[stoogecristi]

By: John Ankerberg, John Weldon; ˆ2000
Buddhism encompasses both the teachings ascribed to Gautama Siddhartha as well as the subsequent thoughts of Buddhists in later centuries.
Buddhism in the World
Buddhism encompasses both the teachings ascribed to Gautama Siddhartha (the Buddha) (563-483? B.C.) as well as the subsequent if questionable development of this thought by Buddhists in later centuries. (Such an assessment assumes we know the true teachings of the Buddha--a number of scholars argue the late nature of the Mss. and other factors make it virtually impossible to know what the Buddha taught.) Almost innumerable forms exist. Some 200 sects can be found in Japan alone, many of them opposing one another in doctrine or practice. Our analysis must be recognized as being general, for there is no doctrinally precise Bud*dhism in the same sense that there is a doctrinally precise Christianity.[1] Still, nearly all Buddhism accepts certain key teachings. These are a) the four noble truths, b) the eight-fold path, c) the impermanence and/or ultimate nonexistence of all dharmas (things, events), and d) the need for enlightenment (liberation through awareness) in one form or another. We will discuss these later.

Other common beliefs in Buddhism involve the following:

The Three Jewels--(also known as "the Three Refuges"), Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These refer to 1) following the Buddha, the enlightened one; 2) accepting the Buddha's Dharma or teaching; and 3) living in harmony with the Sangha, the Buddhist community. In other words, one finds refuge in the Buddha, his teachings and the Buddhist community.
The Five Precepts--These involve rules of ethical practice (e.g., abstaining from harming all living things (ahimsa), false speech, sexual misconduct, etc.).
The Ten Precepts--These include the five precepts but add to them the aspiration to abstain from certain activities e.g., accepting gold or silver, taking untimely meals, dancing and singing, forms of personal adornment and taking high seats or seats of honor.
The hundreds of millions of Buddhists worldwide can be divided into two broad schools, the Theravada and Mahayana.[2] While the Mahayanist is by far the largest, the Theravada is generally held to be "original," i.e., "true," Buddhism. (According to the majority opinion then, Mahayanism developed centuries later.) The Theravada school is the only survivor of some 18 sects that arose in the first four centuries after Buddha's death. The sects were collectively termed Hinayana or "lesser vehicle" by the Mahayanists (meaning "greater vehicle"). According to some, the term Hinayana was used because in the Hinayanist perspective enlightenment (or "salvation") due to the rigors of the path, was possible for only a select few, whereas the later Mahayanists made enlightenment the possibility of all. According to others, the terms are used as follows: Hinayana Buddhists are those who seek to reach enlightenment merely for their own personal welfare, whereas Mahayana Buddhists seek to help others attain enlightenment as well even though this involves the obligation to reincarnate time and time again until all "sentient beings" have attained enlightenment.

Geographically, Theravada is "Southern Buddhism" (the national religion of Siam, Ceylon, Laos, Cambodia and Burma); Mahayana is "Northern Buddhism" (China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Nepal). In the U.S., two typical Mahayanist schools are Zen and Nichiren Buddhism.

Although Buddhism may be broadly classified into these two schools, the Theravada and Mahayanist, many Buddhist scholars refer to three schools, adding the controversial Tibetan or Tantric Buddhism as a separate school.

The first Buddhist scriptures were written down by Theravadin monks about 400 years after the Buddha lived. These scriptures were written on palm leaves and became known as the Tipitaka or Pali Canon. The former term means "three baskets" and refers to the three-fold division of the scriptures termed Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka.

The first division, the Vinaya Pitaka, involves discipline for Buddhist monks concerning the 227 rules by which they are to live. The second division, the Sutta Pitaka constitutes the teachings of the Buddha on the four noble truths and the eight-fold path, as well as popular Buddhist literature that comprises the Dhammapada and the Jataka Tales (the Dhammapada constitutes an anthology of the Buddha's sayings while the Jataka Tales are stories of the previous lives of the Buddha). The Abhidhamma Pitaka involves philosophical teachings that underscore how Buddhists understand the meaning and purpose of life.

As Buddhism spread outward in different geographical directions, a number of different doctrines and scriptures developed. The Theravada school believes that scriptural authenticity is determined by the texts that were allegedly derived from the Buddha's teachings. However, the Mahayana school added additional scriptures it claimed were just as authoritative, even though these scriptures had little to do with the Buddha's teaching as handed down by the Theravadin school. These scriptures characteristically seemed to have originated by mystical revelations and "vary in form and introduce both mythological and philosophical features not found in the Theravada."[3] Some general differences between the Theravadin and Mahayana schools include:

Theravada Mahayana
Buddha is a human teacher Buddha is an enlightened, supermundane eternal being and/or "god"
Complete self-effort for enlightenment Self-effort is necessary, however additional help from Buddha, Bodhisattvas, (Buddhist "saviors") and Buddhist gods is accepted
Gods are rejected Gods are accepted
Prayer equals meditation Prayer may also be petitionary
Anti-supernatural The supernatural is accepted
Attains the state of Buddhahood (Nirvana apart from the world; one can only help oneself) Attains the state of Bodhisattva (Nirvana in the world; e.g., a bodhisattva postpones Nirvana to help others find it)
Atheism/agnosticism Atheism, agnosticism and/or polytheism
Nirvana replaces Samsara (existence) Nirvana is Samsara (existence)
Notes
 For example, biblical Christianity everywhere has the same beliefs concerning the nature of God (infinite-personal/triune), the Person and work of Jesus Christ (incarnate, atoning Savior), the means of salvation (by grace through faith alone), etc. </nowiki>Buddhism, on the other hand, has within itself quite different views as to the nature of ultimate reality, the nature of the Buddha, the means of salvation, etc. Considered historically, of course, there are endless sects and cults of Christianity from gnosticism, modalism and Arianism in the early centuries to their counterparts today: e.g., Christian Science, "Jesus Only," and Jehovah's Witnesses. But none are truly Christian. By contrast, almost all Buddhists sects, even those Buddha himself would probably or certainly not accept, are considered Buddhist by Buddhists today.
 Buddhist terms are frequently spelled differently because the Buddhist scriptures are divided into those of the Theravadins, which use the Pali language and those of the Mahayanists, which use the Sanskrit language. Thus, nirvana in Sanskrit is Nibbana in Pali. The Buddha is Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit but Siddhatta Gotama in Pali, etc.
 Clive Erricker, Buddhism (Chicago, IL: NTC Publishing, 1995), p. 65, cf., 61-65.