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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that offers an overview of these 2 sects of Buddhist belief. Just as there are several different forms of Christianity, (such as Protestant, Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox), as well as different forms of Judaism (such as orthodox and reform), there are also different forms of Buddhism, the two primary divisions being Theravada and Mahayana. The following examination of these schools of Buddhist belief discusses their differences as well as their similarities and ending with a discussion as to whether or not these systems of belief are compatible. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khthemah.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Buddhism, the two primary divisions being Theravada and Mahayana. The following examination of these schools of Buddhist belief discusses their differences as well as their similarities and ending with
a discussion as to whether or not these systems of belief are compatible. Buddhism began in the region of Asia that is today part of southern Nepal. He
lived during the sixth century BCE, and the accepted dates for Buddhas lifetime are 563-483 BCE. Some scholars disagree with these dates and argue that Buddha was born more than
a century later (Swearer 18). Solid facts concerning Buddhas life are scarce. Nevertheless, the version believed by Theravada Buddhist is that Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama. During his early
life, legend has it that the young prince was "wholly given over to pleasure" (Swearer 18). At the age of 17, Siddartha began to explore lifes big questions and pursued
the life of an ascetic, denying himself food and studying the teachings of the great philosophers. Legend has it that he finally achieved enlightenment while sitting under a tree and,
after this event, he preached the basic tenet of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, to his disciples, as well as the means of achieving enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path (Swearer
18). The words of Buddha were not written down until several centuries after his death and the first divisions within Buddhist belief arose during the first century BCE (Swearer
18). The Theravada-Mahayana division grew out of disagreements over questions of conduct that govern the lives of monks and also over different ways of understanding the meaning of Buddhas teachings
regarding the nature of the self (Swearer 18). Theravada Buddhists claim to be the "original Buddhists" because they follow the teachings of the historical Buddha and have a strong focus
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