By Aaron Yang 8G

Contents
Introduction The Life of The Buddha The Main Teachings of The Buddha Buddhist Worship Pilgrimage Glossary 3 5 7 9 10 11

What is Buddhism?

Introduction

Buddhism is a religion that was introduced in around the late 6th Century, it has an estimated 327 million followers to the religion which of most live in Asia. There are around 130 thousand living in Britain.

Who was Siddattha Gotama

Siddattha Gotama was an Indian Prince who became a great religious leader. He is also known as The Buddha.

When was Buddhism Founded and what are different types of Buddhism?
Buddhism began in India in The two main types of Buddhism is Thereavada and Mahayana.

Introduction(Continued)
Symbols of Buddhism

The Buddhists Wheel

The wheel represents eight ways of living

The Lotus Flower

The lotus flower represents things which are pure and good

The Life of The Buddha

Siddattha Gotama, more commonly known as The Buddha, was an Indian Prince who was born approximately in 563 B.C. He was the son of the king, King Suddohodana. His father was told that his son would either be a great king or a powerful religious leader. His father wanted Siddattha to be a king and carry on his legacy, therefore the king kept Siddattha in the royal palace and forbid him to every leave incase he ever saw, the old, sick, or death. Sidddattha at the age of 16 married a woman called Yasodhara and had a son, Rahula. Eventually Siddattha had to go out to other cities to meet his subjects when he saw old, sick and suffering and wondered why these things were occurring, this made him depressed and consequently he quit his place at his palace and went on to live the life of a homeless holy man. Although he had chosen a different lifestyle, Siddattha had promise to return to his kingdom after gaining enlightenment.

The Life of The Buddha(Continued

For the next six years he travelled around India with two great teachers and a group of monks. He lived several years with eating and drinking almost nothing. They believed if you force your body to suffer it wont be as important to you. However he Siddattha did not find success by doing this and began eating and drinking in the right proportions again. The holy men looked in disgust thinking he had given up, Siddattha travelled until he came to a large tree called the bodhi tree meaning tree of wisdom. After meditating under the tree have finally understood the meaning of life and became completely free and stop thinking about yourself. He was then named The Buddha, and spent the rest of his life teaching people of the ways to live. Siddattha died at the age of 80 and achieved Nirvana.

The Main Teachings Of The Buddha

The Buddha has a lot of teachings but the most important and main teachings are: The Three Signs of Being The Four Noble Truths The Noble Eightfold Path

The Three Signs of Being

The three signs of being are Dukkha, Anicca and Anatta. Dukkha means suffering but also means being uncomfortable or bored, anything insufficient because nothing in life is perfect and you cannot escape it. Anicca means impermanence (nothing lasts), everything is changing all the time. There is nothing that stays the same. Anatta means no soul, The Buddha said there is nothing that can be called a soul. The Buddha thinks people are made up of 5 things, body, feel, ideas thinking and awareness make a person. Buddhists dont believe that souls go from one body to another.

The Main Teachings of The Buddha (Continued)

The Four Noble Truths
1.Dukkha happens everywhere, nothing is perfect in the world and that every life has kamma of their pasts, so being reborn makes everyone suffer from their past lives. 2. Dukkha is affected by greed and selfishness, everyone is more concerned with what they want, selfishness causes suffering. The Buddha thinks being reborn is selfish and that people should break the rebirth cycle. 3. Greed and Sefishness can be ended, when you dont want anything anymore, when you can see beyond yourself you can leave suffering and break out the rebirth cycle which brings freedom called Nirvana. 4. The Noble Eightfold Path stops selfishness, this leads to Nirvana, The Noble Eightfold Path shows how people are supposed to live.

The Noble Eightfold Path

The Buddha says you should live life on a middle ground where you dont live luxury or on the other hand punish yourself. All eight parts start with the word Right and these parts are: Right viewpoint Right living Right thought Right effort Right speech Right awareness Right action Right concentration

Buddhist Worship
Meditation is a part of worship and is possibly the most important, to meditate you sit on the floor with you legs crossed and try to empty your thoughts and focus on things significant. The point of meditation is to overcome any worries you might have. Group Worship is usually in a shrine- room of a temple. Buddhists would remove their shoes and sit on floor , inside the room there would be a n image of The Buddha called a Buddharupa, similar to individual meditation you would cross your legs however in the shrine- room you should point your legs to the image of The Buddha as a sign of respect. A way of greeting the Buddharupa is to lightly bow putting your hands together in front of their chest or face.

Pilgrimage
Some Buddhists believe that visiting places that The Buddha had been helps them follow their religion . This is called pilgrimage, many Buddhists believe that pilgrimaging will help them achieve enlightenment.

Places you could visit

You could possibly visit places that The Buddha had lived such as Lumbini, which is now called Nepal or even The Bodhi Tree. And also you could pilgrimage stupas in Buddhist countries like India and Sri Lanka. When visiting a stupa you must walk around it three times. This represents the Three Jewels Dharma, The Buddha and the Sangha.

Glossary
Anatta belief that nothing can be called a soul Anicca belief that nothing lasts Bodhi tree tree of wisdom where Buddha achieved
enlightenment Buddha the Enlightened one Buddharupa image of the Buddha Dhamma natural laws- teachings of The Buddha Dukkha suffering and everything that is unsatisfactory Enlightenment understanding the way things are Kamma actions which affect future lives Lotus flower of the water lily family Mahayana great vehicle school of Buddhism Meditation mental control leading to calmness Monk a man who dedicates his life to religion Nirvana the end of greed and selfishness Pilgrimage journey for religious reasons Sangha Buddhists and Nuns community Shrine a holy place

Stupa where the Buddhas ashes were buried Symbol something that stands for something else Theravada teachings of elders, school of Buddhism