BuddhaHistoryBy:Jonathan

Introduction

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Buddhism began in northeasternIndia and is based on the teachings

of Siddhartha Gautama. Thereligion is 2,500 years old and is

followed by 350 million Buddhistsworldwide.Buddhism is the mainreligion in many Asian countries.It is a religion about suffering and

the need to get rid of it. A keyconcept of Buddhism is Nirvana,

the most enlightened, and blissfulstate that one can achieve. A state

without suffering.

Place of Origin:North East IndiaFounder:Siddhartha Gautama (The

Buddha)Sacred Text:Tripitaka

Sacred Building:StupaMajor Festivals:WisakSacred Text:Tripitaka

Sacred Building:StupaMajor Festivals:Wisak

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How is Buddhismdifferent fromother religions?

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Buddhism is different frommany other faiths because

it is not centred on therelationship between

humanity and God.Buddhists do not believe in

a personal creator God.

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Who is the founder of Buddhism?

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The Buddhist traditionis founded on and

inspired by theteachings of SiddharthaGautama. He was calledthe Buddha and lived inthe 4th or 5th century

B.C. in India.

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Why is SiddharthaGautama so important

to Buddhists?

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Siddhartha Gautama foundthe path to Enlightenment.By doing so he was led from

the pain of suffering andrebirth towards the path ofEnlightenment and became

known as the Buddha or"awakened one".

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Who wasSiddharthaGautama?

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The BuddhaSiddharta Gautama is

known as theBuddha.He was bornaround the year 580BCE in the village of

Lumbini in Nepal. Hewas born into a royalfamily and for many

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years lived with in thepalace walls away from

the sufferings of life;sufferings such assickness, age, and

death. He did not knowwhat they were.One

day, after growing-up,

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marrying and having achild, Siddhartha wentoutside the royal palace

and saw, each for thefirst time, an old man, asick man, and a corpse.

He was worried by whathe saw. He learned that

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sickness, age, and deaththat no one could avoid.

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Why did SiddharthaGautama stop being aprince and become a

Holy Man?

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Siddharta had also seen amonk, and he decided thiswas a sign that he should

leave his protected royal lifeand live as a homeless Holy

Man.Siddharta's travelsshowed him much more of thethe suffering of the world. Hesearched for a way to escapethe inevitability of death, oldage and pain first by studying

with religious men. Thisdidn't provide him with an

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What arethe symbols

ofBuddhism?

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The wheel of lifewhich symbolises the cycle of life, death

and rebirth.The eight spokes remind people that theBuddha taught about eight ways of life.

The lotus flowersymbolises purity and divine birth.

The lotus flower grows in mud at thebottom of a pool, but rises above thesurface to become a beautiful flower.

Buddhist say this is how people shouldrise above everything which is dukkha.

A flower may be very beautiful and havea wonderful scent, but it soon withers

and dies. This shows that nothing in lifeis perfect.

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Images of BuddhaStatues of Buddha include lots ofsymbols. There are 32 symbols in

Buddhism which show that theBuddha was a special person. Any

of these symbols can be used onstatues. For example the Buddha

is often shown with:a bump on on the top of his head -

a symbol that he had specialtalents.

a round mark on his forehead,which is his third eye - a symbol to

show that he could see thingsordinary people cannot see.

curled hair 19

snails that kindly covered hishead-shaved because he

renounced the worldly life- toprotect him from the sun as he satmeditating.) The are a symbol that

he was a very holy man.long ears from the weight of hisprincely earrings-now missing

because he renounced his worldlylife. (Sidhartha didn't just give up

being rich, but also, renouncedbeing head of an army as a prince,

which shows his non-violence.)

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Where dobuddha worship?

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Buddhist worship at home or at atemple. Worshippers may sit on the

floor barefoot facing an image ofBuddha and chanting. It is very

important that their feet face awayfrom the image of Buddha. They listento monks chanting from religious texts

and take part in prayers.Home.There will be a statue of Buddha,

candles, and an incense burner.TempleBuddhist temples come in many shapes.Perhaps the best known are the pagodas

of China and Japan. Another typicalBuddhist building is the Stupa (upside

down bowl shape). All Buddhist templescontain an image or a statue of

Buddha.Buddhist Temples in Thailand

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How toBuddhistsWorship?

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Buddhist worship is called puja.People chant to show their love for the

Buddha. They make offerings offlowers, candles, incense and pure

water at a shrine. People thankBuddha for his teachings.When

Buddhist worship alone they usuallymeditate and read from the Buddhist

holy books.Every month. mostBuddhists have special religious days.These are often days when there is a

full moon. Many Buddhists go totemples to worship on these special

days.

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What isEnlightenment and Nirvana /

Nibbana?

Buddhist believe that there is a cycle ofbirth, life and death and rebirth. This

goes on and on. They believe thatunless someone gains Enlightenment,when they die they will be reborn. If aperson can gain Enlightenment, they

can break out of this cycle.Breaking outof the cycle is called Nirvana

(sometimes called Nibbana). It is theend of everything that is not perfect. It

is perfect peace, free of suffering.Buddhists try to reach Nirvana by

following the Buddha's teaching and bymeditating. Meditation means training

the mind to empty it all of thoughts.when this happens what is important

comes clear.

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Buddhists try to reachNirvana by following theBuddha's teaching and by

meditating. Meditationmeans training the mind

to empty it all ofthoughts. when this

happens what isimportant comes clear.

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What is thesacred text(Holy Book)

ofBuddhists?

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The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka(called Tipitaka in Pali). It is also called the Pali Canon,

after the language in which it was first written.It iswritten in an ancient Indian language called Pali which

is very close to the language that the Buddha himselfspoke. The Tripitaka is a very large book. The English

translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes.Buddhism is based on Buddha's teachings. At first these

were passed down by word of mouth and later werecomplied into two sets of scripture. One set by Council ofMonks of the Theravada school (the Tripitaka) the other

by the Mahayana school ( the Sutras). Both weresimilar.Both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists

generally accept the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali)as the Buddhist sacred writings.The three section of theTripitaka (three baskets of Wisdom) areVinaya Pitaka

(the Discipline Basket) - A rule book for monks andnuns.There are 227 rules for monks,and more for

nuns.Sutta Pitaka (the Teaching Basket)- The actualexperiences of Buddha.Abhidhamma Pitaka (the Higher

Doctrine Basket)- An explanation on the teaching ofBuddha. Most of these are called Sutras.Parts of theTripitaka such as the Dhamma-pada and the Sutta-

Nipata are among the most expressive religious books inthe world.