Many people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Here are some facts most people manage to get wrong.
1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled outside of India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama would be a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. You should do not forget that he would be a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) lots of his ideas were originally part of the ancient traditional religions in the local historical period. He’s considered to were living from around 563 BCE to 483 BCE as he is considered to get died at 80 years old. He traveled and taught over the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near precisely what is now Nepal.
2) He could be sometimes called Shakyamuni Buddha, or perhaps the Prince in the Shakyas, as a result of Ssakya Mountain Range that has been his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was given birth to a prince but chose to be a holy man. He spent my youth in wealth and resistant to the outdoors but became interested in learning what people’s lives away from palace could possibly be like. Many legends surround his birth, but all that is in fact known is the fact that his mother was supposed to have ended in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father was warned shortly after his birth he would turn into a great military leader or a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had their own ideas of the items was proper for Siddhartha, but, about 29 yrs . old, house his charioteer, he escaped the palace walls and ventured outside to learn what life was like for other people. He witnessed the results of old age, sickness, and saw a corpse, making her alert to death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained that the ascetic was individual who had renounced the entire world and sought release from fear of death and suffering.
3) Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha as a way to end the suffering (dissatisfaction) coming from all human beings. He realized the truth that we’re all impermanent and went over a spiritual pursuit of enlightenment. He studied with all the current best teachers of religion and philosophy that he may find back then and learned the best way to meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.
4) The Middle Way: He still had much to learn and looked to the ascetics of the time to check out but in time learned that the extremes that they endured weren’t being employed by him. He followed their methods for self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. It didn’t satisfy him as they decided this is just another ego inflating method of self-gratification, proving one’s self through self-abuse. He chose to turn using their strict abeyance to rules about starving one’s self and eating unclean things, as they realized he would need strength to continue his quest, so he developed what is known as “the middle way”. When his disciples saw which he wasn’t pursuing the way they thought necessary, they made a decision to leave him. He left and chose to sit within sacred fig tree until he had discovered the result. The tree was the thing that was considered a sacred fig tree near Bodh Gaya, the tree being named later, the Bodhi Tree. From Wikipedia * “…The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (through the Sinhalese Bo), would have been a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna inside the Indian state of Bihar), this agreement SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founding father of Buddhism later called Gautama Buddha, is considered to possess achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”
5) His Awakening: In their deep condition of meditation (samadhi) for a few days he became enlightened when he rose from his deep meditation, he declared that he had some strategies to the questions he had sought. He imparted the wisdom in the four noble truths along with the eightfold path that can come for a reason. Without the previous, the rest can be impossible to accomplish. 6)Several Noble Truths
1) Suffering (dukkha) exists. (All humans suffer during birth, pain, sickness, and death.
2) Explanation for suffering is desire. All of us have desires which might be either selfish or unrealistic. This really is considered “delusional”.
3) There is a method to reach cessation of suffering.
4) The cessation of suffering comes through practicing the eightfold path. (Freedom from suffering may be possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.)
7) The Eightfold Path
1) Right View Wisdom
2) Right Intention Wisdom
3) Right Speech Ethical Conduct
4) Right Action Ethical Conduct
5) Right Livelihood Ethical Conduct
6) Right Effort Mental Development
7) Right Mindfulness Mental Development
8) Right Concentration/Meditation Mental Development
8) Buddhist Principles: By striving towards the right thing one lessens selfish desire, therefore reaching a state of happiness internally that is not dependent on conditional circumstances. Mindfulness in all things is a key ingredient. If one understands that any tangible thing that we desire is impermanent and ceases to be “attached” to these things that we cannot keep, then one becomes more at peace. We can not become attached to any views since we will become passionate about this and when circumstances change, our view will no longer be important or pertinent.
9) Buddhism is not a self help program: Beware of those who call themselves a master or try to sell you “enlightenment”. There are many books and centers out there which try to use words like enlightenment” that is something that actually has to be attained personally, it can’t be given or taught in a paint by the numbers program that promises some things. First, the word enlightenment is not used in any of the texts from Siddhartha Gautama was concerned that people might rush into this without understanding and this would lead to repeating traditional ceremonies without understanding, which will lead to disappointment because of the lack of benefit from practice. Do not come to an understanding of Buddhism lightly or quickly, take your time and be sure. This will take investigation. Investigate completely, any facets that you don’t understand until it makes sense. Also, practice with others and a good teacher are the best method of learning.
10) Buddhism IS A RELIGION: It disturbs some Buddhists that some people feel that Buddhism is just a philosophy. Some people feel there has to be a main book or one religious deity to worship in order for a religion to be real. Most modern practitioners of Buddhism see that all religions are filled with mythology and they understand that most deities and mythological objects in Buddhism are analogies for science and nature or our own mental make up that early man could not explain. Some practitioners, especially in Asia, still believe in the physical existence of some of these objects and deities. We have to remember that early Buddhist teachings came from Siddhartha Gautama in India, who was a Vedic Brahman. It then traveled across Asia to China where it adapted to Confucianism, which relied strongly on Filial Piety. It then traveled through to Japan, where it adapted to Shinto, which is still practiced side by side with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was created to adapt to all other learning. Siddhartha Gautama likened it to “a raft to get to the other side” in a parable he taught. “The Parable of The Raft ” When speaking to his followers Gautama Buddha said, “When you come to a river and the current is too fast to allow you to swim across and there is no bridge then you might decide to build a raft. If after crossing the river you would have some choices as to what to do with the raft. a) You could tie it to the bank to be used by someone else later. b) You could set it afloat for someone else to find. c) You could say to yourself, “What a wonderful raft”, and then pick it up and carry it around on top of your head from now on. Which would be proper use of the raft? Buddhism is practiced in most countries around the world, although Buddhists make up only about 7% of the world’s religious population. Only a few modern Buddhist sects use an evangelical approach, trying to convert everyone around them. Most Buddhists refrain from trying to propagate their religion to anyone who doesn’t seek it.
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