3. Founder
Siddhartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) was the
founder of Buddhism and was born in present day
Nepal. Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu family
and would have had several roles as a Prince in his
community. He eventually moved to India to have a
more meaningful role in people’s personal lives.
4. • Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Earliest sources for the life of Buddha
date from the 2nd century AD
• Siddhartha was born a prince around
563 BC in Ancient India
– Grew up surrounded by luxury, married a
beautiful woman and had a happy life
– At age 29 he took a ride beyond the palace
gates and saw a sick man, an old man, a
poor man, and a dead body
• Disturbed, he left his family to find the
“realm of life where there is no suffering nor
death
5. Gautama becomes Buddha
• Siddhartha Gautama wandered for years and
meet with Hindu Scholars, whose ideas didn’t
answer his questions
• He fasted and meditated under a tree
pondering the mystery of life
• Legend tells that during the night evil spirits
tempted Gautama to give up meditating, but he
didn’t
• After he rose, he believed he understood the
cause and cure for suffering and sorrow
• He then became Buddha or “Enlightened One”
6. Historical Context of founding
After forty-nine days of meditation
Gautama Buddha was awakened,
otherwise known as reaching
enlightenment. After reaching
enlightenment, under a tree in India, he
promised to spread the knowledge he
just learned about how to end suffering.
7. Major Beliefs:
–Life is suffering
–Follow the 4 Noble Truths and
Eightfold Path
–This Path leads to better Karma
and a life purity
A pure and enlightened soul can
ultimately achieve Nirvana
8. Key Teachings Buddhism
• Four Noble Truths:
– 1. All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow
– 2. The cause of suffering is nonvirtue,
thinking such as hatred and desire
– 3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome
these negative deeds and thoughts
– 4. The way to overcome these negative
deeds and thoughts is to follow the Eightfold
Path
9. The Eight-fold Path
• The Eight-fold
Path Means:
• Right views,
• right intentions,
• right speech,
• right conduct,
• right livelihood,
• right effort,
• right mindfulness,
• right contemplation
10. The Eightfold Path
• A person has to live a moral life,
avoiding evil
• By meditating, you can reach Nirvana
• Final Goal: Nirvana, union with the
universe and release from the cycle of
reincarnation
• Buddhism stresses honesty, charity, and
kindness to all living creatures: Rejects
the Caste System!
11. According to Buddhism, after death one is either
reborn into another body (reincarnated) or enters
nirvana. Only Buddhas (those who have attained
enlightenment) will achieve nirvana. The Buddha
said of death:
Nirvana
Nirvana is the state of final liberation from the
cycle of death and rebirth.
It is also therefore the end of suffering. The literal
meaning of the word is "to extinguish," in the way
that a fire goes out when it runs out of fuel.
What is it like? Is it like heaven, or is it non-
existence? The answer is not clear, Buddha only
says it is "incomprehensible, indescribable,
inconceivable, unutterable."
12. Ancient Ways
The Buddha taught
that following
the Vedic texts
was
unnecessary.
Challenged the
authority of
Hindu priests
Changing Society
A more
individualistic
approach to
enlightenment
Rebirth as a means
to evolve
Levels above
human but
below Nirvana
Many realms
including a
Hades like place
Challenging Hindu Ideas
Caste System
Opposed caste
system
The Eightfold Path
could lead any
individual to
nirvana.
The Buddha’s
teachings
reached all
classes.
13. The Spread
of Buddhism
Spheres of
Influence
Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana
Buddhism
out of India
by 1000 AD
http://www.bergen.edu/faculty/gcronk/Buddhism.ppt
15. The Major Buddhist
Traditions
• Theravada: 300BC or earlier (“The Way
of the Elders”) - Sri Lanka & Southeast Asia. Only
monks can reach Nirvana
• Mahayana: 200CE (“The Greater
Vehicle”) - China, Korea, & Japan (& Tibet &
Mongolia) Believe in angel-like beings, different gods
and saints, Nirvana is open to all.
• Vajrayana 800CE (“The Way of the
Diamond Thunderbolt”) - Tibet & Mongolia, sect
containing the position of Lama(Guru) many
polytheistic gods
All of these allow for the worship of
traditional pre-buddhist gods
16. Symbols
The eight-spoked wheel symbolizes the Buddha’s
turning of the Wheel of Truth or Law. There are
eight spokes to reference the Noble Eightfold
Path of Buddhism, which is the path Buddhists
believe can end suffering in their lives. This path
involves becoming more wise, righteous, and
thoughtful in life.
17. Place of worship
Buddhists worship and meditate in a temple
known as a Vihara. A Vihara is a huge square
temple with roofs that slope down and outward
from the building.
18. Major Beliefs
Death leads to rebirth into a new life (Reincarnation)
All events in life is a consequence of actions
done in the past life (Karma)
Cycle of Rebirth is escaped only by
achieving Nirvana
Nirvana: unborn, unoriginated, uncreated,
unformed – achieved by ultimate purity of
life Siddha-Shila – where liberated souls reside
19. Three Jewels:
When a person accepts the Buddhist
philosophy and wants to make it
part of their life, the traditional way
is to say "I take refuge in the
Buddha, I take refuge in the
Dharma, I take refuge in the
Sangha."
2/8/18
