Buddhism
First, Buddhism. Buddhism has a very unusual backstory to how it developed. The story starts when a young prince was born, Prince Siddhartha. His father was a very powerful king and his mother was the beautiful Queen Maya. The night before her son was born, she had a very important dream. In the dream Queen Maya was carried high over the Himalayas and set on a silver couch. A white elephant with six tusks walked around and then struck her in the side! The next day before the birth of her son, she asked the Brahmans about her dream. The Brahmans all agreed that the dream meant that she was about to give birth to a child that who will be a great man. The Brahmans came to the conclusion that the prince held two possible paths. He either could be the ruler of the universe or he would leave the royal path and become a Buddha and see the suffering of the world. As a Buddha he would have the opportunity to become enlightened.
The legend says that Queen Maya gave birth to the prince in a garden. Warm flowers fell on the baby and his mother. Three months later the baby was walking and talking. Theoretically that is almost impossible for a three month old baby to walk or talk. Prince Siddhartha famously remarked, “I am the leader of the world and the guide to the world.” When the Price grew older his father, became more protective of his son and was worried about the Brahmans predictions. He thought, if the prince saw the way the world really is Prince Siddhartha would leave his royal life and begin the path to Buddhism. The King made the decision to raise his son away from all the horrors of the world. Siddhartha was raised in a world of perfect in perfect wealth and beauty. The Prince did enjoy his relatively easy life, but he was curious about what lay outside of the place walls. At the young age of 16 the prince married a young noblewoman. 12 years passed and eventually the prince had a child of his own.
After the Prince became a father at age 29, he took his first trip outside the palace walls. Siddhartha took three trips outside the palace walls and saw three forms of suffering. On his first trip he witnessed a man walking with a stick as an aid. He asked the driver what was wrong with the man and the driver replied, “Everybody's body weakness as you age.” Prince Siddhartha went on to learn that one day everyone will die and sickness can cause suffering and death. the Prince was very troubled about what he saw outside the palace walls. eventually he made the decision to be an Ascetic. The prince’s experiences of suffering changed him for the rest of his life. After seeing those things Siddhartha decided to give up his old life and become enlightened. One night Siddhartha traveled to the edge of the forest. There he removed his royal robes, cut of his hair with a knife. There Siddhartha began his journey to being an aesthetic. Siddhartha met other ascetics in the forest. He learned that he wanted to reach enlightenment by meditating. He quickly was good at meditation. Like other ascetic Siddhartha denied his basic body needs. People say Siddhartha became so thin that he could touch his stomach and feel his backbone. Eventually he was unhappy with this living and realized he didn’t find the key to enlightenment. Instead Siddhartha would take a middle way to enlightenment. On his 35th birthday prince Siddhartha way bathing in a river when he opened his eyes he felt enlightened. Then a grass cutter gave him a handful of grass as a present. He placed the grass under the Bodhi tree until he reached enlightenment. When Siddhartha meditated the god Mara tried to scare with bad gestures but Siddhartha resisted. By morning. The young Prince had become the Buddha.
People of India saw the world from a different perspective than the caste system and Hinduism. It made them change their way of life. Meditating and peace became more prevalent in India. War was wide problem at the time and after Buddhism was established, war was put on a hold throughout Asia. After the Buddha became the Buddha, Buddhism strives throughout India and eventually spread to other Asian countries, including China, Mongolia, Korea and others.
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The legend says that Queen Maya gave birth to the prince in a garden. Warm flowers fell on the baby and his mother. Three months later the baby was walking and talking. Theoretically that is almost impossible for a three month old baby to walk or talk. Prince Siddhartha famously remarked, “I am the leader of the world and the guide to the world.” When the Price grew older his father, became more protective of his son and was worried about the Brahmans predictions. He thought, if the prince saw the way the world really is Prince Siddhartha would leave his royal life and begin the path to Buddhism. The King made the decision to raise his son away from all the horrors of the world. Siddhartha was raised in a world of perfect in perfect wealth and beauty. The Prince did enjoy his relatively easy life, but he was curious about what lay outside of the place walls. At the young age of 16 the prince married a young noblewoman. 12 years passed and eventually the prince had a child of his own.
After the Prince became a father at age 29, he took his first trip outside the palace walls. Siddhartha took three trips outside the palace walls and saw three forms of suffering. On his first trip he witnessed a man walking with a stick as an aid. He asked the driver what was wrong with the man and the driver replied, “Everybody's body weakness as you age.” Prince Siddhartha went on to learn that one day everyone will die and sickness can cause suffering and death. the Prince was very troubled about what he saw outside the palace walls. eventually he made the decision to be an Ascetic. The prince’s experiences of suffering changed him for the rest of his life. After seeing those things Siddhartha decided to give up his old life and become enlightened. One night Siddhartha traveled to the edge of the forest. There he removed his royal robes, cut of his hair with a knife. There Siddhartha began his journey to being an aesthetic. Siddhartha met other ascetics in the forest. He learned that he wanted to reach enlightenment by meditating. He quickly was good at meditation. Like other ascetic Siddhartha denied his basic body needs. People say Siddhartha became so thin that he could touch his stomach and feel his backbone. Eventually he was unhappy with this living and realized he didn’t find the key to enlightenment. Instead Siddhartha would take a middle way to enlightenment. On his 35th birthday prince Siddhartha way bathing in a river when he opened his eyes he felt enlightened. Then a grass cutter gave him a handful of grass as a present. He placed the grass under the Bodhi tree until he reached enlightenment. When Siddhartha meditated the god Mara tried to scare with bad gestures but Siddhartha resisted. By morning. The young Prince had become the Buddha.
People of India saw the world from a different perspective than the caste system and Hinduism. It made them change their way of life. Meditating and peace became more prevalent in India. War was wide problem at the time and after Buddhism was established, war was put on a hold throughout Asia. After the Buddha became the Buddha, Buddhism strives throughout India and eventually spread to other Asian countries, including China, Mongolia, Korea and others.
Click here for our Hinduism Page!