Food crisis in West Africa
Millions of children and their families in West and Central Africa face a growing humanitarian disaster as a food crisis intensifies across the region.
Find out moreWhat is Buddhism?
In it's purest form, Buddhism is a way of life. The Buddha was not a god, but a teacher who led a careless life in his youth as Prince Siddhatta Gotama. However, after having revealed to him (through four signs) the relativity and the sorrow of life, Siddhatta left his family and his life of luxury. Many years followed during which he searched for liberating insight. living alone and fasting.
Nirvana and the Eight-Fold Path
It was eventually through medidation that Siddhatta finally achieved liberation from all sorrow - or nirvana. Released from the cycle of birth and death, Siddhatta became a Buddha - One Completely Awakened.
In nirvana, it is believed that all passion, hatred and delusion die out and the soul is released from the body. In order that others are also able to achieve nirvana, the Buddha used his enlightened state to teach an "Eight-Fold Path": right vision, right thinking, right acting, right language, right subsistence, right exertion, right attention, and right concentration.
Buddha also understood the constant motion o fthe universe, and that everything in it is subject to birth and decay. This motion is part of the Dharma, the laws of nature to which all things - and humans - are subject.
Karma
One of these laws is the law of cause and consequence, or karma. This law implies that all actions have a corresponding effect. In essence, the force generated by a person's actions is a determining factor in the nature of their next life. Buddhism emphasizes five regimens: striving not to kill, not to steal, to abstain from sexual misconduct, not to speak falsehood, and to abstain from drugs.
Buddhism in Plan program countries
Due to the diversity of Buddhist traditions, there are considerable differences within Buddhist teachings from one country to another, and from one region to another. Buddhism is practiced by many sponsored children and their families in:
- China
- India
- Indonesia
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Buddhist holidays and Festivals
Many Buddhist holidays are also based on the lunar calander and vary from year to year.
Bodhi Day: Dec. 8
A celebration of the enlightenment of Buddha under the Bodhi tree.
Buddha Day: Apr. 8
Celebrates the birth of Gotama in Lumbini Garden.
Wesak Apr./May (variable date)
The holiest of Buddhist holy days. Celebrates Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death.