Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion founded by an ex-Prince Siddhartha Gaumata. Gaumata was
a prince who was brought up in a perfect surrounding. When the prince left the
palace he saw all the poverty. At the age of twenty nine, the prince left his
wife and his infant son to meditate and practice Yoga to find peace and
enlightenment. Gaumata was meditating for a long time when finally while he was
sitting under a Bo tree he had attained the enlightenment he was looking for. It
is for this reason he got the name Buddha, meaning the enlightened one. Buddha
became a traveling teacher and taught everyone his discovery. Buddha did not
write any of his lessons down. He taught about the Four Noble Truths, (1) life
is suffering, (2) all suffering is caused by ignorance, (3) Ending ignorance
will end suffering, and (4) The path to the destruction of suffering is the
Noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consists of (1) Knowledge of the truth,
(2) the intention to resist evil, (3) not saying anything that will hurt someone
else, (4) respecting life, (5) having a job that doesn't injure anyone, (6)
striving free one's mind of evil, (7) controlling one's feelings, and (8)
concentrating properly. Buddha preached that the life was a continuing cycle of
death and rebirth. The well-being of oneself was determined on your behavior in
your previous life. Buddha said that by ridding oneself of worldly things he
would be in nirvana, peace and happiness. After Buddha's death, his followers
collected his teachings that became the dharma.
The sangha is what sometimes referred to as an ideal Buddhist community. All the
people in the community follow all the laws and seek nirvana. The arrangement of