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Buddhism Original Buddha: Siddhartha Gautama, born 563 B.C.E.-died 483 B.C.E.

Went on a search for the remedy of the inevitable pains in life, like aging, death, illness, sadness etc. After many years and no luck, he took on meditating, under a tree at Bodh Gaya. Seeing through the illusions of the spirit of the Earth Mara, he reached enlightenment on the day of meditation. From there he proceeded to Deer Park in Sarnath and preached the Four Noble Truths 1. Suffering is a part of life 2. Desires cause suffering 3. Nirvana offers freedom from suffering 4. Eightfold Path leads to Nirvana

Buddhas Eightfold Path

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Right view Right resolve Right speech Right conduct Right livelihood Right effort, Right recollection Rightmeditation

Buddha taught that by following the Eightfold Path, one could release themselves from the pains of life in the cycle of rebirth and gain entry to nirvana Rejects caste system

Theravada Buddhism Practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Burma Placed all greatness upon the Buddha and his teachings All writing composed in Pali Sangha (community of monks)- central to Buddhist faith Open to all men regardless of caste Women were allowed to join (under strict/special restrictions)

Tibetan nuns Attire: Saffron robes Shaved heads In the past meditation was restricted to monks as a path to enlightenment, however today it is allowed as a quicker way to move along the path of enlightenment Normal Buddhists could only live a life of merit, and hope to be reborn with more favorable traits At first they wandered, begging for food and shelter, butas donations increased they gave it up, bought land, and began to settle down in temples and monasteries

Mahayana Buddhism Practiced in China, Mongolia, Tibet, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan All writings composed in Sanskrit to attract the upper castes Mahayana means the Greater Vehicle Bodhisattva means being of wisdom This person was on the verge of enlightenment, but cared so much for his people that he postponed his welfare to remain on Earth and help people Devotional approach: Praise to both the Buddha and bodhisattvas All followers hope to someday be bodhisattvas (through the religious merit of good deeds) Believed in the concept that there were numerous Buddhas and numerous heavens, Maitreya Buddha

Suffering servant who will come to redeem humanity

3 aspects
Amitabha: Buddha in heaven Gautama: Buddha on Earth Avalokiteshvara: Most revered of all Buddhas Theologians often link him to the Christian Messiah due to their correlating life stories and 3 corresponding aspects/forms(Christian: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

The Life of the Historical Buddha The historical Buddha was born in the 6th century B.C.E. in northern India to a royal family and was named Prince Siddhartha Gautama. In the Shin and other Mahayana traditions, he is viewed as the incarnation or Tathagata of Amida, meaning the "One Thus Come" from Immeasurable Life and Light. Growing up with power, wealth and fame, at the age of twenty nine, he left his life of privilege and luxury to discover spiritual freedom from humanitys endless suffering. Leaving behind his wife and child, he shaved his head and became an ascetic wanderer for six years, studying under the best spiritual teachers of the times. Finally, he resolved to attain Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and thus became the Buddha, the Awakened One. He is also referred to as Shakyamuni, Sage of the Shakya clan, and the King of Truth (Dharma), and the Light of the World.

Buddha's first sermon, according to the Dhammacakka Pavattana Sutta, took place in the Deer Park at Sarnath in northern India. The legends say that a seer predicted that Siddhartha would become either a great king or a great holy man; because of this, the king tried to make sure that Siddhartha never had any cause for dissatisfaction with his life, as that might drive him toward a spiritual path. Nevertheless, at the age of 29, while being escorted by his attendant Channa, he came across what has become known as the Four Passing Sights: an old crippled man, a sick man, a decaying corpse, and finally a wandering holy man. These four sights, as they are called, led him to the realization that birth, old age, sickness and death came to everyone, not only once but repeated for life after life in succession for uncounted aeons. He decided to abandon his worldly life, leaving behind his wife and child, his privilege, rank, caste, and to take up the life of a wandering holy man in search of the answer to the problem of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

Indian holy men (sadhus), in those days just as today, engaged in a variety of ascetic practices designed to "mortify" the flesh. This belief was taken to an extreme in the faith of Jainism. It was thought that by enduring pain and suffering, the atman (Sanskrit; Pali: atta) or "soul" became free from the round of rebirth into pain and sorrow. Siddhartha proved adept at these practices, and was able to surpass his teachers. However, he found no answer to his problem and, leaving behind his teachers, he and a small group of companions set out to take their austerities even further. He became a skeleton covered with skin, surviving on a single grain of rice per day, and practiced holding his breath.

However, he found no answer to his problem and, leaving behind his teachers, he and a small group of companions set out to take their austerities even further. He became a skeleton covered with skin, surviving on a single grain of rice per day, and practiced holding his breath.
After nearly starving himself to death with no success (some sources claim that he nearly drowned), Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state in which time seemed to stand still, and which was blissful and refreshing. Perhaps this would provide an alternative to the dead end of selfmortification?

After nearly starving himself to death with no success (some sources claim that he nearly drowned), Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state in which time seemed to stand still, and which was blissful and refreshing. Perhaps this would provide an alternative to the dead end of self-mortification? Taking a little buttermilk from a passing goatherd, he found a large tree (now called the Bodhi tree) under which he would be shaded from the heat of the mid-summer sun, and set to meditating. This new way of practicing began to bear fruit. His mind became concentrated and pure, and then, six years after he began his quest, he attained Enlightenment, and became a Buddha.

Buddhism and Vegetarianism The first lay precept in Buddhism prohibits killing. Many see this as implying that Buddhists should not eat the meat of animals. However, this is not necessarily the case. The Buddha made distinction between killing an animal and consumption of meat, stressing that it is immoral conduct that makes one impure, not the food one eats. Monks in ancient India were expected to receive all of their food by begging and to have little or no control over their diet.

During the Buddha's time, there was no general rule requiring monks to refrain from eating meat. In fact, at one point the Buddha specifically refused to institute vegetarianism and the Pali Canon records the Buddha himself eating meat on several occasions.

There were, however, rules prohibiting certain types of meat, such as human, leopard or elephant meat. Monks are also prohibited from consuming meat if the monk witnessed the animal's death or knows that it was killed specifically for him. This rule was applied to commercial purchase of meat in the case of a general who sent a servant to purchase meat specifically to feed the Buddha. Therefore, eating commercially purchased meat is not prohibited.
On the other hand, certain Mahayana sutras make a stronger argument against eating meat. In the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion". A long passage in the Lankavatara Sutra shows the Buddha weighing strongly in favor of vegetarianism. Several other Mahayana Vyana also prohibit consumption of meat.

In the modern world, attitudes toward vegetarianism vary by location. In the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka, monks are bound by the vinaya to accept almost any food that is offered to them, often including meat, while in China and Vietnam, monks are expected to eat no meat.
In Japan and Korea, some monks practice vegetarianism, and most will do so at least when training at a monastery, but otherwise they typically do eat meat. In Tibet, where vegetable nutrition was historically very scarce, and the adopted vinaya was the Nikaya Sarvastivada, vegetarianism is very rare, although the Dalai Lama has recently made several comments encouraging its adoption. In the West, of course, a wide variety of practices are followed. Lay Buddhists generally follow dietary rules less rigorously than monks.

The Three Main Branches of Buddhism Philosophy


Buddhism has evolved into myriad schools that can be roughly grouped into three types: 1. Nikaya 2. Mahayana, 3. Vajrayana. Of the Nikaya schools, only the Theravada survives. Each branch sees itself as representing the true, original teachings of the Buddha, although some schools believe that the dialectic nature of Buddhism allows its format, terminology, and techniques to adapt over time in response to changing circumstances.

The Theravada school, whose name means "Doctrine of the Elders", bases its practice and doctrine exclusively on the Pali Canon. This is considered to be the oldest of the surviving Buddhist canons, and its sutras are accepted as authentic in every branch of Buddhism. Theravada is the only surviving representative of the historical Nikaya branch. Nikaya Buddhism and consequently Theravada are sometimes referred to as Hinayana or "lesser vehicle", although this is generally considered to be impolite. Theravada is practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and portions of Vietnam and Malaysia

The Mahayana, or exoteric branch, literally means "Great Vehicle" and emphasizes universal compassion and the selfless ideal of the bodhisattva. In addition to the Nikaya scriptures, Mahayana schools recognize all or part of a genre of scriptures that were first put in writing around 1 CE. These later scriptures were written in Sanskrit and are concerned with the purpose of achieving Buddhahood by following the path of the bodhisattva over the course of what is often described as countless eons of time. Because of this immense timeframe, many Mahayana schools accept the idea of working towards rebirth in a Pure Land, which is not enlightenment in itself but which is a highly conducive environment for working toward enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism is practiced today in China, Japan, Korea, and most of Vietnam.

The Vajrayana or "Diamond Vehicle" (also referred to as Mantrayana, Tantrayana, Tantric or esoteric Buddhism) shares many of the basic concepts of Mahayana, but also includes a vast array of spiritual techniques designed to enhance Buddhist practice. One component of the Vajrayana is harnessing psycho-physical energy as a means of developing profoundly powerful states of concentration and awareness. These profound states are in turn to be used as an efficient path to Buddhahood. Using these techniques, it is claimed that a practitioner can achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime, or as little as three years. In addition to the Theravada and Mahayana scriptures, Vajrayana Buddhists recognise a large body of texts that include the Buddhist Tantras. Vajrayana is practiced today mainly in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Kalmykia, areas of India, and, to a limited extent, in China and Japan.

Buddhism and its relation to other major religions Some Hindus (primarily in the northern regions of India) believe that Gautama is the 9th incarnation (see avatar) of Vishnu; there are accounts of the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu that are pro- and anti-Buddhist (i.e., either Vishnu "really meant" what he said while incarnated as Buddha or he was just messing with the Nastikas). This is not a majority view, however.

Traditionally, there has been a sharp distinction between Buddhism and what is today called "Hinduism"; this distinction is more accurately between Astika and Nastika philosophies, that is, philosophies in India which either affirmed the Vedas as divinely revealed scriptures or else regarded them as fallible human inventions. Thus Buddhism is essentially a heresy vis vis orthodox Indian philosophy, though there are many syncretic or ecumenical tendencies within either group which are accepting of the beliefs and practices of the other.

In the Japanese religion of Shintoism Buddha is seen as a Kami (god). The Bah' Faith states he was an independent Manifestation of God. Siddhartha Gautama is thought to have been sanctified by the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Josaphat based on a mistaken account of his conversion to Christianity. Some Muslims believe that Gautama Buddha is Dhul-Kifl, one of the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an.

Jainism is an Indian school of thought that was founded prior to Buddhism. One of its two most prominent teachers, Mahavira, was a senior contemporary of the Buddha whose philosophy, sometimes described as dynamism or vitalism, was a blend of the earlier Jain teacher Parsvanatha's asceticism and the naturalistic teachings of the Ajivikas. Dialogues between the Buddha's disciples and Mahavira are recorded in Jain texts, and dialogues between Mahavira's disciples and the Buddha are included in Buddhist texts, however there is no evidence the two teachers actually met.

Buddhism in the modern world.


Estimates of the number of Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with 350 million as the most commonly cited figure. In northern Asia, Mahayana remains the most common form of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Singapore. Theravada predominates in most of Southeast Asia, including Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, as well as Sri Lanka. Vajrayana is predominant in Tibet, Mongolia, and portions of India, especially those areas bordering Tibet.

While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East Buddhism is regarded as familiar and part of the establishment. Buddhist organizations in Asia frequently are well-funded and enjoy support from the wealthy and influential. In some cases, this has led critics to charge that certain monks and organizations are too closely associated with the powerful and are neglecting their duties to the poor.

Buddhism and the West


In the latter half of the 19th century, Buddhism (along with many other of the world's religions and philosophies) came to the attention of Western intellectuals. These included the pessimistic German philosopher Schopenhauer and the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, who translated a Buddhist sutra from French into English. Spiritual enthusiasts enjoyed what they saw as the exotic and mystical tone of the Asian traditions. At first Western Buddhology was hampered by poor translations (often translations of translations), but soon Western scholars began to learn Asian languages and translate Asian texts. In 1880 J.R. de Silva and Henry S. Olcott designed the International Buddhist flag to celebrate the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Its stripes symbolize universal compassion, the middle path, blessings, purity and liberation, wisdom, and the conglomeration of these. The flag was accepted as the International Buddhist Flag by the 1952 World Buddhist Congress.

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