Buddhism: Part 1

History

• Its founder, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, also called Shakyamuni, can be dated back to the sixth century BC in Northeastern India.
• Siddhartha Gautama grew up in a wealthy family where his father did not want him to see the outside world.
• After convincing his father to let him see the outside world, he saw the reality ofsome text
  • An old man close to death
  • A diseased man
  • A funeral 
  • A religious monk
• These four sights led Siddhartha Gautama down a path of self-denial in search for liberation.
• He sat under a fig tree, and after nearly starving himself to death, he was enlightened and discovered the path to address suffering.
• Siddhartha had now become a Buddha and began teaching the way to enlightenment.
• His first converts were five of his companions, and his teachings began to spread across the region.
• Buddhism spread from India to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, then throughout northern and eastern Asia, and eventually into China, Japan, and the United States.
• Today, Buddhism is one of the greatest missionary religions, joining Christianity and Islam, with approximately 376 million adherents.

Basic Views

• A non-theistic worldviewsome text
  • God or gods are irrelevant in helping one achieve enlightenment.
  • There is no concept of sin, but human suffering comes from ignorance.
  • Does not depend on “blind faith.”
  • Instead of relying on external saviors or abstract beliefs, Buddhism urges people to look within to trust personal experience.
• All-embracing/universal truthssome text
  • Everything in life is impermanent and constantly changing.
  • Because nothing is permanent, a life based on possessing items or persons does not satisfy a person.
  • There is no eternal, unchanging soul; the “self” is just a collection of changes within one's character or attributes.
• All about self-empowermentsome text
  • The key to liberation lies within us.
  • Our happiness and spiritual growth depends on us.
  • It is a personal journey of self-discovery.
• Afterlifesome text
  • Believe in karma or rebirth.some text
    • Karma is actions driven by intentions that have either good or bad results.
    • Karma leads to what one might be born as in the next life.
  • The ultimate goal for a person is to achieve Nirvana.some text
    • The end of the cycle of death and rebirth.
    • The cessation of all existence.

1 Corinthians 10:14-22: According to this passage, what is behind this world’s idols and other belief systems?

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