Buddhism arose around the 6th century BC in India. Buddhism is a religious-philosophical teaching based on spiritual awakening. The doctrine was named after its founder Siddhartha Gautama, who would later be called the Buddha Shakyamuni. Buddhism as a term appeared in the 19th century. Prior to this, the teaching was called dharma (law) or buddhadharma (law of Buddha). There are currently about 800 million followers of Buddhism on the planet. They mainly live in the Far East, in Central, South and Southeast Asia.
Instruction manual
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According to legend, Siddhartha Gautama was of noble birth. The father made sure that his son did not know the need, lived in luxury. When the prince grew up, he married the girl he loved. They had a son. Thanks to the efforts of his father, Siddhartha did not know that there are diseases, betrayal, stupidity in the world. Once Gautama met a decrepit old man. So he learned that there is old age in the world. Then he saw a funeral procession. So Siddhartha learned of death. Another meeting was crucial. The young man met a beggar who wandered around the world and did not want anything from life. Tsarevich, who spent his whole life away from troubles and tribulations, began to think about people and their destinies.
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At 29, he left home and family and began to live in solitude. He believed that hermitage would help him understand the meaning of life. At 35, he was nicknamed Buddha, that is, enlightened. At 45, he was widely known as a preacher, telling of four noble truths.
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Buddha believed that the cause of the suffering of people in themselves. People are too attached to everything material. Everything in the world is changing, and humanity is opposed to this, creating the illusion of stability with the help of things. To achieve enlightenment and to see true being, one must limit oneself, meditate and free oneself from attachments.
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Over the centuries of the existence of religion, Buddhism has absorbed many rituals and beliefs. There is no canonical Buddhism with clearly defined rules. Some followers of the Buddha know themselves and meditate, others do good deeds, and others serve the Buddha like priests.
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Buddha preached that there are 4 noble truths to be followed.
1. Everything in the world is suffering, fear, inconstancy, anxiety, lack of satisfaction. All together, this is called dukkha.
2. The reason for dukkha is trishna - the thirst for sensual pleasures, the false desires of people.
3. It is possible to free oneself from dukkha.
4. Each person must find in life a path that will relieve dukkha and lead him to nirvana (the octal path).
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In his teaching, Buddha spoke of karma and that all things depend on certain causes. Buddhism is also based on the doctrine of anatmavada (lack of soul) and the doctrine of ksanikavada (instantness).
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In Buddhist schools, these principles and doctrines are interpreted in different ways. Common to all schools is the history of life and enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, the doctrine of karma and the wheel of samsara, the four noble truths, the octal path.
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You can’t be born a Buddhist, you can become one by acquiring three jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, that is, find an enlightened one, understand the teachings of the Buddha and join a Buddhist community. Every Buddhist must destroy within himself three poisons: ignorance of the nature of being, passion and selfishness, anger and intolerance.
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