Buddhism is the fourth largest religion
of the world after Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Although it
originated in India, it has stronghold in countries like Tibet, China, Sri
Lanka, and Southeast Asia where missioaries from India carried its
message. Buddhism was founded in India by prince Siddhartha Gautam, who
was born about 550 B.C. in Northern India and lived till 485 B.C.
Siddhartha lived in wealth and pleasantness but he found suffering and
sickness among people in his kingdom. He left his home and wandered around
to find the meaning of life. One day he sat under a bodhi tree and got the
enlightenment. From that time on he was called as
BUDDHA. Buddhism
has many concepts akin to Hinduism like karma and reincarnation. Buddha
suggested that life is full of sufferings and one must act in a way to
escape from them. He laid down four basic principles (TRUTHS) to achieve
that:
- All life is sorrow and suffering
- Human suffers due to desire or selfcenteredness
- Overcome desire
- Desire can be ended by following the eight fold path- right
belief, intention,
speech, action, work, effort, thinking, and meditation.
A person who follows this path gets rid of desire and hatred and achieves
spiritual
peace i.e.NIRVANA. This would then lead to end of KARMA
cycle or rebirth
of soul (reincarnation). Buddha founded the Buddhist monastic order
before leaving
the wheel of life. The order known as SANGHA lays down certain
principles- no
killing of humans or animals; monks will shave their head and beard, wear
special
yellow robes have a bowl for begging and a string with 108 beads. These
monks never
marry and devote their life to meditation and service.
Buddhism reached its peak in India during the time of king Ashok in about
320 B.C.
but started declining under Gupta dynasty. Indian Buddhism, in time,
restored many of
older Hindu beliefs and gods. By 1100 A.D., Hinduism again became the
major religion
of India.
