Several Info About Buddhism

A lot of people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Here are several facts most of the people manage to get wrong.

1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled beyond India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama would be a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. You should do not forget that he would be a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) a lot of his ideas were originally the main ancient traditional religions from the local historical period. He’s shown to were living from around 563 BCE to 483 BCE because he is known to get died at Four decades old. He traveled and taught over the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near what is now Nepal.

2) He could be sometimes called Shakyamuni Buddha, or Prince of the Shakyas, due to Ssakya Mountain Range which has been his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was given birth to a prince but made a decision to turned into a holy man. He was raised in wealth and shielded from the outside world but became curious about what people’s lives outside of the palace could possibly be like. Many legends surround his birth, but all that is really known is the fact that his mother was designed to have left in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father had been warned soon after his birth which he would turn into a great military leader or a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had his very own ideas products was proper for Siddhartha, but, at around 29 years of age, 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 consequences of senior years, sickness, and saw a corpse, making them mindful of death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained that the ascetic was one who had renounced the globe and sought release from anxiety about death and suffering.

3) Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha in order to end the suffering (dissatisfaction) of most humans. He realized the truth that we all have been impermanent and went over a spiritual pursuit of enlightenment. He studied with all the current best teachers of faith and philosophy which he can find at the time and learned the best way to meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.

4) The guts Way: He still had much to understand and turned to the ascetics almost daily to follow along with in time discovered that the extremes that they endured weren’t employed by him. He followed their methods for self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. This didn’t satisfy him as they decided this became the next ego inflating approach to self-gratification, proving one’s self through self-abuse. He made a decision to turn using 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 as “the middle way”. When his disciples saw that he wasn’t following way they thought necessary, they made a decision to leave him. He left and thought we would sit within a sacred fig tree until he discovered the answer. The tree was the fact 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 your Sinhalese Bo), would be a large and extremely old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna from the Indian condition of Bihar), to which SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founding father of Buddhism later generally known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”

5) His Awakening: In the deep state of meditation (samadhi) during their visit he became enlightened and when he rose from his deep meditation, he asserted that he’d some strategies to the questions he previously sought. He imparted the wisdom in the four noble truths and the eightfold path that can come for a reason. Devoid of the previous, the others can be impossible to realize. 6)Some Noble Truths

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

2) Explanation for suffering is desire. Everyone has desires which can be either selfish or unrealistic. This can be considered “delusional”.

3) There is a way 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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