Nonverbal communication and culture. Identity, stereotypes and prejudices, страница 32

Fifth, it is possible for the human to break the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation and experience an internal state of bliss called Nirvana. One achieves Nirvana by leading a good life and thus achieving higher spiritual status in the next life. The more advanced one's religious life, the closer one is to Nirvana. This advancement can be assisted by practicing introspection and meditation. The path toward Nirvana is also influenced by one's karma, an ethical standard that asserts, "Every act we make, and even every thought and every desire we have, shapes our future experiences." In this way, karma is the link between a person's acts in one life and his or her acts in the next. The present condition of each individual life is a product of what one did in the previous life, and one's present acts, thoughts, and decisions determine one's future states.

Multiple Paths.Perhaps one of Hinduism's greatest appeals through the centuries has been its ability to offer various paths and to adapt to diverse needs. Hinduism abounds in directives to persons who would put their shoulders to the collective wheel. It details duties appropriate to age, temperament, and social status. Recognizing four different types of people, Hinduism offers four distinct spiritual paths: (1) jnana yoga, the path of knowledge; (2) hhkti yoga, the path of devotion; (3) karma, the path of work; and (4) raja yoga, the path of meditation.

5. Buddhism

A fifth major religious tradition that influences how its followers perceive the world and interact in it is Buddhism. Many Westerners find it difficult to understand Buddhism, in part because it requires abandonment of views generated by the use of ordinary words and scriptures. Ordinary language tends to deal with physical things and experiences, as understood by ordinary man; whereas Dharma language (Buddha's teaching) deals with the mental world, with the intangible non-physical world. This notion finds expression in two famous Buddhist statements: "Beware of the false illusions created by words," and "Do not accept what you hear by report. These sayings reflect Buddhists' belief that there is a supreme and wonderful truth that words cannot reach or teach—that is transmitted outside of ritual and language. A Buddhist teacher expressed it this way: "A special transmission outside the scriptures; No dependence upon words or letters; Direct pointing at the mind of man; Seeing into one's nature and the attainment of Buddhahood."

History.Buddhism was founded by an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama in about 563 B.C. The story of how this man became known as The Enlightened One has two essential parts that are both crucial to the study of Buddhism.

First, when Gautama was twenty-nine he awoke to the recognition that man's fate was to suffer—to grow old and sick, then die. Overwhelmed with the sadness, he began to seek some means of allaying the pain of life. Through meditation he found the solution and became known as the Buddha (The Enlightened One).

Second, after this momentous event the Buddha spent the next forty-five years of his life wandering up and down the Ganges Valley preaching the message to ascetic and lay persons alike. The fact that he was born an ordinary man is extremely important to Buddhism. The Buddha stressed during his entire life that he was not a god but a man, an extraordinary man who found enlightenment and then devoted his life to helping others achieve Nirvana, the state of spiritual and physical awakening and purity necessary to escape the continuing cycle of suffering and rebirth.

Basic Assumption. The basic assumption behind this world view is that life, for a host of reasons, is suffering. Accepting this premise, the Buddha taught that each individual has the power to overcome suffering. Although all world views try to offer comfort to their constituents through supernatural solutions, Buddhism is quite different.