Buddhism

He saw a contradiction between the teachings of the Hindu sacred texts and rituals and the state of human kind; APEX (just took the test)

Approximately 528 BCE. The story is below:

In the year 534 BCE, a young Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama (age 29) was deeply troubled about the fact that so many people suffer. So he left his wife and child and renounced his throne to find out the answer to why there was suffering. Now it should be noted when Buddhists speak of suffering this includes dissatisfaction (unhappiness) with the way things are. Siddhartha went to study with various gurus to try to find the answer to his question. Theses gurus had him do various types of yoga and meditation to try to help him with his quest. None of them seem to have an answer to his question though.

Siddhartha left these various gurus and joined in with a group of ascetics. Asceticism is a path in which you deprive the body in order to conquer and control the mind. He practiced asceticism fiercely, almost to the point of death. At that point he realized that giving in to pleasure, as he did when he was a prince, nor trying to punish the body, was the proper path to finding the answer. So he sat down and meditated under a pi-pal tree. During this meditation he discovered the root of all suffering and the path to how to overcome suffering and became enlightened.

After his enlightenment he meets up with his ascetic friends, who by now were critical of him for leaving the path of asceticism. But he explains to them what he had discovered and they were instantly converted. From there The Buddha taught for 45 years until his death at 85 converting many to his teachings and now Buddhism is the 4th largest religion in the world.

In Nepal, Prince Siddhartha founded it; branches off of Hinduism.

Believe it or not there is more than one answer to this questions. Some schools of Buddhism maintain the goal is the attainment of relative and absolute happiness, which can be known as enlightenment. Some Buddhist however persue Buddhahood itself, whilst the Boddhisatva seeks to create the conditions by which suffering for all beings can be ended.

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices.[9] Two of the most important teachings are dependent origination and no-self. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking "refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.[10] Other practices may include following ethical precepts; support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming a monastic; the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Buddhism is practiced all over the world. While the Shakyamuni or Guatama Buddha originally taught in Nepal and India, the majority of those populations today are not Buddhists. Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand, and a few other Southeast Asian nations are primarily Buddhist, and there are large populations of Buddhists in Japan and China, and in Western countries Buddhist practices are being adopted and transformed rapidly. Buddhists their temples and their monks are present in almost every country of the world.

The 8 fold path is the key tenant of Buddhism which was founded in the 6th century in India.

The Maurya Empire

theravada is:

- Is a monastery

- Buddha is not worshipped

- Doesn't have the reciting of Amitabha

- No bodhisattva

pureland:

- Chanting 'Namu amida Butsa' meaning I take refuge in Amida Buddha / I bow to Amida Buddha

- Do not attain nirvana in present day

- Great faith

A Buddhist would be best to answer, but here goes...

A common theme in religion and science is the inability to project time back infinitely into the past.

Christianity holds that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...", before which nothing but God existed.

Modern physics can project back to a singularity (the "big bang"), prior to which we can't give any description, because we can't describe the conditions that led to the singularity.

I'm guessing that Buddhism also has hit this problem - what *can* one say about the time before time began? The answer seems to be that it's a fruitless question.

Time has always been, and didn't "begin" anywhen.

++

I suspect there isn't one simple answer for all Buddhists however here's my thought. As time is relative (from a physics as well as spiritual perspective), beginningless time refers to the entire relative experience. The life of the current universe may be 50 billion years, then the process will begin again - there are countless rebirths of the universe. Time is relative to the physical condition, when the mind is no longer connected to the physical condition the orbit of the earth around the sun (relative time) is unlikely to have any absolute significance.

ur mother

I think its China, India and asoka.

Japan
Shintoism can't be traced to its beginnings until the fith century.
It is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion.
Japan.. During the first millenia BCE, Japan was colonised by newcomers from the mainland. They were animists, and their beliefs eventually developed into Shinto

He was/is called many thing, including his birth name. He also went by:
(the) Buddha. Buddha means "Enlightened One."
The Arahant
The Tathagata (Means One who has thus gone and one who has thus come)
The Perfectly Enlightened One
Gautama Buddha
Buddha Shakyamuni (Means Sage of the Shakyas)

One L lamas are a type of Buddhist priest and are used as the teachers, scholars and functionaries of Buddhist organization. Their job is parallel to that of monks, priests and deacons in Christian churches.

Two L llamas are a camel like animal found in the Andes used as source of food, wool and as a beast of burden.

Buddhists follow the precepts of Buddhism.

However a person of any religion can also follow the guidance given by Buddhism on how to reduce the desires and subsequent pain in their lives. These people would be called Christians, Agnostics, Atheists, Jews. Moslems etc.

There are several reasons to sit that way while meditating. The first is simply practical: if you sit for a long period of time, you could fall asleep or tip over. Sitting up in the lotus position is very stable and comfortable, once you get used to it. Another reason for sitting that way is that the position keeps the natural curves of your spine balanced, which means you won't get tired or sore even if you sit for a long period of time. Not only that, but its easy to keep warm while sitting that way. There are said to be seven centers of spiritual energy or chakras in the body, and sitting in the lotus position facilitates the balance and flow of energy through those chakras.

"Sacred" implies the involvement of a deity. Buddhism has no deity. Therefore no object is sacred in Buddhism.

Buddhism has symbols like the eight spoked wheel, but these are neither real objects or sacred.

Buddhism has relics but these are souvenirs and aides memoires for Buddhists to help them focus in meditation.

The prescription for ending suffering was laid out by the historical buddha, Siddartha Gotama, very shortly after his own enlightenment. The Buddha put forth The Four Noble Truths, which are a cornerstone of Buddhism to this day. The First Noble Truth states that life is suffering. There are surely other ways to translate this from the ancient Pali language the Buddha was believed to have spoken then. The word from whence suffering is translated is the Pali word, dukkha, meaning; suffering, dis-ease, discomfort, etc. This is to mean an object, thought, sensation, emotion, to be found disagreeable with humans. Life is certainly full of these things. Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness and death are suffering. The Second Noble Truth is the origin of suffering. The origin of suffering is in craving and attachment to craving. Craving for sensual desires. Craving for becoming. Craving for non-becoming. There are three aspects of The Second Noble Truth. There is an origin to suffering which is craving and attachment to desire. Desire should be let go of. Desire has been let go of. To suffer is to desire something which one wants or to desire to be rid of something one doesn't want, and the desire for sense pleasures. The Third Noble Truth tells of the cessation of suffering. The cessation of suffering is brought about by letting go of craving or desire. Renouncing craving leads to the cessation of suffering. Example: If one wants to have lots of money and doesn't get it, one will suffer. If one lets go of the craving for lots of money, one cuts off the source of this suffering. The Fourth Noble Truth states that there is a Noble Eightfold Path that leads to the end of suffering. The Noble Eightfold path consists of: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. If one lives one everyday life by this method, one will cut off the origins of suffering. In addition to these things one must realize the teaching of annatta, or non-self. People throughout history and today tend to be extremely self-serving and self-centered. To realize that one does not truly own anything, merely possessing things, is one aspect. When one realizes that one does not even own one's body, thoughts, house, car; one becomes more peaceful, generous, happy. This also relates to the impermanent nature of all thing which arise or come into being. What arises or comes into being, will also cease, decay, disintegrate or die. This is the truth of impermanence. Knowledge of these things, and practice of the Noble Eightfold Path is the foundation of how buddhists strive to reach the goal of ending suffering. Only enlightenment, the cessation of becoming (rebirth), is the way to eliminate suffering entirely.

The four noble truths are central to all Buddhists and might be regarded as the most important values in Buddhism. Most Buddhist will not think of them as beliefs, as they can be proven through our own experiences.

These truths are:

The truth of suffering, why we suffer.

The truth of how the suffering begins.

The truth of how the suffering can end.

The trutch of how we can end suffering.

In addition, there is what is sometimes called the middle way. This means, avoid extremes of all kinds in your life. This applies to almost everything such as excessive food and drink, wearing too expensive clothes or a lot of jewelry and so on. Buddhist economics are also important. The essence of this is not to be wasteful in any way if you can help it. Also this, do good deeds and be kind to others. The reward for this will come in many ways, still good conduct should not be done because of eventual rewards as it is self-rewarding.

Emperor Asoka was a king of India. He was the king who united India using Buddhism and he was regarded as king Buddha.

If the cause is desire then the end of suffering is the end of desire. The Noble Truths then suggest that following the Eightfold paths the road to ending desire.

There are many different meditation techniques, but all of them have one thing in common: they all cause you to become more self aware, more watchful of your thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.

Some techniques are still: for example, you sit and watch your breath. Others are active, asking you to move, dance, make sounds, etc.

Perhaps the best thing to do is look around at different techniques and find one which "feels right." Then go ahead and try it for a few weeks.

Siddhartha's followers called him the Buddha, which means "the Awakened One" or "the Enlightened One." This title reflects his attainment of enlightenment after years of meditation and spiritual quest. The teachings he shared after his enlightenment form the foundation of Buddhism, guiding his followers in their spiritual practices.