Buddhini Karunathilaka

Zen Buddhism: The Art of Simple Living Zen Buddhism is one of the branches of Mahayana Buddhism. Zen Buddhist schools of thought were originated in china and it is called as chān Buddhism. The term ‘chān’ means the Sanskrit term ‘dyāna’. In other words, Zen Buddhism emphasizes the value of meditation to attain nibbana. Bhikku Bodhidharma introduced Buddhism to china. Mahayana Buddhism in china has its practical and theoretical aspects in both Zen and Hua-Yen Buddhism, which means Zen Buddhism is considered the practical aspect of Chinese Hua-Yen Buddhism. The goal In Zen Buddhism is to achieve sudden awareness or the pure awareness (Satori). Satori means the immediate experience of meditation. There are two forms of Zen practices. They are, Rinzai – tries to break through everyday thinking via Koans. (Koans are the riddles in the form of questions) Sato Zen – a slower approach to enlightenment through meditation Zen Buddhism could give the real understanding of life directly as it wo

In life, people live with hopes for tomorrow and for future. The way that people live shows that they are intentionally forget about the death, which is certain in life. When we go through the moments in our lives, people are not aware that they are approaching the death day-by-day. Chapter two describes the way in which the absurd man live. He presents a set of examples of the absurdity of life. Camus tries to introduce his definition of absurdity and the strategies that people can use when living with absurdity. Absurd is interpreted as the meaninglessness of life. Nevertheless, it is the argument between man’s desire for meaning, order, and the world’s inability to satisfy that desire. The character of Sisyphus represents the struggle human beings make to go with the flow of absurdity of life. Sisyphus comes as a figure in Greek Mythology. He was condemned to repeatedly perform the same task of pushing a boulder up to a mountain, which is obviously meaningless, to see it roll down

The Golden Mean or the Golden Middle way of Aristotle can be defined as the enviable middle between two extremes. The following are the virtues and their accompanying virtues (Table 1). Too Little Virtuous Mean Too Much Humbleness High-mindedness Vainglory Lack of Purpose Right Ambition Over-ambition Spiritlessness Good Temper Irascibility Rudeness Civility Obsequiousness Cowardice Courage Rashness Insensibility Self-control Intemperance Sarcasm Sincerity Boastfulness Boorishness Humour Buffoonery Shamelessness Modesty Shyness Callousness Just resentment Spitefulness Pettiness Generosity Vulgarity Meanness liberty Wastefulness People would blame you if you take money that is not yours. In the same way, if one does something virtuous, then the world will praise them. According to Aristotle, only if a person acts voluntarily, then only that particular person deserves blame or praise because then only that person can take the responsibility for what he has done. For

Buddhism has usually regarded as a teaching, which is based on non-violence and peace. This article examines the fundamental principle of the Buddha, which can be used to peace-building and peace-keeping. Need for security is one of the fundamental psychological drives. The Buddhist doctrine of non-violence (ahimsā) is used in this study in order to highlight what the Buddha emphasized instead of violence. The Buddha denounced violence and asked his followers to cultivate and practice non-violence towards all the sentient beings. This sublime principle is accompanied with two other principles. They are loving-kindness (mettā) and compassion (karunā). The Buddha he himself exemplary showed how to spread peace and good-will among all the beings without any discrimination. He also stated that one becomes a noble person only when he becomes a person who is harmless to all the beings. In the KosambiyaSutta, the Buddha has mentioned about quarrelling, throwing sharp words at each other, dis

Albert Camus was born in 7, November 1913 in Mondovi, French Algeria. He belongs to the 20th century philosophical era. He is a French philosopher, novelist, journalist, and an author. He was best known for his winning of the ‘Nobel Prize in Literature’ in 1957. The Outsider, The Myth of the Sisyphus, The Fall, The Rebel, and The Plague are some of the notable works of Albert Camus. His views on absurdity highly contributed to its emergence in the context of philosophy. He refused to accept the categorization of him as an existentialist in several occasions. His works are belong to the schools of continental philosophy, existentialism, Absurd and Anarchism.

Courage The true meaning of courage is the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. There are Four Types of Everyday Courage. Moral Courage- Moral Courage is the courage to stand up for one’s beliefs in the face of overwhelming opposition. Intellectual Courage- Intellectual Courage is the courage to challenge old assumptions and understandings and act on new understandings and insights gleaned from experience and/or educational research. Disciplined Courage- Disciplined Courage is the courage to be reflective, strategic and focused in the face of constant distractions and opposition. Empathetic Courage- The courage to open and feel deeply for others. https://www.tepsa.org/resource/the-courage-to-lead-activating-four-types-of-courage-for-success/

Everything begins in the heart and mind. Every great achievement began in the mind of one person. They dared to dream, to believe that it was possible. Take some time to allow yourself to ask “What if?” Think big. Don’t let negative thinking discourage you. You want to be a “dreamer.” Dream of the possibilities for yourself, your family and for others. If you had a dream that you let grow cold, re-ignite the dream! Fan the flames. Life is too short to let it go. Your dream needs to be big. It needs to be something that is seemingly beyond your capabilities. But it also must be believable. You must be able to say that if certain things take place, if others help, if you work hard enough, though it is a big dream, it can still be done. For further reading: https://www.success.com/7-steps-to-achieve-your-dream/

As Aristotle has mentioned it, the ultimate goal of human life is about happiness. Therefore, ethics is categorized as the science of achieving happiness. Contemplation is the highest completion the nature of human beings as rational beings, ‘the connection between the human function and human happiness implies that contemplation is a supremely important element in happiness’ (Craig, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy 1998, 429). The highest good is defined in terms of happiness. Aristotle emphasizes a different opinion of the notion of happiness. Happiness cannot be merely categorized into pleasure. You do not need rational capabilities to feel pleasure. Even animals do have pleasure because pleasure can be derived even from wicked behaviour. However, to feel happiness one needs to have rational capabilities. That is where humans are animals become different. Aristotle says, ‘A Virtuous person makes a decision (Prohairesis) to do the virtuous action for its own sake’ (Craig, Routl

Nichomac hean Ethics is one of the most important books of Aristotle. This work consists of 10 books. The object of inquiry of the book signifies its value which is to inquire how men should best live. For Aristotle, ethics is more practical than a theoretical one. It studies how the individuals should best live. Ethics is not totally theoretical or intellectual which gives understanding about what it means to live a better life. One should use it as a way to become better. One could live better life if he is raised well by cultivating virtuous habits. Aristotle begins with the synopsis, which says that the highest good for humans is happiness or well-being. People would blame you if you take money that is not yours. In the same way, if one does something virtuous, then the world will praise them. According to Aristotle, only if a person acts voluntarily, then only that particular person deserves blame or praise because then only that person can take the responsibility for what he has

Buddhist ethics can be classified into several categories. They are,  Religious ethics Social ethics Political ethics Economical ethics Buddhist religious ethics teaches people to live without having conflicts. It is mentioned as ‘na kenaci loke viggaiha titthati’. It improves the values and leads people towards a virtuous life. Buddhist ethics encourage people to use ethical ways to develop their life. It can be categorized under several sub sections as purisakāra which means human effort, attakāra which means personal effort, purisāthāma which means human strength, purisa vīriya which means human courage, purisa parakkama which means human adventure and purisa dhoraiha which means human responsibilities. Furthermore, the main thing in Buddhist ethics is it respects all the other religions and the leaders of those religions. Buddhism was aimed to develop wisdom of the people in accordance with the morality. Therefore, they could understand what to believe by themselves. It is stated i

Buddhism has usually regarded as a teaching, which is based on non-violence and peace. This article examines the fundamental principle of the Buddha, which can be used to peace-building and peace-keeping. Need for security is one of the fundamental psychological drives. The Buddhist doctrine of non-violence (ahimsā) is used in this study in order to highlight what the Buddha emphasized instead of violence. The Buddha denounced violence and asked his followers to cultivate and practice non-violence towards all the sentient beings. This sublime principle is accompanied with two other principles. They are loving-kindness (mettā) and compassion (karunā). The Buddha he himself exemplary showed how to spread peace and good-will among all the beings without any discrimination. He also stated that one becomes a noble person only when he becomes a person who is harmless to all the beings.  In the KosambiyaSutta, the Buddha has mentioned about quarrelling, throwing sharp words at each other, dis