World Religions Information Worksheet
Instructions: Complete the worksheet and use the information to create a blog post that will serve as
your study notes for the quiz on this religion. Note: The lecture notes will NOT be complete. They are not
designed to be exhaustively detailed. You may have to research some of the answers (for example:
when, approximately was Hinduism founded? Or Major historical events in Jainism.)
Name of Religion:
Buddhism
Year and Location Founded:
Geographic Locations Today:
There actually was a Buddha about 500
years before Christ ( 563-483 BC)
Buddhism started in northern India and
spread out to the countries of south east
Asia Nepal and Tibet.
Major Figure(s) and Significance:
Prince Siddhartha Gautama
Primary Beliefs:
Buddha
The Middle Way has Three Jewels Buddha
– The Teacher, Dharma – The Teachings
and Sangha – The Community
The Three Marks of Existence:
Anatta‐there is no ultimate reality, no
essence underlying existence, nothing
exists beyond the present moment
essence of Buddhism is that there is no
essence.
Anicca‐The world is constantly changing
‐“impermanence”
Dukka‐suffering is part of the human
condition and the first of the Four Noble
Truths
The Four Noble Truths
1. To live is to suffer
2. The cause of suffering is self-centered
desire & attachments
3. The solution is to eliminate desire and
attachment, thus achieving Nirvana
(“extinction”)
4. The way to Nirvanais through the “EightFold Path”
The Eight‐Fold Path
1. Right view, or accepting the reality of
the Four Noble Truths
2. Right attitude, or striving for moderation
in all things
3. Right speech, avoiding lies, boasts, and
hurtful words
4. Right action, or treating others fairly
5. Right livelihood, avoiding jobs that could
bring harm to others
6. Right effort, or constantly trying to
improve oneself
7. Right mindfulness, or remaining aware of
world around one
8. Right concentration, or ignoring
temptation and discomfort while
meditating
Major Sects, Branches, and Denominations
( if any):
Theravada sect: he is not a got, he is not
worshiped, and you achieve it through
yourself.
Mahayana sect: It develops literally six
centuries after the Buddha’s death,
doesn’t focus on being a priest, being a
nun, it focuses life. It’s more “every day.”
Your goal is to become a Bodhisattva.
Vajrayana Sects: They believe there are
special techniques (rituals, chanting,
symbolic images, hand gestures,
meditation, etc.) to reach nirvana in a
single lifetime.
Major Historical Events:
560-480 BCE Siddhartha Gautama
479 BCE 1st Council results in four factions
one year after Buddha's death`
469 BCE Approximately 16 factions ten
years after Buddha's death
390 BCE 2nd Council declares a minority
orthodox (Hinayana) and the majority
heretic (Mahayana)
297 BCE King Asoka converted to
Buddhism; Buddha from small group to
state religion and local religion to world
religion as Asoka sends out Buddhist
missionaries
247 BCE Asoka calls 3rd Council to agree
on authentic Buddhist scriptures
1st century CE Perhaps as many as 500
sects of Buddhists
200 BCE -200 CE Development of
Hinayana Buddhism
2nd century Development of Mahayana
Buddhism
320 CE to 600 CE Development of
Vajrayana Buddhism
Holy Text(s) and Use:
Tripitaka (the PaliCannon) –the “Three
Baskets”:Vinaya (“discipline”) –rules for
monastic life Sutta (“discourse”) –sermons
of the Buddha Abhidhamma (metaphysical
“teachings”)
Dhammapada–collected sayings of the
Buddha
Belief(s) about God(s):
Beliefs about Humans:
Belief(s) about Women and/or Sexuality:
Belief about Creation:
the beginning of this world 12 constituent
elements are continually occur
interdependently (ignorance, karmic
predispositions, consciousness, name and
form, the five sense organs, the mind,
contact feeling‐response, craving,
grasping for an object, action toward life,
birth, and old age and death), a circular
chain with each part dependent on every
other part.
Belief about the End:
Death is not the end of life, it is merely the
end of the body we inhabit in this life, but
our spirit will still remain and seek out
through the need of attachment,
attachment to a new body and new life.
Where they will be born is a result of the
past and the accumulation of positive and
negative action, and the resultant karma
(cause and effect) is a result of ones past
actions.
Belief about Culture (art, literacy, history)
Famous Believers
Kate Bosworth
Adam Yauch
Steven Seagal
Richard Gere
Herbie Hancock