By Beth, Lauren, Emily and Hannah Buddhism By Beth, Lauren, Emily and Hannah

What is Buddhism Buddhism is a religion to around 300 million people The word Buddhism comes from ; Buddha to awaken Its has origins from 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama known as the Buddha was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35

Siddhartha One day, after growing up, marrying and having a child, Siddhartha (Buddha) went outside the royal enclosure where he lived. When he went outside he saw, each for the first time, an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. This greatly disturbed him, and he learned that sickness, age, and death were the inevitable fate of human beings - a fate no-one could avoid. Siddhartha had also seen a monk, and he decided this was a sign that he should leave his protected royal life and live as a homeless holy man. Siddhartha's travels showed him much more of the suffering of the world. He searched for a way to escape the inevitability of death, old age and pain first by studying with religious men. This didn't provide him with an answer.

Siddhartha Siddhartha encountered an Indian ascetic who encouraged him to follow a life of extreme self-denial and discipline. The Buddha also practiced meditation but concluded that in themselves, the highest meditative states were not enough. He abandoned the strict lifestyle of self-denial and ascetic, but did not return to the pampered luxury of his early life. Instead, he pursued the Middle Way, which is just what it sounds like; neither luxury nor poverty. One day, whilst meditating he finally achieved Enlightenment and became the Buddha.

Four noble truths The first noble truth: Everything in life is suffering and sorrow The second noble truth: The cause of all this pain is peoples self- centered cravings and desires, people seek pleasure that cannot last and that leads only to rebirth and more suffering The third noble truth: The way to end all pain is to end all desires The fourth noble truth: People can overcome their desires and attain englightment by following the eightfold path

The noble eightfold path Right vision, or understanding: understanding that life always involves change and suffering; realizing that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the way to overcome suffering and be really happy. Right emotion: committing oneself to wholeheartedly following the path. Right speech: speaking in a positive and helpful way; speaking the truth. Right action: living an ethical life according to the precepts. Right livelihood: doing work that doesn’t harm others and is helpful to them. Right effort: thinking in a kindly and positive way. Right mindfulness: being fully aware of oneself, other people, and the world around you. Right meditation, or concentration: training the mind to be calm and positive in order to develop Wisdom.

The 7 Offering bowls The seven water bowl offerings are traditionally set out on a Buddhist alter each day. The seven bowls represent the ‘seven limb practice’ a method to purify negative tendencies and accumulating positive potential. The seven limbed practice is made up of - 1 - Prostrations to all the Buddha's 2 - Making Offerings 3 - Confession of non-virtuous actions 4 -Rejoicing in the positive actions of oneself and others 5 - Requesting the Buddha's to reach 6 - Requesting the Buddha's to remain in this world 7 - Dedication of merit

Meditation Successful meditation means simply being - not judging, not thinking, just being aware, at peace and living each moment as it unfolds. Meditation involves the body and the mind. For Buddhists this is particularly important as they want to avoid what they call 'duality' and so their way of meditating must involve the body and the mind as a single entity.  People can meditate on their own or in groups.  Buddhists may just sit and concentrate on their breathing... not doing anything to alter the way they breathe, not even thinking about breathing; just 'following' the breathing and 'becoming one' with the breathing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoOCw_tp1I