5) Buddhism

Number of followers


 Founder
 Siddhartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) was the founder
of Buddhism and was born in present day Nepal.
Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu family and would
have had several roles as a Prince in his community. He
eventually moved to India to have a more meaningful
role in people’s personal lives.
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Earliest sources for the life of Buddha date
from the 2nd century AD
• Siddhartha was born a prince around 563
BC in Ancient India
– Grew up surrounded by luxury, married a
beautiful woman and had a happy life
– At age 29 he took a ride beyond the palace
gates and saw a sick man, an old man, a poor
man, and a dead body
• Disturbed, he left his family to find the “realm of
life where there is no suffering nor death
 Gautama becomes Buddha

• Siddhartha Gautama wandered for years and

meet with Hindu Scholars, whose ideas didn’t
answer his questions
• He fasted and meditated under a tree
pondering the mystery of life
• Legend tells that during the night evil spirits
tempted Gautama to give up meditating, but he
didn’t
• After he rose, he believed he understood the
cause and cure for suffering and sorrow
• He then became Buddha or “Enlightened One”
Historical Context of founding
 After forty-nine days of meditation
Gautama Buddha was awakened, otherwise
known as reaching enlightenment. After
reaching enlightenment, under a tree in
India, he promised to spread the knowledge
he just learned about how to end suffering.
 Major Beliefs:

– Life is suffering
– Follow the 4 Noble Truths and Eightfold Path
– This Path leads to better Karma
and a life purity
 A pure and enlightened soul can
ultimately achieve Nirvana
 Key Teachings Buddhism

• Four Noble Truths:

– 1. All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow

– 2. The cause of suffering is nonvirtue,

thinking such as hatred and desire

– 3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome

these negative deeds and thoughts

– 4. The way to overcome these negative deeds

and thoughts is to follow the Eightfold Path
 The Eight-fold Path

• The Eight-fold
Path Means:
• Right views,
• right intentions,
• right speech,
• right conduct,
• right livelihood,
• right effort,
• right mindfulness,
• right contemplation
 The Eightfold Path

• A person has to live a moral life,

avoiding evil

• By meditating, you can reach Nirvana

• Final Goal: Nirvana, union with the

universe and release from the cycle of
reincarnation
• Buddhism stresses honesty, charity,
and kindness to all living creatures:
Rejects the Caste System!
According to Buddhism, after death one is either reborn
into another body (reincarnated) or enters nirvana. Only
Buddhas (those who have attained enlightenment) will
achieve nirvana. The Buddha said of death:

Nirvana
Nirvana is the state of final liberation from the cycle of
death and rebirth.
It is also therefore the end of suffering. The literal
meaning of the word is "to extinguish," in the way that a
fire goes out when it runs out of fuel.

What is it like? Is it like heaven, or is it non-existence?

The answer is not clear, Buddha only says it is
"incomprehensible, indescribable, inconceivable,
unutterable."
Challenging Hindu Ideas
Ancient Ways Changing Society Caste System

A more
The Buddha taught individualistic Opposed caste
that following approach to system
the Vedic texts enlightenment
was The Eightfold Path
Rebirth as a means could lead any
unnecessary.
to evolve individual to
Challenged the nirvana.
Levels above
authority of
human but The Buddha’s
Hindu priests
below Nirvana teachings
reached all
Many realms
classes.
including a
Hades like place
 The Spread Spheres of

of Buddhism Influence

Buddhism
out of India
by 1000 AD

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana
 http://www.bergen.edu/faculty/gcronk/Buddhism.ppt
Where has Buddhism disappeared?
 The Major Buddhist
Traditions
• Theravada: 300BC or earlier (“The Way of the
Elders”) - Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia. Only monks can reach
Nirvana
• Mahayana: 200CE (“The Greater Vehicle”) - China,
Korea, & Japan (& Tibet & Mongolia) Believe in angel-like
beings, different gods and saints, Nirvana is open to all.
• Vajrayana 800CE (“The Way of the Diamond
Thunderbolt”) - Tibet & Mongolia, sect containing the position
of Lama(Guru) many polytheistic gods
All of these allow for the worship of traditional
pre-buddhist gods
Symbols

The eight-spoked wheel symbolizes the Buddha’s

turning of the Wheel of Truth or Law. There are eight
spokes to reference the Noble Eightfold Path of
Buddhism, which is the path Buddhists believe can
end suffering in their lives. This path involves
becoming more wise, righteous, and thoughtful in life.
Place of worship

 Buddhists worship and meditate in a temple known as

a Vihara. A Vihara is a huge square temple with roofs
that slope down and outward from the building.
Major Beliefs

 Death leads to rebirth into a new life (Reincarnation)

 All events in life is a consequence of actions

done in the past life (Karma)

 Cycle of Rebirth is escaped only by

achieving Nirvana

 Nirvana: unborn, unoriginated, uncreated,

unformed – achieved by ultimate purity of
life Siddha-Shila – where liberated souls reside
Three Jewels:
When a person accepts the Buddhist
philosophy and wants to make it part of
their life, the traditional way is to say "I
take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in
the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha."

2/8/18