Buddhism

=**Buddhism**= by C.K

Buddhism started as a child of the Hindu religion. It was founded by Siddartha Gautama in India. People don’t know the exact details of his life because nobody wrote about him until hundreds of years after he died. What they do know is that he was born around 560 B.C. in the northern part of India. Guatama, who grew up in a palace, left his palace one day and saw disturbing things, a beggar, a dead man, a sick man and an old man. Right then he decided to find a solution to this problem of suffering.

Guatama started studying Hinduism, but he couldn’t find the answer to his problem. So he went off into the wild and tried to live on nothing. It turned out that didn’t lead to peace, it just led to a weak mind and body. Next he turned to have a meditative life. He meditated under the Bohdi tree. He went to the highest level of spirituality called Nirvana. In this state he believed he found the answer to the problem of human suffering. He became known as Buddha, the enlightened one.

There are four Noble Truths that Buddhists believe in. The First Noble Truth is that there is pain and suffering in the world. The Second Noble Truth is about the cause of suffering. Buddhism believes that desire is the cause of suffering. The Third Noble Truth is that suffering will end when we get rid of all of our desires. The fourth noble truth is that we get rid of all desire by following the eight-fold path.

So, what is the eight-fold path? This is a set of eight steps. The first step is the Right Views. This means that you have to agree with the four Noble Truths. The second step is the Right Resolve. This requires you to give up all desires and cruelty. Step three is the Right Speech, which means you can only speak the truth. Step four is the Right Behavior. You must not steal, kill or be immoral. Step five is the Right Occupation. You must work in a job that doesn’t harm anyone, and benefits others. Step six is the Right Effort. You must try to get rid of any evil qualities that you have. The seventh step is the Right Contemplation. This means you have to be aware and thoughtful. The last step is the Right Meditation. After you get rid of all the evil, you must meditate to reach Nirvana and find peace.

Buddhists believe in reincarnation, and Karma is a law that says that you have to keep coming back until you follow all of the right steps and reach Nirvana. Another main idea in Buddhism is Samsara. This is a kind of complicated idea that we are all part of one existence and a whole cycle of reincarnation. We are not individuals. Buddhism is connected to the Ming Dynasty because the founder of the Ming Dynasty used to be a Buddhist Monk. He tried to bring together the different schools of Buddhism. A lot of the emperors during the Ming Dynasty were Buddhist. They spread Buddhism around China and it was the dominant religion during the Ming Dynasty.