Buddha
The founder of Buddhism was Buddha, originally known as Prince Siddhartha. He was born in a royal family with all the luxuries of life at his disposal. However, by the age of 29, he encountered the harsh realities of life and left his luxurious home to find the real meaning of life. After following a path of first, rigorous austerity and then meditation, He finally attained Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Gaya. After attaining enlightenment, He preached others to follow the same path and thus, laid the foundation of Buddhism.
The Four Noble Truths
Summarizing the essence of Buddhism in themselves are The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. They consist of
The Five Precepts of Buddhism, in general, consist of five abstentions, including…
The three marks of existence comprise of anicca (impermanence), dukkha (suffering) and anatta (no-self). It is said in Buddhism that there is no self because there is impermanence and because there is impermanence, there is suffering.
Reincarnation
Buddhist belief of reincarnation means that the consciousness of a person remains even after he is no more. It even manifests in his future life.
Karma
The concept of Karma means that what we do in our present life will have a bearing on our future life.
Compassion and Loving Kindness
Lord Buddha has preached people to assume the feelings of compassion and loving kindness towards all human beings. Compassion means identifying with the suffering of others and wishing that the suffering would come to an end. Loving-kindness means showing care, consideration and concern towards others. These feeling should be extended to each and every human being, without exception.
Meditation
Meditation is considered as one of the necessary practices that can lead us to enlightenment. Even Lord Buddha practiced meditation when He was striving for enlightenment. In Buddhism, the technique of meditation holds a lot of importance, for both a beginner as well as others.
Buddhist Scriptures
Buddhist scriptures consist of all the religious texts and scriptures that form a part of the religion.
Major Schools
The two major schools of Buddhism are Theravada or Hinayana and Mahayana.
The teachings of Buddhism are based on the life of Gautama Buddha. He lived some time between 600 and 400 B.C.
Siddhartha Gautama never wrote down his teachings.
An introduction to Buddhism might be had by reading the teachings of Gautama Buddha. A link is provided to this short part of the Wikipedia article on the founder of Buddhist philosophy.
Some of the shared beliefs of Buddhism and Hinduism are rebirth and Karma
Buddha's teachings. However, it depends on the country and tradition. Some teachings vary from others.
Buddhism grew from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautam, the Buddha (hence BUDDHism). Some of his main teachings were karma, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Paths.
Buddhism is the most peaceful religion in the world.The teachings of Buddhism are philosophical and enlightening.
The teachings of Buddhism are based on the life of Gautama Buddha. He lived some time between 600 and 400 B.C.
Buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama is the Buddha and the founder of the teachings that comprise Buddhism.
* The Buddha and his Teachings * An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life * Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World Those are some book of Buddhism.
Buddhism is a variety of beliefs and practices based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama
The religious symbol for Buddhism is the teachings of the Buddha or the Three Noble Jewels.
There are really only 2 distinct types of Buddhism, though there are subgroups to them. The two major groups are Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada is call the "teachings of the Elders" and is most closest to the original teachings of the Buddha. Mahayana incorporates teachings of later Buddhas and Bodisatvas into the Buddhas original teachings. All the differnt lineages of Buddhism fall within one of these two groups but all teachings agree as to what the Buddha taught and to what the objective of Buddhism is.
I am assuming that what you are asking is how does Buddhism today compare to what the Buddha taught. Buddhism over the years has been enriched by each culture that has been exposed to; changing the nature of practice just slightly each time. So Chan Buddhism (China) is slightly different in practice then is Zen Buddhism (Japan, Korea). But the teachings have always remained the same. Now when I speak of practice, it is the methods used to teach the Dharma (the teachings). The biggest change in Buddhism since the Buddha is the development of Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism, to which is the tradition I practice, added teachings from later Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to The Buddha's original teachings in regards to living a compassionate life to help all other beings. So Buddhism adapts the methods but never the message or teachings.
Buddhism
Siddlartha