Gotama Buddha – Founder of Buddhism

1. Gotama Buddha – Founder of Buddhism These icons indicate that detailed teacher’s notes or useful web addresses are available in the Notes Page. This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

2. Who was Gotama Buddha? Gotama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. He lived around 2,500 years ago in India. He gained the title Buddha, meaning ‘the awakened one’, when he became enlightened at the age of 35. For the next 45 years he taught the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment and the end of all suffering. The wheel is the main symbol of Buddhism. It symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment.

3. Where and when was the Buddha born? The Buddha was born in Kapilavastu, India in 563 BC. Before he became the Buddha he was known as Prince Siddhartha Gotama.

4. Map of the Buddha’s life

5. The life of the Buddha Birth 16 534 Kapilavastu Enlightenment 35 483 Fill in the missing information. Check your answers and then write a short ‘Life of the Buddha’.

6. Why was the Buddha’s birth special? Before he was born, Gotama’s mother – Queen Maya – had a dream that a white elephant entered her womb. Ten months later she gave birth to her son on a full moon night at Lumbini while on her way home to see her parents. When he was born it is said that he leapt onto the ground and where he touched it a lotus flower sprang up. Astrologers predicted he would either be a great ruler or a great religious teacher. Buddhists today visit Lumbini during the festival of Wesak in April–May.

7. Gotama the prince Prince Gotama grew up surrounded by luxury. His father tried to keep him in the palace as he wanted him to rule the kingdom. Astrologers had predicted that if he saw suffering he would become a great religious teacher. Gotama married at the age of 16 and had a son. However, he became dissatisfied with his life.

8. Gotama leaves home Prince Gotama left the palace and went into the city of Kapilavastu. He saw four sights that changed his life. We all grow old. 1. An old person We all get ill. 2. An ill person We all die. 3. A corpse You can be happy without wealth. 4. A holy man He realized that life involves suffering. He gave up his life as a prince, and set off to find out why people suffer. He was 29 years old. Why do you think Gotama left home?

9. The enlightenment of the Buddha Gotama went to live in the forest, in the company of five wandering holy men. He ate only the minimum to stay alive, but, after six years, he realised he was no closer to knowing the meaning of life. He then decided to live a life between the extremes of luxury and self-denial. Gotama became fully enlightened while meditating under a Bo tree at Bodh Gaya. He experienced perfect peace, and awareness of the cause and end of all suffering. He became the Buddha, the Enlightened One.

10. The Buddha’s teachings The Buddha decided to teach others the path to enlightenment and gave his first sermon in the deer park at Sarnath. His teachings are called the Dhamma. The Buddha’s teachings include: • The Four Noble Truths • The Five Precepts • The Noble Eightfold path How did the Buddha achieve enlightenment? What effect did achieving enlightenment have on the Buddha?

11. The Middle Way of Buddhism The Buddha taught The Middle Way between luxury and self-denial. Luxury Self-denial Living the life of a prince with everything Living the life of a holy man with nothing

12. Wisdom The Buddha said that you need to have wisdom to know the cause of suffering and how to find release from it. Here is an example of wisdom. A)He refuses to remove it until he knows everything about the arrow and who fired it. A warrior is hit by a poisoned arrow on the battlefield. B)He finds a doctor who can remove the arrow quickly and safely. Which do you think is the wisest solution?

13. The Four Noble Truths Life is full of suffering Suffering is caused by desire Suffering can be ended by overcoming desire The way to end suffering is by following the middle path through life

14. The Five Precepts

15. The Noble Eightfold Path The Buddha listed eight steps to guide his followers through life. These steps form the Noble Eightfold Path. Right mindfulness Right views Right effort Right intention Right concentration Right action Right livelihood Right speech How do you think these steps could be put into practice?

16. Practising the Noble Eightfold Path

17. Mystery object

18. Buddha statues This is an ancient statue of the Buddha from Sukhothai in Thailand. It shows the Buddha meditating. One hand touches the ground as witness to his enlightenment. The symbol on his head reminds Buddhists of the enlightenment too. This picture shows a statue of the Buddha as he was attaining Nirvana. It is in Wat Pho – The Temple of the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand.

19. Buddhist countries Buddhism is practised across the world, including in Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, China and Japan.

20. Buddhist meditation Step 1 – mindfulness of breathing The first step in Buddhist meditation is to calm the mind. This can be done by focusing on the breathing. Step 2 – insight meditation Then you can begin to develop insight into things as they really are because your mind is more alert. Step 3 – loving kindness You can also develop compassion and love towards all living beings.

21. How important is the Buddha today? Buddhism is a way of life. The Buddha wanted us to try things out for ourselves rather than just accept what he taught. Without the teachings of the Buddha we would not know how to achieve true happiness. Meditation helps me to understand how the mind works. It helps me to become more aware.

22. How important is the Buddha today? Write an answer to the question above. Use these paragraph headings in your answer: • What Buddhists think about the Buddha • What I think about his teachings • The most important things I have learnt • The reason why the Buddha is important today.