Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Buddhism

Encyclopedia : B : BU : BUD : Buddhism


Part of a on
Buddhism


History of Buddhism
Timeline of Buddhism
Buddhist councils
Foundations
Four Noble Truths
Noble Eightfold Path
The Five Precepts
Nirvāna · Three Jewels
Buddhism In Depth
Three marks of existence
Skandha · Karma · Dharma
Samsara · Rebirth · Shunyata
Pratitya-samutpada · Cosmology

Major Figures
Gautama Buddha
Sariputta · Moggallana
Ananda · Mahakashyapa


Buddhahood · Bodhisattva
Four stages of enlightenment
Paramis · meditation
Buddhism by Region
Southeast Asia · East Asia
Tibet · India · Western
Schools of Buddhism
Theravada · Mahāyāna
Vajrayāna · Early schools
Texts
Pali Suttas · Mahayana Sutras
Vinaya · Abhidhamma
Buddhist Culture

List of Buddhist Topics


This box: [ view] • [ talk] • [ edit]

Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, meaning approximately Law of the Awakened One) is a religion, a practical philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who lived in ancient India most likely from the mid-6th to the early 5th century BCE.  Buddhism spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Theravāda (Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda), Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and, with about 708 million adherents, it is considered a major world religion. Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world.

When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of reality through years of spiritual cultivation, investigation of the various religious practices of his time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" (more commonly called "Enlightenment"). Any person who has become awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature of reality is called a Buddha. Śākyamuni is said to have been only the latest of many of these; there were other Buddhas before him and there will be others in the future. According to the Buddha, any person can follow his example and become enlightened through the study of his words "Dharma" and putting them into practice, by leading a virtuous, moral life, and purifying his mind. Concisely put the aim of Buddhist practice is to put an end to this mass of suffering we call existence. "I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering" (The Buddha). To achieve this state, adherents train and purify the mind by following the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Middle Way, eventually arriving at an understanding of the true nature of all things, thus ending (nirodha) all ignorance and unhappiness and attaining liberation:

  1.   Sarvabuddhavishayavatarajñanalokalamkarasutra as cited by Elías Capriles in [The Four Schools of Buddhist Philosophy]: Clear Discrimination of Views Pointing at the Definitive Meaning. The Four Philosophical Schools of the Sutrayana Traditionally Taught in Tibet with Reference to the Dzogchen Teachings. Published on the Web.
  2.   Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Dream Yoga And The Practice Of Natural Light. Edited and introduced by Michael Katz, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY, ISBN 1−55939−007−7, p. 42
  3.   Dr. A. Berzin. [Alaya and Impure Appearance-Making]
  4.   Elías Capriles. [Buddhism and Dzogchen]: the Doctrine of the Buddha and the Supreme Vehicle of Tibetan Buddhism. Part 1 - Buddhism: a Dzogchen Outlook. Published on the Web.
  5.   Thanissaro Bhikkhu. [Refuge: An Introduction to the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha]. Third edition, revised, 2001

External links

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: