Welcome To the Group Buddhism!
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The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
this is the teaching
of the Awakened. — Dhp 183

Group for Buddhists or anyone who's interested in Buddhism. Don't hesitate to ask questions in the forum!

What is Buddhism?
Read this thread!

Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from 'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35.

Is Buddhism a Religion?

To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:

(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

More information on Buddhism:
http://www.buddhanet.net/ (general)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ (Pali Canon & Theravada)

Affiliated Groups:
Religion
Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by many to be a religion. Buddhism is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" (the Awakened One), who lived in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent and likely died around 400 BCE. Buddhists recognize him as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering by understanding the true nature of phenomena, thereby escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth (saṃsāra). Among the methods various schools of Buddhism apply towards this goal are: ethical conduct and altruistic behaviour, devotional practices, ceremonies and the invocation of bodhisatvas that help them achieve Nirvana, renunciation of worldly matters, meditation, physical exercises, study, and the cultivation of wisdom.

Buddhism is broadly recognized as being composed of two major branches:

Theravada, which has a widespread following in Southeast Asia.
Mahayana (including Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren and Vajrayana), found throughout East Asia.
Both branches have spread into Europe and the Americas.

Buddhist schools disagree on what the historical teachings of Gautama Buddha were, so much so that some scholars claim Buddhism does not have a clearly definable common core. Significant disagreement also exists over the importance and canonicity of various scriptures.

Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world between 230 million and 500 million. While formal conversion or membership varies between communities, basic lay adherence is often defined in terms of a traditional formula in which the practitioner "takes refuge" in The Three Jewels, the Buddha, the Dharma (the Teaching of the Buddha), and the Sangha (the Community of Buddhists). Most Buddhists live in Asia, but adherents are found worldwide.

The following information about Buddha's life comes from the Tipitaka (other scriptures, such as the Lalitavistara Sutra, give differing accounts).

Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born in the city of Lumbini and was raised in Kapilavastu.[9][10] Moments after birth, according to the scriptures, he performed the first of several miracles, taking a few steps and proclaiming, "Supreme am I in the world. Greatest am I in the world. Noblest am I in the world. This is my last birth. Never shall I be reborn."

Shortly thereafter, a wise man visited his father, King Śuddhodana. The wise man said that Siddhartha would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a holy man (Sadhu) based on whether he saw life outside of the palace walls. Determined to make Siddhartha a king, Śuddhodana shielded his son from the unpleasant realities of daily life. Years after this, Gautama married Yasodhara, with whom he had a son, Rahula, who later became a Buddhist monk.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha ventured outside the palace complex several times despite his father's wishes. As a result he discovered the suffering of his people, through encounters with an old man, a diseased man, a decaying corpse and an ascetic. These are known among Buddhists as "The Four Sights", one of the first contemplations of Siddhartha. The Four Sights eventually prompted Gautama to abandon royal life to take up his spiritual quest to become free from suffering by living the life of a mendicant ascetic, a highly respected spiritual practice at the time in ancient India. He found companions with similar spiritual goals and teachers who taught him various forms of meditation, including jhāna.

Ascetics practised many forms of self-denial, including severe undereating. One day, after almost starving to death, Gautama accepted a little milk and rice from a village girl named Sujata. After this experience, he concluded that ascetic practices, such as fasting, holding one's breath, and exposure to pain, brought little spiritual benefit. He viewed them as counterproductive due to their reliance on self-hatred and mortification. He abandoned asceticism, concentrating instead on anapanasati meditation (awareness of breathing), thus discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, a path of moderation between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.

After discovering the Middle Way, he sat under a sacred fig tree, also known as the Bodhi tree, in the town of Bodh Gaya and vowed not to rise before achieving Nirvana. At age 35, after many days of meditation, he attained his goal of becoming a Buddha. He spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma. He died at age 80 in Kushinagara, India of food poisoning.

Scholars are increasingly hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of Gautama Buddha's life. According to Michael Carrithers, while there are good reasons to doubt the traditional account, "the outline of the life must be true: birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death."[15] Most historians accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order, but do not consistently accept most details in his biographies


Life & the World : Karma "Cause & Effect!"
Karma is the energy which drives Saṃsāra, the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skillful (Pāli: kusala) and bad, unskillful (Pāli: akusala) actions produce "seeds" in the mind which come to fruition either in this life or in a subsequent rebirth.[18] The avoidance of unwholesome actions and the cultivation of positive actions is called Śīla (from Sanskrit: ethical conduct).

In Buddhism, Karma specifically refers to those actions (of body, speech and mind) which spring from mental intent (Pāli: cetana),[19] and which bring about a consequence (or fruit, Sanskrit: phala) or result (Pāli: vipāka). Every time a person acts there is some quality of intention at the base of the mind and it is that quality rather than the outward appearance of the action that determines its effect.

In Theravada Buddhism there is no divine salvation or forgiveness from one's Karma. Some Mahayana traditions hold different views, e.g. the texts of certain Sutras (such as the Lotus Sutra, the Angulimaliya Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra) claim that merely hearing or reciting these texts can expunge great swathes of negative Karma. Similarly, the Japanese Pure Land teacher Genshin taught that Buddha Amitabha has the power to destroy the Karma that would otherwise bind one in Saṃsāra

ReBirth Rebirth means beings go through a succession of lives, each running from conception to death, as one of many possible forms of sentient life. It is important to note though, that Buddhism rejects the idea of a permanent self or the concept of an unchanging, eternal soul as it is known e.g. in Christianity or even Hinduism. As there ultimately is no such thing as a self (anatta), rebirth in subsequent existences must rather be understood as the continuation of a dynamic, ever changing process of "Dependent Arising" (Pratītyasamutpāda) determined by the laws of cause and effect (karma) rather than that of one being, "jumping" from one existence to the next.

Each rebirth takes place within one of five realms, according to Theravadins, or six according to other schools. These are further subdivided into 31 planes of existence:

Naraka beings: those who live in one of many Narakas (Hells).
Animals: sharing some space with humans, but considered another type of life.
Preta: Sometimes sharing some space with humans, but invisible to most people; an important variety is the hungry ghost.
Human beings: one of the realms of rebirth in which attaining Nirvana is possible.
Asuras: variously translated as lowly deities, demons, titans, antigods; not recognized by Theravada (Mahavihara) tradition as a separate realm.
Devas including Brahmas: variously translated as gods, deities, spirits, angels, or left untranslated.
Rebirths in some of the higher heavens, known as the Śuddhāvāsa Worlds (Pure Abodes), can be attained only by anāgāmis (non-returners). Rebirths in the arupa-dhatu (formless realms) can be attained only by those who can meditate on the arupa-jhānas.

According to East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, there is an intermediate state between one life and the next, but Theravada rejects this.

The Cycle of Samsara
Sentient beings crave pleasure and are averse to pain from birth to death. In being controlled by these attitudes, they perpetuate the cycle of conditioned existence and suffering (Samsara), and produce the causes and conditions for the next rebirth after death. After another rebirth they do the same, and continue repeating this cycle. Buddhists strive to end this involuntary cycle of suffering and rebirth by eradicating its causes and conditions through the application of the path laid out by the Buddha.

Suffering: Causes and Solution
The four Noble Truths!
According to the Pali Tipitaka, the Four Noble Truths were the first teaching of Gautama Buddha after attaining Nirvana. They are sometimes considered as containing the essence of the Buddha's teachings and are presented in the manner of a medical diagnosis and remedial prescription – a style common at that time:

Life as we know it ultimately is or leads to suffering (dukkha) in one way or another.
Suffering is caused by craving or attachments to worldly pleasures of all kinds. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of existence, to selfhood, or to the things or people that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness.
Suffering ends when craving ends, when one is freed from desire. This is achieved by eliminating all delusion, thereby reaching a liberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi);
Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.
This interpretation is followed closely by many modern Theravadins,[citation needed] described by early Western scholars, and taught as an introduction to Buddhism by some contemporary Mahayana teachers (e.g., the Dalai Lama).

According to other interpretations by Buddhist teachers and scholars and lately recognized by some Western scholars[31] the "truths" do not represent mere statements, but divisions or aspects of most phenomena, which fall into one of these four categories, grouped in two:

Suffering and causes of suffering
Cessation and the paths towards liberation from suffering.
Thus, according to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism they are

"the noble truth that is suffering"
"the noble truth that is the arising of suffering"
"the noble truth that is the end of suffering"
"the noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering"
The early teaching, and the traditional understanding in the Theravada, is that the four noble truths are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them. The Mahayana position is that they are a preliminary teaching for people not yet ready for the higher and more expansive Mahayana teachings. They are little known in the Far East.