had to be another way. The method he devised was known as the middle path. It consisted of a life in which you tried not to experience either extreme pleasure of pain, instead you would revel in the happy medium. Upon discovering this, the soon to be Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and vowed that he would remain their meditating until he reached enlightenment. During his meditation, which lasted for forty-nine days, a god named Mara is believed to have come with his three daughters to try to distract Siddhartha from reaching his goal. Mara’s daughters were named for things in this world that cause suffering ; Discontent, Delight, and Desire. Refusing to let the god get the better of him, Siddhartha remained strong and eventually Mara gave up. In the early part of that night Siddhartha learned all about his former existences, in the second part he gained the ability to be able to see the death and rebirth of beings. Finally, toward the end of that night he realized what is known as the Four Noble truths. With his new enlightenment, the Buddha set forth on his quest to preach what he had become aware of. His first sermon was given in the Deer park to five ascetics. It is commonly known as the “Sermon on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth”. It was hear that the Buddha delivered the Four Noble Truths : “All life is suffering; suffering is caused by desire; there can be an end to desire; the way is the Eightfold Path.”# These four teachings became the central idea to Buddhism. They are in a way like stepping stones on the road to enlightenment, you must step on each stone and when you reach the fourth, you realize that there are eight more stones to go. These eight steps are what anyone who seeks enlightenment should live their life by. “Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood constitute the training in Virtue or Morality.”# This means following the basic ten rules which forbid: “taking life; taking what is not given; sexual misconduct; lying; taking intoxicants; eating after noon; watching or participating in dancing, singing, and shows; adorning oneself with garlands, perfumes, and ointments; sleeping in a soft bed; handling money.”# “Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration refer to the practice of Meditation, which purifies the mind through the experience of blissful states of inner stillness and empowers the mind to penetrate the meaning of life through profound moments of insight.”# The final two of the eight, Right Understanding and Thought, are what puts an end to all of that persons suffering and causes them to have infinite compassion. The teachings listed above are what the Buddha saw as the right way to achieve enlightenment, and he continued to preach these words for forty-five more years. Tragically he fell ill after accidentally receiving some tainted pork in his begging-bowl and according to Western tradition died in the year 483 BCE. “As the Buddhist tradition spread across Asia,”# new members took refuge in the Three Jewels and the religion continued to flourish. During this time of growth small sects arose within the religion, but none of them were significant enough to cause major change in the religion, that is until the idea of Mahayana arose. It first arrived on the sc

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