Ten Information About Buddhism

A lot of people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Below are a few facts most people apparently get wrong.

1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled outside India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. It is important to keep in mind that he was a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) lots of his ideas were originally part of the ancient traditional religions of the local historical period. He or she is thought to have lived from around 563 BCE to 483 BCE while he is assumed to possess died at Eighty years old. He traveled and taught along the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near what’s now Nepal.

2) He’s sometimes called Shakyamuni Buddha, or even the Prince of the Shakyas, because of Ssakya Mountain Range which was his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was born a prince but thought we would turn into a holy man. He spent my youth in wealth and resistant to the outside but became interested in what people’s lives beyond your palace could possibly be like. Many legends surround his birth, but all that is actually known is the fact that his mother was supposed to have left in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father was warned shortly after his birth he would turn into a great military leader or possibly a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had his own ideas products was proper for Siddhartha, but, about 29 years old, with the help his charioteer, he escaped the palace walls and ventured outside to discover what life was like for some individuals. He witnessed the end results of old age, sickness, and saw a corpse, making her mindful of death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained how the ascetic was one that had renounced the entire world and sought release from fear of death and suffering.

3) Buddhism began by Siddhartha to be able to end the suffering (dissatisfaction) of individuals. He realized the truth that we are all impermanent and decided to go over a spiritual search for enlightenment. He studied because of the best teachers of faith and philosophy which he might find at the time and learned how you can meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.

4) The very center Way: He still had much to find out and considered the ascetics of times to check out but also in time learned that the extremes that they endured weren’t being employed by him. He followed their ways of self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. This hadn’t satisfy him as he decided this became the next ego inflating approach to self-gratification, proving one’s self through self-abuse. He decided to turn off their strict abeyance to rules about starving yourself and eating unclean things, because he realized he would need strength to keep his quest, so he developed what is known “the middle way”. When his disciples saw he wasn’t following way they thought necessary, they made a decision to leave him. He left and decided to sit within sacred fig tree until he discovered the solution. The tree was the thing that was considered a sacred fig tree near Bodh Gaya, the tree being named later, the Bodhi Tree. From Wikipedia * “…The Bodhi Tree, also referred to as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), would have been a large and incredibly old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna in the Indian condition of Bihar), this agreement SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to possess achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”

5) His Awakening: In his deep condition of meditation (samadhi) stay he became enlightened so when he rose from his deep meditation, he stated that he had some answers to the questions he previously sought. He imparted the wisdom from the four noble truths and the eightfold path that can in order for a reason. Devoid of the previous, the others can be impossible to achieve. 6)The 4 Noble Truths

1) Suffering (dukkha) does exist. (All humans suffer during birth, pain, sickness, and death.

2) The main cause of suffering is desire. We all have desires which can be either selfish or unrealistic. This is considered “delusional”.

3) There exists a strategy to reach cessation of suffering.

4) The cessation of suffering comes through practicing the eightfold path. (Freedom from suffering may be possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.)

7) The Eightfold Path

1) Right View Wisdom

2) Right Intention Wisdom

3) Right Speech Ethical Conduct

4) Right Action Ethical Conduct

5) Right Livelihood Ethical Conduct

6) Right Effort Mental Development

7) Right Mindfulness Mental Development

8) Right Concentration/Meditation Mental Development

8) Buddhist Principles: By striving towards the right thing one lessens selfish desire, therefore reaching a state of happiness internally that is not dependent on conditional circumstances. Mindfulness in all things is a key ingredient. If one understands that any tangible thing that we desire is impermanent and ceases to be “attached” to these things that we cannot keep, then one becomes more at peace. We can not become attached to any views since we will become passionate about this and when circumstances change, our view will no longer be important or pertinent.

9) Buddhism is not a self help program: Beware of those who call themselves a master or try to sell you “enlightenment”. There are many books and centers out there which try to use words like enlightenment” that is something that actually has to be attained personally, it can’t be given or taught in a paint by the numbers program that promises some things. First, the word enlightenment is not used in any of the texts from Siddhartha Gautama was concerned that people might rush into this without understanding and this would lead to repeating traditional ceremonies without understanding, which will lead to disappointment because of the lack of benefit from practice. Do not come to an understanding of Buddhism lightly or quickly, take your time and be sure. This will take investigation. Investigate completely, any facets that you don’t understand until it makes sense. Also, practice with others and a good teacher are the best method of learning.

10) Buddhism IS A RELIGION: It disturbs some Buddhists that some people feel that Buddhism is just a philosophy. Some people feel there has to be a main book or one religious deity to worship in order for a religion to be real. Most modern practitioners of Buddhism see that all religions are filled with mythology and they understand that most deities and mythological objects in Buddhism are analogies for science and nature or our own mental make up that early man could not explain. Some practitioners, especially in Asia, still believe in the physical existence of some of these objects and deities. We have to remember that early Buddhist teachings came from Siddhartha Gautama in India, who was a Vedic Brahman. It then traveled across Asia to China where it adapted to Confucianism, which relied strongly on Filial Piety. It then traveled through to Japan, where it adapted to Shinto, which is still practiced side by side with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was created to adapt to all other learning. Siddhartha Gautama likened it to “a raft to get to the other side” in a parable he taught. “The Parable of The Raft ” When speaking to his followers Gautama Buddha said, “When you come to a river and the current is too fast to allow you to swim across and there is no bridge then you might decide to build a raft. If after crossing the river you would have some choices as to what to do with the raft. a) You could tie it to the bank to be used by someone else later. b) You could set it afloat for someone else to find. c) You could say to yourself, “What a wonderful raft”, and then pick it up and carry it around on top of your head from now on. Which would be proper use of the raft? Buddhism is practiced in most countries around the world, although Buddhists make up only about 7% of the world’s religious population. Only a few modern Buddhist sects use an evangelical approach, trying to convert everyone around them. Most Buddhists refrain from trying to propagate their religion to anyone who doesn’t seek it.

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