Lots of people have misconceptions about Buddhism. Here are a few facts many people manage to get wrong.

1) Siddhartha Gautama never traveled beyond India but his teachings did. Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in Ancient India who founded Buddhism. You should understand that he would have been a Vedic Brahman (Hindu by today’s standards) a great number of his ideas were originally section of the ancient traditional religions of the local historical period. He is thought to were living from around 563 BCE to around 483 BCE as they is assumed to own died at 4 decades old. He traveled and taught over the Ganges River Valley starting near his home, near precisely what is now Nepal.

2) He or she is also known as Shakyamuni Buddha, or Prince of the Shakyas, as a result of Ssakya Mountain Range that has been his father’s (King Suddhodana) kingdom. He was created a prince but decided to turned into a holy man. He spent my youth in wealth and shielded from the exterior but became inquisitive about what people’s lives outside the palace might be like. Many legends surround his birth, but everything is in fact known is the fact that his mother was likely to have ended in childbirth or soon (days) afterwards. His father was warned shortly after his birth which he would be a great military leader or perhaps a great spiritual leader. His father, the king, had his own ideas of what was proper for Siddhartha, but, at about 29 yrs . old, with the help his charioteer, he escaped the palace walls and ventured outside to discover what life was like for other people. He witnessed the consequences of old age, sickness, and saw a corpse, making them mindful of death. Finally, he saw an ascetic. Siddharha’s charioteer explained that the ascetic was person who had renounced the world and sought release from anxiety about death and suffering.

3) Buddhism began by Siddhartha as a way to end the suffering (dissatisfaction) of most human beings. He realized the fact we are all impermanent and decided to go on a spiritual search for enlightenment. He studied with all the best teachers of faith and philosophy that they might find at the time and learned how to meditate but decided that somehow wasn’t enough for him.

4) The guts Way: He still had much to learn and ventured into the ascetics of the time to adhere to but also in time found that the extremes they endured weren’t doing work for him. He followed their strategies to self inflicting pain and enduring it, fasting until he was weak, and holding his breath. This didn’t satisfy him because he decided this is merely another ego inflating way of self-gratification, proving one’s self through self-abuse. He chose to turn from other strict abeyance to rules about starving yourself and eating unclean things, as they realized however need strength to remain his quest, so he developed what is known as “the middle way”. When his disciples saw that he wasn’t following a way they thought necessary, they decided to leave him. He left and chose to sit within sacred fig tree until he had discovered a better solution. The tree was that which was considered a sacred fig tree near Bodh Gaya, the tree being named later, the Bodhi Tree. From Wikipedia * “…The Bodhi Tree, often known as Bo (through the Sinhalese Bo), was a large and incredibly old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna within the Indian condition of Bihar), this agreement SiddhÄÂrtha Gautama, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later called Gautama Buddha, has been said to possess achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi….”

5) His Awakening: In the deep state of meditation (samadhi) for several days he became enlightened and when he rose from his deep meditation, he stated that he had some techniques to the questions he had sought. He imparted the wisdom in the four noble truths along with the eightfold path which come in order for a reason. Devoid of the previous, the rest will be impossible to accomplish. 6)The 4 Noble Truths

1) Suffering (dukkha) exists. (All humans suffer during birth, pain, sickness, and death.

2) The main cause of suffering is desire. We all have desires which might be either selfish or unrealistic. That is considered “delusional”.

3) You will find there’s approach to reach cessation of suffering.

4) The cessation of suffering comes through practicing the eightfold path. (Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.)

7) The Eightfold Path

1) Right View Wisdom

2) Right Intention Wisdom

3) Right Speech Ethical Conduct

4) Right Action Ethical Conduct

5) Right Livelihood Ethical Conduct

6) Right Effort Mental Development

7) Right Mindfulness Mental Development

8) Right Concentration/Meditation Mental Development

8) Buddhist Principles: By striving towards the right thing one lessens selfish desire, therefore reaching a state of happiness internally that is not dependent on conditional circumstances. Mindfulness in all things is a key ingredient. If one understands that any tangible thing that we desire is impermanent and ceases to be “attached” to these things that we cannot keep, then one becomes more at peace. We can not become attached to any views since we will become passionate about this and when circumstances change, our view will no longer be important or pertinent.

9) Buddhism is not a self help program: Beware of those who call themselves a master or try to sell you “enlightenment”. There are many books and centers out there which try to use words like enlightenment” that is something that actually has to be attained personally, it can’t be given or taught in a paint by the numbers program that promises some things. First, the word enlightenment is not used in any of the texts from Siddhartha Gautama was concerned that people might rush into this without understanding and this would lead to repeating traditional ceremonies without understanding, which will lead to disappointment because of the lack of benefit from practice. Do not come to an understanding of Buddhism lightly or quickly, take your time and be sure. This will take investigation. Investigate completely, any facets that you don’t understand until it makes sense. Also, practice with others and a good teacher are the best method of learning.

10) Buddhism IS A RELIGION: It disturbs some Buddhists that some people feel that Buddhism is just a philosophy. Some people feel there has to be a main book or one religious deity to worship in order for a religion to be real. Most modern practitioners of Buddhism see that all religions are filled with mythology and they understand that most deities and mythological objects in Buddhism are analogies for science and nature or our own mental make up that early man could not explain. Some practitioners, especially in Asia, still believe in the physical existence of some of these objects and deities. We have to remember that early Buddhist teachings came from Siddhartha Gautama in India, who was a Vedic Brahman. It then traveled across Asia to China where it adapted to Confucianism, which relied strongly on Filial Piety. It then traveled through to Japan, where it adapted to Shinto, which is still practiced side by side with Buddhism in Japan. Buddhism was created to adapt to all other learning. Siddhartha Gautama likened it to “a raft to get to the other side” in a parable he taught. “The Parable of The Raft ” When speaking to his followers Gautama Buddha said, “When you come to a river and the current is too fast to allow you to swim across and there is no bridge then you might decide to build a raft. If after crossing the river you would have some choices as to what to do with the raft. a) You could tie it to the bank to be used by someone else later. b) You could set it afloat for someone else to find. c) You could say to yourself, “What a wonderful raft”, and then pick it up and carry it around on top of your head from now on. Which would be proper use of the raft? Buddhism is practiced in most countries around the world, although Buddhists make up only about 7% of the world’s religious population. Only a few modern Buddhist sects use an evangelical approach, trying to convert everyone around them. Most Buddhists refrain from trying to propagate their religion to anyone who doesn’t seek it.

For more info about Brahman please visit site: check here.