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KS3 Religious StudiesGotama Buddha – Founder of Buddhism

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KS3 Religious StudiesGotama Buddha, Founder of Buddhism

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation

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Learning objectives

Who was Gotama Buddha and how did he become the founder of Buddhism?

What does ‘Buddha’ mean?

In which countries is Buddhism widely practised?

What are the main beliefs of Buddhism?

Why are there statues of the Buddha?

How important is the Buddha to Buddhists today?

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Gotama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. He lived around 2500 years ago in India.

He gained the title of Buddha, meaning ‘the awakened one’, when he became enlightened at the age of 35.

For the next 45 years he taught the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment and the end of all suffering.

Who was Gotama Buddha?

The wheel is the main symbol of Buddhism. It symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment.

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Who was the Buddha?

Kapilavastu

The Buddha was born in 563 BCE and grew up in Kapilavastu (then in India, but now in Nepal). Before he became the Buddha he was known as Prince

Siddhartha Gotama.

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Gotama realized that life involves suffering. He gave up his life as a prince and set off to find out why people suffer. He was 29 years old.

Why do you think Gotama left home?

Prince Gotama left the palace and went into the city of Kapilavastu. He saw four sights that changed his life:

An old person

An ill person

A corpse

A holy man

He realized that we all get old, we all get ill, we all die, and that it’s possible to find religious solutions to these problems, and to be happy

without being rich.

Gotama leaves home

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Gotama went to live in the forest, in the company of five wandering holy men. He ate only the minimum to stay alive, but, after six years, he realised he was no closer to knowing the meaning of life. He then decided to live a life between the extremes of luxury and self-denial.

Buddhists believe that Gotama became fully enlightened while meditating under a Bo tree at Bodh Gaya. He experienced perfect peace and awareness of the cause and end of all suffering. He became the Buddha, the Enlightened One.

His enlightenment

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The Buddha decided to teach others the path to enlightenment and gave his first sermon in the deer park at Sarnath. His teachings are called the Dhamma.

How did the Buddha achieve enlightenment?

What effect did this have on him?

The Buddha’s teachings include:

The Four Noble Truths

The Five Precepts

The Noble Eightfold Path

His first sermon

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The Buddha’s life map