A Concise History Of Buddhism Buddhism was begun by the adherents of Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563-483 BC). He was born into a Hindu family of the kshatriya caste in what is now called Nepal. At the age of 29, he left his wife and young son and went in search of enlightenment. He achieved enlightenment some time later while sitting under a bodhi tree near Patna. After 49 days of rapture and withstanding temptations (Mara), He, now called Buddha, formed a group of monks and went forth to teach the word. After 45 years of teaching their philosophy of enlightenment Buddha died and reached Nirvana, the state in which 'ideas and consciousness cease to be'. One of the most central concepts to Buddhists is the Tipitaka (the 'Three Baskets'), which is a record of the Buddha's doctrines as set down by His early followers after his death. The writings in these 'three baskets' tell the story of Buddha's life (Buddha); record his laws (Dharma); and his guidelines for setting up and maintaining a monastic order (Sangha). Buddhists believe in reincarnation and the wheel of life in a comparable manner to Hindus. They also believe that this cycle of life, death and rebirth may be broken by attaining enlightenment. Enlightenment can be gained by adherence to the Four Noble Truths. Life is impermanent despite the cycle of life, death and rebirth and can only produce suffering (dukka) because of the pursuit of earthly desires. Suffering and desire may only be overcome by attaining Nirvana, which can be attained by following the Eightfold Path, otherwise known as the 'Middle Way'. The Middle Way consists of: right belief, thought, speech, action, livelihood, work, mindfulness and concentration. These make up the core of Buddhist ethics. A hallmark of Buddhism is the monastic order. Men may be monks for a few years or for life. There is also a female monastic order. In some sects, boys go into a monastery for a period of between a few weeks and a few months as part of their passage into adulthood. Boys in Thailand are expected to be monks for several weeks before they eventually be married. Monks live an austere life in monasteries or temples. Every village has a temple in much the same way as western villages have a church, but every temple attempts to maintain a population of at least nine monks, which is thought to be the perfect number for some of their duties like blessing a house or carrying out a wedding ceremony. Buddhist monks live on charity given by the local villagers. In Thailand the young monks walk the streets in the early morning collecting donations of food, which has to be eaten before midday, after which they might not eat. Monks are not allowed any contact with women at all. They may not even sit next to them on a bus or give the fare to a female bus conductress.
Buddhist temples are primarily for individual contemplation and meditation. They are open to anyone twenty-four hours a day and people use them to gain respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Group prayer meetings are a lot less common a characteristic of Buddhism than they are in Judaism, Christianity, Islam or even Hinduism. Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with Hindu religious beliefs. If you want to know more go to What is Religious Belief?