What is Buddhism and Nirvana?
Perhaps I shall first begin by talking about my personal experiences with Buddhism. My family, originally from Laos, are all Buddhist. In fact, my mother and father are devout Buddhists and attend temple on a regular basis. My sisters and brother and I were all raised Buddhist, but we did not really learn the meaning behind the practices. For example, we adhered to many Buddhist traditions, such as praying in front of a shrine, bowing to the Buddha statue to show reverence, holding hand-held prayer wheels, and honoring our ancestors on specific days. However, we were not taught the stories and significances behind such practices. Rather, we were expected to practice many aspects of Buddhism simply because generations and generations of our ancestors had adhered to these traditions. This did not make sense to me however - to accept things solely based on tradition did not seem practical to me. My desire to learn more about my Buddhist background, coupled with my desire to travel to Southeast Asia, led me to travel to China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar last summer. It was there that I really learned more about the different aspects that comprise Buddhism, the different wa
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Approximate Word count = 2138
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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