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Buddhism
One Man’s Journey to
Enlightenment
Who, What, Why?
 Siddhartha
Gautama was the founder of
Buddhism
 He was raised Hindu and was the son of a
local ruler (extremely wealthy)
 Lived a sheltered life; unaware of other
people’s sorrow
– He never knew that other people were unlike him
An “Eye-Opening” Experience
 Siddhartha
eventually left his palace and
saw what the real world was like.
– He saw old age, sickness, and death…for the
first time!
 He
now asked a very important question:
Why is there suffering?
– He then goes out in search of the answer.
Seeking Answers
 Siddartha
followed the traditional Hindu path
to find the answers he was looking for.
– He fasted and meditated for long periods of
time…until he got his answers.
 He
became Enlightened: he now knew the
cause of suffering and he knew the cure.
– He became the Buddha
• “The Enlightened One”
His Explanations
Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
 Four Noble Truths:
1. Suffering is Universal
2. Cause of suffering is desire
- When you get what you desire, you then
want something else
3. Only way to end suffering is to crush desire
- Nirvana = condition of wanting nothing
Buddhist’s ultimate goal
4. Follow the Eightfold Path

Eightfold Path
Right views
 Right speech
 Right intentions
 Right action
 Right effort
 Right mindfulness
 Right concentration
 Right living

Relation to Hinduism
 Buddha
saw himself as a Hindu
 However, he did not like all Hindu beliefs
1. Multiple Gods
2. Importance/Power of priests
3. Caste System
Spread of Buddhism
 After
the Buddha’s death, his followers
passed on his teachings by word of mouth
 Later, his ideas were written down in the
“Three Baskets of Wisdom”
 Buddhism spread quickly through South
Asia and then on to East Asia
Two Main Sects
 Main
“sects” of Buddhism develop
– Subgroups of a religion
 Theravada Buddhists
– Saw Buddha as a great teacher, not a god
– Stressed monastic life as the way to reach nirvana
– Popular in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand
 Mahayana
Buddhists
– Followers worship the Buddha as a god
– Became popular in China, Korea, and Japan.
The Spread of Buddhism
Buddha Statue in China
Different Representations of the
Buddha
Buddhist Monks