Pd1+Buddhism+A

What is Buddhism?
=** Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world. **=

Who was the founder of this religion, and in what year was it founded?
= The founder of Buddhism is Siddharta Gautama, an indian prince. Over 2,000 years ago, Siddharta reached a spititual enlightenment, and began teaching others how to reach the goal of Buddhists. Originally, his teachings were passed on orally, and this manner spread throughout parts of Asia. **Who are the religious leaders of Buddhism?** There aren't any religious leaders. =

What is the place of worship of this religion?
=** The Buddhists practice their religion in temples. **=

What are the sacred writings of this religion, and what do they contain?
The sacred writings are found in the Pali Canon. There are three parts of it;

The buddhists practice their religion by following the middle way, or the eight fold path, to do this, Buddhists have strict rules of moderation to follow. Some religious festivals for Buddhists is; Buddhist New Year, Elephant Festival, Vesak, Festival of Floating Bowls, and Sangha Day. Those are just a few of the religious celebrations for Buddhists. Symbols of this religion is Buddahs footprint- symbolize the bodiy occurence of the lord, Stupa- meaning is "heap", square: earth, circle: water, conical portion: fire, crecent: moon, air: dissolving point, circular disc: space.

= =

Over time, the teachings were written down, but as over four hundred years had passed since Gautama Buddha’s death, it is unclear how strong the connection is between the written Pali Canon and his original teachings. Regardless, the Pali Canon is still often called the Word of Buddha, but this is obviously not in the literal sense as the Canon also contains works from more modern disciples.

The traditional Pali Canon belongs to the Southern Buddhist, or //Theravada//, tradition of Buddhism. Other branches of Buddhism, particularly the //Mahayana Buddhists//, feel the Pali Canon is somewhat equivocal to the //Old Testament// of the Christian Bible, but not all feel that way. Some give the Pali Canon equal status with other, more recent interpretations and commentaries.

The traditional Pali Canon is divided into three parts called //pikatas//. Roughly translated, this means basket, and as there are three sections, the Canon is often referred to as the //tipitaka//, or three baskets. The term basket is thought to indicate a collection or carrier, as these categories are collections of various commentaries and subcommentaries.

Vinaya Pitaka
The Vinaya Pitaka is the first section of the Pali Canon and is heavily concentrated on the code of ethics to be followed by monks and nuns of the Buddhist religion. The rules in this section are often preceded by stories of each rule’s origin and the meaning of Buddha’s declaration on a particular issue. According to the stories contained in the Vinaya Pitaka, the rules were developed as necessary by Buddha in regards to the needs and behaviors of his followers.

Sutta Pitaka
The term Sutta Pitaka translates as a basket of threads, and contains accounts of Buddha’s teachings. This outlook of the Pali Canon is considered authentic by all fact of Buddhism, although other branches might call the section by a different name. The Sutta Pitaka is arranged in five subdivisions, or nikayas, and the first four are easily understood prose adaptations of stories with a standard formula. The fifth section is a compilation of miscellaneous prose or verse works.

Abhidhamma Pitaka
The third, and final, category is the Abhidhamma Pitaka, or higher dhamma. This section contains the basic elements of the Sutta Pitaka reworked into a systemic description of the nature of the mind and matter. There are seven books in this collection focusing only on the underlying principals drawn from the previous pitaka.