Questions on Buddhism - answered by a Buddhist!

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ranma1/2 said:
on less serious but still curious note.

What did you think ofthe movie

little buddha "whooa im buddha"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Buddha
i still get a kick out of having Keanu Reaves in the film.

or

7 years in tibet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_years_in_tibet
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I've watched both movies, the first one about history of Buddha (and those 3 kids who are reincarnations of a monk). And the second one is about an Austrian soldier encounters with Dalai Lama (when he's lot younger)

Does "Little Buddha" potray the true history of Gautama Buddha?

eg. his mother was singing while holding a tree branch when she was giving birth to Buddha.
 
I haven't seen either movie, I'm afraid, so I can't comment. Sorry. :-\
 
what is the majority in terms of nationality that represent buddhism?
 
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Source: www.buddhanet.net
 
Hey Trumble.

I was watchin a documentary some days ago about Buddhism. Well not reallly everything about it. They kinda focused on a certain ritual/ceremony thing. Man I forgot the word, it was something like kamari. A goddess o something. And the monks go in search of a girl who has beauty, fair skin and is brave. To test that, they had the little girls walk between severed heads of boars...
So if any one of the girls willingly does it without fear, she is considered to be that goddess in i guess human form..? She stays in a temple area or somewhere and she cant take a step out. The only time she can is if like during a certain ceremony. And when she does step out, her feet cant touch the ground because its considered sacred. What I found a bit surprising was people going kind of crazy of her considering her to be a goddess. So most of her childhood goes like that. Most of the time, she doesnt recognize or respond when she sees her parents, as most kids would be excited. When she returns home, she has to learn to adapt in her family environment, all from scratch. She misses many years of her education and has trouble adapting in class. And also I think they said that those ex Kamari girls cannot marry even if they wanted too.

What I would like to know is if this is true? And to be honest it seems highly unfair. Missing most of her childhood, having to adapt without ease and not being able to marry, even if they wanted too. They showed 2 girls as an example of what its like when they r little and when they get older. So could you shed some light on this please :) Thanks.
 
Jazzy said:
Hey Trumble.

I was watchin a documentary some days ago about Buddhism. Well not reallly everything about it. They kinda focused on a certain ritual/ceremony thing. Man I forgot the word, it was something like kamari. A goddess o something. And the monks go in search of a girl who has beauty, fair skin and is brave. To test that, they had the little girls walk between severed heads of boars...
So if any one of the girls willingly does it without fear, she is considered to be that goddess in i guess human form..? She stays in a temple area or somewhere and she cant take a step out. The only time she can is if like during a certain ceremony. And when she does step out, her feet cant touch the ground because its considered sacred. What I found a bit surprising was people going kind of crazy of her considering her to be a goddess. So most of her childhood goes like that. Most of the time, she doesnt recognize or respond when she sees her parents, as most kids would be excited. When she returns home, she has to learn to adapt in her family environment, all from scratch. She misses many years of her education and has trouble adapting in class. And also I think they said that those ex Kamari girls cannot marry even if they wanted too.

What I would like to know is if this is true? And to be honest it seems highly unfair. Missing most of her childhood, having to adapt without ease and not being able to marry, even if they wanted too. They showed 2 girls as an example of what its like when they r little and when they get older. So could you shed some light on this please :) Thanks.
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Are u talking about those girls in Nepal? I think it's hinduism... not Buddhism.:?
 
Are you sure? They said it was Buddhism....well if its not thennnnnnnn forget it lol. Anyways if it was Hinduism...they wouldnt show monks..:?
Yea I think it was Nepal or Sri Lanka...
 
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north_malaysian said:
and how many countries made Buddhism as the official religion?
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Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Bhutan and Kalymkia. Yes, I had to look up the last one, too - apparently its a small European republic within the Russian Federation where the main religion is the Tibetan form of Buddhism!

In Sri Lanka Buddhism has the "foremost place" according to their constitution but it is not the 'official' religion. Buddhism is also the official religion the Tibetan government in exile, of course.


Jazzy said:
What I would like to know is if this is true? And to be honest it seems highly unfair. Missing most of her childhood, having to adapt without ease and not being able to marry, even if they wanted too. They showed 2 girls as an example of what its like when they r little and when they get older. So could you shed some light on this please :)
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No, I'm afraid I can't as I have never heard of this. It is certainly not 'part of Buddhism' in any general sense and would seem to be some sort of local custom? It certainly sounds a lot more 'Hindu' than 'Buddhist', although in that part of the world anything is possible!
 
Jazzy said:
Are you sure? They said it was Buddhism....well if its not thennnnnnnn forget it lol. Anyways if it was Hinduism...they wouldnt show monks..:?
Yea I think it was Nepal or Sri Lanka...
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well... Hindu monks are different than Buddhist monks right... maybe trumble can explain this.
 
Yea, I was confused myself cause one of the girls name was hindu, but they showed buddhist monks :confused: They didnt show anything hindu. Even my mom said they seem like they're hindu :X So umm I dunno lol.
 
north_malaysian said:
I think Little Buddha is the only western movies about the history of Gautama Buddha.
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Picked that up on DVD after you mentioned it and have just finished watching it. Nice movie, and a good antidote to the Harun Yayha propaganda flick.

Yes, the 'story' bits are a reasonable telling of the Buddha's life up to and including his Enlightenment. The traditional story is something of a mix; the earliest parts from the Pali canon are much more historical in tone and miss out the embelishments added later. Those are principally symbolic and are metaphors for the conflict being fought out in Siddharta's mind (Mara, the girl temptresses, the army firing the arrows that turn to flower petals etc). Quite handy for a movie. "Bloke sits under tree for several hours in intense internal struggle while maintaining outward peace and serenity" wouldn't exactly make riveting cinema even for a Buddhist. The traditional story regarding the Buddha's birth is actually even more colourful, with the appearance of assorted gods and such, but again is metaphorical rather than historical.

Thanks for bringing the movie to my attention. :)
 
whats that "may triple gem bless u"

why many Buddhists use this ?

what is da meaning ?
 

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