Buddhism

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Buddhism

• The middle way of wisdom and compassion

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• AGE of RELGION
• 2500 years old
• Began around 500 B.C.

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Where was Buddhism founded?

• Began in India, spread throughout Asia

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FOUNDER

• Buddha The Enlightened One
• Also know as Siddhartha Gautama

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Who was the Buddha?

• Born Siddhartha Gautama of noble caste in
  India, 563 B.C.E.
• Raised in great luxury to be a king
• Empathy for the suffering of others at age 29
  rejected the life of luxury to seek enlightenment
  and the solution to suffering

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The Spread of Buddhism

• Within two centuries after the Buddha died,
  Buddhism began to spread north and east into Asia
• By 13th century Buddhism had disappeared from
  India

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Religion Members by Percentage Worldwide
Christianity 2.1 billion 33.0 Islam 1.5
billion 22 Hinduism 900 million 14 Buddhism
376 million 6 Sikhism 23 million 0.36
Judaism 14 million 0.22 Bahaism 7 million
0.1 Confucianism 6.3 million 0.1 Jainism
4.2 million 0.1 Shintoism 4 million
0.1 NOTES As of 2005
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What are some Buddhist texts?

• Tripitaka earliest collection of Buddhist
  teachings
• Vinaya (discipline) rules for monastic life
• Sutta (discourse) sermons of the Buddha
• Abhidhamma (metaphysical teachings)

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MONO or POLY?

• Like Hinduism, this is confusing.
• Buddhism is technically NON-theistic (no worship
  of gods)
• They do believe in gods and Titans, but they
  dont worship them
• Buddha is not a god, only a teacher

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Basic Beliefs

• Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in
• Reincarnation belief that the soul is reborn
  into another body after death
• Karma good and bad deeds done in ones life.
  Believed to affect your next life.

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What did the Buddha teach?

• The Four Noble Truths
• to give up greed/selfishness and greedy desires
• To live is to suffer
• The cause of suffering is selfishness
• The solution is to eliminate selfishness thus
  achieving Nirvana
• The way to Nirvana is through the Eight-Fold
  Path

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NIRVANA

1. Nirvana is a peaceful state of mind
2. Achieving Nirvana means escape from the cycle of
   rebirth
3. Reached by following the Middle Way

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Nirvana
Samsara
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What is the Eight-Fold Path?Eight Fold Path
8rules to follow

• Wisdom
• Right understanding
• Right motivation

• Moral discipline
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood

• Mental discipline
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right meditation

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Holy Places

• BODH GAYA, INDIA
• Birthplace of Buddhism.
• This where Buddha reached Nirvana and became
  enlightened

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Countries where Buddhism is a major religion

• India, China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, many
  other Asian countries

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