8/7/2019 History Project 5-27-10

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At the age of 29, he, he

Prince of Nepal, abandonedhis love, his luxuries, and his

glorious life to become a

wondering Aztec. He stoodfor peace, and found it. He

gained monks and

encouraged others to give up

luxuries and find peace too.He grew to have believers

and even today he has over

13 million followers,thousands of years later. The

Tipitaka, a very important

and sacred book, is what themonks wrote down from

Buddhas teachings after his

death. Even today peoplepractive the ancient and

sacred practices for them.

Buddhism is very popular in

Indian and Asian cultures.

Buddhism is not only a religion, its also aphilosophy. It encourages its followers tobe peaceful and positive. They follow andworship Buddha. They read from a bookcalled the Tipitaka. Unlike most religions,they dont encourage wordly happiness,

the existence of souls, or that worldlythings are permanent.

The four noble truths are:

1. There is suffering.

2. There is cause for suffering.

3. There is cessation of suffering.

4. There is path leading to the cessationof suffering.

One does not have to read the Tipitakafrom beginning to end to understand thefour noble truths. Each chapter is a sutra

(synopsis), which Buddha would have usedto explain the same four noble truths to hisaudiences under different circumstances.

The goal Buddhists have is to attain finalliberation called Nibbana. To get there youhave to follow eight important steps. (The

noble eight-fold path.) Info fromwebspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhaintro.htm

1. Right View- To understand wholesomedeeds, unwholesome deeds and comprehend

the law of Karma.

2. Right Intention- The intention of non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion.

3. Right Speech- Abstaining from falsespeech, malicious speech, harsh speech and

idle chatter.

4. Right Action- Abstaining from killing,stealing and sexual misconduct.

5. Right Livelihood- Abstaining from wrongand corrupt means of livelihood.

One major holiday is Buddhaday, which is on the night of thefull moon in May. During thatday more than 2,500 years ago,people have been celebrating hislife, death, and transformation.

Another popular holiday wouldbe Buddhist New Year. Indifferent countries, such asTiland, Burma, Srilanka,Combodia, and Lous, the New

Year is celbrated for three daysafter the new moon in April.Chinese New Year is alsocelebrated by many but has noreligious bit about it; besides thefact that there is Buddha incenseput out instead of other thingsfor luck.

Many ceremonies occur during

festivals, for ex; The Festival ofFloating Bowls, which occursduring Kathin Festival Season,

when all the rivers and canalsare full of water, and takes placeon the full moon of the twelfthlunar month. People bring out

bowls made of leaves thatcontain flowers, candies andincense candles and float themin the water.