FIND OUT MORE. Southern Asia 266 –267 • Hinduism 286
Society and Beliefs^289
Buddhism was developed in India about 2,500 years ago
by Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha (“the enlightened
one”). He reinterpreted Hindu ideas about. KARMA
and rebirth to show how suffering could be avoided. His
teachings spread throughout eastern Asia.
WHAT IS NIRVANA?
Nirvana is enlightenment, which means freedom
from the cycle of rebirth and suffering, and is
imagined as a blissful, everlasting state. This is
reached when a person is completely free from
greed, hatred, and ignorance, and attachments
to the human world. Unlike
Hindus, Buddhists do not
believe in an everlasting
individual soul.
Karma refers to the idea that a person’s good or bad actions have
consequences in this and future lives. Buddhists believe that the
inequality of mankind is the result of karma accumulated over
many lives, but that it is always open to change.
DO BUDDHISTS HAVE SACRED BUILDINGS?
Many Buddhists visit temples or shrines to pay
homage to Buddha or ask for his help. The oldest style
of Buddhist shrine is called a stupa (a bell-shaped
mound) and holds holy relics. Chinese and Japanese
shrines are multi-storeyed towers, known as pagodas.WHAT IS MEDITATION FOR?
The Buddha is believed to have found nirvana
(enlightenment) while meditating under a bodhi tree.
Meditation involves emptying the mind of all
thoughts and distractions in order to achieve inner
peace and greater understanding.4 ENLIGHTENED BUDDHA
Many statues of Buddha capture
his enlightenment and usually
show him sitting cross-legged
or lying on his side. This 30-m
(98 ft) high statue is one of four
at Kyaikpun pagoda in Bago,
Myanmar (formerly known
as Burma).TIBETAN PRAYER WHEEL 3
The wheel contains
hundreds of mantras
(short prayers) written
on a paper scroll.
Spinning the wheel
releases these
mantras into
the world.
KARMA
1 MANDALA
A mandala is an image of the
heavenly realm used to help
focus meditation. Monks made
this mandala over many months
by sprinkling coloured sand on
the ground. They made it for a
young monk’s initiation ritual and
will destroy it at the end.1 BUDDHIST MONKS
These young monks from Thailand wear distinctive
saffron-coloured robes and live in a monastic
community called the Sangha. Monks and nuns may
start their training as early as five years old.Buddhism
1 BUDDHA’S FOOTPRINTS
This relief sculpture shows
Buddha’s footprints on a pillar at
the Great Stupa of Sanchi, India,
built by King Ashoka.
Buddhism