Does Buddhism also teach of the end of the world?
2007-02-05 07:38:50 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I am a Buddhist of the Theravada tradition. The Dharma or Teaching holds no doomsday prophesy, rather it contains a series of Teachings regarding Life and its essential nature. The main message is that life is a series of journeys each having a beginning and an end, Life itself is such a journey. The main lessons on the physical world are that our perception of it is ever changing, this is because our perceptions come from an ever changing body, through senses which are ever changing and ageing, and the Universe itself is under the influence of constant change. Our perception of ourselves, others and the Universe therefore becomes our experience of it in a series of encounters with other Life, each of these encounters should be viewed as short term and fleeting. Because of the nature of these encounters it is our responsibility to make sure that they all have positive consequence for all Beings with which we interact.
This then is our purpose. The positive consequence of our Actions then flow outwards in small ripples, creating a series of rippling harmonious consequences continuously interacting with and influencing other Beings and ultimately by our own purposeful volition we create a positive environment of interacting consequences affecting all we encounter. On practising and encouraging these Actions we create our own positive future as these consequences continously rebound positively and encourage the same future for all we encounter.
I hope the same for you.
Peace from a Buddhist in the continuing season of joy.
2007-02-05 08:11:06 · answer #1 · answered by Gaz 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Buddhism teaches re-birth and the never-ending cycle.
The whole point is go escape the cycle (the end of the world for you).
In Mahayana Buddhism, they decide to come back (forgoing escape) until everyone can leave - it is called the Boddhisattva vow. So in this version, the end of the world is when we all are liberated.
But little is spoken of such things. Buddhism is very practical...in that they are only concerned with this moment and what you are doing now.
Talking about the end of the world or the afterlife serves no purpose.
~ Eric Putkonen
2007-02-05 15:51:59 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
No. It doesn't teach that. There is no threat that the world will end and even if it did teach that we would not be attached to the threat of the world ending. We would still live in harmony with the world and not be afraid of it ending. In Buddhism things begin and end all of the time and we learn to let things happen naturally because that is the natural cycle of the world.
2007-02-05 15:42:19 · answer #3 · answered by Justsyd 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Not specifically. The Buddha DID talk about how the sun will eventually go, in great detail, and how the planet will be consumed etc., but that's not the focus of our learning. The focus is on using this precious human birth to cultivate wisdom and altruism in order to attain buddhahood. We're not supposed to dwell on things beyond our control, but rather use time wisely.
The Buddha spoke on "future" events, how the dharma will decline, how the sun will fizzle, how the planet will suffer the effects, about life on other planets, etc. so you can learn about it if you're interested, but when you study the philosophy, by default, it just becomes "gee whiz" information and not really of any focal importance.
Hope that helps.
_()_
2007-02-05 16:37:48 · answer #4 · answered by vinslave 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am part Buddhist more then most people and Buddha did not say anything about the end of the world. The Suffering of humans will continue and the world will never end till everyone finds enlightenment.
2007-02-05 15:47:29 · answer #5 · answered by bobobokingman 1 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I'm not a Buddhist, but I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Eastern philosophies/religions usually have some notion of continuum, the idea that even if the world "as we know it" ends, it's part of a much larger cycle. (For light, there is dark. For destruction, there is creation. That kind of thing.)
2007-02-05 15:42:29 · answer #6 · answered by STFU Dude 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Buddha didn't specifically say that the world will end. He just say that in the future, there's a period of darkness where morality doesn't really exist in which children kill their own parents and people doing harm to each other.
Buddha did mention about planets dying and other planets arising. Though their world disappear, the souls will look for another world where they can continue their karmic manifestions.
2007-02-05 15:48:09 · answer #7 · answered by Renee 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Not in the Christian sense-it teaches that nothing in the universe has any permanence. It doesn't focus much on prophecies or metaphysics-it's more of a system of practical philosophy.
2007-02-05 15:44:31 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
The end of the world to a buddist means the end of all suffering. I'm not one, but that's how I understand it.
2007-02-05 15:41:59 · answer #9 · answered by Militant Agnostic 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋