The History And Beliefs Of Theravada Buddhism And Mahayana 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 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

Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha, founded Buddhism once he reached a state of dharma at age twenty-nine. Once he founded Buddhism, he travelled the world trying to spread his philosophy. Buddha preached that the biggest hallucination in life is the tangible world. While spreading Buddhism, he converted a small portion of South Asia. Buddhism was developed throughout South Asia by the main political powers of Aśoka and the Tang Dynasty.

Buddhism is a world religion based on the teachings of the "Buddha," which means "The Enlightened One" or "The Awakened One" (Smith and Novak 4). Buddhism is usually associated with India and Nepal, though it has spread worldwide (Powers 12). It is difficult to trace all Buddhist beliefs back to their original sources because nothing was written about the religion until nearly 150 years after it began (Smith and Novak 50). As Buddhism evolved, its believers split into different factions, for example: Theravadinism, which believes that the Buddha was a great sage but stopped influence the world when he died/entered nirvana (Smith and Novak 68-9); and Mahayanism, which believes that the Buddha is a savior of the world who keeps drawing people to himself even now (Smith and Novak 70). Furthermore, as Buddhism spread, it evolved into different types of Buddhism, such as Vajrayana,

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.

Gautama is the founder of the religion Buddhism that originated in India. A Buddhist, follower of Buddhism, spends their whole life trying to escape samsara and reach nirvana. The journey to nirvana for a Buddhist can only be achieved by them self. The book Siddhartha is about a boy that goes on a journey to become enlightened. The boy, Siddhartha, has to overcome a lot before he settles back at the river he once crossed and finds nirvana.

Theravada Buddhism has been the pre dominant religion/school in the continental south-east Asia, it is mainly found in sir Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Taiwan and Lous. Today Theravada Buddhist is a group which has well over 100,000,000 member’s world-wide. Theravada is considered to be the soul-survivor of the traditional and original Buddhism. It implies rather traditional and the strictest moral field of teaching. Theravada concentrates on monks and nuns, those who give full devotion to god. They live their lives only by the traditional teachings of the Buddha.

Page 3 Buddhism Buddhism was a very influential religion in China. It impacted China in a very spiritual, cultural, and social way. In the late Han dynasty, from around 202 BC-220 AD, this religion was introduced by missionaries and traders along the silk road from India. There are two types of buddhism. First there is Theravada Buddhism.

Both initially originating in the Himalaya and written in Sanskrit, Buddhism and Hinduism are two of the main religions on the continent of Asia. Many believe that Buddhism first originated in Northern India in the 5th century B.C.E. when Siddhartha Guatama (the son of a king) rebelled against his father and went out into the world in hope of finding a way to end suffering . After trying many things, he eventually sat down

Buddhism was developed by Siddhartha Gautama or “Buddha” who is believed to have been a prince in the Shakya republic (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 228). Gautama’s sermons revolved around change, karma, and the cycles of death (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 229). However after Gautama's death religious disputes emerged that eventually divided the religion into two groups (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 229). Theravada Buddhism became the most prominent and began to spread as changes to its teaching made it more available to a wide range of followers (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 230). New ideas around the religion unfolded creating the branch of Mahayana which dispelled Theravada Buddhism. The religion became widespread as trade routes in central asia spread the religion to places such as China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 230). Ultimately India’s the expansion of Indian culture in Asia came as a result of trade outpost and Indian settlements within Asia (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow

Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism. He was born in Lumbini, Nepal. When the king Shuddodana asked Asita, a well-known sooth-sayer about his son. She told the king that he would either become a great king, even an emperor, or he could become a great sage and savior of humanity. The king wanted Gautama to become a king like himself, and was determined to keep Gautama from seeing anything that might result in him taking up the religious life. He was not allowed to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had devoted themselves to spiritual practices. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha. As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and curious about the world beyond the palace walls. He finally demanded that he be permitted to see his people and his lands. The king carefully arranged that Siddhartha should still not see the kind of suffering that he feared would lead him to a religious life, and announced that only young and healthy people should greet the prince. He got to see a couple of old men who had accidentally wandered near the place. He

Buddhism is considered to be one of the largest religions in the world. The religion of Buddhism and its followers originally began in India and Asia, however Buddhism along with other religions, continue to expand to every corner of the world. Around the late 6th century, the start of the Buddhism religion was created by a man with the name, Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha Gautama was born in a wealthy family where he lived in a palace with little exposure to the outside world. Getting married at the age of 16, Siddhartha Gautama barely got a chance to experience anything, however one day Siddhartha Gautama wandered beyond the palace he lived in.

Buddhism originated from India, and was founded by Prince Siddharta Gautama, who later came to be known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born of a princely caste, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests.

Buddhism originated from India, and was founded by Prince Siddharta Gautama, who later came to be known as Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born of a princely caste, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests.