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The Buddha
Dharma - Pali: Dhamma, "the teachings of the awakened one"
is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a
practical philosophy, and arguably a form of psychology.
Buddhism focuses on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Pali:
Gotama Buddha, who lived on the Indian subcontinent in or
around the fifth century BCE Buddhism spread throughout the
subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's
passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East
Asia over the next two millennia.
Today,
Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions:
Theravāda, Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna.
Buddhism continues to attract followers
worldwide, and it is considered a major world religion.
According to one source, "World estimates for Buddhists vary
between 235 and 550 million, with most around 380 million."
However, other sources give approximately 710 million
adherents. Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the
world behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional
Chinese religion, respectively. Buddhism is the
fourth-largest organised religion in the world, and the
monks' order Sangha is amongst the oldest organisations on
earth
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When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally
considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of
reality through years of spiritual cultivation,
investigation of the various religious practices of his
time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is
called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" more commonly called
"Enlightenment". Any person who has become awakened from the
"sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature
of reality is called a Buddha.
Gautama
Buddha is said to have been only the latest of many of these;
there were other Buddhas before him and there will be others
in the future. According to Gautama Buddha, any person can
follow his example and become enlightened through the study
of his words "Dharma" and putting them into practice, by
leading a virtuous, moral life, and purifying the mind. |
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