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| Some History of buddhism | |||||||||||||||||
| Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, around 540 BCE. Siddhartha, who was born as a Hindu into a warrior caste, lived a sheltered life away from the outside world. He was married when he was 16 to Yashodhara. Siddhartha found this life of luxery very dull. When he was 19 years old, he escaped his palace and saw 4 sights: an sick man, a dead body, a poor person, and a wandering holy man. 10 years later, when he was 29, he left his wife and child, had a charioteer take him outside the palace, and he left all possessions behind. For the next 6 years, he took up the life of a wandering ascetic, eating only enough to stay alive. One day, Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated, asking questions about life, especially suffering. Then he was tempted by Mara, the stealer of wisdom. Mara tempted Siddhartha with lust, thirst, discontent, and sensuality but Siddhartha denied these. Going even deeper into meditation, about suffering and the cycle of rebirth, Siddhartha finally reached Enlightenment, or Nirvana, and discovered the Middle Way. |
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| Buddha under the Bodhi Tree | |||||||||||||||||
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| Siddhartha Gautama's four sights; A poor man, A sick man, A dead body, and A holy man |
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| A good Movie about Buddhism and its History is Little Buddha. It begins with a group of Tibetan monks leaving their monastery in Bhutan to search for the reincarnation of a recently deceased high lama. Their quest takes them to Seattle, where they try to convince young Jesse's father and mother (Chris Isaak and Bridget Fonda) that their son may be the Reincarnation lama. Throughout the movie is scenes of the story of Siddhartha (played by Keanu Reeves), the prince who became the Buddha. Read more about it Here | |||||||||||||||||
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| Click here to see a map of the spread of Buddhism through Asia | |||||||||||||||||