Dukkhah - Suffering

10 Pages 2597 Words

Even though Buddhism never developed a missionary movement, the Buddha’s teachings spread all over the India subcontinent. After it had put its mark on the India subcontinent it moved from there to Asia. As with any culture, different people have different ways of reacting and thinking about things. So, with each new culture Buddhism touched, the methods and teachings were changed and made to fit the local morals, norms and values. It did this though without compromising the essential points of wisdom and compassion. Buddhism, however, never developed an overall hierarchy of religious authority with a supreme head. Each country that it spread to made its own structure. There are two major divisions of Buddhism. The Hinayana, or Modest Vehicle, emphasizes personal liberation, while the Mahayana, or the Greater Vehicle toward salvation than the more narrowly conceived Theravada, stresses working to become a fully enlightened Buddha in order to be best able to help others(Smart, p.126). Each has many sub-divisions. At present, however, three major forms survive: one Hinayana, known as Theravada, in South East Asia, and two Mahayana, namely the Chinese and Tibetan traditions.
From its origins in India to its expansion east through China and eventually into Korea and Japan, Buddhism has undergone many changes (Smart, p.59). These changes are usually evidenced in its iconography, and somewhat in popular practice, but the essential tenets remain unchanged. One of these unchanged beliefs is “Dukkha” or the reality of suffering (9). The kinds and origins of dukkha are as varied as the regional practices of Buddhism itself, ranging from the ancient and very symbolic, to the modern and very practical. Dukkha is an interesting concept that states that suffering is given to anyone who is born in to this existence. Unlike other religions that state that suffering is the will of God or that you are automatically born with original sin, ...