Buddhist+literature

=Buddhism Literature= Three Pure Precepts //To do no evil;// //To cultivate good;// //To purify one's mind:// //This is the teaching of the Buddhas.// --The Dhammapada

Buddhism says that every thing in life is filled with nothing but sorrow because of desire. Desire is wishing for something that you want or need. Some followers of Buddhism are able to accomplish ridding their life of sorrow by shedding all desires. This takes self-discipline, restraint, moral conduct, and meditation.

To the Assistant Prefect Chang
Wang Wei

In the Evening Years given to quietude, Here we see the Buddhist practice of meditation

The world's worries no concern of mine, -Here we see the Buddhist belief riding yourself of desire

For my own needs making no other plan

Than to unlearn, return to long-loved woods:

I loosen my robe before the breeze from pines, ---Here we see the Buddhist rid him/herself of material things

My lute celebrates moonlight on mountain pass.

You ask what laws rule "failure" or "success"--

Songs of fishermen float to the still shore.

The above poem was by Wang Wei. Wei was an accomplished painter and writer. Wei is a classic example of the scholar-official of China's Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, he was able to combine aspects of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian philosophies.



The Third school of thought, Buddhism, began to take hold in China in the second century A.D. during the period of disunity that followed the decline of the Han dynasty. Because Buddhism taught that life on earth is filled with suffering and is characterized by emptiness and illusion, it was especially appealing to the people who lived during this period in Chinese history. with its belief in reincarnation and reducing their suffering through self discipline, meditation, and moral conduct, Buddhism offered new hope to the people of this time.