-Practices and Temples

Buddhism, like other religions, follow certain practices and traditions that take place in houses of worship called temples in Buddhism. There are 3 main types of practices that take place in temples-
                                        1) Meditation- mental concentration and mindfulness usually in the form of Zen Yoga.
                                        2) Mantras- Sacred sounds. In the beginning of Buddhism, monks used chanting as a way                                             to recall what the Great Buddha had taught them. Today chanting is used as a way to                                                 focus the mind and is normally used for special life events
                                        3) Mudras- Hand motions usually used in prayers. Even though most sections of Buddhism                                             don't believe in any forms of deities Buddhists use prayer to as a way to give thanks to                                                 life.

All Buddhists do these practices in short buildings with wide roofs called Buddhist Temples, such as the picture above. Since Buddhists don't worship a god or gods, many question what Buddhists do in these temples. These temples are usually filled with golden statues of Buddha which do not resemble god since Buddha was just a man but instead for the reason to remind people to stay on the path of enlightenment and keep the Eightfold Path as a way to enter Nirvana. They are also a place where monks can join together to talk and meditate about Buddhist thoughts.

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-Buddhism and Women

In the early Buddhist religion, when the Great Buddha was starting the religion, he had stated that women were able to enter the monastery with full participation. Women who joined a monastery were not called monks or priests but instead nuns like other religions. However there were also some problems with women in Buddhism during its earliest stages such as the need for nuns to bow to monks whenever they were to meditate together. Also women could not become a buddha even though women could still gain enlightenment through the Eightfold Path. When it comes to marriage women share the same rights as men such as divorce to a spouse. Womens rights vary from community to community but all still share in what The Great Buddha has taught them.

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-Buddhist Scriptures

Many Buddhist scholars and researchers call the texts used by Buddhists as Buddhavacana. These texts can contain 3 different types of messages which include

• Sutras (discourses)
• Vinaya (rules of monastic discipline)
• Abhidharma (analytical texts)

Different countries in Asia refer to these texts in different ways in the sense of how they are interpreted. Most of these scriptures are written in Chinese and usually refer to ways of living and how monks should act while living in monasteries. Some of the oldest texts, which can be considered canonical or non-canonical, are said to words that Buddha said himself to his oldest followers in India. However some sections of Buddhism forbid the use of these texts as a way to gain a sense of how to reach enlightenment such as Zen Buddhists.

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