Question :
I know that Buddists believe in Buddah and in reincarnation. Is
Karma/Dharma involved anywhere in there ? Also, I want some information. If
you could give me five interesting facts about the Buddist faith, it would be greatly appreciated. Preferably facts that would draw me into the faith.
Answer :
you can use my "Buddhist bibliography" at :
http://www.cyber-ville.net/buddbib.html
to read beginners books about Buddhism
You can also use my "Buddhist links" web page at :
http://www.cyber-ville.net/buddlinks.html
to visit Buddhist web sites which contains teachings for beginners.
First thing you have to know is that Buddha is a sanskrit adjective
meaning "awakened" therefore any one can become a Buddha.
Second thing is that Buddha is NOT a god and therefore not to be worshipped as a god who can grant you any kind of favor.
The historical Buddha was born 26 centuries ago in a city which is now 6 kms within Nepal territory, north of the Indian border.
His name was Siddhartha Gautama and was from the Shakya clan (therefore he is also called Shakyamuni, "the sage from the Shakya clan").
Karma is also a Sanskrit word which comes from the verbal root kr (pronounced kree) which is the English verb : to do.
Therefore everything that you think, say or do is Karman...
All of these thoughts, spoken words or deeds leave an imprint on your "stream of consciousnesses".
These imprints are called "karmic seeds" which like vegetal seed are growing and becoming trees which bear fruits.
Therefore every one of our thoughts, spoken words and deeds are one day returning to us ...
In short it’s like the proverb "we harvest what we plant".
Dharma is again a Sanskrit word which has 150 possible translations in the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English dictionary. But in this case it can be
translated as spiritual practice (sometimes you’ll see Buddha-Dharma, ie Buddhism).
Hope this is what you were looking for,
if you need more detailed explanations do feel free to write to me
directly.
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