Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world and in fact the fourth largest religion today. “It is the majority tradition of the Asian countries of Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tibet, Bhutan, and Japan (Lester 11).I chose to study this religion because I do not know too much about it, and it holds a different view from the Christian religion. It is so interesting and fascinating to study about the different religions in the world, because there are so many and they all vary extremely. Buddhism has been around for more than 25 hundred years, and stills stands popular today. It was first started around 500 BC by the teacher Buddha (World Book Encyclopedia). With about 3 million followers, Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Buddha found Tripitaka, which explains how moderation and meditation can lead to nirvana, salvation, from human suffering.

Siddhartha Gautama was the first Buddha. Gautama was born around 563 BC in Northeast India (World Book Encyclopedia). Buddha’s life story is quite legendary is nature. Buddha was born in Nepal, and he was to live a life of luxury and loyalty (“Buddhism). Before Gautama became Buddha, he was the prince of an Indian clan. Through an omen, Gautama’s parents were made aware that he was destined to become a religious leader (”Buddhism”). Buddha did not grow up with a Buddhist background, where he was raised Hindu. Gautama’s parents encouraged him to take pleasure in materialistic and earthy luxuries rather than religious beliefs (“Buddhism”).

Once Gautama was married and had a son, around the age of twenty-nine, he had four visions. His first vision was on of helplessness, when he saw an old man who seemed to be having some difficulties. His second vision was one of a sick man suffering from a terrible disease. His third was a family carrying one of their own family members’ bodies to a cremation. His fourth and final vision was of a holy man who was practicing meditation (World Book Encyclopedia). These four visions motivated Gautama to follow the path of mendicant and find a spiritual solution to the problems human suffered through. Gautama began seeking to pursue the solution to undo human suffering (World Book Encyclopedia). He was trained by two people doing meditation. He thought meditation was beneficial, but soon learned it was temporary. After meditation, Gautama tried withdrawing to the forest and fasting (“Buddhism”). However, when doing this he found he had many physical problems. Finally, his search for an end to human suffering was found in the “middle way,” a lifestyle and belief based on meditation and moderation (“Buddhism”).

Around the age of thirty-five, Gautama sat below a Bodhi tree for a night.While sitting there under the tree, the night was divided into three parts. During the first part of the night, he was able to remember all f his former reincarnations in great detail (“Buddhism”). Then he was able to see how good and bad deeds led people to different reincarnations within their different life cycles in the second part of the night (“Buddhism”). When it came to the third part of the night, Gautama had gone beyond “spiritual defilement, craving, desire, hatred, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, fear, doubt, and delusions” (“Buddhism”). Once he let go of all these vices, he was able to find nirvana, freedom f suffering (“Buddhism”). This is also around the time where he adopted the name Buddha, the enlightened one. Before Buddha died at the age of seventy, he was able to teach his way and principles for forty-five years (“Buddhism”).

Through Buddha’s many years of teaching, he also wrote about them as well. Buddha’s Dharma was a written account of his teachings. However, when Buddha died he had chosen no successor. The monks and nuns that followed him had the idea to make a collection of Buddha’s teachings along with oral traditions of faith (World Book Encyclopedia). The sacred writing of Buddhism, Tripitaka, was the name of the book that was written to carry on the teachings (World Book Encyclopedia).

There are many differences in a Christian’s understanding of the nature of God and a Buddhist understanding. Christians worship God whereas Buddhists worship Buddha. Buddha is seen as a model for living. Buddha was free from any kind of spiritual corruption (“Buddhism”). After achieving