Religion Information Paper : Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha or just simply the Buddha was born in what is now known as Nepal sometime between c. 563 BCE and c. 480 BCE into the caste system with his caste being the Kshatriya, the caste of royalty or the military elite. He was born to Śuddhodana, a head chief of the Shakya tribe, and Maya, a princess. Siddhartha’s father held a naming ceremony for a five day old Siddhartha where eight Brahmin priests predicted that Siddhartha would either be a great holy man or a great king. The prophecy was correct as Siddhartha Gautama has had one of the largest impacts on Asian culture by creating the fourth most popular religion in the world that is still active 2,500 years later.

Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The founder of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama, the son of an Indian warrior-king. Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social class. Gautama became bored with the indulgences of royal life so he wandered into the world searching for understanding. After encountering an old man, ill man, a corpse, and an ascetic, he was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He then became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” He spent the remainder of his life

After its creation in India in the sixth century B.C.E., Buddhism gained popularity in China around the first century C.E. Buddhism was accepted and pursued wholeheartedly by a portion of the Chinese population; however, many were largely opposed to the doctrine and believed it should be eradicated. The hostile way in which the Chinese imperialists treated the growing number of Buddhists in their country contradicted with the ideals of Buddhism: to create a better society. They sought out to respect others and do good works; however, they were disrespected and rejected from society. Due to the spread of Buddhism to China, believers of the teachings of the Buddha were hated because they were different; however, they changed the ways of their society for the better.

How can we begin to understand such a diverse and ancient religion? The width of Buddhism is immense. It is a religion without any written rules. Buddhism is based on self-discovery. Buddhists are born with the quest to find their true form. They believe that they are prisoners of the physical plain until they reach nirvana. Nirvana is the ultimate goal for a Buddhist (Buddhism, 2007). It is the state that saves them from all suffering and evil. They believe that only nirvana can remove them from the never-ending circle of life.

Buddhism was founded by one man, Siddhartha Guatama. He was born into royalty around 563 B.C.E. in a Kingdom near the border of India and Nepal. He was raised in wealth and luxury, and at the age of 16, he married a wealth woman and they had a child together. Around the age of 29, he began to realize

Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist

Siddhartha Gautama was a prince from a small Indian state who was born into riches and security but switched his ways of life upon encountering sickness and death. After leaving his family behind, he realized the meaning of life and began his quest of reaching enlightenment.

A prince named Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) founded “Buddhism” in the sixth century before the birth of Christ. Buddhism is better understood as philosophy rather than a religion and follows the concept of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Noble path.

Buddha With the conception of the Buddha, being picked as the "stirred one" at age thirty-five, his excursion toss life, and even in his passing. Buddha has guided numerous to finding the truths of life. The Buddha was the originator of Buddhism, the religion and philosophical framework that created an awesome culture all through quite a bit of southern and eastern Asia. The Buddha whose unique name was Siddhartha Gautam, was conceived in Nepal around 2600 years prior.

There are many different religions with many different beliefs, traditions, practices, and rituals. These differences are a very important part of understanding and appreciating the culture and history behind the specific religion. However, the practices that certain religions have in common can aid even more in furthering the understanding of specific beliefs of other religions. Since most religions cultivate from the practices and beliefs of other religions, they use those core values and beliefs and transform them into what they believe is a better way practicing. Religions use similarities within each other and twist them into their own. There are certain beliefs within every religion that shape their practices such as their morals or their most essential or absolute value, their position on human beings’ problems and solutions, and their view on life and death within their religion. Pure Land Buddhism (a form of Mahayana Buddhism) and Vaishnavites (a group within Hinduism) are great examples of this very concept.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It is the oldest and fourth largest religion in the world with around 500 million followers. Buddhism focuses on teaching people how to come to terms with and end the suffering of themselves and others by cutting out greed, hatred, and ignorance from their lives. Unlike most major world religions, Buddhism does not revolve around worshiping a god or divine creator, instead the focus of Buddhism is living one 's best life and transforming the lives of others. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Enlightenment and upon death achieve Nirvana, the liberation of pain and suffering. For Buddhists, it is the individual’s responsibility to find his or her own path to enlightenment; the principles of Buddhism are seen more as guidelines than rules.

Buddhism’s founder was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “one who realized his goal.” Buddhists believe that when Siddhartha’s mother, Maha, was conceived she had a dream involving a white elephant carrying a lotus flower. She interpreted the dream to mean that her son would grow up to become a great spiritual leader. Just a week after Siddhartha was born, his mother died. Upon her death, he lived with his wealthy aunt and his father on a large estate. As Siddhartha grew up, his father kept him away from all suffering and anguish of the world. Unlike many of his peers, he was well educated and free from the world’s sorrows.

Budda, or Siddhartha Guatama which means "the awakened one" had the religion named after him because he founded the ideas behind Buddhism. Budda, a very wealthy man, was not fulfilled with his life. One day, he decided to leave his home and wondered through the forest, nearly starving himself to death, in search of the answer to his discontent. Nearing death, a woman found

Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th century BCE. The historical founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama (c.560-480 BCE) was born in a village called Lumbini into a warrior tribe called the Sakyas (from where he derived the title Sakyamuni, meaning 'Sage of the Sakyas'). According to tradition Gautama's father, Suddhodana was the king of a small principality based on the town of Kapilavastu. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after Gautama's birth. Following the death of Maya, Suddhodana married Maya's sister, Prajapati, by whom Gautama was brought up in great luxury and sheltered from the harshness of the outside world.

Siddartha Garma, now known by his title the Buddha, was born around the year 563 B.C. in Nepal (Smith, Huston). His father, a prosperous feudal lord, was given a prophecy at the time of Siddartha’s birth (Smith, Huston). If he remained within the world he would become a world conquering king, but if he forsook the world, he would become a world redeemer instead. Faced with these two paths, Siddartha’s father did everything in his power to steer Siddartha down the path of the world conquering king.