Questions About Buddhism

Kendall: Once you die, where do you go if you reached nirvana during your life?

Bella Grace and Lydia: Has anyone else achieved nirvana, other than the Buddha? Is there anyone alive now who has achieved nirvana? How do you know if you (or someone else) achieved nirvana?

Bjorn: If Buddha wanted to stop suffering, why would he have caused suffering by leaving his family?

Joe: The Buddha was a Hindu. So why was he upset when the worm died, if Hindus (and Buddhists) believe in reincarnation?

John: Why did the Buddha choose that particular fig tree to meditate underneath?

By Wynter

Ford, Grant and Carter V.: If Buddhists don't consider their founder (Buddha) to be God, why did they name the religion after him? If Buddhism isn't built on the idea of God, what exactly is it built on? Also, who do Buddhists pray to when they use the prayer flags?

Alexa: Once you become a monk or a nun, can you "un-become" one?

Kelsey, Andrew, and Lilly B.: Who picked the color orange for Buddhist monks? Do other religions have special colors for their holy people?

Lily L.: Are you allowed to have friends if you are a Buddhist monk? Or are friends considered to be a possession?

The sacred tooth is carried in the
special container atop the elephants.

Diego, Matteo, Liv, and Jack D.: In the Festival of the Sacred Tooth, how do people know it's really the Buddha's tooth? Would the celebration be less important, or less sacred, if a historian proved it's not actually the Buddha's tooth?

Wynter: Could a person own a fancy car and an iPhone and still be considered a Buddhist?

         Sam had a terrific response to Wynter's question: I have a thought about Wynter's question. Maybe they think about wealth, in Buddhist cultures, differently than we think about wealth in our own culture. If this is true, then they wouldn't really think of cars and cell phones as ways to measure wealth and success.

Kalani: Why don't Buddhists want financial success?

JP: What gives mantras their power? Is their a limit to how powerful a mantra can be?

Lili B.: When I look at statues of the Buddha or pictures of Buddhist monks, they never seem to be smiling. Why not? Why aren't they more happy? Catalina asked a related question: Do Buddhist monks and nuns ever get stressed out?

Biruk: Why do so many of the Buddhist monks live in the mountains?

A great question by Biruk, and here's a beautiful
photo to go along with his question