Freelance Journey

Introduction Buddhism In Patrick Bresnan's Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought , chapters 11 and 12 speak about two different types of Buddhism: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism respectively. At one point in history, "Buddhism is broadly divided between two great traditions, Theravada (also known as Hinayana) and Mahayana"  (Bresnan 243). Although "Mahayana would become the larger and historically more influential movement"  (Bresnan 243), Theravada would precede the Mahayana for its well-organized movement. Throughout reading through both of these chapters, there were specific questions from the book that I would like to address. I find that by addressing these, we'd come to learn more about both types of Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism The first question I would like to address is the differences between samatha and vippasana meditation. Samatha meditation is a type of meditation appropriate for beginners as "it promotes

Introduction Was Bhagavad Gita directly written by God/Sri Krishna The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners  by Jack Hawley is a book that recounts a conversation between Arjuna, one of the five princes of the Pandava brothers, and Krishna, Arjuna's charioteer who happens to be a Hindu deity.  Realizing that the enemy he is facing are friends, teachers, and his own kin, Arjuna would lose his resolve to fight as "his attitude seems to waver and he appears confused"  (Hawley 7).  Arjuna believes that even if he were to fight and win for his kingdom, nothing good will come out of it as he would cause a grievous sin by killing those he once cared about.  As Arjuna asks Krishna for his advice on what he should do, "Krishna transforms into His true role as the Divine Teacher" (Hawley 13) and proceeds to to respond to Arjuna's concern through a spiritual discussion.  Through these discussions, Krishna explains three different types of yogas to Arjuna in orde