Buddhism

Buddhism

Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

Son of a Indian warrior-king

Gautama renounced his rich life and became a monk in hopes of comprehending truth

Moment of truth: meditating under a tree where he had an experience where he understood how to be free from suffering and achieve salvation.

After this, he was know as Buddha

Buddha= “Enlightened One”

Buddha spent the rest of his life traveling around India and teaching others

4 Noble Truths

There is suffering

Suffering has an origin

Suffering can cease

There is a path out of suffering

Desires

To a Buddhist, desire can only bring suffering

Desires are worldly pleasures such as material goods and craving immortality

Question 1

Why might the Buddhists believe that desires lead to suffering?

Eight Fold Path

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Question 2

Choose one step in the Eight Fold Path and think about how it might help relieve desires and therefore suffering.

Buddhists believe in reincarnation If you do good in this world you

will be reincarnated into a higher realm

Separated from Hinduism

Over 200 different sects

No personal God or divine being—Buddhists are not atheistic but believe in an impersonal force

376 million Buddhists worldwide

Dominant religion in China, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia

Doesn’t believe in the Caste System

Question 3

Think about some things you think that might attract followers to Buddhism.