Introduction


Worshippers bowing before Buddha in Singapore (1989)
In the sixth century BC, a young Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama rejected his worldly existence and retired to an ascetic life to seek enlightenment. He gained a small group of followers who called him the Buddha. About two hundred years after Buddha’s death, the Mauryan emperor Asoka converted to Buddhism, which then spread throughout Asia like wildfire. Today there are nearly 400 million Buddhists worldwide. Gautama taught that all sorrow comes from the desire for worldly attachments. If one walks the Eightfold Path, one can overcome desire, achieve enlightenment (Nirvana), and finally be released from a cycle of rebirth and death.

Essential Facts

  1. Buddhism is a nontheistic religion. Buddha is not considered a god: he was an enlightened man.
  2. The Four Noble Truths that Buddhists strive to understand are as follows: (1) life is suffering, (2) suffering is due to attachment, (3) attachment can be overcome, and (4) there is a path for accomplishing this.
  3. The Eightfold Path tells of the right ways of thinking and acting that will help one overcome attachment and suffering. The path includes right thinking, right intentions, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
  4. There are three major divisions in Buddhism: Theravada (Way of the Elders), which is practiced in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and other parts of Southeast Asia; Mahayana (Greater Vehicle), which is practiced in China, Japan, and Korea; and Vajrayana (Diamond Vehicle), which is practiced in Tibet and is mostly known through the Dalai Lama.
  5. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach enlightenment, or Nirvana, by following the Eightfold Path. Buddhists believe that they are on an endless cycle of reincarnation until they reach that perfect state of enlightenment. Some Buddhists believe that Nirvana is merely an end to suffering, while others believe in it as a heavenly paradise.