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Cooper Mills

Mr. Diaz-Williamson

World History

February 27, 2019

Buddhism Essay

For over 2,500 years, Buddhism has appealed to a wide range of people due to its unique

ideology and the nature of its beliefs. Today, there are around 535 million people who still

practice Buddhism, and that number continues to grow by the day. Buddhism has been and

always will be appealing because of how it guides people to free themselves from their own

desire while attempting to explain the suffering that persists through the never-ending cycle of

birth, death, and rebirth commonly known as samsara.

Buddhism provides an alternative or an escape from samsara which can only be found

when reaching a level of being known as nirvana. In Sanskrit, nirvana means to extinguish and in

Buddhism, nirvana is obtained by extinguishing one's ignorance, hatred, and earthly suffering.

To obtain nirvana and end one’s suffering is the most difficult and demanding feat in Buddhism.

The path to Nirvana more commonly known as the Eightfold Path requires Buddhists to be wise,

ethical, and spiritually in tune with the world and themselves. In the Eightfold Path, wisdom

means having the right view and right intentions; ethics means having right speech, right actions,

and right livelihood. Finally, in order to become spiritually in tune or having samadhi, one must

have the right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Once one completes the
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Eightfold Path and reaches nirvana, they will be free from samsara and will truly understand the

meaning of life.

The Buddha is no god, but the people worship and look up to him because he is someone

they have much respect for. Buddhists have no god, instead, they believe in a higher power

which exists separately from our world. This higher power does not interfere directly with the

issues and problems our world faces and does not control or affect the suffering and happiness of

people. Instead, people look to the Buddha, not as a god, but as a great teacher who may guide

them to nirvana. The Buddha was once known by the name Siddhartha Gautama, a prince who

was foretold to become a great king or a holy man. Siddhartha was raised with the intention of

becoming a great king, but that all fell apart when he learned of the four noble truths and left his

home to pursue a spiritual and holy life. After completing his journey of enlightenment and

becoming the Buddha, he spread Buddhism across India and taught the world of the four noble

truths. These truths are that life is sorrow, that sorrow is the result of selfish desire, that selfish

desire can be destroyed, and that desire can be destroyed by the eightfold path.

Buddhism has been, and always will be appealing because of its ability to explain how

and why people experience suffering while providing an escape and alternative. Suffering is

something the world has much of and Buddhism doesn’t rely on the belief in a god to remove or

lessen that suffering. Buddhism has united many millions of diverse people from all over India

with different and sometimes conflicting political views and beliefs through the idea of samsara.

Buddhism has lasted for over two thousand years and has shown no sign of decline since then.