Buddhism 3
Buddhism is probably the most tolerant religion in the world, as its teachings can coexist with any other religion's. However, this is not a characteristic of other religions. The Buddhist teaching of God is neither agnostic nor vague, but clear and logical. Buddhism was created by Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in the sixth century B.C. in what is now modern Nepal. Siddhartha grew up living the extravagant life of a young prince. His father was Suddhodana and was the ruler of the Sakya people. According to custom, he married a young girl named Yasodhara at the age of sixteen. His father had ordered that he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out into ...
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From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance rather than extremism. He called this path the Middle Way.
"Devotion to the pleasures of sense, a low
practice of villagers, a practice unworthy, unprofitable, the way of the world [on one
hand]; and [on the other] devotion to self- mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable. By avoiding these two extremes
the Tathagata [or Buddha] has gained knowledge
of that middle path which giveth vision, which
giveth knowledge, which causeth calm, special knowledge, enlightenment, Nibbana [or Nirvana]." (Smart 236)
That night, Siddhartha sat under the bodhi tree and meditated until dawn. He purified his mind of all evil thoughts and attained Enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Enlightened ...
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