Many people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Below are a few facts most people manage to get wrong.
1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled beyond India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama would be a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. You should do not forget that he would have been a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) so many of his ideas were originally section of the ancient traditional religions from the local historical period. He is believed to were living from around 563 BCE close to 483 BCE as he is believed to get died at Four decades old. He traveled and taught down the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near what exactly is now Nepal.
2) He could be sometimes called Shakyamuni Buddha, or Prince of the Shakyas, as a consequence of Ssakya Mountain Range that was his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was born a prince but chose to turn into a holy man. He grew up in wealth and resistant to the exterior but became interested in what people’s lives beyond your palace could be like. Many legends surround his birth, but all of that is in fact known is his mother was meant to have left in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father ended up warned right after his birth that he would turned into a great military leader or a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had their own ideas of what was proper for Siddhartha, but, at around 29 years, house his charioteer, he escaped the palace walls and ventured outside to determine what life was like for some individuals. He witnessed the effects of final years, sickness, and saw a corpse, making him mindful of death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained that this ascetic was one who had renounced the planet and sought release from anxiety about death and suffering.
3) Buddhism began by Siddhartha as a way to end the suffering (dissatisfaction) of humans. He realized the reality that we’re all impermanent and decided to go on a spiritual hunt for enlightenment. He studied with the best teachers of faith and philosophy he could find at that time and learned how you can meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.
4) The center Way: He still had much to find out and ventured into the ascetics of times to check out but also in time learned that the extremes which they endured weren’t employed by him. He followed their means of self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. This didn’t satisfy him because he decided this is merely another ego inflating way of self-gratification, proving yourself through self-abuse. He made a decision to turn from their strict abeyance to rules about starving yourself and eating unclean things, as he realized however need strength to continue his quest, so he developed what is known as “the middle way”. When his disciples saw which he wasn’t following the way they thought necessary, they chose to leave him. He left and chose to sit within sacred fig tree until he discovered a better solution. The tree was the thing that was considered a sacred fig tree near Bodh Gaya, the tree being named later, the Bodhi Tree. From Wikipedia * “…The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (from your Sinhalese Bo), was a large and incredibly old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna inside the Indian condition of Bihar), under which SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, is claimed to own achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”
5) His Awakening: In his deep state of meditation (samadhi) stay he became enlightened so when he rose from his deep meditation, he revealed that he previously some solutions to the questions he had sought. He imparted the wisdom with the four noble truths and the eightfold path that come for a reason. Without the previous, the remainder will be impossible to accomplish. 6)The Four Noble Truths
1) Suffering (dukkha) exists. (All humans suffer during birth, pain, sickness, and death.
2) The reason for suffering is desire. All of us have desires that are either selfish or unrealistic. This is considered “delusional”.
3) There exists a approach to reach cessation of suffering.
4) The cessation of suffering comes through practicing the eightfold path. (Freedom from suffering may be possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.)
7) The Eightfold Path
1) Right View Wisdom
2) Right Intention Wisdom
3) Right Speech Ethical Conduct
4) Right Action Ethical Conduct
5) Right Livelihood Ethical Conduct
6) Right Effort Mental Development
7) Right Mindfulness Mental Development
8) Right Concentration/Meditation Mental Development
8) Buddhist Principles: By striving towards the right thing one lessens selfish desire, therefore reaching a state of happiness internally that is not dependent on conditional circumstances. Mindfulness in all things is a key ingredient. If one understands that any tangible thing that we desire is impermanent and ceases to be “attached” to these things that we cannot keep, then one becomes more at peace. We can not become attached to any views since we will become passionate about this and when circumstances change, our view will no longer be important or pertinent.
9) Buddhism is not a self help program: Beware of those who call themselves a master or try to sell you “enlightenment”. There are many books and centers out there which try to use words like enlightenment” that is something that actually has to be attained personally, it can’t be given or taught in a paint by the numbers program that promises some things. First, the word enlightenment is not used in any of the texts from Siddhartha Gautama was concerned that people might rush into this without understanding and this would lead to repeating traditional ceremonies without understanding, which will lead to disappointment because of the lack of benefit from practice. Do not come to an understanding of Buddhism lightly or quickly, take your time and be sure. This will take investigation. Investigate completely, any facets that you don’t understand until it makes sense. Also, practice with others and a good teacher are the best method of learning.
10) Buddhism IS A RELIGION: It disturbs some Buddhists that some people feel that Buddhism is just a philosophy. Some people feel there has to be a main book or one religious deity to worship in order for a religion to be real. Most modern practitioners of Buddhism see that all religions are filled with mythology and they understand that most deities and mythological objects in Buddhism are analogies for science and nature or our own mental make up that early man could not explain. Some practitioners, especially in Asia, still believe in the physical existence of some of these objects and deities. We have to remember that early Buddhist teachings came from Siddhartha Gautama in India, who was a Vedic Brahman. It then traveled across Asia to China where it adapted to Confucianism, which relied strongly on Filial Piety. It then traveled through to Japan, where it adapted to Shinto, which is still practiced side by side with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was created to adapt to all other learning. Siddhartha Gautama likened it to “a raft to get to the other side” in a parable he taught. “The Parable of The Raft ” When speaking to his followers Gautama Buddha said, “When you come to a river and the current is too fast to allow you to swim across and there is no bridge then you might decide to build a raft. If after crossing the river you would have some choices as to what to do with the raft. a) You could tie it to the bank to be used by someone else later. b) You could set it afloat for someone else to find. c) You could say to yourself, “What a wonderful raft”, and then pick it up and carry it around on top of your head from now on. Which would be proper use of the raft? Buddhism is practiced in most countries around the world, although Buddhists make up only about 7% of the world’s religious population. Only a few modern Buddhist sects use an evangelical approach, trying to convert everyone around them. Most Buddhists refrain from trying to propagate their religion to anyone who doesn’t seek it.
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