Buddhism
"Buddhism begins with a man. In his later years, when India was afire with his message, people came to him asking what he was. Not 'Who are you?' but 'What are you?' 'Are you god?' they asked. 'No.' 'An angel?' 'No.' 'A saint?' 'No.' 'Then, what are you?' Buddha answered, 'I am awake.' His answer became his title, for this is what Buddha means. The Sanskrit root budh means to awake and to know. While the rest of humanity was dreaming the dream we call the waking human state, one of their number roused himself. Buddhism begins with a man who woke up."("Buddhism" The Worlds Religions p.60) Buddha was born a prince named Siddhartha Gautama in a small kingdom in what is now Nepal in 563b.c.e. Gautama's birth is described as a miraculous event, his birth being the result of his mother's impregnation by a sacred white elephant that touched her left side with a lotus flower. The scriptures claim that when Gautama was born "immeasurable light spread through ten thousand worlds; the blind recovering their sight, as if from desire to see his glory" ("What Man Believes" Evans p.141) Shortly after his birth, his father consulted with a number of astrologers, all of whom declared that the newborn prince would become a great king and that
The Four Sacred Truths are steps to spiritual improvement and salvation. The first sacred truth is that all the world is sorrow and suffering. From birth to death, man is in a constant state of suffering. The second noble truth reveals that all this suffering comes from the craving of the pleasures of life. The third truth reveals that the end of suffering will come when craving ceases. Finally the fourth truth explains that the end to these cravings comes through an eightfold path. The steps to this path include: "Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation."("Buddhism" Halverson p.58 ) Right Understanding, , one " sees the universe as impermanent and illusory and is aware that the 'I' does not, in reality, exist." ("Buddhism" Halverson p.58). Right Thought is to "renounce all attachment to the desires and thoughts of our illusory selves." ("Buddhism" Halverson p.58). "As a person attains such a literally selfless perspective, her or she finds the power to speak well of others (Right Speech), to obey Buddhism's moral commands or abstentions (Right Action), and to avoid making his or her living through an occupation that breaks the moral precepts of Buddhism (Right Livelihood)." ("Buddhism Halverson pp.58-59) The basis of Buddhism's ethical conduct were to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, committing indecent sexual acts or consuming of intoxicants. This is the Buddha's Dharma, or body of his teachings. Over the years, the Buddhist religion split into three major divisions. These sections include Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantric Buddhism. All of these divisions have their own sects, having varying views on how Buddhist tradition should be implemented. Though they have differing views, they all agree with the core of the Buddhist message, "Seek in the impersonal for the eternal man, and having sought him out, look inward- thou art Buddha" ("What Man Believes" Evans p. 101 ) he would rule the world in truth and righteousness. Among these astrologers, there was one who declared that if the prince were to see a sick person, an old person, a corpse, and a world-renouncing ascetic, he would become dissatisfi
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