Siddhartha Gautama “Buddha” Founder of Buddhism Called the Enlightened One Lived to 80 ( BCE) Originated in India

The Buddha Seeks Enlightenment Buddhism developed out of the same period of religious questioning that shaped modern Hinduism and Jainism.

Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism. He was born into a noble family that lived in Kapilavastu, in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal.

As a baby, Siddhartha exhibited the marks of a great man. A prophesy indicated that if the child stayed at home he was destined to become a world ruler. If the child left home, however, he would become a universal spiritual leader.

Siddhartha Gautama To make sure that he would be a great king, his father isolated him in his palace. At the age of 16 Siddhartha married a girl named Yasodhara.

Siddhartha never ceased thinking about the world that lay outside of the palace, which he had never seen. When he was 29, he ventured outside of the palace four times.

Siddhartha’s Quest He saw an old man He saw a sick man He saw a corpse being carried to the cremation grounds He saw a wondering holy man who seemed at peace with himself.

Siddhartha understood that these events meant that every living thing experiences old age, sickness, and death and that only a religious life offers a refuge from this inevitable suffering.

He wandered through the forests of India for six years seeking enlightenment, or wisdom.

He tried many ways of reaching an enlightened state. He debated with religious seeker.He fasted, eating only six grains of rice a day. (it was said that he got so skinny that if you tried to poke him with your finger in his stomach that you would touch his backbone.

None of these methods brought him Enlightenment. Finally, he sat down and meditated under a large fig tree. After 49 days of meditation, he achieved an understanding of the cause of suffering in this world.

From then on, he was known as the Buddha, the Enlightened one.

Beliefs Reincarnation Seek detachment from worldly desires Nirvana- release from selfishness and pain Nirvana = BuddhismMoksha = Hinduism

The Four Noble Truths Suffering Exists (Life is Suffering): Humans sleep away their lives in senseless and self-centered preoccupations; this self-centeredness only leads to pain, misery, sorrow, and unfulfillment. Desire Causes Suffering: The need to refer all things to ourselves causes suffering. We suffer because our ego dupes us into believing that we need that which is not permanent (body, perspective, emotion, feeling, impulse are all very real – it is our linking of these realities to a “self” that is incorrect). Cessation of Desire Brings the Cessation of Suffering: One must see things as they really are, not simply as they are for ourselves. Rather than absorb everything into the ego for our own pleasure, we must allow our connection with reality to cause an outward flow – a universal compassion toward all living creatures. This is not a belief, it is an action. The Cessation of Desire Is Found Through the Eightfold Path: The observance of the truths of the Eightfold Path is at the heart of the Buddhist life.

Four Noble Truths 1 st - life is suffering and sorrow 2 nd - suffering is caused by people’s selfish desire for pleasures 3 rd - The way to end suffering is to end desires 4 th - The way to overcome such desires and attain nirvana is to follow the Eightfold Path, which is called the Middle Way between desires and self-denial

Eight Fold Path Right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the Middle Way

Practice An established order of monks Lives of meditation, live on alms Temples primarily used for individual meditation Monks and nuns took vows to live in poverty, to be nonviolent, and not to marry

Effects on Society Spread through trade Theravada, Mahayana, Zen

Modern Traditions Dalai Lama – leader of Tibetan Buddhism Political protests Dec 8 – Bodhi Day – the day Siddhartha gained nirvana Pacifist Vegetarian