Brief History of Buddhism :: Religion Theology Essays

Brief History of BuddhismBuddhism is one of the major religions of the world. It wasfounded by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) in Northeastern India. It arose asa monastic movement during a clock of brahmin tradition. Buddhism rejectedimportant views of Hinduism. It did not recognize the validity of theVedic Scriptures, nor the sacrificial cult which arose from it. It alsoquestioned the authority of the priesthood. Also, the Buddhist movementwas open to people of entirely castes, denying that a persons worth could bejudged by their blood.The religion of Buddhism has 150 to 350 million followers aroundthe world. The wide range is due to two reasons. The tendency for spectral 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 way of the elders, is dominant in India, SriLanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Mahayana, t he groovyer 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 heartfelt 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 led a very pampered andsheltered life until the age of twenty-nine. It was at that time that herealized that he had led an empty life. He renounced his wealth andembarked on a journey to seek 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 states of consciousnes s. Afterrealizing this religious inner truth, he went through a time of innerstruggle. Renaming himself Buddha (meaning enlightened 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 hard to find their salvation. After his death, it wasdecided that a new way to handle the communitys unity and purity was needed,since the teachings of Buddha were spoken only.