Theology: Overview of Buddhism

Buddhism has been around for over two thousand years, and continues to do so in many countries around the world. This religion originates in Asia and has a very unique adversity, much of its structure arose from the end of World War II, predominantly Asian nations needed to restructure society (RoAT 167). The word ‘Buddha’ means one who has awakened and will no longer be reborn. Thereafter, one who will enter nirvana, the state of being free from suffering.

Buddhism is a religous and philosophy belief propagated by the Buddha, a teacher from India who lived between the 4th and 6th century before the common era. The teachings of the Buddha whose real name was Siddharwa spread through Asia and to the West after his death as it was practised by the followers.

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.

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.

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

Buddhism, followed by 380 million people, originated in northern India and is now practiced throughout Southeast Asia. It was founded by Siddhartha Gautama who developed a practice called Eightfold Path, also known as Middle Way, which was a way of achieving a state of nirvana by escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Siddhartha was born into wealth and got everything he could want and still wasn’t fulfilled. Being raised in great luxury shielded him from suffering. At the age of 29, he went outside the walls of the palace for the first time and was shocked from the sights of a sick man, aged man, and corpse. These sights made him realize that his life was not permanent. After this realization and his life feeling unfulfilled, Siddhartha

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 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 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 is a tradition that evolved from the original teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha or Enlightened One. Buddha was born a Hindu in about 563 B.C.E. He was of aristocratic birth and grew up in relative luxury and the security of the ruling class of that period. At age twenty-nine, he tired of his comfortable existence and renounced the world and went in search of wisdom. Tradition states that he attained enlightenment on a full moon day in May - under a fig tree.

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who is sometimes known as Buddha which stands for “The awakened one”. According to some records, he started teaching in the northeastern part of India where he lived and taught between the 6th and 4th century BCE. He was known as “the awakened one” and shared his teachings to end the peoples suffering, through the elimination of all “worldly goods and desires”. Siddhartha Gautama was the son of an Indian Warrior-King, living a good life throughout his early adulthood, after he found no more excitement of living a wealthy life, he set out to explore the world in search to find an understanding of life. Gautama learned that suffering was at the end of all existence; he later gave up his name and became a monk

Buddhism first appeared in India between the 5th and 6th BCE and is considered to be one of the oldest practiced religion and philosophy. It is a way of life that is governed by a series of passages and countless rules. These passages and rules are meant to enable an individual to further their growth as an agent of transformations to reach the ultimate goal of enlightenment. Though Buddhism, as its original form, is a strict and non peruvious practice of life, it provides of practical outlook on life and how one should be with their environment. The first teaching or the first Dharma, dictated by Siddhartha Gautama, were the Four Noble Truths. Not only are the four noble truths the backbone of Buddhism and they help us understand the

Buddhism is the practice of finding peace within ones self by developing inner peace, wisdom and kindness. This practice dates back 2,500 years, and the founder is known as Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born a royal prince in a town called Lumbini; originally part of northern India but now makes part of Nepal. When Buddha was 29 years old, he retired form his royal life and left to the woods to fallow the spiritual life of meditation. He found a new way of life without materialistic needs by finding inner enlightenment. Buddha teaches how to get liberation from suffering form oneself, and how to attain enlightenment for the sake of others; his main goal was to give people permanent liberation form suffering by helping them find lasting peace or nirvana.

Buddhists follow the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who is known as the Buddha, meaning the enlightened one. Buddhism originated in northern India and is the fourth largest religion of the world. However, Buddhism is more a philosophy or way of life other than a religion because unlike so many other religious traditions, Buddhism is founded on the teaching of a human being and not a god. Philosophy means love of wisdom and the Buddhist’s believe in leading a moral life, being mindful and aware of thoughts and actions and developing wisdom and understanding.

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