A Buddhist Temple

The Buddha

The history of Buddhism begins with the life of the original Buddah (Enlightened One) Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha was born during the 5th century BCE in Lumbini, Nepal to a royal family. At his birth, a holy man predicted that Siddhartha was a divine child and would withdraw and renounce his royal lifestyle. His father provided him with many luxuries and shielded him from possible spiritual contacts in order to prevent him from renouncing. At the age of sixteen Siddhartha married a princess and it seemed as though his life was on a path towards kinghood.

Siddhartha went on four separate chariot rides through out these years where he witnessed a different form of human suffering on each occasion. On the first occasion he saw a decrepit man suffering from old age. The second was the sight of a sick man. The third was the sight of a corpse. The forth was the sight of a meditating monk. Siddhartha began to review his own life and became overwhelmed with a sense of grief and compassion for the troubles of mankind. Now, 29, Siddhartha chose to leave his wife and new born son to live a life similar to that of the meditating monk he saw on his chariot ride.

 

Siddhartha lived an ascetic life for six years where he met and a group of five wandering monks. He led a life of hardship and complete fasting, focusing only on his meditation, but still unable to achieve enlightenment. Due to terrible weakness he fell unconscious one day. Once he awoke he felt as though he was pursuing the wrong path. He knew he could not attain enlightenment with a weak body, so he went to a nearby town where a young villager girl shared food with him. The five monks whom had been with Siddhartha for six years saw him give up on his ascetic life, they believed he would not be able to achieve enlightenment and decided to leave him alone.

After leaving him alone and spending time in the forest, Siddhartha contemplated how he would continue his journey towards enlightenment. He decided not to leave his position under a Bodhi tree until he achieved the knowledge we was seeking. After some time in deep meditation, he entered a stage of Nirvana (Enlightenment), which provided him with the true answers to the causes of suffering and permanent release.

Now the Buddha, he began to teach others of these truth. The most important being the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path.

 

Four Noble Truths

1. The normal condition of this world is suffering

2. Suffering stems from desire or attachment to this world

3. The end of suffering can be attained by ridding attachment to this world

4. Ridding oneself of attachment can be achieved through following the eightfold path

 

Eight Fold Path

1. Right views

2. Right intention

3. Right speech achieving

4. Right action

5. Right livelihood

6. Right effort

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right concentration

Mahayana Buddhism

Mahayana began around the first century CE and is found largely in Korea, China, Japan, and Tibet. Mahayana has three prominent schools, including Pure Land, Chanor Zen, and Tnatra. Mahayana Buddhists believe that enlightenment can be achieved through more than just meditation, for example the chants and good works utilized in Pure Land.

Mahayana Buddhists hope to become boddhisatvas, or saints who have become enlighted but delay nirvana to help others attain it as well, similar to Buddha. They also teach that enlightenment can be attained in a single lifetime even by someone who does not devote their life to being a monk.