Lots of people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Here are some facts most of the people apparently get wrong.
1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled away from India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama would be a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. It is important to keep in mind that he was obviously a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) a lot of his ideas were originally part of the ancient traditional religions with the local historical period. He or she is believed to were living from around 563 BCE to 483 BCE as they is considered to have died at 4 decades old. He traveled and taught down the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near what is now Nepal.
2) He or she is also known as Shakyamuni Buddha, or even the Prince from the Shakyas, due to Ssakya Mountain Range which was his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was created a prince but decided to become a holy man. He spent my youth in wealth and resistant to the outside world but became inquisitive about what people’s lives outside the palace may be like. Many legends surround his birth, but everything that is really known is his mother was likely to have died in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father have been warned right after his birth that he would turned into a great military leader or even a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had his or her own ideas products was proper for Siddhartha, but, about 29 yrs . old, with the help his charioteer, he escaped the palace walls and ventured outside to find out what life was like persons. He witnessed the end results of later years, sickness, and saw a corpse, producing mindful of death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained that this ascetic was one that had renounced the planet and sought release from nervous about death and suffering.
3) Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha so that you can end the suffering (dissatisfaction) of individuals. He realized the truth that many of us are impermanent and decided to go with a spiritual search for enlightenment. He studied because of the best teachers of faith and philosophy that they could find at the time and learned the best way to meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.
4) The very center Way: He still had much to learn and considered the ascetics of times to adhere to however in time learned that the extremes they endured weren’t being employed by him. He followed their methods for self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. This didn’t satisfy him while he decided this became just another ego inflating technique of self-gratification, proving yourself through self-abuse. He chose to turn from their strict abeyance to rules about starving yourself and eating unclean things, because he realized he’d need strength to continue his quest, so he developed what is known as “the middle way”. When his disciples saw that he wasn’t following way they thought necessary, they thought we would leave him. He left and thought we would sit within a sacred fig tree until he discovered the solution. The tree was what was considered a sacred fig tree near Bodh Gaya, the tree being named later, the Bodhi Tree. From Wikipedia * “…The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (through the Sinhalese Bo), would have been a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna from the Indian condition of Bihar), under which SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founding father of Buddhism later called Gautama Buddha, is claimed to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”
5) His Awakening: In their deep condition of meditation (samadhi) during their visit he became enlightened and when he rose from his deep meditation, he declared that he previously some techniques to the questions he previously sought. He imparted the wisdom of the four noble truths and the eightfold path which come for a reason. Minus the previous, the others could be impossible to attain. 6)The Four Noble Truths
1) Suffering (dukkha) exists. (All humans suffer during birth, pain, sickness, and death.
2) The main cause of suffering is desire. You have desires that are either selfish or unrealistic. This really is considered “delusional”.
3) You will find there’s way to reach cessation of suffering.
4) The cessation of suffering comes through practicing the eightfold path. (Freedom from suffering can be done by practicing the Eightfold Path.)
7) The Eightfold Path
1) Right View Wisdom
2) Right Intention Wisdom
3) Right Speech Ethical Conduct
4) Right Action Ethical Conduct
5) Right Livelihood Ethical Conduct
6) Right Effort Mental Development
7) Right Mindfulness Mental Development
8) Right Concentration/Meditation Mental Development
8) Buddhist Principles: By striving towards the right thing one lessens selfish desire, therefore reaching a state of happiness internally that is not dependent on conditional circumstances. Mindfulness in all things is a key ingredient. If one understands that any tangible thing that we desire is impermanent and ceases to be “attached” to these things that we cannot keep, then one becomes more at peace. We can not become attached to any views since we will become passionate about this and when circumstances change, our view will no longer be important or pertinent.
9) Buddhism is not a self help program: Beware of those who call themselves a master or try to sell you “enlightenment”. There are many books and centers out there which try to use words like enlightenment” that is something that actually has to be attained personally, it can’t be given or taught in a paint by the numbers program that promises some things. First, the word enlightenment is not used in any of the texts from Siddhartha Gautama was concerned that people might rush into this without understanding and this would lead to repeating traditional ceremonies without understanding, which will lead to disappointment because of the lack of benefit from practice. Do not come to an understanding of Buddhism lightly or quickly, take your time and be sure. This will take investigation. Investigate completely, any facets that you don’t understand until it makes sense. Also, practice with others and a good teacher are the best method of learning.
10) Buddhism IS A RELIGION: It disturbs some Buddhists that some people feel that Buddhism is just a philosophy. Some people feel there has to be a main book or one religious deity to worship in order for a religion to be real. Most modern practitioners of Buddhism see that all religions are filled with mythology and they understand that most deities and mythological objects in Buddhism are analogies for science and nature or our own mental make up that early man could not explain. Some practitioners, especially in Asia, still believe in the physical existence of some of these objects and deities. We have to remember that early Buddhist teachings came from Siddhartha Gautama in India, who was a Vedic Brahman. It then traveled across Asia to China where it adapted to Confucianism, which relied strongly on Filial Piety. It then traveled through to Japan, where it adapted to Shinto, which is still practiced side by side with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was created to adapt to all other learning. Siddhartha Gautama likened it to “a raft to get to the other side” in a parable he taught. “The Parable of The Raft ” When speaking to his followers Gautama Buddha said, “When you come to a river and the current is too fast to allow you to swim across and there is no bridge then you might decide to build a raft. If after crossing the river you would have some choices as to what to do with the raft. a) You could tie it to the bank to be used by someone else later. b) You could set it afloat for someone else to find. c) You could say to yourself, “What a wonderful raft”, and then pick it up and carry it around on top of your head from now on. Which would be proper use of the raft? Buddhism is practiced in most countries around the world, although Buddhists make up only about 7% of the world’s religious population. Only a few modern Buddhist sects use an evangelical approach, trying to convert everyone around them. Most Buddhists refrain from trying to propagate their religion to anyone who doesn’t seek it.
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