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Definition: Buddhism from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

(1801) : a religion of eastern and central Asia growing out of the teaching of Gautama Buddha that suffering is inherent in life and that one can be liberated from it by mental and moral self-purification

Bud•dhist \॑bü-dist, ॑bu̇-\ n or adj

Bud•dhis•tic \bü-॑dis-tik, bu̇-\ adj


Buddhism

From The Brill Dictionary of Religion
1. ‘Buddhism’ is the term used to denote the religion descending from the ascetic movement founded by Gautama Buddha. To be sure, the teachings of early Buddhism have been developed in very different ways over the course of time. A large number of schools, at times with considerably divergent philosophical systems and corresponding monastic rules, were and are scattered across an immense geographical space (today nearly all of Asia, with the exception of India, Buddhism's land of origin). The three great directions are Tantric ( Tantra), Mahāyāna (Northern), and Hīnayāna (Southern) Buddhism . To the last named belongs today's most important form, Theravada , which prevails in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. 2. The Buddha's resolve to share his knowledge with others was the exemplary act imitated by the monks. Sent by the Buddha, they went forth and proclaimed the great teaching to others who strove for release from the cycle of rebirths. This missionary activity, altogether foreign to…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From World of Sociology, Gale
Buddha was a prince who achieved enlightenment...
The religion of Buddhism originated in India during 525 BCE. Siddhartha Gautama, referred to as the Buddha, was a prince who became disillusioned with his life of wealth. By the age of 29, Siddhartha Gautama had renounced his life of privilege to search for a solution to human suffering. Buddhist…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Religion and philosophy founded ( c .528 BC) in India by Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha . Buddhism is based on Four Noble Truths: existence is suffering; the cause of suffering is desire; the end of suffering comes with the achievement of Nirvana , and Nirvana is attained through the Eightfold Path: …
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Full text Article Buddhism

From Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Buddhism is a missionary salvation religion, first taught by the Buddha (‘the Enlightened One’) in the north Indian Gangetic plain in the sixth and early fifth centuries BC. The Buddha came from the edge of the Brahmanic society of his day, and he reacted both against the ritualist exclusivism of…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From Encyclopedia of American Religious History
Buddhism, one of the world's major religious traditions, exists in three major forms. The Theravada (“Way of the Elders”) tradition is the oldest and most traditional. It emphasizes monasticism and is widespread in Southeast Asia. The Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) form predominates in East Asian…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(bʊd'ĭzӘm), religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha . There are over 300 million Buddhists worldwide. One of the great world religions, it is divided into two main schools: the Theravada or Hinayana in Sri Lanka and SE Asia, and the Mahayana in…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Hu Shih and D. T. Suzuki. 1934. In Collected...
Buddhism originated in India in the fifth century BC and spread throughout the Asian continent, leaving a lasting impact on the daily lives of the people and making major contributions to high culture—art and architecture, literature and philosophy, theater and music. At the beginning of the…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion
The main features of 21st-century Buddhism are, first, that it is the most westernized and globalized among traditional Far Eastern religions and, second, that it is the most spiritualized , in the hypermodern sense of the word, of the main religious traditions of humanity. The spiritualization of…
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Full text Article Buddhism

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
Buddhism is one of the world's major religious or spiritual traditions. The Buddhist faith developed approximately 2,500 years ago in the northeastern regions of modern India. The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563–483 BCE), more commonly known by his honorific religious titles: …
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Full text Article BUDDHISM

From International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
Buddhism, one of the world's major religious traditions, originated, as did Jainism, in northeastern India in the sixth century B.C.E. Both religious movements arose in response to discontent with the prevailing religion of Hinduism. Buddhism derives its name from its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, …
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Full text Article Buddhism

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
One of the great world religions, which originated in India in the 5th century BC . It derives from the teaching of the Buddha , who is regarded as one of a series of such enlightened beings. The chief doctrine is that all phenomena share three characteristics: they are impermanent, unsatisfactory, …
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