Contents of this Presentation
Introduction
The Life of the Buddha
The Teachings
The Five Precepts Not To kill, Not to steal, Not To
lie, not to misbehave sexually Avoid Drugs
The Four Noble Truths
Karma
No God
Buddhism
• The essential things to know…..
• Are the life & teachings of the BUDDHA.
It
is based on the teachings or dharma of a
man called Siddhartha Gautama who became
known as the Buddha.

He was born in the mountains of the
Himalayas in Nepal.
 Buddhism has spread all over the world but
it is mainly found in Asia.
Buddhism
began about 2,500 years ago.
It is essential that you know the story of the Buddha. They
will always ask a few questions about his life.
People in
Thailand &
Japan and Tibet
are Buddhist.
Buddhism
started in India.
Yet in India there
are few
Buddhists.
Learning
Outcomes; Know
The Story of the
Buddha “essential
learning”
What is it like to be a Buddhist?
• A Buddhist is a person who follows the
teachings of the man called the Buddha.
• The Buddha was a Prince who learned
about the cause of Suffering.
• His father had protected him.
• One day he saw sickness, old age death
& a holy man.
• He gave up worldly life.
• He became an ascetic.
The Story of the Buddha.
Queen Maya dreams of an elephant. This meant the child would
have a good future.
The birth of the
Buddha. He
was born a
Prince. So his
mother and
father were
from a noble
family.
According to
legend when
the Buddha
was born he
could walk and
talk. Most
religious
figures have
extraordinary
births.
Learning outcomes
Discuss
In what ways the Buddha’s Life was
considered special even when he was
so young?
What this means is
that the child was
special. He was set
apart. His life was to
be an example for
others.
It is not likely he
could walk & talk.
This is exaggeration.
In the palace
the Prince’s
father
wanted to protect
him
from seeing
any suffering.
So he was
loved. He was
given lots of
wonderful
things.
He lacked
nothing.
His name was
Siddharta
Gutama.
As the prince grew up he was surrounded with beautiful things
and treats and he lacked nothing. No expense was spared to see
that he lived in total luxury.
Then one day the Prince
went outside the palace.
He wanted
to go
out and see the world.
The Prince goes
outside the Palace
and experiences
suffering for the
first time. He
saw;
Old age
Sickness
Death
A Holy Man Sadu
These events were to have a
strong effect on the Prince.
He was surprised.
He was upset.
He was troubled.
He was disturbed.
This was a life changing moment.He was
filled with doubts and deep misgiving
about life.
This is a separate
incident.
The Prince had
always felt
compassion to living
things . He was upset
when his friend shot
a swan.
REACTION
• The Prince decide to act upon what he had
seen. His reaction was shocking. He reacted
in a surprising way.
He decided to give up his life in the
palace.
He would renounce the world.
He would leave his wife
And family and never
see them again!
The Prince sees his wife and child for the last time.
From our point of
view this would be
seen as being harsh.
What the story is
saying is that it was
profound.
The Prince felt it
necessary to do this.
The complicated
word for an A* would
be renunciation.
The prince left the
Palace for ever. His
body guard
accompanied him as
far as the first few
miles.
The Prince gives
up worldly life.
He cuts his hair.
He fasted. He
put his body
through great
torment. He
becomes an
ascetic.
He was reacting to
a tradition of the
Holy man or Sadu
that existed in
India at this time.
This tradition is
so strong that it
still exists in India.
It might be best to
see the Sadu
power-point now
so that you can
understand what a
holy man did.
The prince
starves himself.
This is the
disciplined life
of an ascetic.
He became so
thin you could
clearly count
his ribs.