Buddhism
Buddhism originated in India around 500 b.c where they were already practicing Hinduism. Buddhism became a known religion because of one man, Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha. He was born into a rich family, as his father was the leader of a small tribal state. He was kept in seclusion in the safety of his father’s home and provided with all the riches he could ever want or need. However, he did not want this, he wanted to see the world and what was hidden from him, so, he set out onto the streets. On the streets he saw despair, sickness, and misery in the people in the alleyways no matter how hard his father tried to hide these human woes from Gautama. He did not like what he saw so he gave up his life of comfort and riches and set out in search of what is known as Enlightenment. He traveled a long ways only to see more misery and despair and finally he reached a bo tree and there he proceeded to induce himself in intense meditation and asceticism. It was there he received enlightenment and from then on he was known as the Buddha. Once known as the Buddha he traveled throughout India with other monks bringing enlightenment to other people; effectively spreading his religion.
The Buddhist doctrine was the dharma. In this idea of dharma were the Four Noble Truths:
1. All life involves suffering.
2. Desire is the cause of suffering.
3. Elimination of desire brings an end to suffering.
4. The Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire.
These Four Noble Truths were a way for people to realize what they were doing wrong and then to fix that problem so that they could be released from that cycle. The Eightfold Path is a way for the followers to eliminate desire, this path was to be obtained by: right belief, right resole, right speech, right behavior, right occupation, right effort, right contemplation, and right mediation. When preaching to his followers and any skeptics the Buddha used the example of a flame on a candle; on a candle a flame is passed onto another candle, and onto another candle, and so on. The heat and energy from the flame is what passes it onto the next candle. This is like the desires of a human being, as long as there are desires (the flame) the energy will still be there so it will be passed into another candle (life). When the flame of desire is extinguished then so will the candle, thus ending the cycle of rebirth.
This idea of a quick end to the cycle of rebirth was a strong appeal of Buddhism. Buddhism also appealed to the lower classes because it did not recognize social classes and one did not have to become a Brahmin; it was less demanding than Jainism and it used the common language so everyone could understand; this all resulted in lots of people converting to Buddhism. The Buddha became a god and Buddhism spread to central and East Asia along trade routes. After all of this Hinduism ends out striking back and retaking the spot of being the most popular religion in India.
Buddhism has changed from what it started out as. When it spread to China it adopted some Taoist views and terminology as well as taking on qualities of Chinese way of life. In China Buddhism developed more sects and some of those spread to Japan. In China Buddhism grew so large and it was exempt from taxes that it drained the Chinese economy. Then for a small period of time it became the focus point for imperial persecution. This was not how Buddhism was ment to be, it was supposed to be for those who were willing to follow and become enlightened so that it could make that person a better human being.
When Buddhism spread to Japan it was mixed with the Japanese traditional practices. Buddhism then became a means for educating, registering, and controlling the populace.
In the 20th century the traditional Buddhist practices have deemphasize the popular practices and expressions of faith to stress the more rational and empirical aspects of the Buddhists thoughts. Many national movements in a country have had big roles from Buddhism in their own countries. This was not how Buddhism started, when it first started it was pure to it’s values and was not used for politics or controlling the people; it was used to help people reach enlightenment and be released from their spiritual rebirth.
The Buddhist doctrine was the dharma. In this idea of dharma were the Four Noble Truths:
1. All life involves suffering.
2. Desire is the cause of suffering.
3. Elimination of desire brings an end to suffering.
4. The Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire.
These Four Noble Truths were a way for people to realize what they were doing wrong and then to fix that problem so that they could be released from that cycle. The Eightfold Path is a way for the followers to eliminate desire, this path was to be obtained by: right belief, right resole, right speech, right behavior, right occupation, right effort, right contemplation, and right mediation. When preaching to his followers and any skeptics the Buddha used the example of a flame on a candle; on a candle a flame is passed onto another candle, and onto another candle, and so on. The heat and energy from the flame is what passes it onto the next candle. This is like the desires of a human being, as long as there are desires (the flame) the energy will still be there so it will be passed into another candle (life). When the flame of desire is extinguished then so will the candle, thus ending the cycle of rebirth.
This idea of a quick end to the cycle of rebirth was a strong appeal of Buddhism. Buddhism also appealed to the lower classes because it did not recognize social classes and one did not have to become a Brahmin; it was less demanding than Jainism and it used the common language so everyone could understand; this all resulted in lots of people converting to Buddhism. The Buddha became a god and Buddhism spread to central and East Asia along trade routes. After all of this Hinduism ends out striking back and retaking the spot of being the most popular religion in India.
Buddhism has changed from what it started out as. When it spread to China it adopted some Taoist views and terminology as well as taking on qualities of Chinese way of life. In China Buddhism developed more sects and some of those spread to Japan. In China Buddhism grew so large and it was exempt from taxes that it drained the Chinese economy. Then for a small period of time it became the focus point for imperial persecution. This was not how Buddhism was ment to be, it was supposed to be for those who were willing to follow and become enlightened so that it could make that person a better human being.
When Buddhism spread to Japan it was mixed with the Japanese traditional practices. Buddhism then became a means for educating, registering, and controlling the populace.
In the 20th century the traditional Buddhist practices have deemphasize the popular practices and expressions of faith to stress the more rational and empirical aspects of the Buddhists thoughts. Many national movements in a country have had big roles from Buddhism in their own countries. This was not how Buddhism started, when it first started it was pure to it’s values and was not used for politics or controlling the people; it was used to help people reach enlightenment and be released from their spiritual rebirth.