Buddhism
Reclining buddha, Thailand
History
A riches to rags story, Buddhism upholds the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a Nepalese Prince born probably in the 5th century BC, who rejected the pursuit of material gain in favour of a more spiritual existence. After achieving spiritual enlightenment, he spent his life teaching what he had learned throughout Northern India.
The Emperor Ashoka, who ruled over much of South Asia in the 3rd century, accelerated the spread of Buddhism across the rest of the subcontinent and into Thailand, Korea and China.
Buddhism started to split in the first century BC. It now falls broadly into three traditions: Mahayana or Eastern Buddhism; Theravada or Southern Buddhism; and Northern Buddhism, current in Tibet and neighbouring regions. By the end of the first millennium, most of the Far East was Buddhist and many non-Communist countries still are today.
There were very few Buddhists in the West until the British colonised India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Then, along with goods, trade brought Buddhist ideas to Europe.
Buddhism really took off in America where Victorian transcendentalist writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau celebrated the benefits of meditation.
Buddhism's aim of creating conditions favourable to meditational or spiritual development attracted many adherents in the 1960s. Most Western major cities have active Buddhist communities today, although most of the world's 325 million Buddhists still live in Asia.
Beliefs
Buddhists attempt to escape the life cycle and achieve a state of enlightenment by focusing on spiritual development and following the Four Noble Truths:
• Dukkha – all existence is full of suffering
• Trsna – suffering occurs when we cling to what is wrong for us and resist change
• Nirvana – pursuit of enlightenment
• The Eightfold Path – practical guide to ending suffering
Monasteries are at the heart of Buddhist communities in the East and many young men take monastic vows to study Buddha's teachings. Lay followers often make shrines in their homes, where they can pray alone, or they may join others for worship in a temple. The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, is thought to be a direct incarnation of Buddha himself.
