As you may or may not know, Miboshi posessed a Buddhist monk. I thought it might be relevant to present a bit of information on this religion for those of you who are interested. Thanks to Mr. Pollock (my gr. 11 World Religions teacher) for doing such a great job of teaching this! ^_^

Buddhism is a religion that started in the 6th century BC in India. Its founder was a young prince named Siddhartha Gautama. When Siddhartha was first born, an old wise man came to his father and told him that Siddhartha would become either a great ruler or a great religious leader. Siddhartha's father, of course, wanted him to become a great king. To prevent Siddhartha from becoming anything else, he kept Siddhartha in his palace, and never allowed him to know about pain, death or suffering. One day, though, Siddhartha snuck out of the palace. While wandering the streets, he saw four sights. The first was a sick man. This made Siddhartha lose his pride in his healthy, vigorous body. Then he saw an old man. He no longer felt happy about being young, for he knew that one day he too would be old. Next, he saw a dead man and he no longer rejoiced in being alive. The last sight was a wise man, also known as an Ascetic. Siddhartha was determined to learn from the Ascetic to become enlightened so that he could help all the world's people who were suffering. After spending many years learning from the Ascetic, though, he soon learned that extreme measures such as denying himself of food were not the way to attain enlightenment. After meditating on his own for a while, he soon remembered all his previous lives (Buddhists believe in reincarnation) and achieved Nirvana by realizing the Four Noble Truths. These Four Noble Truths are:

1. Life is suffering.
2. The cause of suffering is selfish desire.
3. The way to end suffering is to eliminate selfish desire.
4. To overcome desire, one must follow the Noble Eightfold Path.

Once he attained Nirvana, Siddhartha Gautama became known as the Buddha. Instead of breaking the cycle of death and rebirth and becoming one with the Universe, he instead decided that he would spend the rest of his life teaching others the Middle Way so that they, too, could achieve Nirvana. The Middle Way is represented by an eight-spoked wheel, showing that you shouldn't be extreme in anything you do and that you must achieve a balance in life. To do this, you must follow the Noble Eightfold Path, which goes like this:

1. Right Knowledge - This is the acknowledgement of the Four Noble Truths.

2. Right Aims - One must be resolved to make progress towards salvation.

3. Right Speech - One's words must reflect good character. This means no slander, lying or belittling words.

4. Right Conduct - This is a moral code that follows the Five Precepts: No killing, no stealing, no lying, no illicit sexual acts, and no consuming intoxicants.

5. Right Livelihood. - One's job must not interfere with the Five Precepts.

6. Right Effort - One must have the willpower to curb desire.

7. Right Mindfulness - One must attain purity of thought to help curb desire and overcome ignorance.

8. Might Meditation - The practice of Raja Yoga which helps prepare one mentally and physically for the breakthrough to Nirvana.

There are two major sects of Buddhism - Thervada (Hinayana) Buddhism, and Mahayana Buddhism.

Thervada Buddhism is also known as Shin Buddhism or The Easy Way. It states that Buddha is a manifestation of the god Amitabha Buddha and that Nirvana can be achieved by praying to this god.

Mahayana Buddhism (or Zen Buddhism) states that Buddha was not a god but an example of enlightenment and that we should all follow his example and become enlightened. In order to achieve enlightenment, one must spend at least ten years meditating. They often use koans to focus their mind. A koan is like a mental puzzle (ie. What is the sound of one hand clapping?) that a Buddhist monk must focus on.

Mahayana Buddhism focuses a lot on a monastic life (ie. becoming a monk or nun and living in a monastery). Buddhist monks have another Five Precepts to add to the ones I mentioned earlier. They are:
1. Not being intemperate in eating (ie. don't be a pig) and no eating after noon,
2. One should not witness or take part in singing, dancing or the acting of plays,
3. No use of perfumes or accessories,
4. No use of high or luxurious beds,
5. One should not accept gifts or gold or silver.

Well, that's pretty much the basics of the religion. There are a lot of other things I could talk about, but I'm sure they can be found on other sites as well. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me about it!