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Air Last Update: May 14 2021 Introduction ψ Throughout history man has been grappling with the idea of good and evil. These ideas have been played out in their myths, legends, and daily communications to one another. The idea of Virtue and Sins stems from the Original Sin, which in the Western world is Disobedience to the Law. According to the Bible, God created a special Garden for Adam the first man to live in. He then placed Eve, the first woman in the Garden for a mate. As the story goes, God gave Adam a strict directive not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil. Eve, the partner was beguiled by the Serpent and encouraged Adam to eat. When God found out about the disobedience, he cast Adam and Eve out of Eden. And so placed Adam and Eve on the path of struggle, pain, and eventual death. It is thought that the reason we all have the same struggles is due the Disobedience to the Law, the Original Sin. Thus, sin is not following the Law. What is Sin and the Law? To understand what sin actually is let's look at the Greek word, αμαρτία, that most commonly translates to "sin" means "to miss the mark" or to fail to adhere to the righteous standards. Thus, when we miss the mark, or fall short of standards, we sin. Therefore, sin could be thought as knowing the standards but not following them. Some of us have limited natural ability to properly live up to right standards and values. Sometimes we repeatedly fall short of the honourable conduct. An example would be when your mother tells you not to play with knives, and you play anyway. What generally happens is that you end up cutting yourself or someone else and getting in trouble. It is like you do not have the "will" to do what you know is right and there can be lots of reasons for that. We won't go into the psychological reasons now, but will save that discussion for another topic. The Origin of… -
Air What is the Wesak System & Festivals and Why is it in the Program? Year 1 Last Update: Introduction ψ Every religion has its key days. Buddhism is no different. Wesak also pronounced Vesak is Buddha’s Day. It is the most important day for those of the Buddhist faith. It is a sacred ritual for its practitioners that is celebrated annually on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha, which usually falls in May, or in early June. On Vesak Buddhist celebrate the Enlightened birth of Lord Buddha Prince Siddhattha Gotama, at his 35th year when he became the Buddha and his final ‘passing’ into Nirvana at the age of 80. Buddha’s enlightenment meant that he would not be reborn ever again and he was off the wheel of Samsara. The Buddhist scriptures tell the three major events that occurred on a full moon of the Indian lunar month of Vesakha. They are his birth, his enlightenment, and his passing into Nirvana. According to tradition he was born in 623 BC and was calculated according to the Buddhist calendar which counted down from his final passing that was 80 years later. And the decision to agree to celebrate Vesak as the Buddha's birthday was formalized at the first conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. Siddhartha’s Early Life According to modern academic consensus Gautama Buddha was born 563–483 BCE as Prince Siddhatha Gotama in Lumbini (what is now Nepal) and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu. He was born into an aristocratic family in the Shakya clan. Growing up, the Buddha was exceptionally intelligent and compassionate. Siddhartha as a young man grew to be tall, strong, and handsome. He belonged to a warrior caste and was destined to be great. As such it was predicted that one day, he would become either a king or spiritual leader. Siddhartha’s parents were powerful and wanted him to become a mighty ruler for their kingdom. They believed that the best…Year 1: Wesak System & Festivals
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