buddhism. history of buddhism 380 million buddhists worldwide 4 th largest religion in world ...
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Buddhism
History of Buddhism
380 million Buddhists worldwide 4th largest religion in world Started by Siddhartha Gautama:
525 BC in India Born into the Brahmin caste
Saw suffering and wanted to change it
Eventually achieved enlightenment (freedom from both desire and suffering) while meditating under a Bo tree
Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering is universal.2. Cause of suffering is desire.3. The only way to end suffering is to crush desire.4. The way to end desire is to follow the Noble
Eightfold Path.There is a path to the cessation of
suffering, the “eightfold path” of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Elements of Buddhism
No gods. Priests were not necessary. No caste system. Karma. Reincarnation. Teachings are located in the Three
Baskets of Wisdom
Two types of Buddhism
Theravada: Stressed the monastic life as the way to reach nirvana Respected Buddha as a teacher but not as
a god Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand
Mahayana: Worshipped the Buddha and other enlightened ones as gods China, Tibet, Japan, Korea
Death and Afterlife
Samsara: Living beings are trapped in a continual cycle of birth-and-death, with the momentum to rebirth provided by one’s previous physical and mental actions
The release from this cycle of rebirth and suffering is the total transcendence called nirvana: blissful nothingness