BUDDHISM: AN OVERVIEW

Buddhism is an offshoot of Vedanta.  It was founded by Gautama Buddha and is based on the following doctrines.  1. The Four Nobles Truths.  This states that there is personal suffering in the world, that this suffering can be overcome, that there is a prescription for achieving this, and that the prescription is as the Buddha teaches it in The Eightfold Path.

2. Nirvana.  The world of mind and matter is in a state of constant flux.  To withdraw the mind from the flux is to free oneself from suffering and rebirth.  3. The Eightfold Path is how to withdraw from the flux.  The Buddha describes them as right view, right aspiration, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right contemplation.

The two main schools of Buddhism are Hinayana (The Lesser Vehicle) later called Theravada, meaning the Way of the Elders, and Mahayana (The Greater Vehicle).  The ideal of Hinayana is arhathood, sainthood, achieved by ascetic seclusion.  Mahayana, where the teachings of the Buddha were popularized, resulted in the worship of Gautama Buddha as a divine incarnation.  The Buddha, however, did not want to be worshiped, so this did not occur until after his death.