What´s Siddhartha Gautama Or Theravada Buddhism?

Buddhism is defined as “a way of finding peace within oneself.” It helps people find the happiness they look for. The founder of this practice is Siddhartha Gautama. He was born in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, Nepal. When he attained nirvana, he was given the name Buddha, or enlightened one. Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince and raised in wealth. He renounced the world at twenty nine years old to look for a solution to suffering. After six years of spiritual discipline he achieved the supreme enlightenment and spent the rest of his life teaching and establishing a community of monks and nuns. Buddhism is practiced all over the world, some places where Buddhism is practiced include; Sri Lanka,Thailand, Japan, Myanmar, Laos, China, Cambodia,
various parts of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Buddhism is also practiced in European countries and the United States of America. It is thought that the Buddhist population of the world is over 500 million.
Buddhism started in Northern India in the 5th century B.C.E. There are three different types of classifications in Buddhism. The first one is, Theravada Buddhism. In this practice the biggest ritual is to use meditation to train the mind, and to help the mind free itself from suffering. This kind of freedom suffering will allow a person to reach the greatest spiritual goal, Nirvana. Theravada Buddhism is the only surviving school from the earliest years of Buddhism. The second type of practice is called, Mahayana Buddhism. This type of Buddhism believes that a person must practice universal compassion. The third type of Buddhism is, Tibetan Buddhism, also called Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana. This type of Buddhism is known to be a type of Mahayana Buddhism, but this type of Buddhism has other teachings, practices, and texts, that are not in in the other type of
Buddhism.
Buddha was not and is not a god, except in Mahayana Buddhism, but was someone who achieved nirvana.
Nirvana is the goal of all Buddhists, which is the ending of all pain and suffering. It is the end of the cycle of birth and death that everyone is acknowledged for reincarnation. In the earliest times of Buddhism, statues of the Buddha were not used. Instead, Buddhist art consisted of images symbolizing the Buddha and his teachings, these include; The Lotus, The Wheel of the Law, The Bodhi tree, The Buddha's footprints, and The Eight Auspicious Symbols. Buddhism consists of multiple sacred texts. One of them is the Pali Tipitaka. This sacred text is the earliest collection of Buddhist teachings. Another sacred text is Mahayana Sutras. Mahayana Sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that began to be put together from the first century B.C.E. The Tibetan Book of the Dead is another sacred text. It describes the stages of death from the Tibetan perspective. It puts the experiences in order and religious opportunities a person goes through in different stages: while dying, at the moment of death, during the fortynine day time period between death and rebirth. To Buddhism, death is not the end of life. It is the end of time a person has in the body they are in at the moment. It is said that a person’s spirits will remain, attaching to a new body and new life. Where the spirits end up depends on the amount of negative and positive actions a person had in their past life.
Buddhism has many rituals. Rituals include bowing. If there is a buddha statue in a believers presence, they bow three times in a row. Another ritual is chanting. Chanting is the uttering of Buddhist teachings. When the believers chant it has to be free of lies, curses, slander, etc. Rituals also include altar offerings. It is a way to show appreciation for the teachings and blessings. Meditation is also another ritual. Meditation is a technique that purifies the mind through the right concentration, and makes them contemplate retrospectively. Lighting Incense is also known as a ritual. It is a gesture of paying their highest respect to the Buddha. Buddhists have certain beliefs, they include the Four Noble Truths, which supplies the truth of suffering, cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the path it takes to end suffering, karma, which is the result of good or bad actions a person takes during their lifetime, and the Eight Fold Path. The Eight Fold Path is a way for following eight parts of the path to achieve spiritual enlightenment and end suffering. As for worshipping, worshipping in a temple isn’t essential for worship, but Buddhists still visit shrines and temples to pay their respects and for meditation. Buddhism is one of the man religions practice in the world. It is a unique and different religion that people are amazed in learning about. It is important to know about some of the multiple religions practiced throughout the world. This is because we have to be familiarized with the belief of others to be able to understand them well.