The Buddha, The Dharma, And The Sangha

Buddhism is based on the teachings of an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived around 500 B.C. Buddhist tradition says that one day the prince looked beyond the walls of his palace and saw the suffering of his people and wanted to make a change. Siddhartha left his wife and 2 kids and began the path to become Buddha (enlightened one) and after years of practice, he spent the remains 45 years of his life teaching “dharma”(the path to liberation from suffering) and established Sangha (a community of monks).

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

We don’t know details about the life of Siddhartha “Buddha” as nothing was written down by him or his disciples until hundreds of years after his death. However, the legends that were passed down paint a very humble and intriguing picture of the man known as Buddha. The story states that Buddha was born into a very lavish lifestyle; he was given anything and everything he could ever want and kept very sheltered in order to protect him from the realities of the world around him. Eventually becoming curious of the surrounding world he escaped the royal walls and seen what the world

The founder of Buddhism is Buddha Siddhartha, born 624 in present-day Nepal. His name means “Awakened One.” A Buddha is somebody who has awoken from sleep and suddenly sees things truthfully. As Buddha grew up, he could speak sixty-four different languages and was a good mathematician. He often visited poor and old people, and realized that every person would one day experience sufferings, for example, sickness and death. Because Buddha believed in reincarnation, he became aware of the fact that everyone would experience these sufferings in a never-ending cycle. This caused him to feel sympathy for them and himself, and so he wished that they could all escape suffering. Thus, this created the religion of Buddhism.

Siddhartha was a significant person in history for the reason of formulating the religion of Buddhism and teaching what he has learned over the years to a small, growing community whose members came to see him as “Buddha” which means teacher. His teachings included the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, and The Middle Way which spread and became one of the most common religions in Asia.

It took him six years, but one morning Siddhartha awoke from a night of fighting an inner battle and had an “Awakening”. He began sharing his message of awakening which includes a middle path between extremes and self-denial and self-indulgence and finding truth and reality through self-introspection. His followers called him “the Buddha” which means “the Enlightened One” (Bickel and Jantz). His teachings included Four Noble Truths: Life is all about suffering, the cause of suffering is our desire and greed, there is a way to overcome our desire and greed, and lastly the path to happiness and relief of suffering is an eight step process. There are three qualities to maintain this enlightened status: wisdom, mental discipline and ethical conduct. Unlike most Western religions, there are not a lot of rules and regulations in the Buddhist religion, however there are three fundamental principles upon which the religion is based. Buddha which is the finding the path of enlightenment and teaching it to others, dharma described as the true ways of things and sangha which is a community of monks, nuns and laypeople who practice and promote the dharma. The central religious practice for Buddhists is the intense dedication to meditation. Meditation is the process of understanding the nature of reality, obtaining dharma and awakening

Behind every religion there is a story. These stories open the eyes of their listeners to form them into better people, usually promising them afterlife. No matter the time period or culture, these lessons all have something in common: people should be good. Stories such as “Epic of Gilgamesh”, “Genesis”, “Mandate of Heaven”, “The Justice of God”, and “Siddhartha’s Enlightenment” are from different religions yet they share a common theme.

Buddha: “I was born Siddhartha Gautama. I was the son of King Suddhodana and his wife, Maya. When I was young, a group of wise men told my father that I would ‘either become a great king, who would rule the entire world, or a great Buddha,’ an Enlightened One (Hopfe 130). Determined to make me a great king, my father shielded me from the human suffering and the four sights: a dead body, an aged person, a diseased person, and an ascetic monk. I lived a life of luxury until I was exposed to the suffering of my people at age twenty-nine. I made it my goal to ‘overcome old age, illness, and death’ (Chackal Buddhism 6). I lived my life as an ascetic and then as a

Siddhartha Gautama was the original teacher of Buddhism. At thirty five he went through a process of enlightenment that would become the foundations of his teachings or what he referred to as Dharma or truth. Buddhism is more than a religion, it can be considered a philosophy, a way to live ones' life. This is apparent because Buddha never considered or claimed to be a God. He was more a philosopher than a religious leader. His teachings center on the four noble truths and the eightfold path. The four noble truths comprise the truth of suffering, the truth of why we suffer, the truth of how to be free from

Buddhism is one of the major religions with an intricate history of system and beliefs. Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha “the awakened one”, the founder and leader of the Buddhism, lived from the periods of 566 BC to 480 BC (Buswell). Siddhartha Gautama was an Indian warrior king’s son so he lived a lavish life as he was the prince of the warrior caste. He got bored of his extravagant life as he lived on and went into the world to search and explore it for understanding. He wondered what happened outside of the palace and he finally got permission to explore the life of others outside the palace. His father, Shuddodana Gautama, believed that his son should not see the life of the poor and suffers of the people because he didn’t want Siddhartha to lead a religious life, therefore, only the healthy and well looking people got to meet and greet the prince. However, he still faced the truth as he chased some old men who accidently went into the parade that he saw. He came across sick people, an ascetic, and a monk as he was greatly surprised to see such people existed. He found out about death and how one can die. After meeting the monk, Siddhartha said, “When ignorant people see someone who is old, they are disgusted and horrified, even though they too will be old someday. I thought to myself: I don’t want to be like the ignorant people. After that, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with youth anymore (Boeree).” Soon after he saw the sufferings of the world, he

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.

There are teachings and religion of the Buddha, one being (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), “a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE (before the Common Era)” (Religion Facts, 2004). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and during the 20th century, it spread to the West. Buddhism is based on the teachings of a Nepali prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived around 500 BCE (Buddhism beliefs, 2008). Buddhism has taken many forms. Some focus on rituals and the worship of deities, while others reject rituals and gods in favor

Xuanzang was impressed by India’s ability to stay together for so long and have very few problems. Also, that many people conformed to the social rankings of their culture with little arguement. The fact that you are more free to do what you want without the consequence of death hanging over your head. Also, you are not forced to believe in one religion, and you do not have to accept one person as a ruler.

Buddhism is religion that is based off of peace and spirituality taught by the teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gotama. Many who follow its teachings believe Buddhism to be more of a way of life or lifestyle choice rather a religion. Buddha is not a god, but one man that taught his followers a path of enlightenment from his experiences and values. Buddha’s main teachings were the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths were teachings about suffering, pain, disease, happiness, loneliness, and aging. It explained why we as humans can overcome certain obstacles in our lives by looking at the more spiritual side of things such as “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own

Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha (Enlightened One) was born in Nepal in the 6th century B.C. Buddha father was the king who ruled a tribe that was known to be economically poor. Buddha’s mother had died a shortly after giving birth to him, which caused his father to be very protective over him. Buddha father wanted to protect his son from misery and pain of the world, so he was raised in palace built just for him. Buddha was in his late 20s when he first experienced the world outside the palace. In which, caused him to realize that there is a lot of pain and suffering in humanity. Buddha came to this realization that suffering lays at the end of all existence, this occurred when he encountered an old man, an ill man, a corpse and an ascetic. Shortly after Buddha renounced his princely