buddisum x x x

Buddhist Advice on Hygiene

Buddha taught that it is very important to show respect for the Buddhas, their teachings and the monastic community. The reason for showing respect is not in order to please the Buddhas or monks, or for them to become wealthy, but rather to show respect for ourselves and for our goals in life. The goal of Buddhist practice is to become Buddhas ourselves. To become a Buddha means to overcome all our shortcomings and difficulties in dealing with life, and to realize all our talents and potentials so that we can be of maximum benefit to ourselves and others. We all have the ability to become a Buddha, because we all have the natural resources, or "Buddha-nature," that allows us to reach that goal. Whether we are a man or a woman, rich or poor, we all have a mind, a heart, a body and the ability to communicate. These are the working materials out of which we make ourselves Buddhas. Therefore, in showing respect for the Buddhas, we show respect for ourselves and all others.

One of the principal ways to show respect is through cleanliness. Buddhism instructs its followers to clean the temples and monasteries each day and to arrange clean and beautiful offerings, as if we were inviting a distinguished guest. Likewise, Buddhism instructs us to clean our bodies and homes each day as a way of showing respect to ourselves and to the people we meet. One of the Buddhist ethical precepts is not to do anything that would cause others to think badly of us or cause them to show us disrespect. Being dirty and smelly certainly makes others lose respect.

If we maintain personal hygiene, we feel good about ourselves and improve our self-image. Others are happy to be in our presence and gain a favorable impression of us. These are important factors for being successful in life. If, because of others telling us we are backward and ignorant, we believe their words, we lose our self-dignity. This loss of a feeling of self-worth leads not only to alcoholism, but also to not taking proper care of ourselves, our appearance, our homes and our temples. If others blindly show us respect even if we are dirty, we may not change our ways. We only improve our personal habits when we have respect for ourselves and for what we are doing in life. This comes from education about Buddhism and freedom from foreign pressure trying to convince everyone that we are primitive and backward. The issues of cleanliness and of progress in the modern world are interrelated.

So, in conclusion, keep yourself clean, and your home and temple clean, and you are okay. Buddhism isn't terribly complicated on this issue.

Might I suggest that you post this thread in the "Spirituality and Religion" forum. You're more likely to get a response there. Alternatively, you can send a PM (personal message) to moderator, and ask them to move it.

Sounds like a homework question, and I think I just answered it.

Jeez, probably shouldn't have.

thank you so much for your help x x
:wink: carfancier for your replie it was great help do you no another religion we could use we need to give 2 examples and thank you once again babe x x x x

Who is carfancier?? Generally, we don't do homework for others here, but seeing as I already broke that rule, check here:

http://jew.dp.ua/english/mikva.htm

Good luck on your project! If you have any other questions of a similar nature, Spirituality and Religion is the best place to post them.

Cav did a nice job above in re. "Buddhist" injunctions toward cleanliness. However, Buddhists come from a lot of different cultural backgrounds. You probably should be as aware of the cultural feelings about cleanliness as the religious. The Japanese, for instance, are well-known for their facetioness ... regardless of their religious beliefs. Peoples who live in drier and/or colder climates may feel that a water bath once a month is almost decadent ... regardless of their religious beliefs.

Most of the religions that I'm familiar with do urge their followers to be clean, especially when engaged in religious practices, or during especially "holy" days during the year. Fasting itself is a means of cleansing the body. Self-flagellation is a means of cleansing the soul by mortification of the body, even if blood must flow.

Cleanliness is a relative term, and one that admits of different meanings beyond those that we commonly accept in the Industrialized West.

thank you so much for all your help .
hey the help has been amazing and i thank you all so much i find this place so interesting . your all super stars i am in the middle of my NVQ2 and some of the questions throw you a bit i am doing it in elderly care and work in ppl homes . it is such a rewarding job and really want to do well so thank you once again for all your help x x x

Well...now that you have been enlightened by us, you can enlighten me...I don't know what an NVQ2 is. Can you let me know?

lol x
oh sorry its a national qualification and you have to do it in England to work with the elderly i need to do this then my level 3 then i can go into nursing honey so its very important to me . i want to become a mid wife but it a long way off yet sigh lol . but hey i am really enjoying the study its been a long time x x x

Ahh...thanks. I live across the shore in Canada, so I'm not familiar with some of the Brit degrees. Good on ya! I have a ton of respect for midwifing, as an alternative to hospital birthing.

lol
:wink: Canada lovely honey what a lovely place to live England is nice in parts but is damp and cold and we not had proper snow 4 about 3 years now where i am my kids are fed up . scotland gets lots lol . my daughter asked me the other day *mummy if we dont get snow father christmas wont come because he has nothing to land his sleigh on * bless her she is only 3 lol kids hey x x x

Heh heh...I wish we had snow. It is currently damp and coldish here too, but not snowy and crisp-cold as it should be.

lol
right i think i should not be using this forum for this lol i will be being told off again and made to stand in da corner lol so i better say good night x x

Hey can we go over some basic Buddhist principals? And I mean very basic - I'm a beginner!

I think if you read over the threads on this forum that have "Buddhism/Buddhist" in the title, most of your questions will be answered. Read first, then ask your questions and we'll try to be what help we can.

Pay Attention.

The very basics are the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path which you can visit this website for more information http://web.singnet.com.sg/~cswoon/noble.html
Basically, Buddhists seeks refuge in the triple jem (the very first step to being a Buddhist, usually comes with a ceremony), and eradicates the three poisons which leads to sufferings, and realise the true nature, which is not our ego but the nature of the Buddha.

The goal of Buddhism is basically Nirvana, Buddhahood, when you are completely out of Samsara (the world of suffering).

Being liberated and enlightened means you can live your life without any sufferings again (not to be confused with physical pain), while in the long term, the Buddha may choose not to rebirth in the 6 realms.

Different schools of Buddhism may have different approach and methods towards enlightenment, but basically all of them are in the end the same, they are all Dharma.

First, try the site given by my young colleague in Singapore. The most important things for you to know about Buddhism are contained in the Four Nobel Truths and the Eight-fold Path. These were given in Siddhartha's first, and most important sermon. Everything else is just commentary.

Then try this Buddhist site:

E-Sangha

This site was given to me by one of those dear people who lurk about these threads, but seldom contribute openly. The person thought, properly as it turned out, that as an outspoken Buddhist I might like the site. It is a good one, and those interested in Buddhism could do much worse.

Try it it, I think you'll like it as much as I have.