975).
Christian monks also flourished in the beginning, but sadly, as time passed, like the Buddhist monks, they too became the target of government discrimination. Christian monasticism began with desert monks aspiring to live life in the strictest ordinance of Christ’s teachings. As time elapsed, the founders each left their own mark on the monk way of life by building sets of rules that were to be followed. The rules for living in a monastery were called the rule. A monastery can be in a pastoral area or in a city. “It may consist of a small walled in group of huts, or a huge complex that houses hundreds of people. But it is designed to isolate its people from the world outside” (Monasticism” 701). In 271 AD, Saint Anthony of Thebes traveled to the desert alone to lead a holy life. Eventually others followed his example. In the early 300’s Saint Pachomius gathered some of the desert hermits into monasteries. Saint Pachomius also wrote a set of rules for monks to inhabit an area under the rule of a superior (“Religious Life” 226) Shortly after, Saint Basil in Asia Minor adopted Saint Pachomius’ rules and Christianity spread. In the 500’s Saint Benedict built upon the ideas of the formers and set up instructions for setting up a monastic government for the daily lives of monks (“Religious Life” 226). There are three vows that Christian monks take: Poverty, which requires that the monk not own any private property; chastity, which is refraining from sexual relations; and obedience, which consists of following orders of those above one on the monk hierarchy. Although monks grew throughout the ages they too suffered from government persecution. In the 1800’s, some forms of government did not tolerate affiliates of any religion that treated the sick or who taught the poor (“Religious Life” 226).
Although both sets of monks had different teachers, they seemingly said similar things. The lives of Jesus and Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, never intersected their teachings are very much the same; however, they both led very different lives. Gautama, on the other hand, began his quest for enlightenment at the age of 29 and practiced asceticism, “the principle of self denial for the purpose of attaining a heightened state of spiritual awareness” (Rohmann 29), for six years. Eventually, he found these to be ineffective means and decided to go into contemplation. Guatama meditated under a bo tree,better known as a fig tree, for seven weeks and there he attained “perfect enlightenment, or Buddhahood” (Rohman 47). Enlightenment is defined as “perfect awareness or understanding” (Rohman 48) or “coming to truth out of ignorance” (Rohman 115). After reaching enlightenment the Buddha spread his knowledge to five disciples. His teaching sought to be released from life’s unavoidable suffering and reach Nirvana, a pure spiritual state free from suffering, delusions, and all attachments” (Rohman 48) . The first step to being free from suffering, attain enlightenment, and reaching Nirvana lies in accepting the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths stated that life is suffering, that suffering steams from desires and ignorance, suffering ends when want is overcome, and to overcome want, one must follow the Eight Fold Path or Middle way (Zen Guide).
Jesus’ ministry, on the other hand, only lasted from one to three years commencing with his cousin John baptizing him in the River Jordan and ending with his crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus’ followers believe that he was the Messiah, or the prophesized one that would create God’s Kingdom on earth. Jesus stressed following the Ten Commandments and stated that salvation could be attained by believing that he was the son of God (Rohmann 210). In believing this, it is stated that one would achieve everlasting life. Jesus sought to reunify the people with God. Christians, or the followers of Jesus, believe that with Jesus’ sacrifice he had ensured the deliverance of the souls of mankind forever. Christians reenact several of Jesus acts through sacraments, ceremonies symbolizing the presence of God’s grace, favor, and blessing (Rohmann 61), that they believe will help them attain salvation and reunification with God in his kingdom.
After studying the teachings of the Buddha and Christ, one could see that they are much alike. Guatama’s The Eight Fold Path consists of: “right understanding” or the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths; “right thoughts” which are thoughts against “sense-pleasure” and benevolent thoughts; “right speech” means to speak sparingly and positively; “right action” states that one will remain a virgin and one will not kill or steal; “right livelihood” states that one must earn a living in a way that doesn‘t harm others, “right effort” says that one must stop evil that already exists, prevent evil from rising again, encourage good, and spread good in the future; “right mindfulness” is being aware of one’s actions, thoughts and speech; “right meditation is to train the mind to focus on a single object and to remain fixed upon the object without wavering” (Zen Guide). However, Jesus emphasized strictly following the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments state:
Insert commandments
Jesus also stated to “Love God with your whole heart, and your neighbor as yourself” (Rohmann 210), which some believe to summarize the main focus of Jesus’ ministry. Also in Jesus’ teachings is the idea of being selfless and perform acts of charity. Christians also sought to turn away from material possessions, rejecting acts of violence and acting only with love and kindness to their fellow man. Although they had different rules and means, both Jesus and the Buddha wanted the same thing. They both desired to bring people freedom from suffering and pain either by giving up superficial items, acting in a way that abstained from harming other, and believing in something to come that would release them from their sorrow.
Although monks are mostly peaceful educated beings, both Tibetan Buddhist monks and Christian monks have been persecuted by the governments they coincide with. The monk way of life is portrait by their teachers, Buddha and Jesus, as a way of reunification with what or who created them. Sadly, their peaceful way of life has often been pestered by outside forces due to their nature of educating the poor and giving hope that by following the teachings of the Buddha or Christ they may find paradise. One can see that both sets of monks are similar in many aspects from their teachers to their desire to help the people.
Grr well now I have to go to bed sleepy or not...stupid father...hmm one day I'll be free of your tyranny!
Night everyone
Kim
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