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Buddhism began in northeasternIndia and is based on the teachings
of Siddhartha Gautama. Thereligion is 2,500 years old and is
followed by 350 million Buddhistsworldwide.Buddhism is the mainreligion in many Asian countries.It is a religion about suffering and
the need to get rid of it. A keyconcept of Buddhism is Nirvana,
the most enlightened, and blissfulstate that one can achieve. A state
without suffering.
Place of Origin:North East IndiaFounder:Siddhartha Gautama (The
Buddha)Sacred Text:Tripitaka
Sacred Building:StupaMajor Festivals:WisakSacred Text:Tripitaka
Sacred Building:StupaMajor Festivals:Wisak
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Buddhism is different frommany other faiths because
it is not centred on therelationship between
humanity and God.Buddhists do not believe in
a personal creator God.
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The Buddhist traditionis founded on and
inspired by theteachings of SiddharthaGautama. He was calledthe Buddha and lived inthe 4th or 5th century
B.C. in India.
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Siddhartha Gautama foundthe path to Enlightenment.By doing so he was led from
the pain of suffering andrebirth towards the path ofEnlightenment and became
known as the Buddha or"awakened one".
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The BuddhaSiddharta Gautama is
known as theBuddha.He was bornaround the year 580BCE in the village of
Lumbini in Nepal. Hewas born into a royalfamily and for many
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years lived with in thepalace walls away from
the sufferings of life;sufferings such assickness, age, and
death. He did not knowwhat they were.One
day, after growing-up,
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marrying and having achild, Siddhartha wentoutside the royal palace
and saw, each for thefirst time, an old man, asick man, and a corpse.
He was worried by whathe saw. He learned that
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Siddharta had also seen amonk, and he decided thiswas a sign that he should
leave his protected royal lifeand live as a homeless Holy
Man.Siddharta's travelsshowed him much more of thethe suffering of the world. Hesearched for a way to escapethe inevitability of death, oldage and pain first by studying
with religious men. Thisdidn't provide him with an
answer.16
The wheel of lifewhich symbolises the cycle of life, death
and rebirth.The eight spokes remind people that theBuddha taught about eight ways of life.
The lotus flowersymbolises purity and divine birth.
The lotus flower grows in mud at thebottom of a pool, but rises above thesurface to become a beautiful flower.
Buddhist say this is how people shouldrise above everything which is dukkha.
A flower may be very beautiful and havea wonderful scent, but it soon withers
and dies. This shows that nothing in lifeis perfect.
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Images of BuddhaStatues of Buddha include lots ofsymbols. There are 32 symbols in
Buddhism which show that theBuddha was a special person. Any
of these symbols can be used onstatues. For example the Buddha
is often shown with:a bump on on the top of his head -
a symbol that he had specialtalents.
a round mark on his forehead,which is his third eye - a symbol to
show that he could see thingsordinary people cannot see.
curled hair 19
snails that kindly covered hishead-shaved because he
renounced the worldly life- toprotect him from the sun as he satmeditating.) The are a symbol that
he was a very holy man.long ears from the weight of hisprincely earrings-now missing
because he renounced his worldlylife. (Sidhartha didn't just give up
being rich, but also, renouncedbeing head of an army as a prince,
which shows his non-violence.)
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Buddhist worship at home or at atemple. Worshippers may sit on the
floor barefoot facing an image ofBuddha and chanting. It is very
important that their feet face awayfrom the image of Buddha. They listento monks chanting from religious texts
and take part in prayers.Home.There will be a statue of Buddha,
candles, and an incense burner.TempleBuddhist temples come in many shapes.Perhaps the best known are the pagodas
of China and Japan. Another typicalBuddhist building is the Stupa (upside
down bowl shape). All Buddhist templescontain an image or a statue of
Buddha.Buddhist Temples in Thailand
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Buddhist worship is called puja.People chant to show their love for the
Buddha. They make offerings offlowers, candles, incense and pure
water at a shrine. People thankBuddha for his teachings.When
Buddhist worship alone they usuallymeditate and read from the Buddhist
holy books.Every month. mostBuddhists have special religious days.These are often days when there is a
full moon. Many Buddhists go totemples to worship on these special
days.
Buddhist believe that there is a cycle ofbirth, life and death and rebirth. This
goes on and on. They believe thatunless someone gains Enlightenment,when they die they will be reborn. If aperson can gain Enlightenment, they
can break out of this cycle.Breaking outof the cycle is called Nirvana
(sometimes called Nibbana). It is theend of everything that is not perfect. It
is perfect peace, free of suffering.Buddhists try to reach Nirvana by
following the Buddha's teaching and bymeditating. Meditation means training
the mind to empty it all of thoughts.when this happens what is important
comes clear.
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Buddhists try to reachNirvana by following theBuddha's teaching and by
meditating. Meditationmeans training the mind
to empty it all ofthoughts. when this
happens what isimportant comes clear.
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The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka(called Tipitaka in Pali). It is also called the Pali Canon,
after the language in which it was first written.It iswritten in an ancient Indian language called Pali which
is very close to the language that the Buddha himselfspoke. The Tripitaka is a very large book. The English
translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes.Buddhism is based on Buddha's teachings. At first these
were passed down by word of mouth and later werecomplied into two sets of scripture. One set by Council ofMonks of the Theravada school (the Tripitaka) the other
by the Mahayana school ( the Sutras). Both weresimilar.Both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists
generally accept the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali)as the Buddhist sacred writings.The three section of theTripitaka (three baskets of Wisdom) areVinaya Pitaka
(the Discipline Basket) - A rule book for monks andnuns.There are 227 rules for monks,and more for
nuns.Sutta Pitaka (the Teaching Basket)- The actualexperiences of Buddha.Abhidhamma Pitaka (the Higher
Doctrine Basket)- An explanation on the teaching ofBuddha. Most of these are called Sutras.Parts of theTripitaka such as the Dhamma-pada and the Sutta-
Nipata are among the most expressive religious books inthe world.