Buddhism is an Indian religious tradition based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It was born sometime around the 6th to 4th century BCE, spreading over much of Asia, including the Indian subcontinent. The Buddha didn’t introduce Buddhism to the world directly – that would have been too pretentious and arrogant for the time – but he gave it a philosophical shape. Buddhism is the result of the effort to combine Eastern and Western thought, resulting in what we know today as Buddhist monasticism.
The basic teachings of buddhism are the following: Individual existence is meaningless; birth and death are meaningless; karma is a meaningless phenomena; clinging to self is futile; dependent arising is a meaningless phenomena; meditation and the path to enlightenment are meaningless. Buddha’s teachings explain that kamma (reborn) arises from our actions and thoughts, and that our activities and thoughts are conditioned by impermanent birth and death. Buddhism proposes that there is no reason for having a long life, since life can last only a short time. The path to enlightenment, which is a non-clinging to self, is meaningless since it has been undeveloped and unseeing.
Many people who follow the Buddhist path do so because they want to end suffering. While some followers of buddhism consider this path more important than others, suffering is a significant part of everyday existence, and people want to be rid of it. Some followers of buddhism are attracted to the way in which the teachings advocate an attitude of no-attachment to anyone or anything, and living in the midst of all beings without attachment is seen as sacred. There are four noble truths that are part of the teachings of buddhism: Individual existence is meaningless; existence is impermanent; clinging to others is futile; meditation and the path to enlightenment are meaningless. Buddhists believe that they have reached enlightenment while still engaged in practice and meditation, and that true happiness and fulfillment only lie in leaving behind the sufferings of life.