religion

• Siddhartha Gautama Buddha


  Prince around the fifth century B.C.E. who, upon seeing people poor and dying, realized that human life is suffering. He renounced his wealth and spent time as a poor beggar, meditating and traveling but ultimately, remaining unsatisfied, settling on something called "the Middle Way."
• The Middle Way


  A way of life between the two extremes of asceticism and wealth, which is the path to enlightenment
• Enlightenment (nirvana)


  Achieved by Siddhartha Gautama underneath the Bodhi tree (the tree of awakening)
• The Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar, India is the site of Siddhartha Gautama's enlightenment and is now a major Buddhist pilgrimage site
• The Four Noble Truths


  • Suffering (dukkha)
  • Origin of suffering (samudāya)
  • Cessation of suffering (nirodha)
  • Path to the cessation of suffering (magga)
• Suffering (dukkha)


  Everyone in life is suffering in some way
• Origin of suffering (samudāya)


  All suffering comes from desire (tanhā)
• Cessation of suffering (nirodha)


  It is possible to stop suffering and achieve enlightenment
• Path to the cessation of suffering (magga)


  The Middle Way, which is the steps to achieve enlightenment
• Buddhists believe in a wheel of rebirth into different bodies, which is connected to "karma", referring to how a person's good or bad actions in the past or in their past lives can impact them in the future
• The Eightfold Path


  • Correct view
  • Correct intention
  • Correct speech
  • Correct action
  • Correct livelihood
  • Correct effort
  • Correct mindfulness
  • Correct concentration
• Principles of rebirth in early Buddhism


  • Rebirth is regarded as an ongoing process to be escaped from in the search for liberation
  • Rebirth is determined by one's own mind, particularly one's ethical choices
  • The practice of Buddhism aims at ending rebirth
• The 3 most fundamental characteristics of existence for the Buddha


  • Radical impermanence (constant change)
  • Lack of a solid self (no self)
  • Unsatisfactoriness (suffering)
• Karma is the term which denotes the moral law of cause and effect, and is enough to propel the universe along in Buddhism, there are no creator or sustainer gods
• Anatma or no atman

  The idea that there is no self, no soul, no independent essence to a person
• The idea of the separate ego is an expression of the 5 attachments or components (skandas) that make up what we call a person: form, sensations, perception, mental formations, and consciousness
• The three main schools of Buddhism


  • Mahayana
  • Theravada
  • Vajrayana
• Mahayana Buddhism


  Common in China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Emphasizes the role models of bodhisattvas (beings that have achieved enlightenment but return to teach humans)
• Theravada Buddhism


  Common in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar). Emphasizes a monastic lifestyle and meditation as the way to enlightenment
• Vajrayana Buddhism


  The major school of Buddhism in the region of Tibet and in Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. Offers followers a faster path to enlightenment than Mahayana or Theravada