Buddhism

Buddhism, the religious
Buddhism is a religion based on the teaching of Siddhārtha Gautama, deemed the awaken one, ‘Buddha.’ The Buddhism religion is a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe plainness common in the renunciation movement. He was located in northeastern India. His teaching and account of life was passed down
orally for 400 years after his death among his followers before they committed it to writing. Gautama is estimated to have lived between 486 to 483 BC; however, other believe it was between 411 to 400 BC. According to Gautama, he discovered the path to liberation. He referred to it as the Middle Way. The Middle Way is an insight into emptiness that exceeds any counter-argument of existence. With Buddhas teaches that man could live forever in an eternity in ones mind. The way is realizable only through meditation.
Effectively, Gautama discovered that extreme asceticism is not the way to awakening instead, meditative jhana is the true path. In his first discourse, the Buddha describes in the first account the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the true path to awakening is a moderation in self-mortification and self-indulgence. It is believed that the Buddha met a young girl who gave him food after going for many days hungry. The Buddha was so emaciated that the girl, Sujata believed him to be a spirit who had granted her a wish. After these incident, the Gautama sat under a Bodhi tree where her vowed to never move until he discovered the truth. At the age of 35, Gautama sat under a tree for 49 days meditating after which he realized the truth. After these, he followers referred to him as the Buddha meaning the enlightened one. According to the Buddha, the awakening is a realization of truths among them the cause of suffering and the necessary steps to eliminate it.
After his awakening, the Buddha is said to have deliberated whether to teach others the truth he came across. A man named Brahmā Sahampati convinced him to teach people the truth he had realized. In his teachings, the Buddha describes the ‘Nirvana’ as a perfect state of mind attainable only through meditative jhana. The central teaching of the Buddha is the four truths: suffering, the conditioned arising of suffering, freedom from suffering, and the way to ultimate freedom. The religion emphasizes self, unlike any other religion. It has no central organization or deity. Other religions are in conflict with the Buddhas course only to the extent they cause suffering. The Buddha taught his truth in ways accessing to people from other religions by using their own mode of thoughts. The religion survival throughout history may be attributed to the tendency of the Buddhism followers to interpret the symbol systems and modes of thoughts in other religions as attempts to communicate the Buddhas truth in their own unique way. This is a central doctrine in Buddhism referred to as the skillful means, and was a major contributor to the successful adoption of Buddhism in East Asia and Tibet in the first millennium C.E.
Buddhism, the social aspects
 Buddhist lived in society based on four rigid class structures based on the Dharmashastra of Manu. This was around 200 C.E. the system rest one basic principles: everyone belongs to a particular social class that has specific responsibilities and duties. The Aryan classes are priest, warrior, traders, and servants. There is a fifth class of non-Aryan outcast, responsible for doing the most polluted activities in the society. These divisions reflect an attempt by members of the higher classes to fix their power and status at the expense of those in the lower classes. Members of a particular class can only dine, marry, and perform activities within the class. Two sects of the Buddhism religion developed during the Gupta period around the same time. The two strands are the Theravada and the Mahayana. The Mahayana gained popularity, especially among foreigners in central Asia and China. The goals of the Mahayana Buddha were to help interested people achieve Nirvana through bodhisattva. The Theravada goal was to spread the way of the elders, which includes a monastic community, where the monks live out their lives. The Theravada spread across Burma, Ceylon, and Southeast Asia.
The basic message in Buddhism regardless of the sect is the use of meditation to achieve awakening. Unlike other religions that advocate the worship of spirits to help meet the challenges of life, Buddhism does not disregard the spirits but warns against them because they are fetters in the path to enlightenment. The ideal method for achieving self-liberation is dedicating oneself to a monastic life. The monastic order consists of 227 rules for the monks and some additions for the nuns. Followers of the Buddhism do not necessary have to live in the Monastic community, laypersons can be part of the Buddhism, but they have to adhere to five basic rules. Refrain from sexual misconduct, harming animals, intoxication, stealing, idle talk, and gossip.
Conclusion
The Buddhism religion emphasizes the role ethical behavior and knowledge of self, play part in achieving everlasting happiness. Because of Buddhism attempt to explain other religions mode of thought in terms of the Buddhas teachings, they have wide acceptance and live in harmony with members of other religions throughout the world. Buddhism is gaining increased acceptance, especially in the western society because of its focus on self and the role, one plays in achieving happiness.