While Hinduism was started around the Indus, Buddhism has its roots near the Ganga. It was at Sarnath, near Varanasi, that Siddh?rtha Gautama, called Buddha, preached his first sermon. It is said that he swam across the Ganga?s great width when he was 79 years old.
Accounts of the life of the Buddha relate that on one occasion he and his disciples were in a forest. He picked up a handful of leaves and said to his disciples: ?What I have taught you is comparable to the leaves in my hand, what I have not taught you is comparable to the amount of leaves in the forest.? The implication, of course, was that the Buddha had taught only a fraction of what he knew. However, there is one important omission?Gautama the Buddha had next to nothing to say about God; neither did he ever claim to be God. In fact, it is said that he told his disciples, ?If there is a God, it is inconceivable that He would be concerned about my day-to-day affairs,? and ?there are no gods who can or will help man.?
However 200 years earlier the prophet Isaiah wrote;
(Isaiah 41:10) Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not gaze about, for I am your God. I will fortify you. I will really help you. I will really keep fast hold of you with my right hand of righteousness.?
(Isaiah 41:13) For I, Jehovah your God, am grasping your right hand, the One saying to you, ?Do not be afraid. I myself will help you.?
Siddhartha existed some 500 years before Christ. read the story you'll see a lot of similarities between him and the Christ story.
Dani: you're an idiot. Buddha wasn't 400 pounds. and there was more than one Buddha. the one that started Buddhism (Siddhartha) probably weighed well under a hundred pounds considering he was an ascetic.
How can you learn self control from a 400 pound man?
Scarcely known outside Asia at the turn of the 20Th century, Buddhism today has assumed the role of a world religion. In fact, many people in the West are quite surprised to find Buddhism thriving right in their own neighborhood. Much of this has come about as a result of the international refugee movement. Sizable Asian communities have established themselves in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and other places. As more and more immigrants put down roots in their new land, they also bring along their religion. At the same time, more of the people in the West are coming face-to-face with Buddhism for the first time. This, along with the permissiveness and spiritual decline in the traditional churches, has caused some people to become converts to the ?new? religion.?2?Timothy 3:1,?5.
Little, if anything, is known about him for sure. Tradition says that he was named Siddh?rtha Gautama, that he was a prince, and that he was born about 600 years before the birth of Christ in the northern Indian kingdom of the Sakya. He was called Sakyamuni (sage of the Sakya tribe) and Tathagata, a title of uncertain meaning. Most likely you will recognize him only by his better-known title, the Buddha.
Gautama was raised in palatial surroundings, but at 29 he suddenly became aware of the misery around him. He wanted an explanation, not unlike people today who sincerely wonder why wickedness and suffering exist. Leaving his wife and infant son, he fled to the desert, where for six years he lived the life of an ascetic. He lay on thorns and for a time existed on a single grain of rice a day. But this brought no enlightenment.
Now about 35, Gautama decided upon a more moderate course, one he called the Middle Way, or Path. He vowed to remain seated under a fig tree until enlightenment was attained. Finally, after a night of visions, he felt his search had been rewarded. Thenceforth he was known as the Buddha, meaning ?enlightened one.? But Gautama did not claim a monopoly on the title. It must therefore always be used with an article, a Buddha or, in Gautama?s case, the Buddha.
The Way to Liberation
The Hindu gods Indra and Brahma are said to have begged the Buddha to tell his newly found truths to others. He set out to do so. Although retaining Hinduism?s tolerant attitude that all religions have merit, the Buddha disagreed with its caste system and its emphasis on animal sacrifices. He rejected its claim that the Hindu Vedas were scriptures of divine origin. And while not denying that God might possibly exist, he did rule out God as being a Creator.
In the middle of the third century?B.C.E., King A?oka, whose empire embraced most of the Indian subcontinent, did much to popularize Buddhism. He strengthened its missionary aspects by sending missionaries to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and possibly to other countries also. During the first centuries of the Common Era, Buddhism spread throughout China. From there it spread to Japan by way of Korea. By the sixth and seventh centuries?C.E., it could be found in all parts of east and southeast Asia. Today, there are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide.
Even prior to King A?oka?s day, Buddhism had been on the move. ?By the end of the fourth century B.C., Buddhist missionaries were found in Athens,? writes E.?M.?Layman. And he adds that after Christianity was founded, its early missionaries were confronted with Buddhist doctrine everywhere they went. In fact, when Catholic missionaries first went to Japan, they were mistaken for a new Buddhist sect. How could this be?
Apparently the two religions had much in common. According to historian Durant, things like ?the veneration of relics, the use of holy water, candles, incense, the rosary, clerical vestments, a liturgical dead language, monks and nuns, monastic tonsure and celibacy, confession, fast days, the canonization of saints, purgatory and masses for the dead.? He adds that these things ?seem to have appeared in Buddhism first.? In fact, Buddhism was said to be ?five centuries in advance of the Roman Church in the invention and use of all the ceremonies and forms common to both religions.?
Explaining how these similarities developed, author Layman hints at a common origin. He writes: ?By the time of the Christian era .?.?. pagan influences had become apparent in Buddhist forms of worship. .?.?. Pagan influences probably were [also] responsible for some of the worship practices which developed in the Christian church.?
For more information please visit WNW.watchtower.org
The Buddha lived between 563 BC and 483 BC.
If you want more details refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buddha
Little bit variation in his birth date can vary which can be verified in above web site.
He is the third Buddha and because of him only Buddhism got world popularity.
Buddhi in many of the Indian languages means Conscious only and whoever develop their conscious fully and purified themselves they are all Buddha only.
When did Buddhism originate ?
