Buddhism Biography

By Jacob H From Div 2

Intro ParagraphPrince Siddhartha, who would later be known as Buddha, was

born in Lumbini, Nepal around the year 563 BC(it is almost impossible to tell exactly what year he was born in through so little evidence). Prince Siddhartha was born under two important people. Siddhartha's fathers name was Shuddhodana, the king of Sakyas. His mother, Queen Maya, was a lady of perfect form and grace, fearless at heart and full of virtue. Soon after the prince was born, he was visited by a SoothSayer and was told he would become a great and holy man. As soon as Shuddhodana heard of this, he bought three palaces for Siddhartha to live in, he did not want Siddhartha to see the poverty and suffering of the outside world. While growing up, Siddhartha grew tired of the same palace everyday and so he decided to leave and see the outside world in a chariot. He rode out into suffering reality and saw a an old man suffering, a young boy begging for money and the funeral of a dead man. He asked the driver why these people were suffering and he said “this is life sir.”. On Siddhartha’s 29th birthday he left his place and became a truth seeker, to find the meaning of life and to stop the suffering. And so his journey for enlightenment began…

Notes• Siddhartha was enlightened in the year 531 BC

• He set out to a forest to become enlightened with 5 other truth seekers

• They starved themselves only giving themselves the necessities of life

• They would stand for days on end until one day Siddhartha decided this would not enlighten them and he set off on a different path then the others

• Once on his own he adopted a life of self denial and penances, constantly training his breathing patterns for self meditation

• After many other complications, like fasting for several years, Siddhartha was enlightened.

• This enlightenment was the start of Buddhism.

Notes continued• Around the year 483 BC Buddha past away, at age eighty.

• He died in the village of Kushinagara, under a grove of shala trees.

• Buddha had in motion a religious movement that would spread throughout the world and still remains a vital force 2500 years after his death.

Buddhism MapBy: Vienna Wong

Introductory Paragraph

Buddhists believe that Buddha is the person that created the world. It is their answer to all questions. When Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, died, there were many significant sites that were built in his honor. Buddhism is about filial piety. Filial piety is a virtue held above everything. It means to show love, respect, support and to display courtesy towards parents and ancestors. Buddhism is a religion that many believe in and will continue to conceive.

Where Buddhism started• Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Buddha, is the

founder of Buddhism.• Gautama Buddha was born at Lumbini Grove near

Kapelavastu in Nepal.• Sri Lanka has been a Buddhist country for over 2000

years.• Anaradhapura and Polonnaruwa are great monasteries

that once stood.• Buddhism started in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Ur,

Mecca, Nankana Sahib, Amritsar, Anandpur, Varanasi, Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Arabia and India.

Significant Sites• The Bodhi Tree, located in Bodh Gaya, has a stone beneath the tree

marked with a footprint believed to be Buddha’s• Adam’s Peak, located in Sri Lanka, is a high mountain. At the top of the

rock, Buddha’s footprint marks the place he stepped on his third visit to the island although nobody is sure if he’d ever visited Sri Lanka.

• Sarnath, a suburb of the city of Varanasi where Buddha preached his first sermon in a deer park which now has a stupa (monument) built by King Ashoka.

• Dalai Lama’s Palace, located in Lhasa, is served as a temple, monastery and houses of the tombs of previous Dalai Lama’s.

• Gold Roof of the Shwedagon Pagoda, located in Rangoon, Burma, built to hold the eight sacred hairs of the Buddha.

Works Cited

• Anne Bancroft. The Buddhist World. • Simon Adams. World Religions. • Snelling, John. Buddhism (Religions of the

World). London: Hodder Wayland, 1986. • Penney, Sue. Buddhism. Austin, Tex: Raintree

Steck-Vaughn, 1997.

Buddhism BeliefsBy: Bryan Ng

Introductory Paragraph

Buddhism is the search for Nirvana, enlightenment which Siddhartha Gautama has achieved. Buddhist believe that Siddhartha, Buddha has achieved Nirvana and has gotten off the cycle of life and death. All Buddhist are trying to achieve this, by following the teachings and the beliefs of Buddha they can also achieve Nirvana.

- Buddhist believe in Karma - Karma is the force on what goes around comes

around, if you make a negative action you will receive a negative action (negative-suffering), if you make a positive action you will receive a positive action (positive-happiness)

-Buddhists also believe in Rebirth, the pattern of life and death

-The Buddha described Nirvana as the perfect peace that you are no longer subjected to suffering or rebirth

-Buddha died and in now known as Tathagata (thus-gone), achieving Nirvana he is no longer reborn like others but it is believed he moved beyond life to a blissful state where he neither existed nor does not exist

Major Beliefs-The middle way is the path of moderation between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification

-The Buddha believed that people could escape suffering by following certain principles, the eightfold path

The Teachings of Buddha

The Noble Eightfold Path:1.Right View/Seeing

2.Right Intention

3.Right Speech

4.Right Action

5.Right Livelihood

6.Right Effort

7.Right Mindfulness

8.Right Concentration

The Four Noble Truths:1.The Nature of Suffering

2.The Cause of Suffering

3.Suffering’s Cessation

4.The Way-Follow the eight fold path

Buddha gave teachings to his followers, only to help them find the truth for themselves

The first step is right seeing, you must accept the basic truth of the Buddha's teachings before any attempt is made to put them into practice.

http://www.oxygenflow.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/lily_pad_lotus_flower1.jpg

Snelling, John. Buddhism (Religions of the World). London: Hodder Wayland, 1986.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism1.htm

Buddhist Symbols

Shaelyn Jones

introduction

• There are many important symbols in the Buddhist religion. Some are well know and others are not. Each has a special meaning and in the following slides I will tell you about eight of them. Including the well known lotus flower and so we see the symbols of Buddhism, also known as the eight Auspicious Symbols.

symbols 1 - 4

• The Umbrella or Parasol – represents wealth or royalty, because you had to be rich to own such a luxurious item

• The golden fish – originally symbolizing the river, but know is known as a sign of good fortune and not having to fear drowning in the ocean

• The Treasure vase - is for the inexhaustible riches within the Buddhist teachings along with long life. Wealth and prosperity

• The Lotus flower - A very important symbol referring to complete purification of mind body and spirit

Lotus Flower Types

• White Lotus – a state of spiritual perfection and mental purity

• Red Lotus - Purity of the heart, it represents all the qualities of the heart, like passion compassion and love.

• Blue Lotus – Victory of spirit over senses• Pink Lotus - the supreme lotus

Symbols 5-8

• The Conch shell – the sound of teachings and awakening from the deep slumber of ignorance

• The Endless Knot - the nature of reality were everything is interrelated and only exists as part of the web of karma and its effects

• The Victory Banner –the victory of Buddha’s teachings after death, ignorance, disharmony, and all the negative in the world

Lotus Flower Types

• White Lotus – a state of spiritual perfection and mental purity

• Red Lotus - Purity of the heart, it represents all the qualities of the heart, like passion compassion and love.

• Blue Lotus – Victory of spirit over senses• Pink Lotus - the supreme lotus