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Bhutan Religion |
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Buddhism,
like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into a number
of different traditions. We will deal in this essay with Theravada Buddhism.
Buddhism
is a religion which shares few concepts with Christianity. For example,
they do not believe in a transcendent or immanent or any other
type of God or Gods, the need for a personal savior, the power of prayer,
eternal life in a heaven or hell after death, etc. They do believe in reincarnation:
the concept that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, and
death. |
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After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to
desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana.
| Religion: |
| Lamaist
Tantrayana Buddhism (Mahayana Buddhism of the Drukpa sect) = state religion |
| The
Buddha's Four Noble Truths may be described (somewhat simplistically) as: |
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be fully understood: the universality of suffering |
| to
be abandoned: the desire to have and control things which cause. |
| to
be made visible: the supreme truth and final liberation of nirvana which
is achieved as the cause of suffering is eliminated. The mind experiences
complete freedom and liberation |
| to
be brought into being: the truth of the eightfold ariya path leading to
the cessation of suffering |
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| His
Eightfold Path consists of: |
| 1.
right understanding |
| 2.
right thinking |
| 3.
right speech |
| 4.
right conduct |
| 5.
right livelihood |
| 6.
right effort |
| 7.
right mindfulness |
| 8.
right concentration |
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In
Bhutanese belief, after a person dies an astrological reading is done and
besides the cremation, rituals for the dead are performed on the 7th, 14th,
21st and 49th day.
It
is believed that any ritual performed for the dead has to be done by the
49th day, after which the soul of the person realises he/she is dead and
moves on to the next birth stage of fate as decided by the karmic forces.
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