Buddhism

Origin~ India
Founder~ Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
Holy Text~ Three Baskets of Wisdom
Worship~ shrines
Sects~ Theravada and Mahayana

-Many similar beliefs to Hinduism (outgrowth)
-Founded in India and made its way to Korea through South Asia
-Spread through the Silk Road

The Beginning

Siddhartha Gautama was a prince and was kept inside the walls of his palace for the beginning of his life because an astrologer prophesied that Siddhartha would be a holy man. For the first time, around age thirty, he went outside of the palace and saw the world as it truly was and was greatly upset by the poverty and suffering. Gautama went to many religious teachers looking for the permanent end of suffering, but was not satisfied. He decided to meditate underneath a sacred fig tree, and when he rose, he was Enlightened.

The wheel symbolizes the teachings of Buddha because he "turned the wheel of dharma." The eight spokes represent the Eightfold Path.

Endless Cycle of Rebirth