Buddhism

Founder/How was religion created?

Siddhartha Gautama, a Hindu prince, left his family to find

Enlightenment (Complete understanding), he found

answers: the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, and began

teaching.

What do Buddhists call God?

What do Buddhist Call God?

• Nothing really, Buddhists try to follow the teachings of the Buddha, but don’t worship any particular gods, some Buddhists may worship gods from other religions: Shinto, Taoism or even Hinduism, but Buddhists don’t view God as an important part of their religion.

Sacred Texts

Sacred Texts

• The Buddha never wrote anything down, instead his teachings were carried on by monks until being written down on Palm Leaves: the Tripitaka, and kept in three baskets. The teachings of the Buddha were kept in one basket, rules in another, and other information in another.

What Happens after you die?

Reincarnation, Nirvana, Meditation

• Similarly to Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation; they believe in Karma and that the goal of life is to escape the Wheel of Life

• Unlike Hindus, Buddhists believe that, upon completing the eightfold path, anyone can achieve nirvana or freedom from suffering.

4 Noble Truths

• Suffering Exists (The Goal of a Person is to eliminate Suffering)

• Suffering is caused by human desires or greed. (Wanting things makes people unhappy)

• Suffering can be stopped by stopping human desire

• To stop Suffering, follow the Eightfold Path

Eightfold Path

• A Buddhist’s path to enlightenment.• The Four Noble Truths (Understand, think about)• Speak kindly• Be kind and helpful• Choose a job that is not harmful to others• Concentrate on and be aware of your own

thoughts• Meditate

Middle Way

• A path between extremes: following the Eightfold Path

• The Buddha believed that people should neither have too much or too little of anything: food.

Branches of Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism

• Theravada Buddhists closely follows the rules set down by Buddha (Fundamentalist) and believe that individuals are responsible for own path to nirvana.

• Many parents send boys to become monks for a month – years.

Mahayana Buddhism

• Bodhisattvas choose to teach others the path to enlightenment.

• Zen: a form of Mahayana Buddhism where people meditate while sitting in the lotus position and thinking about koans (riddles): “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Holy Land and Places

• Meditation can take place anywhere: Buddhists sometimes travel to temples and shrines to get special places for meditation.

• Buddhism is practiced all over the world, especially in Asia: esp. Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, and Japan