FREE ESSAY ON BUDDHISM

BUDDHISM

Buddhism
Buddhism is probably the most tolerant religion in the world, as its teachings can
coexist with any other religions. Buddhism has a very long existence and history,
starting in about 565 B.C. with the birth of Siddhartha Gautama. The religion has
guidelines in two forms in which Buddhist followers must follow. These are the Four Noble
Truths and the Eightfold Path. 
It all started in about 565 B.C. when Siddhartha Gautama was born. He was a young Indian
prince born to the ruler of a small kingdom that is now known as Nepal. Gautama's father
was said to have been told by a prophet that if Gautama saw the sick, aged, dead, or poor
he would become a religious leader. If he didn't see these four things he would become an
emperor. Because of this prophecy Gautama's father decided to isolate his son from the
outside world, where he might see how the other half lived, for the good of his empire
and his citizens. Trying to shelter Gautama from all the four sights was impossible, and
Gautama ventured out and that is when he eventually saw the four sights, which would, if
experienced as it had been told to Gautama's father, lead the young prince to a religious
leader. These sights or as how Buddhists refer to them The Four Signs were in turn, a
sick man covered with terrible sores, an old man, a corpse, and a wandering monk. The
sightings of these men made Gautama think of the suffering and inevitable death which
comes to all people great and small. This brought further questioning such as the meaning
of life and the ultimate fate of man. As time passed these thoughts became great burdens
to Gautama and he increasingly became dissatisfied with the shallow dissolute life of the
royal court in which he lived. Therefore at the age of 21, although married with a
beautiful young son and also the heir to a very rich throne he forsook it all and became
a traveling holy man. After a while of traveling as a holy man there was a great even
that transformed Gautama into the Buddha (or the Enlightened One).
Siddhartha had been meditating under a bodhi tree for six years, but had never been fully
satisfied. Eventually at dawn it all began on Gautama's thirty-fifth birthday. He finally
realized the essential truth about life and about the path to salvation. He realized that
physical harshness of asceticism was not a means of achieving Enlightenment and Nirvana.
From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism. He
called this path the Middle Way. Devotion to the pleasures of sense, a low practice of
villagers, a practice unworthy, unprofitable, the way of the world [on one hand]; and [on
the other] devotion to self- mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.
By avoiding these two extremes the Buddha has gained knowledge of that middle path which
giveth vision, which giveth knowledge, which causeth calm, special knowledge,
enlightenment, Nirvana. He cleaned his mind of all evil thoughts and achieved
Enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, earning the title Buddha, or Enlightened One.
Because of this Gautama then became the Buddha and remained at this spot for many days
while remaining in a trance-like state and told his teachings to five ascetics for many
weeks. This experience made Gautama feel a desire to share his knowledge with others, so
he and his five students preached to the world. Gautama was a teacher and guru until his
death in about 483 B.C.
Buddhism is a lot like other Indian religions based upon the beliefs. Such as the beliefs
in reincarnation, dharma, karma and Nirvana. But mostly in Raja Yoga the profound
meditation which holds the key to enlightment and therefore to the way of Nirvana. Buddha
himself expressed the base of his beliefs when he said, I teach only 2 things, O
disciples, the fact of suffering and the possibility of escape from suffering. These
ideas are expanded upon in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. In His first
sermon to the five ascetics in the Deer Park near Varanasi, the Buddha spoke of the Four
Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths summed up, in a systematic formula, are the central
teaching of the Buddha and can be summarized by saying, life is suffering (dukkha), the
cause of suffering is desire (tanha) the way to end suffering is to overcome desire, and
to overcome desire one must follow the Eightfold Path. Buddha taught that man is a slave
to his ego. That man wishes happiness, security, success, long life, and many other
things for himself and his loved ones. However, pain, frustration, sickness and death are
all impossible to avoid and the only way to eliminate these evils is to overcome desire.
The Eight Fold Path is a little more difficult to summarize it begins with, Right to
Knowledge, which means basically the four noble truths. Right Aims in next, one must
resolve in order to make progress towards salvation. Right Speech, our speech reflects
our character. We must avoid speaking falsely, obscene, slanderous, and belittling words.
Right Conduct, you must follow the five constitutes at the core of Buddhism's moral code
which are, no killing, no stealing, no lying, no committing indecent sexual acts or no
consuming of intoxicants. Right Livelihood, some jobs are condemned by Buddha such as
slave dealer, butcher, prostitute, and traders of lethal weapons and substances. Right
Effort, one must have the will power to overcome obstacles. Right Mindfulness, Buddhism
says that what a person is, comes from what he thinks. By improving our thoughts we can
become more virtuous. And the last is Right Meditation by this meaning the practice of
the Raja Yoga. Since Buddhism emphasizes the desirability of self-removal from the
problems involved with everyday life, Buddhism easily became a monastic religion. Within
monasteries, everyone has the same goal, which is to attain Nirvana. The Enlightenment
which dwells in life does not belong to only one form. Man is always changing and
entirely mortal. Buddhism is a natural religion. It does not violate either the mind or
the body. The Buddha became aware that men are born and die according to their good or
evil actions, according to their self-created Karma-the consequences of good or evil
acts. Nirvana is self annihilation or the extinguishing of all traces of desire, which
repre- sents final enlightment and which releases a person from the cycle of rebirth.
There are many monasteries in the world, in some of them in countries such as Burma,
Thailand, and Ceylon, almost every young male spends at least a few weeks of his life
within a monastery. Typically at the age of four the boy celebrates an elaborate ceremony
which involves first dressing him in fine clothing. Then stripping the clothing from him,
shaving his head and giving him a beggar-bowl along with a saffron-colored robe. These
three things are all traditional symbols of a Buddhist monk. For those who become monks
it is a life of poverty and celibacy. Before gaining the admittance into the monastery a
monk must proclaim his faith by saying I go to Buddha for refuge; I go to Dharma for
refuge; I go to Sangha for refuge by saying this a monk gives up his civil rights such as
voting and being eligible for public services. Also a few sects permit marriage.
This report was just a short overview of traditional Buddhism, the Buddha, its beliefs
and its way of life. It did not include the two major sects; Theravada the conservative
sect, and Mahayana the liberal sect. Much more could be said of Buddhism but there are so
many more aspects that could be explored that it would take a twenty-page report and
forever to do.
Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hopfe, Lewis M. Religions of the World. New York: Macmillan Publi-
shing Company, 1991.
Mazour, Anatole G. and John M. Peoples. World History People and 
Nations Revised Edition. Orlando, Florida: Holt, Rinhart and 
Winston Inc., 1993.
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