Ten Facts About Buddhism

1. Buddhism gets its name from a man known by his12. - Panna: wisdom.
followers as the Buddha, or the awaken one. He was13. Buddhism has spread through two main schools or
born in a princely family in a region of Northern Indiabranches: Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana
that now lies in Southern Nepal.Buddhism.
2. There are about 500 million Buddhists worldwide.14. Theravada means "Doctrine of the Elders". It's the
3. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartaoldest of the surviving schools of Buddhism. It
Gautama, known as the Buddha. His basic teachingsrepresents a conservative option and it maintains
are The Four Noble Truths and The Noble Eightfoldmany of the practices and beliefs of the early
Path.followers of the Buddha.
4. The Four Noble Truths are:15. Mahayana means "The Great Vehicle". It's a reform
5. - The Truth of Suffering: All is suffering.movement that changes the content of Buddhist
6. - The Arising of Suffering: Suffering arises frompractice in profound ways. It is the greatest (with more
desire and delusion.practitioners) surviving school.
7. - The Cessation of Suffering: Nirvana is the solution.16. Both the Theravada and Mahayana accept the
8. - The Truth of the Way: How to achieve Nirvana.Tripitakas (also known as Pali Canon) as their
9. The Noble Eightfold Path includes eight conceptsscriptures.
that would lead to Nirvana. This path is often divided in17. The Mahayana also have the Mahayana Sutras,
three categories:which they regard as more important than the Pali
10. - Sila: moral conduct.Canon. The Theravada finds these Sutras as
11. - Samadhi: mental concentration (meditation).irrelevant.