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Buddhism. Founder/How was religion created?. Siddhartha Gautama, a Hindu prince, left his family to find Enlightenment (Complete understanding), he found answers: the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, and began teaching. What do Buddhists call God?. What do Buddhist Call God? .
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Founder/How was religion created? Siddhartha Gautama, a Hindu prince, left his family to find Enlightenment (Complete understanding), he found answers: the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, and began teaching.
What do Buddhist Call God? • Nothing really, Buddhists try to follow the teachings of the Buddha, but don’t worship any particular gods, some Buddhists may worship gods from other religions: Shinto, Taoism or even Hinduism, but Buddhists don’t view God as an important part of their religion.
Sacred Texts • The Buddha never wrote anything down, instead his teachings were carried on by monks until being written down on Palm Leaves: the Tripitaka, and kept in three baskets. The teachings of the Buddha were kept in one basket, rules in another, and other information in another.
Reincarnation, Nirvana, Meditation • Similarly to Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation; they believe in Karma and that the goal of life is to escape the Wheel of Life • Unlike Hindus, Buddhists believe that, upon completing the eightfoldpath, anyone can achieve nirvanaor freedom from suffering.
4 Noble Truths • Suffering Exists (The Goal of a Person is to eliminate Suffering) • Suffering is caused by human desires or greed. (Wanting things makes people unhappy) • Suffering can be stopped by stopping human desire • To stop Suffering, follow the Eightfold Path
Eightfold Path • A Buddhist’s path to enlightenment. • The Four Noble Truths (Understand, think about) • Speak kindly • Be kind and helpful • Choose a job that is not harmful to others • Concentrate on and be aware of your own thoughts • Meditate
Middle Way • A path between extremes: following the Eightfold Path • The Buddha believed that people should neither have too much or too little of anything: food.
Theravada Buddhism • Theravada Buddhists closely follows the rules set down by Buddha (Fundamentalist) and believe that individuals are responsible for own path to nirvana. • Many parents send boys to become monks for a month – years.
Mahayana Buddhism • Bodhisattvas choose to teach others the path to enlightenment. • Zen: a form of Mahayana Buddhism where people meditate while sitting in the lotus position and thinking about koans(riddles): “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Holy Land and Places • Meditation can take place anywhere: Buddhists sometimes travel to temples and shrines to get special places for meditation. • Buddhism is practiced all over the world, especially in Asia: esp. Sri Lanka, Tibet, Thailand, and Japan