I follow a more Tibetan Buddhist path. I'd like to talk about Buddhism here, maybe put quotes of the day, anything along those lines.

Buddhism started in India with a prince named Siddhartha. Once, he glimpsed suffering on the street. He saw a poor, old, hungry man. This had convinced him to give up his position as prince and search for the truth; that is, a way to end suffering. Of course, his mother and father disapproved. His mother had a dream of a white elephant, meaning that he would someday wander, but they didn't want him to. Eventually, he did have his way and he left his mother, father, and family (yeah, I know. Very irresponsible) so that he could find it. He went many ways, but finally arrived at his truth by meditating under a bo tree. It motivated him to make up the Four Noble Truths, which prettu much outline how to end suffering. The Four Noble Truths are: All life is suffering, the reason for suffering is desire, the only way to end suffering is to end desire, and the only way to end desire is to follow the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path pretty much says things like right thought, right speech, right behavior, etc. Buddhism started in India, and was quite successful there. It started around the 500s B.C., and was adopted by Asoka the philosopher king in the 200s B.C. during his rule of the Maurya empire. Unfortunately, Buddhism had declined in India for a number of reasons. The first was the rise of the Gupta Empire. This empire had promoted cultural flowering, but had also promotedHimdu texts such as the Upanishads, and eventually, their promotion of Himduism had led to the decline of Himduism. Also, it didn't quite sit well with the public. Women didn't favor it because Hinduism had more clearly given them a role in the home, whereas Buddhism for women at the time did not give them a clearly defined role anywhere. Buddhism had ended with the Mughal empire, started by King Aurangzeb, an Arab who had a low tolerance for other religions as a Muslim. So, Buddhism was prettu much stamped out in India. Though there are, now, a few Buddhists in India, not many of them are there.

Later on, in the 200s A.D. and onward, it had spread to China. There's a Chinese woodblock print copy of the Diamond Sutra written in 868 A.D. in China, so it stayed there for a long while. It had, however, declined because of some cruel ruler who destroyed the stupas and burned many texts. I forgot his name. Empress Wu, though, the only empress to rule officially under her own name, promoted Buddhism.

Source(s):

World History textbook.

The Ten Things to be Understood

Understand that outer appearances are unreal because they are mistaken.

Understand that inner mind is empty because it is devoid of self-entity.

Understand that thoughts are momentary because they occur due to conditions.

Understand that the consequences of your actions are inevitable because all the pleasure and pain of sentient beings results from karma.

Understand that pain is your spiritual friend because it is the cause of renunciation.

Understand that pleasure and happiness is the demon of attachment because it is the root of samsara.

Understand that many engagements are obstacles for merit because they hinder spiritual practice.

Understand that enemies and obstructed are your teachers because obstacles are inspiration for spiritual practice.

Understand that everything is of equal nature, because all phenomena are ultimately devoid of self- nature.

(Gampopa's Precious Garland of the Supreme Path)

Thanks, Regan! Great thread. It's actually very enlightening and interesting since I'm not that familiar with the religion. You guys have taught me some history here!!

ok.