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Theravada
Buddhism is the religion of virtually all of the ethnic
Khmers, who constitute about 90% or more of the
Cambodian population.
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Buddhism originated in what are
now north India and Nepal during the sixth century B.C.
Theravada Buddhism is a tolerant, non-prescriptive
religion that does not require belief in a supreme
being. Its precepts require that each individual take
each individual take full responsibility for his own
actions and omissions. Buddhism is based on three
concepts: dharma (the doctrine of the Buddha, his guide
to right actions and belief); karma (the belief that
one’s life now and in future lives depends upon
one’s own deeds and misdeeds and that as an individual
one is responsible for, and rewarded on the basis of,
the sum total of one’s acts and act’s incarnations
past and present); and sangha, the ascetic community
within which man can improve his karma. |
The
Buddhist salvation is nirvana, a final extinction of
one’s self. Nirvana may be attained by achieving good
karma through earning much merit and avoiding misdeeds.
A Buddhist’s pilgrimage through existence is a
constant attempt to distance himself or herself from the
world and finally to achieve complete detachment, or
nirvana. The fundamentals of Buddhist doctrine are the
Four Noble Truths: suffering exits; craving (or desire)
is the cause of suffering; release from suffering can be
achieved by stopping all desire; and enlightenment –
buddhahood – can be attained by following the Noble
Eightfold Path (right views, right intention, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, and right concentration), which
constitutes a middle way between sensuality and
asceticism.
Enlightenment
consists of knowing these truths. The average layperson
cannot hope for nirvana after the end of this life, but
can by complying, as best he or she is able to, with the
doctrine’s rules of moral conduct-hope to improve his
or her karma and thereby better his condition in the
next incarnation.
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