Text 2.3: The Buddha’s Key Teachings

Topic 3 Lesson 2: The Origins of Hinduism and Buddhism

BELLWORK

How is the development of Buddhism as a religion very different from the development of Hinduism?

OBJECTIVES

Identify the founder of Buddhism

Describe the central beliefs of Buddhism

Explain the popularity of Buddhism

Analyze the similarities and differences between Buddhism and Hinduism

The Buddha’s Key Teachings

Around 500 B.C.E. princes were engaged in war

across the northern plain of India

Brahmin priests acquired great power by insisting

they alone could perform the sacred rites to bring

victory in battle or ensure adequate rainfall

Reformers rejected Brahmin domination and

offered other paths to truth

Siddhartha Gautama

In the foothills of the Himalayas, a reformer

named Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism

His teachings eventually spread across Asia to

become the core beliefs of one of the world’s

most influential religions

From Boy to Buddha - Facts

Facts of Gautama’s early life are known only

through traditional stories

Born into a high ranking family about 563 B.C.E.

Was very privileged, and married young to a

beautiful woman, and had a son

The rest is mix of fact and legend

Gautama Gains Enlightenment

A prophet to predict that he someday would

become a wandering holy man based on a dream

his mother had

Gautama’s father kept him in the family’s palaces,

surrounded by comfort and luxury

Deeply disturbed at seeing human suffering for

the first time as an adult, Gautama left home to

discover “the realm of life where there is neither

suffering nor death”

Gautama Gains Enlightenment

He wandered for years, seeking answers from

scholars and holy men whose ideas failed to

satisfy him

He fasted and meditated

Eventually, he sat down to meditate under a giant

Bodhi tree, determined to stay there until he

understood the mystery of life

Gautama Gains Enlightenment

Evil spirits tempted Gautama to give up his

meditations

Then, suddenly, he believed he understood the

cause of and cure for suffering and sorrow

When he rose, he was no longer Gautama

He had become the Buddha, or “Enlightened

One.”

The Four Noble Truths

The Buddha spent the rest of his life

teaching others what he had learned

In his first sermon after reaching

enlightenment, he explained the Four Noble Truths that stand at the heart of

Buddhism

The Eightfold Path

Understand the Four Noble Truths and

committing oneself to the Eightfold Path

Next, a person had to live a moral life, avoiding

evil words and actions

Through meditation, a person might at last

achieve enlightenment

For the Buddhist, the final goal is nirvana

The Buddha saw the Eightfold Path as a middle

way between a life devoted to pleasure and one

based on harsh self-denial

He stressed moral principles such as honesty,

charity, and kindness to all living creatures

Hinduism vs. Buddhism

Buddhism, like Hinduism, grew out of the Vedic religious traditions

Both Hindus and Buddhists accepted the law of karma, dharma, and a cycle of rebirth

Ahimsa, or nonviolence, was central to both religions

Hinduism vs. Buddhism

The Buddha rejected the priests, formal rituals, and the existence of the many gods of Hinduism

Buddha urged each person to seek enlightenment through meditation

Rejected the Indian caste system as practiced at that time

Offered the hope of nirvana to all regardless of birth