Buddhism

History of Buddhism  380 million Buddhists worldwide  4 th largest religion in world  Started by Siddhartha Gautama: 525 BC in India Born into the Brahmin caste  Saw suffering and wanted to change it  Eventually achieved enlightenment (freedom from both desire and suffering) while meditating under a Bo tree

Four Noble Truths 1. Suffering is universal. 2. Cause of suffering is desire. 3. The only way to end suffering is to crush desire. 4. The way to end desire is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. There is a path to the cessation of suffering, the “eightfold path” of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Elements of Buddhism  No gods.  Priests were not necessary.  No caste system.  Karma.  Reincarnation.  Teachings are located in the Three Baskets of Wisdom

Two types of Buddhism  Theravada: Stressed the monastic life as the way to reach nirvana Respected Buddha as a teacher but not as a god Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand  Mahayana: Worshipped the Buddha and other enlightened ones as gods China, Tibet, Japan, Korea

Death and Afterlife  Samsara: Living beings are trapped in a continual cycle of birth-and-death, with the momentum to rebirth provided by one’s previous physical and mental actions  The release from this cycle of rebirth and suffering is the total transcendence called nirvana: blissful nothingness