The number six traditionally represents humanity, and therefore seven is seen as the centre of humanity and its connection to the creator. In Buddhism, seven is the number of ascent, and Buddha is said to have walked this number of steps at his birth.

Buddhism goes on to state that using tobacco will result in climatic disorders, pollution, famines, diseases and wars. The sin of smoking, sniffing and chewing tobacco will also affect religion as tobacco will veil the three jewels from people and good deeds will have less merit.

Today in many monasteries in Tibet and India, Vajrayana practitioners will incorporate alcohol as part of their practice. Most of us go out with the intention of loosening our mind, celebrating something with friends, or having a low-key get-together and don’t have the discipline to say “no” to one more drink.

Buddhism is one of the world’s largest religions and originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe that the human life is one of suffering, and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.

The enlightened person is happy and joyful. He has a cheerful disposition most of the time, and is willing to share that joy with others. He is always optimistic that all challenges have a resolution. Even though the resolution may not be the most desirable, he is confident that he is capable of being at peace with it.

In the conventional sense — no! An enlightened person is simply being – without the slightest bit of resistance towards how it is being perceived by mind(s). Love is replaced with appreciation for (of) all things in the now. An enlightened person may use the term love but what they mean is appreciation.

The escape from samsara is called Nirvana or enlightenment. Once Nirvana is achieved, and the enlightened individual physically dies, Buddhists believe that they will no longer be reborn. The Buddha taught that when Nirvana is achieved, Buddhists are able to see the world as it really is.

Buddhists generally favor cremation, but embalming is allowed as well. Families choose according to their personal preference. There are no rules governing when the burial or cremation takes place. The burial or cremation ceremony may simply be conducted by the family.

Buddhists seek to reach a state of nirvana, following the path of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who went on a quest for Enlightenment around the sixth century BC. There is no belief in a personal god. Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible.

Yes. A Buddhist which does not believe in some deity is an atheist Buddhist. Buddhism is more of a collection of practices than a collection of dogmas. Some Buddhists believe in divine beings and are theists but a good amount of Buddhists do not believe in gods and are atheists.

There is little attention given to rebirth or reincarnation (the two words are usually used interchangeably) in Zen Buddhism; instead, we are asked to focus on this life and the present moment. The Buddha taught that it is one’s good or evil intentions that bring about good or bad karma.

The essence of Zen Buddhism is achieving enlightenment by seeing one’s original mind (or original nature) directly; without the intervention of the intellect. To be a human being is to be a Buddha. Buddha nature is just another name for human nature – true human nature. Zen is simply to be completely alive.

Neither Buddha nor his zen followers had time for any notion of an afterlife. The doctrine of reincarnation can be more accurately thought about as a constant rebirth, of death throughout life, and the continual coming and going of universal energy, of which we are all part, before and after death.

Yes, there is a Buddhist stream called Secular Buddhism where many people don’t believe (some of) the supernatural parts of Buddhism. In order to believe in the idea of rebirth, one has to believe what is written about the Buddha and what he said.

The Buddhist Understanding of the Middle Path. The middle path generally refers to the avoidance of two extremes of practical life, namely, indulgence in sensual pleasures on the one hand and severe asceticism on the other.

Yes. A soul passes through many many animal species before being born as a human. If a human kills an animal for food/hunting, then that animal becomes a human even faster than a natural evolution would have done.