One of the interesting facts about Buddhism is that it seems to be readily adaptable to different countries and different cultures. The adaptation process is occurring currently in the United States. One of the earliest countries to adopt, and adapt, Buddhism as a major religion was China. The intent in this paper is to look at the basic tenets of Buddhism and its development as an important Chinese religion.
The story of Buddhism begins with the story of the Buddha, Sakyamuni, a prince of an important family in India. There are many stories about the Buddha, including the story that his birth found him fully in possession of his wisdom and that his mother, Queen Maya, was aware before his birth of the importance of the role he would fulfill. Essentially, the story of Sakyamuni is the story of a prince who was protected from awareness of human suffering for all of his early life. When he become aware of human suffering, including aging and death, he left his secure life to wander through India searching for understanding and enlightenment. It took many years and the discarding of different methods, including ascetism, before the Buddha became aware of his Buddha nature. This enlightenment occurred while he was sitting under the bodhi tree and is generally represented as an awakening. The Buddha himself answered the question, "Who are you?" with the answer, "I am awake."
In looking at Buddhism historically, Buddhism emerged from Hinduism. It represented an attempt to reform Hinduism and advance certain kinds of concepts, including an increasingly non violent, non harming perspective.
Buddhist philosophy starts with the Four Noble Truths; the most well known of these is the first. In general, that beginning, or foundation of the philosophy states that life is full of suffering, with much of this suffering created by our reaction and resistance to change.
The Noble Truths build upon each other to create the basic p...