Buddhism
By: Carson Driggers
Siddhartha Gautama
- Came from a small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains or Nepal
- Born into a ruling family
- Purified his mind of all defilement and reached enlightenment at age 35 and preached Dharma to help other sentient beings to reach enlightenment
Family:
Queen Maya
Siddhartha's Mother
King Śuddhodana
Siddhartha's Father
Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī
Siddhartha's Mother
Expansion
- Did not attempt to start a new religion, just to reform Hinduism
- Thousands followed him
- Spread rapidly, and was very appealing to the poor and powerless
- Spread into Burma, Cambodia, Tibet, Central Asia, Korea, China, and Japan
- 6% of the earth's population practice Buddhism
Ultimate Goal
- To achieve Nirvana
- Nirvana- a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth