NATIBuddhism-Paris

= = =** Buddhism **=

** __Who Founded This Religion?__ **
The founder of this religion was Siddhartha Gautama, or the buddha. In the year of 528.B.C while sitting under a tree known today as a bodhi. He was once a young prince who did not admire the palace life and wanted to achieve spiritual enlightenment. So one day he left the palace and came across 3 people, one who was sick, one who was old, and one corpse. It was then that he realized that he needed to obtain spiritual peace so that other people could follow in his footsteps. Devaputra Mara, chief of all demons, summoned many distractions to try to disturb Siddhartha's concentration, but he got into deeper meditation and imagined the deadly distractions as flowers or rainbows. Then he overcame the demons and finally obtained spiritual peace. He is also known as, "Conqueror Buddha," for overpowering the chief.

** Who are the Religious Leaders? **
The buddha is the main religious leader also known as the "enlightened one" who was the first to obtain spiritual peace. Today many people follow in the foot steps of the buddha and try to obtain the enlightenment that the buddha had.

** What is the Place of Worship? **
The place of worship is in a temple or at home and they bow to a shrine or statue.

** __Where did This Religion Begin? Where is it Practiced Today?__ **
Buddhism began in northern Asia and is now practiced in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambonia, Laos, Japan, China, India, Pakistan, Bangledesh, and Nepal. Although, it is one of the smallest religions, Buddhism is still practiced all over the world today. Many people enjoy and marvel at the practices of buddhism.

What are the Main Beliefs of This Religion?

 * The main beliefs are being kind and loving to all people and achieving spiritual enlightenment. **

** Does This Religion Have Gods? **
No, this religion does not believe in gods or goddesses. They only believe in life after death (the life cycle) birth, life, death, and rebirth. and they are constantly trying to break the cycle by achieving spiritual peace.

The sacred writings are called Sutras. It contains the actual words from the buddha himself that he had said before achieving spiritual bliss.
 * What are the Sacred Writings? **

** What are the Religious Practices? **
There are four noble truths that people must study and practice 1) Dukka: all worldly life is unsatisfactory. 2) Samudaya: the cause of suffering is attachment and desire rooted by ignorance. 3) Nrodna: the path to end suffering is Nirvana. 4) Marga: the path that leads out of suffering is the eight-fold path. the eight-fold path is... - right understanding - right thought - right speech - right action - right livelihood - right effort - right mindfulness - right concentration

Religious Festivals
Moon days are one of the religious festivals for the buddhism religion. They worship a shrine once a month, each month. Also, Siddhartha was born on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month and that is the day they worship him.

the main religious symbol is...
The Eight Spoked Wheel- representing the different teachings of the Eight-fold Path.