Buddha Gautama Religion

The original Buddha was a guy named Siddhartha Gautama. He is thought to have lived in the 6th century B.C. He was a prince of a region that is now Nepal. Since he was a prince he lived a life that was easy and was never in need. He lived a life completely secluded from the outside world and knew nothing about suffering. That is until he was about 29 years old and left home and saw what the world was like. He saw suffering, death, and poverty; after witnessing this he left his wife and newborn and all of his life of luxury to try and find a way to end all that he witnessed. He tried many other religions and teachers of them but never found anything that he was looking for. Then in a moment he realized the way to accomplish what he was searching for. A little girl offered him some rice and he took it. He realized that complete asceticism wasn’t the way to end suffering but actually the way to end suffering was in between asceticism and luxury. He called it the middle way. He reached enlightenment that night when he was 35. He found what he was looking for in just six years. He then began going around and preaching Dharma until he died.
Basic teachings of Buddhism When it comes to Buddhist teachings there is quite a bit of information …show more content…
The main two sects are Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada is also called “the teaching of the elders” and Mahayana is called “the great vehicle”. In Theravada Buddhism their religion was a huge part of their culture and influenced everything in it. It also included things into the religion from other outside sources. In Theravada the monks and lay people both were a part of the ancestral spirit world. They also held to the Pali scriptures. In Mahayana Buddhism they believe in Bodhisattvas which are enlightened people that turned down nirvana in order to help other people reach it. The Mahayana Buddhists also have their own