Brief History of Buddhism :: Religion Theology Essays

Brief History of BuddhismBuddhism is one of the major(ip) religions of the world. It wasfounded by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) in Northeastern India. It arose asa monastic nominal head during a time of Brahman tradition. Buddhism rejectedimportant views of Hinduism. It did not bang the validity of theVedic Scriptures, nor the sacrificial cult which arose from it. It tooquestioned the authority of the priesthood. Also, the Buddhistic movementwas open to people of all castes, denying that a persons worth could bejudged by their blood.The religion of Buddhism has 150 to 350 million followers aroundthe world. The broad(a) range is due to two reasons. The tendency for ghostlike affiliation to be nonexclusive is one. The other is thedifficulty in getting information from Communist countries such as China.Its followers have divided into two main branches Theravada andMahayana. Theravada, the vogue of the elders, is dominant in India, SriLanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Mah ayana, the greater vehicle,refers to the Theravada as Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. It is dominant inIndia, Tibet, Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia.Siddhartha Guatama was born in Kapilivastu. His father was theruler of the small kingdom abutting the Indian/Nepal border. As a child, hisfuture was foretold by sages. They believed that he would someday be afellow sage or leader of a great empire. He direct a very pampered andsheltered flavor until the age of twenty-nine. It was at that time that herealized that he had led an empty living. He renounced his wealth andembarked on a journey to try on truth, enlightenment, and the cycle ofrebirths.In the first years of his journey, Siddhartha Guatama practicedyoga and became involved in radical asceticism. After a short time, hegave up that life for one of a middle path between indulgence and self-denial. He meditated under a bo tree until he reached true enlightenmentby rising through a series of higher stat es of consciousness. Afterrealizing this religious inner truth, he went through a time of innerstruggle. Renaming himself Buddha (meaning initiate one), he wanderedfrom place to place, preaching, spreading his teachings by word of mouth.He also gained disciples, who were grouped into a monastic communityknown as a sangha.As he neared his death, Buddha refused a successor. He told hisfollowers to work strong to find their salvation. After his death, it wasdecided that a new way to aliveness the communitys unity and purity was needed,since the teachings of Buddha were spoken only.