History and Early Development of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism. He was the son of Sadhana the ruler of Kapilvastu. Gautama was born in Lumbini (Present Nepal) in the 5th century BCE. He was the prince of Sakya tribe in Nepal. At the age of 16 he got married to Yashodhara, they has a son named as Rahula. After that at the age of 29, he left his home comforts to seek the meaning of suffering. He sat in mindful meditation beneath a Bodhi-Tree. When he was meditating he fully realized the truth of the cause of suffering in the world. On the full moon of May, Siddhartha Gautama become the Buddha. He died in 483 BCE in Gorakhpur at the age of 80.

“Every morning we are born again, what we do today is what matters the most” - Buddha

The Beginning of Buddhism

Buddhism was a religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha more than 2500 years ago in India, with about 470 million followers of Buddhism preached around India. Scholars consider Buddhism as one of the major religion of the world. Some scholars do not recognize Buddhism as an organized religion but rather a “way of life” or a “spiritual tradition”. Buddhism encourages its people to avoid self-indulgence but also self-denial. When Gautama Buddha passed away around 483 BCE his followers begin to organize a religion movement. Buddha’s teachings become the foundation for what would develop into Buddhism. In the 3rd century BC Ashoka, The Great Mauryan Indian Empire, made Buddhism as the state religion of India.

Buddha's Teaching

In Buddhism Dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha. Buddhists follow the teachings of Gautama Buddha. “With our thoughts, we can make the world” - Buddha. Basic Teachings of Buddha which are core to Buddhism are 3 universal truths:

1. Nothing is lost in the Universe: In Buddhism, the law of ‘Karma’ says everything we do comes back to us in the same way. If we destroy something around us, we destroy ourselves. We lose only our consciousness; things only keep changing their form. Everything comes to the same way you did to others. If we hurt someone, same way we’ll get hurt by the other. If we cheat another, we cheat ourselves. “We reap what we have sown”.
2. Everything changes: the second belief of Buddha is that Everything in this World is changing continuously. As nothing is permanent a life based on possessing things or persons does not make you happy. Nothing remains same in this World every single thing is changing with the passage of time. ‘’Everything changes , nothing remains without change’’ – Buddha
3. Law of Cause and Effect: the third main belief of Buddha is that we are the way we are now due to the things we have done in our past. Our thoughts and actions determine the kind of life we can have. This law tells us that “Every cause has its effect, every effect has it’s cause”. “For every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction”.

The Five Morals

Buddhists live by the Five Moral Precepts which are refraining from:

1. Harming living thing;
2. Taking what is not given;
3. Sexual misconduct;
4. Lying or gossip;
5. Taking intoxicating substances e.g drugs or drink.

Conclusion

Buddha is honorific title that means this is not a personal name. Buddhism was a religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha more than 2500 years ago in India, with about 470 million followers of Buddhism preached around India. Scholars consider Buddhism as one of the major religion of the world. Some scholars do not recognize Buddhism as an organized religion but rather 'a way of life' or a 'spiritual tradition'.

In Buddhism dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha. Buddhists follow the teachings of Gautama Buddha With our thoughts; we can make the world - Buddha. The third main belief of Buddha is that we are the way we are now due to the things we have done in our past. Documents and archaeological evidence they are very scare foe defining the initial phase of Buddhism. As the number of members grew, the institution increased its complexity and monks expanded Mahayana Buddhism is the one of the major school.