Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the year 500 B.C,E, He was a prince living in northern India, and there was a supposed prophecy foretold about him before he was born. He was destined either to be a great religious leader, or a world leader, His father, as a king, wanted him to become the latter. He shielded his son from every discomfort he could think of. One day, the young Siddhartha went outside the city wall to attend a farming festival, When he was watching the plow move back and forth, he fell into a meditative state.
This was his first real religious experience, and his father feared it would take him down the path of becoming a religious leader. He further shielded his son by offering concubines and every luxury he could think of He even found him a bride. Alas, at the age of 16 he found himself wanting to see more of life beyond the palace.
Finally, his father agreed, but ordered all the sick and elderly out of the village limit. It was on this trip that Siddhartha first came face»to»face with injury, illness, old age, and even death, He returned to the palace wiser, but sadder at the world he wanted to find a way to rid the world of these problems That night he left the palace, and began his long journey on the path of becoming the Buddha. Siddhartha traveled far and wide; trying to seek out the mysteries of what was the reason for living He lived on the edge of starvation for a while; convince this was the way to reach enlightenment.
He had followers who believed in him, and thus they traveled with him. However, on the brink of death, a young girl offered him a bowl of rice and milk, and he accepted; realizing that this was not the way to enlightenment.
His followers abandoned him at this point, disappointed that their master had given in their view, into weaknesst He eventually sat under a tree, and vowed to sit there until he had reached enlightenment, and eventually he had achieved what he sought out so many years ago, He returned home to his wife and son, but left again soon after to share what he had learned. Thus the religion of Buddhism was founded, So, why am I telling you all of this? He eventually shared his four noble Truths with the world. One of them is life is dukkha. This, in less eloquent terms, basically means that life is crap, Bad things and, and will continue to happen We can take this idea in two ways either positive of negative.
After his enlightenment, the Buddha began teaching his philosophy to others, starting with his five former companions who had previously practiced asceticism with him. He taught the Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. This path, known as the Noble Eightfold Path, includes right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The Buddha’s teachings were initially passed down orally and were later recorded in the Pali Canon, which is a collection of texts that includes the Buddha’s discourses and teachings.
These teachings were spread throughout India and eventually to other parts of Asia through the efforts of Buddhist monks. Buddhism gained popularity in India and eventually spread to other parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and Tibet. Today, Buddhism is one of the major world religions, with an estimated 535 million followers worldwide. The religion emphasizes the importance of meditation, ethical behavior, and detachment from worldly desires as a means to achieve enlightenment and overcome suffering.
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