The Life of the Buddha.

Hossein Amini 5S GCSE Religious Studies Coursework: Buddhism The Life of the Buddha Question 1- Select, describe and explain the events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama, which illustrate his religious development There are generally many events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama, which illustrate his religious development, but personally, I have planned to look at specific events very carefully. It can be said that the events contained specifically within the past lives of Siddhartha Guatama illustrate his religious development. There are, most evidently, the Jataka tales of the Pali Canon, which are supposedly stories of his actual rebirths. First of all, there is a most fundamental event, which occurs at around 100,000,000 aeons ago, where Dipuncena makes the crucial Bodhissatva vow to devote a life for the help of others. Now, after this, we see many stories of compassionate actions done by the 547 reincarnations of Dipuncena in the form of animal, god, and man. For example, one is the courageous story of Prince Vessantra, who gives up everything that he owns, even his wife and children out of compassion. The fact that he did this, giving everything and not expecting anything in return, portrays Dana, which is the idea of charity, and is a fundamental quality that is essential to be on the way to the Bodhissatva Path. There is also the story of the young prince, who '

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Buddha was a religious innovator Assess this view. I will be discussing whether Buddha was indeed a religious innovator, the ideas he has taken from other religions and entirely original, new concepts he created.

Tom Walker 12N 'Buddha was a religious innovator' Assess this view. In my opinion, Buddha was a religious innovator- since he went against all other prominent religious beliefs of the time in declaring that there was no soul- no permanent self (anatta). I will be discussing whether Buddha was indeed a religious innovator, the ideas he has taken from other religions and entirely original, new concepts he created. He disagreed with many other popular religious practices, for example sacrifices- around which the Vedic religion (which was popular around Buddha's time) revolved. He did so for many reasons, the main being Buddhists don't believe in a God- no God would mean sacrificing an animal would be wasteful and pointless. Another reason he disagreed with this would be that hurting the animal would be against the eightfold path since harming the animal unnecessarily would not be a 'right action' it would also be an example of not showing the 'right mindfulness' since if we were aware of the animal's pain and suffering then we wouldn't be sacrificing the animal. Many Buddhists choose to be vegetarian as hurting animals creates bad karma due to the above. Buddha's main difference in opinion to ideas of the time would be that the Buddhist Dharma (or teaching) says that we have no soul or 'no permanent self,' this is called Anatta. Buddhists believe that because we are made up

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Life of the Buddha.

Life of the Buddha (Part One) 1. Queen Maha Maya's Dream More than 2,500 years ago, there was a king called Suddhodana. He married a beautiful Koliyan princess named Maha Maya. The couple ruled over the Sakyas, a warrior tribe living next to the Koliya tribe, in the north of India, in what is now known as Nepal. The capital of the Sakya country was laid out across the foothills of the Himalayas and called Kapilavatthu. Queen Maha Maya was the daughter of King Anjana of the Koliyas. Such was her beauty that the name Maya, meaning "vision" was given to her. But it was Maya's virtues and talents that were her most wonderful qualities, for she was endowed with the highest gifts of intelligence and piety. King Suddhodana was indeed worthy of his lovely wife. He himself was called "King of the Law" because he ruled according to the law. There was no other man among the Sakyas more honored and respected. The king was admired by his nobles and courtiers, as well as by the householders and merchants. Such was the noble family from which the Buddha was to arise. One full moon night, sleeping in the palace, the queen had a vivid dream. She felt herself being carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. After bathing her in the lake, the devas clothed her in heavenly cloths, anointed her with perfumes, and bedecked her with divine flowers. Soon after a white

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Teachings Now the Buddha wanted to tell other people how to become wise, good and do service for others. He advised his followers to follow the Middle Way, avoiding the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-torture. H

Early Life Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama on the foothills of Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, in about 563 BCE. His father, King Shuddhodana was the ruler of the Shakya clan and his mother was Queen Mayadevi. The legends surrounding Buddha suggest that both his conception and birth were miraculous. His mother, Queen Mayadevi, conceived him when she dreamt that a white elephant entered her womb. She gave birth to him in a standing position while holding onto a tree in a garden. The child emerged from Mayadevi's right side, fully formed. He then proceeded to take seven steps and proclaimed, "I am the foremost of all. This is my last birth. I will cross the ocean of existence." 1 Queen Mayadevi died seven days after the birth and Siddhartha was raised by his aunt Mahaprajapati, the King's second wife. It was predicted at his birth that Siddhartha would become either a world ruler or a world teacher. Siddhartha's father felt very strongly about him taking over as ruler. He therefore gave Siddhartha everything he wanted and every luxury he could have. Siddhartha was kept inside and was not permitted to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had dedicated themselves to spiritual practices. King Shuddhodana was afraid that these things would cause him to become disillusioned with his life at home and cause him to take a spiritual path in life. Only beauty and

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Siddhartha by Hesse - review

Siddhartha Quote - A true seeker cannot accept any teachings, not if he wished [wishes] to find something. Paraphrase - A person who truly seeks something cannot accept any teachings unless he wished to find something. Universal interpretation - To accept teachings is a desire to achieve something. A true seeker seeks no desires and has to reject teachings. In Hesse's novel Siddhartha, Siddhartha seeks no desires. His goal in life is to become empty of everything, including his Self, his soul. He has no regard for any teachings because he believes that teachings did not explain much. His sole question remained unanswered "Where was the Self to be found?" Siddhartha is bewildered that nobody had experienced the bliss of knowing the Self. When he meets Buddha, he finds an answer to a part of his question because here was a man who had attained nirvana. However, Siddhartha feels that teachings can only tell the way to attain nirvana, they cannot explain in words, the bliss The Buddha experienced under the banyan tree. Siddhartha believes that this knowledge that was being imparted by his father, the Brahmins and the Buddha could be learnt anywhere. Siddhartha's goal is to let his Self and everything die, to be empty, to have no desires. Teachings of the Buddha explained how to attain nirvana. By following his teachings, Siddhartha believes that his Self will be transformed

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Critically examine the contributions which Ashoka made to the early development of Buddhism.

(a) Critically examine the contributions which Ashoka made to the early development of Buddhism. At the beginning of Ashoka's reign (c.269 BCE) Buddhism had been in existence and expansion for about two hundred years. The Second Council had already occurred by that time, and there were disagreements over the Vinaya (rules for the monks). Buddhism had only spread throughout North India and was widely seen as a religion for monks, which was supported by the lay people (those who were not monks). Ashoka's grandfather, Chandragupta, had created the Mauryan Dynasty, which extended the Kingdom of Magadha to cover the whole of Northern India. Since Ashoka's father, Bindusara, was a powerful monarch, Ashoka would have been educated and trained in the Brahminical religion and brought up to be a militaristic ruler. The Brahminical concept of kingship involves conquest and enlargement of land ownership, which is greatly different to the Buddhist promotion of peace. Ashoka was very much a typical Brahminical king, and was said in the Buddhist Chronicles to have been a bloodthirsty monarch. He expanded his empire through many battles; his last was the conquest of Kalinga which created much unnecessary carnage. When Ashoka saw the devastation he had caused it led him to convert to Buddhist ways, although evidence suggests that he had become a Buddhist two years earlier. Ashoka

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Buddhism is one of the biggest religions founded in India in the 6th and 5th century B

Buddhism is one of the biggest religions founded in India in the 6th and 5th century B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as "the Buddha." As one of the greatest Asian religion, it teaches the practice and the observance of moral perceptions. "Buddhism begins with a man. In his later years, when India was afire with his message, people came to him asking what he was. Not 'Who are you?' but 'What are you?' 'Are you god?' they asked. 'No.' 'An angel?' 'No.' 'A saint?' 'No.' 'Then, what are you?' Buddha answered, 'I am awake.' His answer became his title, for this is what Buddha means. The Sanskrit root budh means to awake and to know. While the rest of humanity was dreaming the dream we call the waking human state, one of their number roused himself. Buddhism begins with a man who woke up. Buddha was born a prince named Siddhartha Gautama in a small kingdom in what is now Nepal. Siddharta's birth is described as a miraculous event, his birth being the result of his mother's impregnation by a sacred white elephant that touched her left side with a lotus flower. The scriptures claim that when Gautama was born "immeasurable light spread through ten thousand worlds; the blind recovering their sight, as if from desire to see his glory" (Evans 141) Shortly after his birth, his father consulted with a number of astrologers, all of whom declared that the newborn prince would become

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Christianity and Judaism

CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM Julia Lot, nº16 CHRISTIANITY The Bible As we know, every religion has its own sacred text. The Bible, holy book, is the sacred text of Christianity. Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible could be described as a small library. The books in the Old Testament were written by different people over hundreds of years. Only a few people wrote the books in the New Testament over a period of fifty years or so. The Bible is divided in two parts: . The Old Testament (or Jewish Scripture) Was written before the time of Jesus. It remarks the story of God's people, the Jews. This part is special to the Jewish people. It is at the front of the Bible. 2. The New Testament Was written after the time of Jesus. It remarks the story of Jesus and the first Christians. This part is special to the Christian people. It is at the back of the Bible. Christians read both parts of the Bible; they read the Old Testament because it tells the story of how God prepared people for the coming of Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls One day, in 1947, a boy, was taking care of a group of goats, when one escaped. That goat, started to wander around a hillside near the Dead Sea. The boy started to look for it. The boy thought that the goat would be in one of the caves nearby, so, he threw a rock in a cave in order for the goat to get frightened and run out.

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Comparison Study of Jainism and Buddhism

Comparison Study of Jainism and Buddhism When searching for the meaning of the term religion one most go a long way in making an extensive search to actually form a definition that can fit such a broad word. There is no one definition that can satisfy all religions and remain true to all religions throughout its answer. There are many different views and definitions of the word and it is very hard to come up with a reasonable definition that sums such a massive expression. The same expression goes when one is comparing two different religions which are defined by their beliefs and cultures, and this is where our discussion begins as we look to compare and contrast the differences that both of the religions have and despite the difference to look at how they are very similar to each other in a sense that both of the religions lead its followers to achieve only one thing in life which is Moksa. In our argument we will also look at how both of the religions have used the Vedic traditions as a basic source to build a religion of their own and to have beliefs which are very different and also very similar from the Vedic traditions. To begin we first define Moksha and Veda. Moksa is the liberation from the "stream of current life." Moksa is a positive state of completeness; it is the fullness of being free from the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Moksa can be attained

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Buddhism - : Training the mind properly is more important than acting correctly Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Assessment Question: 'Training the mind properly is more important than acting correctly' Do you agree or disagree with this statement? The symbol of Buddhism is the wheel. The circle represents samsara (the cycle of life). Buddhists believe that after they die their life force will travel to a higher level if they do good actions during their life and to a lower level if they do bad actions. The Buddha taught people how to escape the cycle and reach Nirvana. He told them that if they want to reach Nirvana, they must follow the four noble truths and the eightfold path. The eight spokes on the wheel represent the eightfold path. The Eightfold Path has three sections: wisdom, action & training the mind. Some people believe that training the mind properly is more important than acting correctly. They believe that if you train the mind properly, then you will automatically act correctly. The sixth rule of the eightfold path is 'right effort'. 'Right effort' is to train yourself to avoid doing bad things and working hard to do good. This is important because it won't make others suffer because you won't do bad things. Also, others will benefit from the good things you do, which will prevent people from suffering. Some people believe that if you follow this rule you will avoid killing, stealing, and being dishonest and unfaithful, as well as avoid drinking or taking drugs. This is

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