Essay About First Years Of His Journey And Purpose Of The First Council

A Brief History of Buddhism
Essay title: A Brief History of Buddhism
Buddhism is one of the major religions of the world. It was founded
by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) in Northeastern India. It arose as a monastic
movement during a time of Brahman tradition. Buddhism rejected important views
of Hinduism. It did not recognize the validity of the Vedic Scriptures, nor
the sacrificial cult which arose from it. It also questioned the authority
of the priesthood. Also, the Buddhist movement was open to people of all castes,
denying that a persons worth could be judged by their blood.
The religion
of Buddhism has 150 to 350 million followers around the world. The wide range
is due to two reasons. The tendency for religious affiliation to be nonexclusive
is one. The other is the difficulty in getting information from Communist
countries such as China. Its followers have divided into two main branches:
Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada, the way of the elders, is dominant in India,
Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Mahayana, the greater vehicle,
refers to the Theravada as Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. It is dominant in
India, Tibet, Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia.
Siddhartha
Guatama was born in Kapilivastu. His father was the ruler of the small kingdom
near the Indian/Nepal border. As a child, his future was foretold by sages.
They believed that he would someday be a fellow sage or leader of a great
empire. He led a very pampered and sheltered life until the age of twenty-nine.
It was at that time that he realized that he had led an empty life. He renounced
his wealth and embarked on a journey to seek truth, enlightenment, and the
cycle of rebirths.
In the first years of his journey, Siddhartha Guatama
practiced yoga and became involved in radical asceticism. After a short time,
he gave up that life for one of a middle path between indulgence and self-denial.
He meditated under a bo tree until he reached true enlightenment by rising
through a series of higher states of consciousness. After realizing this religious
inner truth, he went through a time of inner struggle. Renaming himself Buddha
(meaning enlightened one), he wandered from place to place, preaching, spreading
his teachings by word of mouth. He also gained disciples, who were grouped
into a monastic community known as a sangha.
As he neared his death, Buddha
refused a successor. He told his followers to work hard to find their salvation.
After his death, it was decided that a new way to keep the communitys unity
and purity was needed, since the teachings of Buddha were spoken only. To
maintain peace, the monastic order met to decide on matters of Buddhist doctrines
and practice. Four of these meetings are considered to be the Four Major Councils.
first major council was presided over by Mahakasyapa, a Buddhist monk. The
purpose of the first council was to preach and agree on Buddhas teachings
and monastic discipline.
The second major council supposedly met at Vaisali,
one hundred years after the first. The purpose of this council was to answer
the ten questionable acts of the monks of the Vajjian Confederacy. The use
of money, drinking wine, and other irregularities