Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a Indian Religion or Dharma found by Siddhartha Gautama.Buddhism is also very similar to Hinduism as it was created from it. Buddhism teaches people how to end their suffering by cutting out greed, hatred and ignorance. Buddhism along with other Indian Religion believes in Karma (i.e) When people do bad things, they will get bad consequences. When people do good things, they will get good consequences.

This cause-and-effect chain is reflected in the endless cycles of life, death and rebirth. Buddhism believes in reincarnation (rebirth). The ultimate goal of a Buddhist is to get enlightenment (Nirvana) and liberate oneself from endless reincarnation and suffering. Some see Buddhism as a religion, others see it is a philosophy, and others think it is a way of finding reality.

Background

Buddhism was started by Siddhārtha Gautama or Gautama Buddha after becoming englightened (563–483 BC) in Northern India. He gave up everything to find a way to end suffering. His teachings spread, after his death, to Central Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and the East Asian countries of China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan and have now spread to the west.

The Buddha's teachings are about suffering and how to overcome it. According to the Buddha, overcoming suffering allows a person to be truly happy. The Buddha taught that if people make good decisions they would be happy and have peace of mind. The Buddha taught that life is imperfect and that we will suffer. He taught that we suffer because of desire, anger and stupidity, and he showed that we could end our suffering by letting go of desires and overcoming anger and stupidity. The complete letting go of these negative influences is called Nirvana, meaning "to extinguish", like putting out the flame of a candle. The end of suffering, when one is fully awake (put an end to one's own ignorance) and has let go of all desire and anger, is also called Enlightenment. In Buddhism Enlightenment and Nirvana mean the same thing.

"To avoid all evil

To do good.

To purify one's mind.

This is the teaching of all the Buddhas."

--Dhammapāda, XIV, 5 ,

Buddhism teaches non-harm and moderation or balance, not going too far one way or the other. Buddhists often meditate while sitting in a special or specific way. They often chant and meditate while walking. Buddhists sometimes do these things to understand the human heart and mind. Sometimes they do these things to understand the way the world works. Sometimes they do these things to find peace.

Buddhism does not say if gods exist or not, but one can read many stories about gods in some Buddhist books. Buddhists do not believe that people should look to gods to save them or bring them enlightenment. The gods may have power over world events and they might help people, or they might not. But it's up to each person to get to enlightenment. Many Buddhists honor gods in ritual. Other Buddhists believe the stories about gods are just there to help us learn about parts of ourselves.

Who is Buddha?

Buddha is a Sanskrit word which means "The Enlightened one" or 'the awakened one The word "Buddha" often means the historical Buddha named Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama), Buddhists do not believe that a Buddha is a god, but that he is a human being who has woken up and can see the true way the world works. They believe this knowledge totally changes the person. Some say this puts them beyond birth, death, and rebirth. Others think this represents the final extinction of desire. This person can help others become enlightened too.

CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity is one of the most popular religions through the western world. It is an Abrahamic religion. Members of the religion are called Christians (Greek Χριστιανός). It is a monotheistic religion, meaning it has only one God. It is the largest religion in the world and is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

In the eyes of the world Jesus was a preacher, teacher, healer, and prophet from ancient Judea. However, his disciples knew him to be much more than that - they knew that Jesus was God's one and only son. His nominal father (Joseph) was a carpenter. Jesus was executed by being nailed to a cross (or crucified) under Pontius Pilate, the local Roman governor at the time. His life and followers are written about in the New Testament, part of the Bible. Christians consider the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, as sacred. The Gospels or "The Good News" are the first four books of the New Testament and are about the life of Jesus, his death, and him rising from the dead.

Christians needed to come up with an explanation why the Bible mentions God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet there should only be one god. This idea, called Trinity, was started at the First Council of Nicaea, in 325, and developed during several church meetings or councils. Today, many Christian groups agree with it. Some that do not are the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the biggest of which is the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox Churches agree with the ideas in the First Council of Nicaea, but they disagree with other councils. There are also smaller groups who do not believe in the Trinity at all.

God created the world. Jesus is the name of God the Son. Christians believe Him to be the Son of God. They believe that He was the human son of the Virgin Mary and the divine Son of God. They believe He suffered and died to free humans from their sinand was later raised from the dead. He then went up into Heaven. At the end of time, Jesus will come back to Earth to judge all mankind, both alive and dead, giving everlasting life to those who believe in him. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God on the Earth that spoke through prophets.

The prophets foretold in the Old Testament of Jesus as the Savior. Christians think of Jesus Christ as a teacher, a role model, and someone who revealed who the Christian God was.

Just like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion. Christianity started out as a Jewish sectin the eastern Mediterranean. It quickly grew in number of believers and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th Century it had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Aksum became the first empire to adopt Christianity. During the Middle Ages, the rest of Europe mostly was Christianized. At that time, Christians were mostly a religious minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of India. Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonization, Christianity spread to Africa, the Americas, and the rest of the world.

Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of the world. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion followers,

Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is an Indian religion, or a way of life. Hinduism is widely practiced in South Asia mainly in India and Nepal. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and Hindus refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition," or the "eternal way," beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a combinationof different Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. Hinduism has no founder and origins of Hinduism is unknown.What we now call Hinduism have roots in cave paintings that have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from c. 30,000 BCE in Bhimbetka, near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the Madhya Pradesh." There was no concept of religion in India and Hinduism was not religion.Hinduism as a religion started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE).

Hinduism contains a wide range of philosophies, and is linked by the concepts, like rituals, cosmology,Texts, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are divided into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"). These texts discuss philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, and many more. Major scriptures in Hinduism include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Agamas. There are 4 goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma (duties), Artha (prosperity), Kama (desires/passions) and Moksha (liberation/freedom/salvation); karma (action, intent and consequences), Saṃsāra (cycle of rebirth), and the various Yogas (paths or practices to attain moksha). Hindu rituals include puja (worship) and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Some Hindus leave their social world and become sanyasi to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, non-violence (ahimsa), patience, self-restraint, and compassion, among others. The four largest sects of Hinduism are the Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.

 Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, There are approximately 1.15 billion Hindus which are 15-16% of the global population. Majority of the Hindus live in India, Nepal and Mauritius. Hindus are also found in other countries.