What type of religion is Buddhism? Non-theistic Buddhism

The Origins of Buddhism Buddha Shakyamuni (or Siddhartha Gautama) was the original founder of Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama was originally a hindu prince. Before developing buddhism, he was obsessed with human suffering. Buddhist scriptures describe four encounters which served to awaken in him an awareness of four sufferings common to all people--birth, aging, sickness and death--and a desire to seek their solution.

Buddhist Teachings The Dharma is the main text for Buddhism. The Dharma is said to have presented itself to Buddha. Upanishads- sacred texts that sought to probe the inner meaning of the Vedas. (Vedas were a collections of prayers and rituals.)

The Eightfold Path to Enlightenment

Continuities Over Time Buddhism continues to focus on teaching the Four Noble Truths Achieving nirvana (total peace with body and mind) is still the main goal of Buddhism They believe and teach anatman (denial of a permanent soul) Karma, belief that your actions have equal consequences, is still a belief that is regularly practiced

Changes Over Time Less than 1% of India practices Buddhism. In the past India had periods where Buddhism dominated the other religions. It is practiced in places east of India Ideas on how to teach are shared between different regions of Buddhism Theravada - emphasizes understanding of body and mind Mahayana - schools focus on existence and non- existence (the middle path)

Modern Buddhism Modern Buddhism focuses more on “Why we should we believe in the Buddhist ways more than the traditional values?” Various groups within the Buddhist religion participate in both traditional, and modernized practices. *Modern Buddhism is based off universal principles involving ethics and justice. *Truly connecting yourself to the ultimate reality. Today’s Buddhists have mixed the traditional beliefs with modern society, and various religions.

The distortion of Buddhism There are three major schools of Buddhism: Theravada - unified and conservative Mahayana-fragmented but a very loose confederation Vajrayana- a subpoint but is treated as a separate school because of their doctrine and practices. Buddha was not as chubby as many depictions make it appear–he was mainly portrayed this way because it was symbolic of happiness in the east.

Spread of Buddhism A wave of conversion began, and Buddhism spread not only through India, but also internationally. Ceylon, Burma, Nepal, Tibet, central Asia, China, and Japan are just some of the regions where the Middle Path was widely accepted. From place to place Buddhism became more western.

Modern Day Buddhism The religion now has 500 million followers. It is mostly practiced in Asia. Would Buddha be pleased with Buddhism today? Since Buddha is no longer with us we can not get in opinion on present day Buddhism but we think he would be very pleased because of how it has grew and effected peoples lives.

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