Founder and origin: The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha guatanma; he was born in approximately 500 BC. He was a wealthy prince who realized how he had a good life but there was so much suffering inside the kingdom he lived in. so he gave up his title to travel the world in search of true spiritual enlightenment. After traveling for a number of years he sat under a fig tree by a river and began meditating. During his meditation he became enlightened and began teaching others about what happened to him.
Holy book: in Buddhism there really isn't a holy book just a collection of texts and scriptures. Different schools of Buddha place value on the different texts. Some schools view the texts as direct religious symbols, while other schools take a more scholastic approach viewing the texts as learning tools.
World locations: Over the past 25 hundred years Buddhism has spread over a vast area of the earth. Some of its locations include Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thai land, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh. Malaysia, Singapore, and Russia. Buddhists are very scarce, since Buddhism isn't a leading world religion.
Places of Worship: there are two major places of worship in the Buddhist religion. There are temples and shrines; temples are typically tall buildings with always an odd number of terraces. Shrines are very simple areas usually consisting of a statue or picture of Buddha and candles and it is usually very decorated.
Beliefs: Buddhists believe in 3 main teachings. These teachings include the four noble truths, which are 4 reasons for why enlightenment is so much better. Buddhists believe in strict non violence, they try not to even hurt bugs, they sometimes even wear cloths over their noses and mouths so they don't accidentally swallow or breathe in small insects or bugs. They are also very keen on self-enlightenment.
The Four Noble Truths: the four noble truths consist of 4 simple teachings. (1.) Suffering: birth is suffering, union with what is displeasing is suffering, separation with what is pleasing is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering, in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging is suffering. (2) The cause of suffering: the desire that leads to renewed existence. (3) The rejection of suffering; the cessation of desire. (4) The way leading to the cessation of suffering; the noble eightfold path.
The noble eightfold path: the noble eightfold path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the four noble truths. This is divided into three sections: sila (which concerned wholesome physical actions), samadhi (which concerns the meditative concentration of the mind) and prajna (which concerns spiritual insight into the true nature of all things)
Connection between Buddhism branches: all of the different types of Buddhism accept Buddha as their leader, they accept the middle way, dependant origination, the four noble truths, the noble eightfold path, and that all members of Buddhism can seek the path to enlightenment.
Bodhi: This is a title given in Buddhism to the specific awakening experience attained by the Buddha. Reaching an understanding of the surrounding world attains this awakening and it's interconnections.
