charleneliuP1

. Post 1 -What are its teachings? -Why do people follow it? -How is it different from other religions? -__How does it help a person lead a meaningful life__?
 * 1) 1. Informative explanation- I am leaning towards this type of paper because I want to explore the teachings of Buddhism as someone who does not know much about it either and to educate people reading this without much opinion. I am worried that this will be a very bland research paper similar to a Wikipedia page. The important function this approach serves is informing people on the becoming of Buddhism and its teachings. It’s an informative essay that explores why Buddhism is appealing to people.
 * 2) 2. -What is Buddhism?
 * 1) 3. Buddhism is taught based off of the 4 noble truths that branches off into the noble eightfold path. It instructs people on how to live (thoughts, speech, actions, etc.) for the ultimate goal of Nirvana (liberation of the cycle of suffering).
 * 2) a. Samsara- continuous cycle of rebirth within the six realms of existence
 * 3) b. Karma- actions of the body that bring about a consequence
 * 4) c. Rebirth- process where a being goes through a succession of lifetimes
 * 5) d. 4 noble truths- truth of suffering (dukkha), origin of suffering, cessation of suffering, path leading to cessation of suffering
 * 6) e. Noble eightfold path- right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration
 * 7) 4. I’m curious about this question because I myself am Buddhist but not exactly a religiously practicing one. Buddhism teaches a way of living that will optimize a person’s life on Earth. Especially in high school when there is so much pressure to achieve things, I am curious as to if this will help us be happy. My motivation is based on personal experience and personal interest. I’m struggling with finding out the key to happiness because I feel like I get too emotional when issues are actually minimal. The direction I am going to take this in is discussing the teachings of Buddhism and how it applies to living a meaningful and happy life. I am worried this will turn out to be just a paper on the religion vs how it applies to life. I care about this because I was born Buddhist but I don’t actually know much about it and I want a new perspective on life.