Josh Sippie (grunge.com via MSN); edited by Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly
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| West made first images: Gandhara |
Given the number of texts that teach the Buddhist path, however, the beginning point will vary, though the accessibility never does. In fact, as History.com puts it, you can even practice Buddhism in your own home. There's no church, no temple, nothing like that.
According to the Asia Society, the practice of Buddhism has evolved immensely over the millennia. At its foundational core around the sixth century B.C.E., it was one man finding the "right" (samma) way to live life [so that it will result in awakening, bodhi, or enlightenment] by avoiding both extreme ends — excesses and austerities.
It worked so well that it seemed worth spreading to others, which this particular Awakened individual (the Buddha) ended up doing with the help of his many disciples before passing into final nirvana.
Just like that, Buddhism [as a spiritual path, philosophy, or religion] was well underway. Now composing just over 6% of the world's population (actually much more if one billion Chinese Buddhists in communist-atheist China are counted),
Buddhism officially, without counting those in communist China and predominantly Hindu India, has some 500 million followers in the world today.
With the many changes that have come about with modernity, it's hard to keep track of everything that is, isn't, or might (not) be Buddhist. Here's a look at the untold truths of Buddhism.
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| Mahayana often forgets the historical Buddha. |
- Buddhism has two basic paths or schools that can be followed towards enlightenment, according to the BBC. The first is Theravada ("Teaching of the Elder Enlightened Disciples" of the Historical Buddha], which is the conservative branch. The goal of Theravada is essentially to become a fully liberated being (arhat) who has followed the Path (the Buddha's teachings to bring about the complete end of suffering). Some Theravada Buddhists become nuns and monks, to completely dedicate themselves to the goal for some time or for the rest of their lives. Their goal is to directly experience nirvana, awaken (become enlightened), break the rebirth cycle, and become completely free, thus becoming personal buddhas themselves who never again require rebirth undergoing rebirth. The second is Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle" to Try to Take Everyone Across the Sea of Samsara).
"Buddhism" is a made-up word
While Buddhism itself was founded between the sixth and fourth centuries B.C.E. (at least according to the British Books of Knowledge, aka Britannica), the actual word "Buddhism" didn't come about until over two millennia later.
It wasn't until 1810, according to the Etymology Online Dictionary, that the Western world put together a fancy word for the package, adapting it from the Sanskrit word Baudha, meaning a follower of the historical Buddha [who has been called many things in the past, such as Mahavira, the Tathagata, and so on].
After false starts using Western words to describe people who had been describing themselves happily for millennia with terms we Westerners might find inconvenient, not descriptive enough, or just too hard to say, we tried Boudhist and Bauddhist. Then we finally settled on Buddhist... More
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