A Study of Buddhism
A Study of Buddhism
Introduction
Buddhism is a religion that originated in North East India, around the time of 520 BC. As the legend goes, Siddhartha Guatama was a holy man from Lumbini, who later on in his life discovered the four noble truths. At the beginning, the Buddha’s teachings were passed down with words, but were later developed into two formations of scripture which are: Tripitaka, meaning the passing down of knowledge down by the council of monks) and The Sutras, meaning the passing down by the Mahayana School).
Siddharta Guatama
In about 580 BCE, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a wealthy family in Nepal, in the village of Lumbini. Growing up, the boy was only presented with the positives of life, never knowing any type of negatives such as death, illness, sadness, poverty, etc. However, after he had a child with his wife, he saw life outside of the palace; specifically a sick man, an old man and a dead corpse. It was then Siddhartha realised that these horrific things were inevitable and all three of those things would have to happen to him some day too.
During his outing, the prince saw a monk, which he took as the indication that he should abandon his sheltered, protected luxurious life for one of living as a homeless Holy Man. As a Holy Man, he searched for a way out of death and life’s suffering, but was unable to find it. Siddhartha sought out many religious men in his travels who taught him things such as how to meditate, though he later split off from them with 5 other men. Through physical discipline, the six companions believed that was the key to finding enlightenment. However, Siddhartha realised that hurting himself was doing the exact opposite; bringing him pain, which is what he was running from. It was then he discovered that ‘the path of liberation was through discipline of the mind’.
When Siddhartha sat underneath the Bodhi Tree, he began to deeply meditate, where he got into a destructive battle of the mind with a demon,
Introduction
Buddhism is a religion that originated in North East India, around the time of 520 BC. As the legend goes, Siddhartha Guatama was a holy man from Lumbini, who later on in his life discovered the four noble truths. At the beginning, the Buddha’s teachings were passed down with words, but were later developed into two formations of scripture which are: Tripitaka, meaning the passing down of knowledge down by the council of monks) and The Sutras, meaning the passing down by the Mahayana School).
Siddharta Guatama
In about 580 BCE, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a wealthy family in Nepal, in the village of Lumbini. Growing up, the boy was only presented with the positives of life, never knowing any type of negatives such as death, illness, sadness, poverty, etc. However, after he had a child with his wife, he saw life outside of the palace; specifically a sick man, an old man and a dead corpse. It was then Siddhartha realised that these horrific things were inevitable and all three of those things would have to happen to him some day too.
During his outing, the prince saw a monk, which he took as the indication that he should abandon his sheltered, protected luxurious life for one of living as a homeless Holy Man. As a Holy Man, he searched for a way out of death and life’s suffering, but was unable to find it. Siddhartha sought out many religious men in his travels who taught him things such as how to meditate, though he later split off from them with 5 other men. Through physical discipline, the six companions believed that was the key to finding enlightenment. However, Siddhartha realised that hurting himself was doing the exact opposite; bringing him pain, which is what he was running from. It was then he discovered that ‘the path of liberation was through discipline of the mind’.
When Siddhartha sat underneath the Bodhi Tree, he began to deeply meditate, where he got into a destructive battle of the mind with a demon,