IMPORTANT FIGURES
Siddhartha Gautama
-Siddhartha Gautama was born around 563 and died in the year 483B.C.)
- not any extremely reliable/credible information about Siddhartha Gautama
- Buddha
- founder of buddhism
- means the enlightened one
- lived in Northern India during 500s & 400 B.C
- his followers spread the story of his life
-become important aspect of Buddhism
- in his early life, when he was around 29 years old, He had a series of 4 visions.
The Visions were the following:
*These visions gave him specific ideas of life;
- The visions of old and sick man, and the corpse made him conclude that life consists of aging, sickness, and death.
- The wandering holy man helped him realize that he should leave his wife and his newborn son, in order to find enlightenment, which would free him from suffering.
-Siddhartha Gautama was born around 563 and died in the year 483B.C.)
- not any extremely reliable/credible information about Siddhartha Gautama
- Buddha
- founder of buddhism
- means the enlightened one
- lived in Northern India during 500s & 400 B.C
- his followers spread the story of his life
-become important aspect of Buddhism
- in his early life, when he was around 29 years old, He had a series of 4 visions.
The Visions were the following:
- old man
- sick man
- a corpse
- wandering holy man
*These visions gave him specific ideas of life;
- The visions of old and sick man, and the corpse made him conclude that life consists of aging, sickness, and death.
- The wandering holy man helped him realize that he should leave his wife and his newborn son, in order to find enlightenment, which would free him from suffering.
The Dalai Lama
- leader of an important spiritual line of Tibetan Buddhist monks named:
The Gelugpa/Yellow Hat order
- The Gelugpa is one of the numerous lines of Buddhist monks in Tibet.
-used to govern Tibet until 1959, which was when China took over Tibet.
-have been 14 Dalai Lamas in history of Buddhism
The Gelugpa/Yellow Hat order
- The Gelugpa is one of the numerous lines of Buddhist monks in Tibet.
-used to govern Tibet until 1959, which was when China took over Tibet.
-have been 14 Dalai Lamas in history of Buddhism
TYPE OF WORSHIP
---Home & Temple ---
Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple.
At home, Buddhists will often have a room for their shrine. There will be a statue of Buddha, candles, and an incense burner which is also used for meditation.
Buddhist temples come in many shapes. The best known are the pagodas of China and Japan.Another typical Buddhist building is the Stupa, which is a stone structure built over what are thought to be relics of the Buddha, or over copies of the Buddha's teachings.
Buddhist temples are designed to symbolise the five elements:
Buddhists can worship both at home or at a temple.
At home, Buddhists will often have a room for their shrine. There will be a statue of Buddha, candles, and an incense burner which is also used for meditation.
Buddhist temples come in many shapes. The best known are the pagodas of China and Japan.Another typical Buddhist building is the Stupa, which is a stone structure built over what are thought to be relics of the Buddha, or over copies of the Buddha's teachings.
Buddhist temples are designed to symbolise the five elements:
- Fire
- Air
- Earth, symbolised by the square base
- Water
- Wisdom, symbolised by the pinnacle at the top
This picture above is an example of one of the Buddhist's shrine room at their homes.
----Forms of Worship----Worshippers may sit on the floor barefoot facing an image of Buddha and chanting. They will listen to monks chanting from religious texts, perhaps accompanied by instruments, and take part in prayers.
Mantras: a word, a syllable, a phrase or a short prayer that is spoken once or repeated over and over again (either aloud or in a person's head) and that is thought to have a profound spiritual effect on the person. They are also verses in Sanskrit language used to pray for Hindu god and goddess.
A very well known mantra is the mantra of Avalokiteshvara (om mani padme hum). This is means "Behold! The jewel in the lotus!", where the phrase cannot be completely translated but it is important because of the richness of meaning and symbolism it contains. Physical prayer aids: Prayer beads are common to mark the number of repetitions of a mantra or how many times you chanted the mantra. Mantras may also be displayed on a prayer wheel and repeated by spinning the wheel, or written on a prayer flag where the prayer is repeated each time the flag moves in the wind.
Prayer wheels can be tiny things that a Buddhist carries with them or enormous objects up to nine feet high found in monasteries. These physical prayer devices are used very commonly in Tibetan Buddhist communities.
Mantras: a word, a syllable, a phrase or a short prayer that is spoken once or repeated over and over again (either aloud or in a person's head) and that is thought to have a profound spiritual effect on the person. They are also verses in Sanskrit language used to pray for Hindu god and goddess.
A very well known mantra is the mantra of Avalokiteshvara (om mani padme hum). This is means "Behold! The jewel in the lotus!", where the phrase cannot be completely translated but it is important because of the richness of meaning and symbolism it contains. Physical prayer aids: Prayer beads are common to mark the number of repetitions of a mantra or how many times you chanted the mantra. Mantras may also be displayed on a prayer wheel and repeated by spinning the wheel, or written on a prayer flag where the prayer is repeated each time the flag moves in the wind.
Prayer wheels can be tiny things that a Buddhist carries with them or enormous objects up to nine feet high found in monasteries. These physical prayer devices are used very commonly in Tibetan Buddhist communities.