Buddhism is a very prominent religion. Many people are Buddhists, especially in Asia. But to further understand Buddhism you need to trace it back to its roots, India, at the foot of the Himalayan Mountains where Siddhartha Gautama was borne a prince.

Siddhartha Gautama was the son of king Shuddhodana. King Shuddhodana was the king of Kapilavastu. Siddhartha's mother was queen Mahamaya. Before she was pregnant queen Mahamaya dreamed that a beautiful white six tusked elephant impregnated her. She told the king about her dream and the king talked to soothsayers who said that he would either be a great king or become a holy man.

When the baby was born Shuddhodana named his son Siddhartha which means one who does great things or every whish fulfilled. Siddhartha was Shuddhodan

Devadatta joined a congregation of Buddha's to try to turn people against him but that failed. He then hired criminals to kill him but instead they become his followers. Devadatta then set a wild elephant loose on the streets while Siddhartha was begging but the elephant submitted to Buddha. Then his cousin tried to kill him by himself, while Sakyamuni was walking at the foot of a hill, Devadatta rolled a bolder at him, the rock split into shards and one cut Buddha's foot. For assaulting the great Buddha like that Devadatta died instantly.

Seeing the truth Sakyamuni Buddha found five hermits and he told his four noble truths to them. He traveled everywhere and taught his four noble truths along with the art of meditation. He became well known and had many followers.

The eight-fold path, discovered or devised by Sakyamuni Buddha (depending on how u look at it), is as follows.

The third of the sects are the Vajrayana (which means "Diamond Vehicle"). The Vajrayana are in Tibet. They use aids to reach enlightenment. Mandalas is one tool they use, which are intricate circular sand designs that represent things that aid them on to their enlightenment Mudras are another aid, which are hand movements that they use in meditation, somewhat similar to Hinduism. Mantras are the last aids they use, which are chants. They chant several tones all at once and they believe when they do this correctly all the tones collapse together and form one holy sound. The religious leader of the Vajrayana is the Dalai Lama, a Bodhisattva; the current Dalai Lama is the fourteenth reincarnation of Buddha Chenrizig.

To his fathers delight Siddhartha seemed hungry for knowledge and he excelled in many things. In one martial arts contest he won a wife and in a few years they had a son whose name was Rahul. King Shuddhodana was happy because this made him think that he would not wonder off and become a holy man, now that he had a strong attachment to home.

Today, there are three sects, schools, or Vedas (which means vehicle) of Buddhism; the first

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