Origins Research

The Origins of Buddhism

• The beginnings of Buddhism can be traced to late 6th century  B.C.E. in northern India. 
• -In 623 B.C, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family called the Shakyas in Kapilavastu. (Now known today as the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal.)
• Gautama left his home in his early thirties to embark on a journey of enlightenment. He wandered through the forests of India for six years.
• One day during his travels, Gautama sat in meditation under a fig tree and did so​ for forty-nine days until he finally achieved an understanding of the cause of suffering and became known as "Buddha."
• The symbol of the belief system is the Dharmachakra, also known as the Eight Spoked Dharma Wheel.

Sect. Research
The Belief System

• Buddhism is split into three different schools: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. 
• Theravada (the doctrine of elders) is the contains the earliest record of Buddhas teachings. It is by far the most conservative and isolated branch of Buddhism. It is the predominant branch of Buddhism practiced in Southeast Asia. ​
• Mahayana emerged as a separate school from Theravada and is a more accepting and open branch. They believe in the enlightenment of all beings and even the delay of finding one's own enlightenment to help others.  Those who practice this branch follow the Three Bodies of Buddha.
• Vajrayana emerged from Mahayana and is referred to as Tantric or Esoteric Buddhism. It was developed in India, though its origin remains unknown. It is a spinoff off of Mahayana Buddhism and is seen as shortcut to receiving enlightenment/nirvana.
• The three branch of Buddhism are similar in the fact that they all want to achieve enlightenment, but those who follow a specific branch focus on a particular aspect of Buddhism. 
• The divide between the branch of Buddhism were in inevitable, as they focus on different things and have people lead different lifestyles.

Belief Research 

Buddhism Beliefs​

• Buddhist believed that there were certain ways of living and rules that you had to follow.  Certain things that they believed were that there will always be suffering, yet there are ways to prevent or stop it. They also believed that there are ways to describe life and that there is a "right way" to do certain things. Also, they believed in reincarnation, being born again, after death into another living object, such as a person. Finally, they believed hat Buddha was a person, not a god. 
• There is not a specific place where all Buddhist people go to worship their beliefs.They can worship pretty much anywhere, even at  home. Buddhists don’t really care for where they go to worship as long as it is a quiet place with a shrine to Buddha.
• Buddhists believe in a cycle called reincarnation. They believe in being reborn into another living thing. Most Buddhists burn and cremate the dead body and have funerals. Buddhists traditions are different depending on which sect you belong to.
• The central administration for Buddhism is The Department of Religion and Culture. They overlook cultural and religious affairs that happens within the community. They are located in  Dharamsala and Himachal Pradesh.
• There are many holy, important, or symbolic places that are associated within the belief system of Buddhism. Stupas are monuments that became really sacred and were for everyone to pray in. These places were decorated with many offerings and flowers while people prayed and worshipped in it. Also, temples and shrines were built for rituals and meditations. Temples were mostly designed to represent the five elements of: fire, earth, air, water, and wisdom.  Another example of a sacred place is the place where Siddhartha  became their enlightened one- under the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya in India.
• Buddhism has many core values and major beliefs. The Three Signs of Being was the way Buddha described life. Another value is The Four Noble Truths, which was a teaching about suffering .  Also, The Noble Eight-Fold Path is the way Buddhists should live their lives. There are also Five Precepts that are rules to live by.  

Present Day Research
Present Day Buddhism 

• Throughout its history, Buddhism has rejected any differences in how both women and men attain enlightenment. ​Buddhism has often advocated for women's inherent equality. Early on in its history, women had a lower monastic rank than men but later on had a separate order established for them. 
• Two important historical figures are Kwan Yin and Maya Devi. Kwan Yin was known as the goddess of compassion. She chose to be reborn in a heavenly world as a beautiful woman who was given much compassion. Maya Devi is the mother of The Buddha, who was known to spread the teachings of Buddhism and the creator of the religion. She died after she gave birth to The Buddha. She was reborn in a heavenly world. 
• The Buddhist New Year is celebrated on different days of he year: 3 days from the full moon in April (Theravadin countries), the first full moon in January (Mahayana countries), and March (Tibetan Buddhists). Vesak is the birthday of Buddha and is seen as the most important festival in Buddhism. Lastly,  Sangha Day commemorates the Buddha's visit to Veruvana Monastery​. 
• Today, Buddhism is found in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Japan, China, etc, and in some parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, also in the European countries and the USA due to cultural diffusion. 

•  Buddhism has about 350 million adherents around the world. This religion has recently become very popular in the USA. Most Buddhist are found in Asia, but within these two decades it has spread throughout the world. There are about three million followers in the USA and about two million in Asia. It’s estimated that seven to eight percent of the world practices Buddhism.
• ​         The belief system is religiously tolerant because they accept that others can belong to different religions. Those who practice Buddhism are at peace with the world and themselves, so they don’t fight with others that believe in a different religions. Buddhism promotes peace by following the eight-fold path. The eight-fold path is about people overcoming desire. Desire can lead people to do things that will cause distress.

Issues/Solutions Research
​Conflicts and Resolutions

• The violence between Muslims and Buddhists left 43 dead in March 2013. The violence took place in Myanmar in the city of Meiktila. The violence took place in workplaces schools and more, which were attacked by Buddhist mobs. The court convicted 22 Buddhists for the violent act that occurred against Muslim people. The punishment for the crime was a range from 1 to 10 years in prison and hard labor.

• The conflict began due to a small confrontation within a store that then exploded into a much larger hate crime. It instigated owing to a brutal beating that occurred because of miscommunication regarding a purchase at a store. This hostility raised uproar in the area and led to many more violent acts. The conflict had been resolved and there was no more violence. 
• The Buddhist perspective towards issues of violence is that aggressive acts are an extremely bad thing. They believe in the Eightfold Path, which guides Buddhists to doing the right thing and restricts believers to any type of violence and war. In this belief system, everyone is treated identically and properly. There is no oppression against others or cause violence with any other group as they withhold themselves from any type of negativity.
• Central administration of Buddhism takes action when going against a conflict by attempting to talk to the opposing force. If this method does not work, they choose to create a mutiny but without any type of violence that could harm any opposing forces.
• The ABCP (Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace) has tried to push development of a Buddhist approach to global problem solving. During a meeting in Bangkok 1986, scholars, and practicing Buddhists, came together to examine religious thoughts and activists. The Buddhists tried to stop the violence with more teachings with of nobility of all, regardless of caste, race, or creed.
• ​An issue regarding the Buddhist beliefs includes the fact that Buddha didn't write any down any of his teachings and neither did his early disciples. Therefore, whatever appeared after his death could only be based on many myths and legends of Buddha that appeared throughout time. There haven’t been any solutions to this situation because there is no primary source of what Buddha taught. However, if Buddha had written down his teachings, it would have most likely been different from what today’s world believes Buddha taught considering nothing was written down. There wouldn’t be any other way to find out more about what Buddha taught based on Buddha’s lack of record keeping.

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