The word "Buddhism" comes from the Hindi word Budhi, which means wisdom. In this sense, Buddha means "Sage".
The founder of Buddhism was Mahatma Budh (Mahatma is translated from Hindi as "Great soul").
Mahatma Budh was originally called Siddhartha. He was a prince, but he left home to find the following answers - Why is there a lot of grief and pain in the world? Why do people age and die? How can a person get rid of their sadness and pain?
When Mahatma Budh was a child (Siddhartha), several sages told his father that this little boy would either become a great king or a sage greater than his father. Mahatma Budh wanted his son to be a king like himself, so he tried to keep him away from all the negative things in the world that could affect a young child's brain. For example, sick, old and poor people were not allowed even to enter Siddhartha's field of vision.
A Buddhist monk does not have to cook food, he can only ask for food as alms. The goal is to spend all the time spreading information about Buddhism.
This religion is different from any other religion. They don't believe in gods. They believe in kindness and life after death. If you live a good life, you will have a better life in your next life, and it will build good karma. If you live a bad life, you will have bad karma in your next life.
Promotional video:
Buddhists can go to the temple not at a certain time or day, but when they can.
Nuns - Women can hold the office of nuns.
Nuns are not allowed to criticize monks, but monks are allowed to criticize nuns.
Although Buddhism originated in India, there are now almost no followers there.
More than 50% of the teachings of Buddhism are part of Hinduism, the most popular religion in India.
If you visit the monastery, you will find large prayer wheels inside or many people carrying prayer wheels in their hands. There are certain religious messages written on these wheels that urge these wheels to keep turning. These messages depict the life-to-soul (life-death-life) cycle in Buddhist culture.
“Smiling Buddha” in Chinese restaurants is not Buddha at all, but Hotei Budai from Chinese folklore.
The Buddha was not fat - his lifestyle and moderation in food made him not prone to obesity.
At the heart of Buddhism, there are four Noble Truths: (1) all living beings suffer, (2) the origin of this suffering is someone's desire, i.e. desiring more (3) desires can be overcome, and (4) there is a path that can lead to liberation from desires. This path is known as the noble eightfold path: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right way of life, right effort and right concentration.
The Dalai Lama is not the Pope of all Buddhists, he is loved only in Tibet.
Even before Chinese communism, Tibet had a rather strange political system. We argue about what democracy, dictatorship and aristocracy are. But in Tibet, things were different. Instead of holding elections, since about the 1500s, Tibet decided to look for someone in whom the soul of the past ruler possessed.
Thus, the current Dalai Lama is the 14th version of this ruler. This is how the next Dalai Lama is chosen in Tibet. This is the same as if the Americans tried to find the reincarnated authors of the constitution.
Basically, Buddhism is not a religion. Unlike Christianity or Islam, this is primarily a practical Teaching. It does not impose duties and obligations, but only shows one of the possible ways of comprehending Life.
Buddhism can be compared to The Book of Delicious and Healthy Food. We have to eat several times a day, but how often do we use knowledge from a wise book to make our food tasty and healthy?