Buddhism

"Be kind to all creatures, that is the true Religion"

                                                                                -Buddha

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps us to find the happiness and contentment we seek. Buddhists develop inner peace, kindness and wisdom through their daily practice; and then share their experience with others bringing real benefit to this world. They try not to harm others and to live peacefully and gently, working towards the ultimate goal of pure and lasting happiness for all living beings.

Origin of buddhism

History says that Buddhism originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama(Buddha Shakyamuni) who is typically referred to as the Buddha (literally the "Awakened" or "Enlightened One").He was born in the 5th century B.C. in the Indian state of Kapilavastu, now part of Nepal. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. Buddhism is an important religion in most of the countries of Asia. The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent through Central, East, and South East Asia.

Rather than the founder of a new religion, Siddhartha Gautama was the founder and leader of a sect of wanderer ascetics (Sramanas), which is one of many sects that existed at that time all over India. This sect came to be known as Sangha to distinguish it from other similar communities. 

History

The founder of Buddhism in this world is Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal. ‘Shakya’ is the name of the royal family into which he was born, and ‘Muni’ means ‘Able One’. His parents gave him the name Siddhartha and there were many wonderful predictions about his future. According to legend, at his birth a soothsayer predicted that he might become a renouncer (withdrawing from the temporal life). To prevent this, his father provided him with many luxuries and pleasures.

When he was young, he once went on a series of four chariot rides where he first saw the more severe forms of human suffering: old age, illness, and death (a corpse), as well as an ascetic renouncer. The contrast between his life and this human suffering made him realize that all the pleasures on earth where in fact transitory, and could only mask human suffering. Leaving his wife and new son (Rahula) he took on several teachers and tried severe renunciation in the forest until the point of near-starvation. Finally, realizing that this too was only adding more suffering, he ate food and sat down beneath a Peepal tree to meditate. By morning (or some say six months later) he had attained Enlightenment (Nirvana), which provided both the true answers to the causes of suffering and permanent release from it. And that tree is the (Peepal) Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, in Bihar state of India

Buddha found patronage in the ruler emperor Bimbisara of Magadha. Emperor Bimbisara accepted Buddhism as his personal faith and granted permission to develop Buddhism in Magadha.

At Sarnath a place near Sacred Hindu city of Varanasi, Buddha started Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to a group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. Together with the Buddha they formed the first monastic community of ordained Buddhist monks or nuns. These teachings which include the Sutra of the Four Noble Truths and other discourses, are the principal source of the Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) of Buddhism. Later, Buddha taught the second and third Wheels of Dharma, which include the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and the Sutra Discriminating the Intention respectively. These teachings are the source of the Mahayana (Great Vehicle) of Buddhism. In the Hinayana teachings Buddha explains how to attain liberation from suffering for oneself alone, and in the Mahayana teachings he explains how to attain full enlightenment, or Buddhahood, for the sake of others.

By the time of his death, the Buddha's followers are established as communities of monks in northern India. Wandering through villages and towns with their begging bowls, eager to describe the path to the truth, they are familiar figures.

The advance of the Buddhists beyond the others is largely due to the enthusiastic support of a king of the 3rd century BC Asoka, who rules over much of the Indian subcontinent. His inscriptions, carved on pillars and rocks throughout his realm, bear witness both to the spread of Buddhism and to his own freehearted support of the Buddha's principles.

During Asoka's reign, and with his encouragement, Buddhism spreads to south India and into Sri Lanka. The latter has remained to this day a stronghold of the earliest form of Buddhism, known as Theravada.