was founded by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) in Northeastern

India. It arose as a monastic movement during a time of

Brahman tradition. Buddhism rejected important views of

Hinduism. It did not recognize the validity of the Vedic

Scriptures, nor the sacrificial cult which arose from it. It

also questioned the authority of the priesthood. Also, the

Buddhist movement was open to people of all castes, denying

that a person's worth could be judged by their blood.

The religion of Buddhism has 150 to 350 million

followers around the world. The wide range is due to two

reasons. The tendency for religious affiliation to be

nonexclusive is one. The other is the difficulty in getting

information from Communist countries such as China. It's

followers have divided into two main branches: Theravada and

Mahayana. Theravada, the way of the elders, is dominant in

India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Mahayana, the greater vehicle, refers to the Theravada as

Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. It is dominant in India,

Tibet, Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and

Siddhartha Guatama was born in

introduced to Burma by Sri Lanka, around 5th century AD.

Cambodia was influenced by Mahayana and Hinduism at the

discipline, the role of laity, and the nature of arhat.

meditative Zen sect and the Pure Land sect continued to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Siddhartha Guatama, Renaming Buddha, Buddha Theravada, Vedic Scriptures, King Asoka, Kasmir Jalanhar, Dalai Lama, Prince Shotoku, Mahakasyapa Buddhist, Central Asia, sri lanka, siddhartha guatama, introduced buddhism, century ad, traditional eighteen schools, traditional eighteen, teachings buddha, eighteen schools, major council, dominant india, monastic discipline,
Approximate Word count = 1551
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)