Compare and contrast Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. How are they similar? How are they different? -Question 4. BuddhismHas over 300 million members, and was founded around 2, 500 years ago in India. The founder is Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, or referred to as the "Enlightened One."Their major scripture are The Triptaka, Anguttara-Nikaya, Dhammapada, Sutta-Nipata, Samyutta-Nikaya and many others. Buddhism today is divided into three main sects: Theravada, or Hinayana (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia), Mahayana (China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea), and Vajrayana (Tibet, Mongolia and Japan).Their Life goal is Nirvana (A place of great condition, or complete Bliss). Toward that end, Buddha's teachings are capsulized in the Four Noble Truths:The truth of suffering: Suffering, duhkha, is the central fact of life. Being born is pain, growing old is pain, sickness is pain, death is pain. Union with what we dislike is pain, separation from what we like is pain, not obtaining what we desire is pain. The truth of the origin (samudaya) of suffering: The cause of suffering is the desire (iccha), craving (tanha) or thirst (tishna) for sensual pleasures, for existence and experience, for worldly possessions and power. This craving binds one to the wheel of rebirth, samsara. The truth of cessation (nirodha) of suffering: Suffering can be brought to an end only by the complete cessation of desires-the forsaking, relinquishing and detaching of oneself from desire and craving. The truth of the path (marga) to ending suffering: The means to the end of suffering is the Nobel Eightfold Path (arya ashtanga marga), right belief, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation. CONFUCIANISMAdherents, Estimated at 350 million, mostly in China, Japan, Burma and Thailand. Understand his relationship to the heavens and earth. Beginning as early as the prehistoric age, it is evident from cav...
