World Religion

p I . INTRODUCTIONBuddhism is a major military personnel pietism , founded in north-eastern India and based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama , who is known as the Buddha or Enlightened One (Humphreys , 1989 . It spread rapidly throughout the globe of its birth . Missionaries dispatched by King Ashoka introduced the religion to southern India and to the north-west part of the subcontinent it is a reform religion that had human founders , and their plaza teachings set out paths to salvation that have no unavoidableness of mythology , nevertheless , developed their own mythologies under the influence of Hinduism (Ions , 1968It has collar fundamentals , they are being called Triratna or Triple stamping ground , these triple , the Buddha himself , the dharma (doctrine , and the sangha (monastic community , are regarded as the sustaining pillars of the religion , the three jewels (the meaning of Triratna in Sanskrit . Together they offer the hope of heaven for believers and are the subject of a traditional formula , To the Buddha for resort hotel I go to the dharma for bema I go to the sangha for refuge I go (LaFleur , 1988Buddhism began with the teachings of the historical Buddha and was propagated through the community of disciples . Buddhism quickly developed distinctive direction , it constantly grew by accretion without discarding earlier teachings , later developments were added and now a major world religion . Buddhism is divided into two major branches known to their respective(prenominal) followers as Theravada , the Way of the Elders , and Mahayana , the Great Vehicle (Lester , 1987 . It is exhausting to estimate the continuing influence of Buddhism . It has been significant not exactly when in India but also in Sri Lanka , Thailand , Cambodia , Burma , and Laos where Theravada has been dominant Mahayana has had its great impact in China , Japan , Taiwan , Tibet , Nepal , Mongolia , Korea , and Vietnam , as well as in India . The number of Buddhistics worldwide has been estimated at between 150 and 300 million .

The reasons for such a range are twofold : throughout much of Asia sacred affiliation has tended to be non-exclusive and Buddhism has been able to adapt itself to many incompatible local religious and cultural traditions (Ling , 1972II . BODYBUDDHISM AS A RELIGIONThe practiced of the religion Buddhism is divided into two major branches known as Theravada , the Way of the Elders , and Mahayana , the Great Vehicle . Theravada claims to perpetuate the true teachings and practices of the Buddha , though its great rival , Mahayana Buddhism makes the same claim (Lu , 1971 . The Theravada school traces its stock from the original sangha , or monastic community , which archetypical followed the Buddha (Morgan , 1987 , and reveres as its canonical text the Pali texts of the Tripitaka (Three Baskets , the first great compendium of Buddhist scriptures . Theravada tends towards doctrinal conservatism and cautious interpretation of its canon . Theravada was the only tradition of the original Eighteen Schools of early Buddhism to survive from the first centuries after the Buddha s death . It kept its identity while opposite early sects died out or mutated into Mahayana Buddhism . In around the 10th...If you indispensableness to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay

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