Buddhism6


 * Buddhism **

History Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) was born in the Indian kingdom of Magadha during 563 BCE. Unhappy he left the family to set out to search for the meaning of life. Under the Bodhi Tree he promised not to leave that spot until he has reached the truth. At the age of 30 he had reached Nirvana and realized The Four Noble Truths. He made the theory that all life forms have infinite number of lives and a being can move up or down to and from Nirvana. The rest of his life he traveled across central asia to teach people of his ways. Later since people couldn't formalize his doctrines the religion emerged into different branches. The school of Nikaya Buddhism was the first which are the Theravada. Later the formation of the Mahayana which made new scriptures and revised the older techniques of Buddhism.

Theravada One of the main types of Buddhism which translates to "The Teaching of the Elders." Praticed in most of Southeast Asia and parts of Southwest China. Theravada Buddhism is focused on meditation and concentration, the Eightfold Noble Path. The goal of a Theravada is to become an arhat. There is four stages in becoming an arhat.

Mahayana The second type of Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism is based on enlightenment and of the Buddha. The idea is not to escape into nirvana, but rather, having achieved enlightenment, one returns as a Bodhisattva to the world for the sake of other beings. Mayahana therefore emphasises that the duty of enlightenment to work to relieve the suffering of others and argues that all living beings will achieve Buddhahood. Mahayana spread northeast from India into China and from there into Tibet and Korea, and from Korea into Japan.

Tripitaka The word it self means three baskets. Early form of buddhism writtings. They were originally only memorized and recited orally by disciples. The writings are categories in three diffrent sections.

The first category the "Vinaya Piṭaka" was the code to be obeyed by the early community, monks and nuns. According to the scriptural account, these were invented on a day to day basis as the Buddha encountered various behavior problems with the monks.

The second category the "Sutra Piṭaka" consists primarily of accounts of the Buddha's teachings. The Sutra Piṭaka has many other subdivisions it contains over 10,000 Sutras.

The third category is the "Abhidharma Pitaka." This is applied to very different collections in different versions of the Tripiṭaka. In the Pali Canon of the Theravada there is an Abhidhamma Piṭaka consisting of seven books. An Abhidharma Piṭaka of the Sarvastivada school survives, also in seven books, six in Chinese and one in Tibetan. These are different books from the Pali ones though there are some common material and ideas. Another work surviving in Chinese, the Sariputrābhidharmasastra, may be all or part of another Abhidharma Piṭaka. At least some other early schools of Buddhism had Abhidharma Pitakas, which are now lost.

Impact/Unique Buddhism has created many theories to extracise the mind and become one with yourself.

Terms __Four Noble Truths__ 1. Life is suffering 2. Suffering is due to attachment 3. Attachment can be overcome 4. There is a path for accomplishing this

__Nirvana__ The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion.

__Karma__ A person's actions affecting his or her fate in the next reincarnation

__Dharma__ One's righteous duty in their life time.

__Arhat__ A perfected saint who has acheived nirvana and will not be reborn again. Steps to Arhat 1. Sotapanna ("stream-enterer") - a convert, attained by overcoming false beliefs 2. Sakadagamin ("once-returner") - one who will only be reborn once more, attained by diminishing lust, hatred and illusion 3. Anagamin ("never-returner") - one who will be reborn in heaven, where he or she will become an arahant 4. Arhat ("worthy one") - one who has attained perfect enlightenment and will never be reborn

__Eightfold Noble Path__ Describes the way to the end of suffering 1. Right View 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech 4. Right Action 5. Right Living 6. Right Effort 7. Right Mind 8. Right Concentration

__Bodhisattva__ A being who searches for the attainment of the Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Citations

Vu, Harriet. "Foundations of Mahayana Buddhism." Geocites.com. 3 Feb. 2009 <[] >.

Berzin, Alexander. "Historical Sketch of Buddhism and Islam in Afghanistan." Www.berzinarchives.com. Nov. 2001. 3 Feb. 2009 <[] >.