Buddhism
Do Now: Copy the Vocabulary into your
Cornell notes.
1. Siddharta Gautama- Founder of Buddhism who was a
Hindu prince
2. Enlightenment- wisdom
3. meditate- thinking deeply about sacred things
4. missionary- People who spread their religious beliefs to
others by teaching and preaching
5. Middle Path- a person should avoid extremes and live a
balanced life
6. Nirvana- ever lasting peace and the end of reincarnation
7. Three Jewels of Buddhism- The Buddha (the teacher),
dharma (the teaching), and sangha (the community of
believers)
8. The Eightfold Path- steps you take in order to reach Nirvana
The Founder
• Siddhartha Gautama credited for founding
Buddhism
• Born in 563 B.C.
Siddhartha Gautama
• Born in the
Brahmin
Caste (he was
a prince)
• He led an
extremely
sheltered life
in the royal
fortress
The Journey…
• At the age 25 he
left the walls of the
palace
• He saw 4 men
– Old man
– Sick man
– Dead man
– Poor man
The Suffering Troubled the
Young Man…
• He decided to change his life to find out
why there was so much pain in the world.
• He gave up his wealth, his family, and his
life!
• For 7 years he wandered the forests of India
looking for
ENLIGHTENMENT.
Enlightenment
• When he found
Enlightenment
(wisdom), the
young prince
became…
Buddha
Teachings of Buddhism
• Buddha meditated to find the answers to the
world’s problems.
• Meditating: is to thinking deeply about sacred
things.
Three Jewels of Buddhism
1. Buddha
(the teacher)
2. dharma
(the teaching)
3. sangha
(the community
of believers)
The Middle Way
Buddhism taught that people can become free
from suffering by giving up desire for wealth,
power, and pleasure.
The Eightfold Path:
the way to reach enlightenment
Nirvana
• By following
Buddha’s
teachings,
people could
end the cycle of
reincarnation
and find
Nirvana, or
lasting peace.
Reincarnation
• Buddhists believe in reincarnation• Different from Hindu belief:
– Buddhists may be reincarnated as many
times as it takes until Enlightenment and
Nirvana are reached.
– Hindus believe in reincarnation as a
means of rising up the caste to reach
moksha. There is the risk of being
reincarnated in a lower caste.
All people are equal…
• Buddha believed
everyone could
find Nirvana.
• He urged monks to
become
missionaries and
spread their beliefs
in Buddhism to
others.
Asoka
• Also spelled Ashoka
• He was Maurya King of
India
• Converted to Buddhism
after seeing the bloodshed
of his battle.
• Buddhism was in its
“Golden Age” during the
Mauryan Empire.
Buddhism Spreads with
Missionaries
• 4th largest Religion in
the world!
• Over 350 million
worshippers
worldwide!
• Mainly in Japan,
China, N. and S.
Korea, Tibet, and
Vietnam.
Step 3 Lesson Complete
• Be sure to save your Cornell notes in your
U:// drive as instructed .
• Then turn in the notes into your teacher’s
“Inbox” in the teacher folder.
• Note to you: your quiz will be over more
than just vocabulary!!!