Buddhism Explained

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Buddhism, the religion probably most associated with peace, tranquility, and bald guys. One

of the oldest surviving religions Buddhism started 2500 years ago in India and is now

the world's fourth-largest religion. With over 520 million followers, or 7% of humanity.

Almost all located within this circle. And if you live outside of this circle you might

not know a lot about Buddhist beliefs.

So what is Buddhism? Who is The Buddha? And Is life an endless cycle of pain, misery,

disappointment and death!!! WELL, LET'S FIND OUT.

INTRO MUSIC, which slaps

So who was The Buddha, well, let's travel 2500 years into the past.

Around 480BCE the Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama in modern day Nepal, right

here.

Siddhartha's dad was a powerful ruler of a Hindu republic. But due to a prophecy he was

terrified that Prince Siddartha would become a religious leader instead of taking his place

on the throne. To avoid the prophecy he hid human suffering from Siddartha. Siddartha

lived in fancy palaces, had the finest clothes and jewelry, ate and drank what he pleased,

and married a beautiful bride. His dad fired sick, ugly, aging servants and no one could

speak to Siddartha about any of life's miseries, like death. This could obviously never backfire.

Siddartha felt a deep sense of dissatisfaction with this luxurious life. At 29 years old

after finally being allowed to go on a trip outside the palace, Siddartha saw an old man,

a sick man, and finally a corpse. He spiralled into an existential crisis. He thought why

do anything in life when old age, sickness, and death would eventually get everyone.

ANYWAAAAY! On another visit outside Siddhartha came across a homeless monk that had given

up all possessions. This guy seemed pretty wise and happy. So Siddhartha decided he would

abandon his princely life and become a wandering monk in search of an answer to life's suffering.

Siddartha spent the next six years learning from India's greatest yoga and meditation

masters. He joined a group of hermits in the forest that practice extreme fasting and intense

meditation. But after six years of eating nothing but seeds that had blown into his

lap Siddhartha was little more than a living skeleton. He realised he wasn't any closer

to an answer to suffering. In fact the starvation had clouded his thinking. HE WAS EVEN FURTHER

AWAY FROM AN ANSWER THAN WHEN HE STARTED.

Something clicked. The path to Enlightenment lay between the extremes of a Prince's life

of luxury and a hermit's life of starvation. So Siddartha would have to follow a Middle-Way.

And so he began eating again. Reenergised, Siddartha sat beneath a tree and vowed to

meditate until he found an answer to human suffering.

In a deep state of meditation Siddartha sat there for days. He realised that by ending

desire, he could end suffering. We only suffer because we want things to be a certain way.

His fear of aging, sickness and death slipped away. He realised all things are always changing