Buddhism

The blanket term for those the adhere to and follow the teachings of Buddha are Buddhists. That being said there are many concepts to Buddhism that have been adopted by others. For example many Hindus hold Buddha and his philosophies in reverence, but are not necessarily Buddhists by self-identification.

Buddhism, no matter the branch is neither a polytheistic religion nor a monotheistic one, for it doesn't posit the existence of a supreme God. Tibetan Buddhism believes in the existence of deities, but those are supposed to be emerge from Emptiness, and as such are subject to impermanent existence, just like human beings. That alone sets them apart from the gods of polytheistic faiths. Those who follow the Vajrayana branch use deities as meditation aids, a way to develop desirable traits or to overcome undesirable ones.

Buddhists *practice* meditation, but they do not *believe* in it. Belief is a function of the mind, whereas meditation is about *witnessing* the mind using awareness or consciousness, which lie beyond the mind.

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

They are:

The truth of suffering, why we suffer.

The truth of how the suffering begins.

The truth of how the suffering can end.

The truth of how we can end suffering.

The Tripitaka (three baskets) is a set of books that contains the Buddha's teachings. It is comprised of the Sutras, sermons and teachings of Buddha; Abhidharma, discourses on interpretation of the doctrine; and Vinay, rules for monks and nuns in monastic life. So the Tripitaka defines what Buddhism is and how we are to live our lives.

This was a question that the Buddha explicitly declined to answer. More specifically, the question was, "Does an arahat (the Buddha is a type of arahat) exist or not exist after death?"

It is also possible that you are referring to some statue of the Buddha. If so, you should make it clear that you are referring to a statue and not to the Buddha himself.

in laos and thailand, they are called a wat. like if u look at the sign of the entrance of a temple itll almost most likely say "wat buddharama blha blah blah name of temple here"

Some because it weakened the power of the Brahmans

Others because it resonated with them as being the correct philosophy to meet the problems of their lives.

Others because it was the newest fad religion and everyone was joining it.

Compassion for all sentient beings. If you ask the Dalai Lama what his religion is he says the same thing "Compassion is my religion".

Hinduism is much wider religion and touches every part of daily life of majority of the persons, it also focuses on worshipping deities and Gods. Buddhism does not focus on worshipping God or idols, it focuses on equality and personal spiritual awareness.

Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) was born around 563 BCE in what is now Nepal and began to gather followers to his philosophies at about age 35. So the faith would date to around 528 BCE or thereabouts. Buddhism is the 3rd oldest major world religion after Hinduism and then Judaism.

nobody knows

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Buddhism has some central teachings at its very heart, these have been developed in a range of ways,reflecting the individual needs of different people over many centuries. Each of these different approaches can be thought of as a 'school' of Buddhism.

Siddhartha Gautama did not establish any "ism" as such, he just gave the teachings which leads to an end of suffering. the name "Buddhism" was later coined for the sake of convention.

Followers of the Buddhist religion house their scroll within a cabinet referred to as a Gohozon. The stupa is also a location where the relics can be found.

Unlike many religions Buddhism does not feel that an individual is created sometime after conception and lives fo some 100 years before death - one kick at the can as it were. Instead the Buddhist lives through countless cycles of death and re-birth on the path to enlightenment. As a consequence there is no beginig or end. Besides, many of these types of questions an individual can tie up his thoughts pondering the unanswerable, wasting time that could be more productively spent overcoming the mind hinderances that keep him or her in the cycle of death and re-birth.

The top 12 are listed below so that all the top 3 Abrahamic religions can be shown. The problem comes when people want to separate sects from religions - Christianity can be viewed as one unit or as several sects like Protestants and Catholics.

While specific numbers vary, they usually are similar to:

# Christianity: 2.1 billion

# Islam: 1.5 billion

# Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion

# Hinduism: 900 million

# Chinese traditional religion: 394 million

# Buddhism: 376 million

# primal-indigenous: 300 million

# African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million

# Sikhism: 23 million

# Juche: 19 million

# Spiritism: 15 million

# Judaism: 14 million

To answer this question, first let us understand that Hinduism and Buddhism are not 2 separate roads (hence no question of comparison)! Let us see it this way: The same tree produces different branches, innumerable leaves, season after season, day after day. The purpose, concept of Hinduism has been : To realize self. And that is what, Gautam Buddha, did. However, Hindusim, as known today, is the elaborate religion followed by most Indians, which comprises of mystical practices, mantras, gods and gurus.

So, if I can rephrase the questions, it would be: How did the coming of Gautam Buddha modify the "practised" religion of that time? What impact does the modern day Buddhism (with its various schools and branches) have on a Hindu society?

Hinduism, as practised by most Indians, is nothing but a set of rituals performed without much questioning and with a mindset of "pleasing the God". Hence, sad as it may be, none of these machines performing the day to day rituals are a Hindu any more, for they have stopped seeking the real 'I', the self. Their journeys ended when they accepted authority of pundits and gurus and retorted to their ways.

What about Buddhist then? Are Buddhists seeking their real self or are they too, in their own schools, happy with mantras and tantras, or are they really seeking the self? Or are they in the search of ways to 'end the suffering' creating their own doctrines and complicating the matters further? Are there any realized souls who have attained liberation with the help of these mantras and tantras?

When both with their own set doctrines of attaining happiness and God are confused, what effect would theyr have on each other?

However, in the modern day context, a Buddhist is much more tolerant and compassionate than an average Hindu, specially in India. A Buddhist is much more confident of becoming a better human being, if not attaining realization, as opposed to a Hindu who is still waiting for miracles and God to save him without any efforts (apart from the rituals) on his part.

The Four Noble Truths are:

1. Life is full of suffering. The word the Buddha used was probably closer to

Discontentment. That we are never really satisfied and if we are, it doesn't

last.

2. This Suffering (discontentment) has a cause. This cause is our attachment

to desires. Now, this doesn't mean that having desires is bad. It means that

we must be smart about our desires. We shouldn't have these aching

desires to get things like new clothes or the latest cell phone because once

we get it, we are only happy for a short while. Then we are discontent

again. We should desire for things that are helpful to others, or that we can

make a positive impact on someone's life...

3. There is a state in which suffering (discontentment) stops and that stat is

attainable. If we apply ourselves correctly to the 4th truth, we can become

happy with life just as it is. We can break the chains that tie us to wide mood

swings and over-reactions. We can treat people kindly and be generous and

be content.

4. There is a path to end suffering. The Buddha laid out a path that anyone

can follow. It takes practice to override the view of things and how we have

thought throughout our lives but you can get there from here if you practice

hard enough and with real intention.

Eightfold Path:

1. Views

2. Resolve

3. Speech

4. Conduct

5. Livelihood

6. Effort

7. Mindfulness

8. Concentration

He was troubled by the suffering of all human beings

Modern day Hinduism has hundreds of books, but the original Hindu faith is called Sanatana Dharma. It is not a religion, it is a way of life. The books of Sanatana Dharma are known as the Vedas. The Vedas are complex. The summary of the Vedas is called Vedanta, Vedanta is referred to as the Upanishads. The Upanishads are lengthy and many. The main Upanishads are eleven, but even they are difficult to understand. All the spiritual books of the original Hindu faith can be summarized into what is known as the four statements or the four Mahavakyas. The four principal statements are: Tat Twam Asi, Ayam Atma Brahma, Prajnanam Brahma, Aham Brahmasmi . The essence of these four statements is - we are not the body, we are not the mind, we are the Divine Soul. The core of the original Hindu faith can be summarized in these four statements.

A central term in Buddhism which is not directly translatable in english. It's a type of unease. Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are dukkha; association with what is not loved is dukkha, separation from what is loved is dukkha, not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha.

India and Nepal.