Taoist Thought Through the Ages Buddhist Empowerment Buddhist Empowerment and Life Transformationand Life Transformation Douglas K ChungDouglas K Chung, , LMSW, MA, Ph D LMSW, MA, Ph D (Do not copy or[.]
Buddhist Empowerment and Life Transformation Douglas K Chung, LMSW, MA, Ph.D (Do not copy or distribute without the permission) Copyright ©2013 Purposes of Workshop To learn Samsara concept of death in Buddhism for counseling and treatment model building To study Good Deed Approach as life plan for empowerment and life transformation To integrate the spirituality with life planning for life transformation Siddhārtha Gautama Founder of Buddhism circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE * Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later Buddhist Populations While estimates vary between 200-500 million adherents, the generally agreed number of Buddhists is estimated at around 350 million (6% of the world's population) This makes Buddhism the world's fourth largest (in terms of number of adherents) religion http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/bud_statwrld.htm Buddhist Populations In the USA: – 301,139,947 (0.7% of the U.S Population.) ( "CIA The World Factbook – United States of A merica" Flagcounter.com Retrieved 20 November 2011.) In Michigan (Census 2010) – 11,568 (0.01% of Michigan Population) ( http://data3.tennessean.com/view-database/re ligious-populations-by-state-794/details/22 html Buddhist Worldview All beings in this world are under Samsara: Samsara is considered as a life process After a life passed, its “consciousness” will depart from the subject and went through certain process it may enter another new born subject This new born subject may be human being, ghost, animal or god to reach Nirvana Buddhist Worldview All beings in this world are under Samsara: Previous life’s Karma determined this current life situation Current life is an Outcomes of previous life & determine the future life as Person, ghost, or animal Future life is contingent upon the karma created in the current life Nirvana: out of cycle of Samsara an ultimate state where free from samsara and enjoying everlasting ultimate being (from Lu, Kevin “Discourse Analysis of Samsara in Buddhism Investigation by the Debate between Buddhist and Nihilist in Payasi Sutta) Buddhist Ideal State: Nirvana There be a state of being that free from the endless samsara that enjoying the everlasting of the ultimate – Nirvana that free from birth and death, old age and sorrow and attain immortality This ideal state can be reached by engaging in self-realization goal for transforming the current life into higher quality of being through samsara What is Buddhism? (Jayaram V 2012) Who is Buddha? An Indian who originally established Buddhism Focused on law & principles in life Self determination & self discipline What is Buddhism? A belief system that intends to free people from doubt, karma, & bitterness in their lives and transform into an ultimate spiritual world of nirvana Buddhism believes no soul while Hinduism – all beings posses souls Samsara – Wheel of Life Samsara is considered as a life philosophy to explain the causal dynamics of previous, current, & future lives as an endless process with an equal opportunity to transform into nirvana IMAGE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Samsara.jpg