The Buddha, which means the "Enlightened One," died in northeastern India between 500 and 350 BC. According to tradition, his family name was Gautama; later sources call him Siddhartha, which means "He Who Has Reached His Goal." He was reared in a minor royal family of the ruling Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. Shocked as a young man after wittness by pure accident sickness, old age, and death, he renounced his family life in order to wander as a shramana, or ascetic, in search of religious understanding and a way of release from the human condition. Discarding the teachings of his contemporaries, through meditation he achieved enlightenment, or ultimate understanding. Thereafter, the Buddha instructed his followers (the sangha) in the dharma (Pali dhamma, "truth") and the "Middle Way," a path between a worldly life and extremes of self-denial.

The essence of the Buddha's early preac

In addition to temple design and decoration, Buddhism historically has stimulated creativity in other artistic areas; the traditions of poetry and painting associated with Zen Buddhism are notable examples.

The Mahayana schools developed an expanded vision of the universe and a new understanding of the Buddha. The human manifestation of the True Law in the figure of Gautama Buddha was identified with the many celestial forms experienced in meditation and with the dharma-kaya, the ineffable absolute. Certain Mahayana schools (Madhyamika in India, T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen in China, etc.) developed sophisticated philosophical arguments concerning the two levels of truth (the relative and absolute) and the identification of samsara (this world of life and death) with nirvana. The Pure Land schools of Mahayana emphasized simple faith over logic and were more concerned with salvific rebirth in Buddha's "pure lands" than with the achievement of enlightenment in this world. The influential Dhyana (Chinese: Ch'an; Japanese: Zen) tradition stressed meditation and a sudden enlightenment experience. Mahayana became the predominant form of Buddhism throughout East Asia and has had an immeasurable impact on the civilizations of China, Korea, and Japan.

Between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD, there appeared new Buddhist scriptures that implied to represent the Buddha's most advanced and complete teaching. The communities for which these new Sanskrit texts were important called themselves followers of the "Greater Vehicle" (Mahayana), in contradistinction to followers of what they regarded as

Some common words found in the essay are:
Southeast Asia, Eightfold Path--right, Tantric Buddhism, Scholasticism Theravada, Wherever Buddhist, Reached Goal, Noble Truths, Vehicle Hinayana, China Tibet, Japan Buddhism, century bc, form buddhism, pitaka basket, southeast asia, predominant form buddhism, korea japan, 2nd century, predominant form, mahayana schools, stop desiring, china korea japan, theravada doctrine,
Approximate Word count = 1078
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)