Buddhism

Origins Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy About 2,500 years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism in response to witnessing the suffering of the world. Today, Buddhism is the 4th largest religion on earth, with 360 million followers

The Buddha: “The Awakened One” or the “One who knows” Gautama left his palace one day and witnessed a poor man, a sick man, a dead body, and an old man, and was disturbed He resolved to meditate his way to the truth about human suffering He sat down under a tree and Buddhists believe that he came to understand the causes of human suffering, how to find the way around suffering, and the nature of supreme inner peace. He began teaching his ideas, which would become the fundamental believes of Buddhism

The Four Noble Truths Similar to the principle of dharma, the 4 Noble Truths present a way of action for people to follow All life is full of suffering The cause of suffering is desire and attachment The cure for suffering is detachment, or ending desire. The way to overcome desire is to follow the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path Understanding the nature of the world Try to follow the path and avoid hatred Speak without malice and tell the truth Avoid evil actions i.e. stealing, killing Avoid careers that harm others Act unselfishly and stay on the path toward enlightenment Be aware of your body and feelings Stay focused on achieving enlightenment

On Enlightenment and gods The Buddha accepted the ideas of karma and reincarnation Ultimate goal of following the 4 noble truths and 8 fold path was to achieve nirvana: a state of heavenly peace and freedom from suffering and desire The Buddha rejected the belief of personal gods and dieties

Divisions within Buddhism Today, there are three main branches of Buddhism Theravada Buddhism Mahayana Buddhism Tantric Buddhism