By Elizabeth Nerdig
Eyes closed and totally relaxed, junior Tyler Mace looks like any other student taking a nap in class. However, Mace is focusing his concentration on his breathing, and keeping inner peace. Mace, a practicing Buddhist, is meditating.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in Northern India in the sixth century BCE. Buddhism has several main forms. However, Zen Buddhism is becoming increasingly popular in the west.
“Honestly, I don’t know the types of Buddhism,” Mace said. “I just know what I believe.”
Buddhists believe in Karma, the total of a person’s actions (whether in body, mind, or speech) taken in all their lives, Dharma, a person’s path to enlightenment and the fundamental principles that order the universe, and Reincarnation, or rebirth of someone after death into a new body.
“I personally believe in reincarnation,” Mace said. “Not to the point where you are reincarnated to another animal; but to where you are reincarnated into another life of the same being.”
Reincarnation is one of the biggest beliefs of Buddhism. If after so many cycles of life, death, and rebirth, a person lets go of their attachment to desire and self, they can achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is the final state free from suffering.
“[Nirvana] is kind of hard to explain,” Mace said.
Buddhism has Five Precepts, or rules to live by, similar to the second half of the ten commandments of Judaism and Christianity. They are taught not to kill, steal, lie, misuse sex, or to consume alcohol or other drugs.
“[It is about] thinking before acting,” Mace said.
Some Buddhists believe in the power of prayer, while others do not.
“[I don’t believe] so much [in the power of prayer],” Mace said. “I believe in the power of your own self, instead of a higher being. I believe God to be someone who is watching, not someone who is going to change something for you.”
Despite the low numbers of practicing Buddhists at PGHS, it is the 4th largest religion in the world.
“They are not as small in numbers as people think,” Mace said.
However, Mace has still received some disrespect for his beliefs.
“I just blow it off,” Mace said. “I still respect other people’s beliefs.
Mace has been practicing since he was nine years old, using a book to help guide him. He has a brother who practices it too, but his parents are Christian.
“My parents support it; they support everything I do,” Mace said.
Mace’s practice does not affect how he celebrates typically Christian holidays, though.
“I love Christmas. [I don’t celebrate it] for the religious beliefs, it is just another holiday to me,” Mace said. “Easter is a big celebration in my house.”
Buddhism is mainly just a lifestyle for Mace though, instead of a hard-and-fast religion.
“It is all about thinking before you act, thinking while you act, and taking respect in everything you do and everything that you have,” Mace said.