Chapter 4.1

 Founded by Siddhartha Gautama  Born 566 BCE  High Caste Family  Mother dreamed that radiant white elephant descended to her from heaven and predicted that a boy would someday become a wandering holy man.  To stop this, kept boy in palace surrounded by luxury.  Prince married beautiful woman, had a son, and enjoyed a happy life.

 Gautama rode beyond gardens and saw a sick person, an old person, and a dead body  Aware of human suffering for 1 st time  Said goodbye to wife, child, palace and went into exile  Wanted to discover “realm of life where there is neither suffering nor death”

 Wandered for years  Sought answers from Hindu holy men  Fasted and Meditated  Sat under a giant tree and meditated until he understood the mystery of life  48 days- spirits tempted him to give up his meditation  Suddenly he understood the cause and cure for suffering  When he got up from the tree, he was “Buddha” which means the Enlightened One

 Taught others what he had learned  1. Life is full of suffering, pain  2. Cause of suffering is desire for riches, power  3. Cure for suffering is to overcome desire  4. Overcome desire by following 8-fold path

1. Right views 2. Right actions 3. Right speech 4. Right conduct 5. Right livelihood 6. Right effort 7. Right mindfulness 8. Right contemplation Understanding 4 noble truths, committing self to 8-fold path Avoid evil words and actions Through meditation, achieve enlightenment

 Final goal is Nirvana  Union with the universe and release from cycle of rebirth  8-fold path is middle way between life devoted to pleasure and one based on self denial  Honesty, charity, kindness to all living creatures  Buddhism grew from same traditions of Hinduism

THE SAME DIFFERENT  Stress nonviolence  Believe in karma, dharma, moksha, cycle of rebirth  Rejects priests, rituals and gods of Hinduism  Urges people to seek own enlightenment through meditation  Rejects caste system  Hope of nirvana to all

 Attracted many followers  Set up monasteries, convents for meditation, study  Centers of learning  Buddha’s Death:  Age 80  Ate spoiled food  “Decay is inherent in all things. Work out your own salvation with diligence.”

 After death of Buddha, followers collected teachings into text  Tripitaka “Three Baskets of Wisdom”  “Let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty”  Golden Rule: “Overcome anger by not growing angry, overcome evil with good, overcome the liar with truth.”

 Missionaries and traders spread Buddhism across India and Asia  Split into 2 sects  Theravada Buddhism  Closely followed Buddha  Life of spiritual work  Only most dedicated monks could achieve nirvana  Sri Lanka, SE Asia  Mahayana Buddhism  Easier for ordinary people  Pictured Buddha as a God  China, Tibet, Japan, Korea

 Buddhism took root across Asia  Slowly declined in India  Hinduism absorbed Buddhist ideas  Made room for Buddha as another Hindu God  Buddhist centers that survived fell to invading Muslim armies in 1100s