Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world it was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, who lived

in northern India from c.560 to c.480 BC. The time of the Buddha was a time of social and religious change, the

development of trade and cities, the breakdown of old tribal traditions, and the rise of many new religious

movements that answered the demands of the times. These movements came from the Brahmanic tradition of

Hinduism but were also reactions against it. Of the new sects, Buddhism was the most successful and eventually

spread throughout India and most of Asia.

Today Buddhism is divided into two main branches. The Theravada, or "Way of the Elders," the more conservative

of the two, it is mainly found in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. The Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle," is more liberal,

it is found mainly in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and among Tibetan peoples, where it is known by its emphasis on

the Buddhist Tantras. In recent times, both branches, as well as Tibetan Buddhism, have gained followers in the

West.

It is almost impossible to tell the size of the Buddhist population today. Statistics are difficult to obtain because

some individuals may have Buddhist beliefs and engage in Buddhist rites while maintaining folk or other religions;

these people may or may not call themselves Buddhists. Nevertheless, the number of Buddhists worldwide is

estimated at more than 300 million.

The matter of what Buddha's original t...

Buddhism

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