what is buddism about?

Question

why would someone seek this way of life

Answer 1

I practise Zen every morning; but there are many sects of Buddhism.

There is Mahayana, Hinayana, Theravada, Pure Land, Zen, and there are several different branches of each one.

Some acceot the sutras and believe one musy study them, the Pure Land Buddhists chand "Namu Amita Butsu" Invoking the Amita Buddha into themselves, then Zen is a bridge between Buddhism and Taoism. It was founded in China and originally called chan.

Buddhism is about accepting the world and life as it comes and being the best person one can be.

Answer 2

Well, I think that your point: Why would someone seek this way of life? Points to those who just want to cling to the evolutionary ladder like athiests and such. But below is a little bit of information since I didn't see the second half of your question right away! :-P

Buddhism—A Search for Enlightenment Without God

SCARCELY known outside Asia at the turn of the 20th century, Buddhism today has assumed the role of a world religion. In fact, many people in the West are quite surprised to find Buddhism thriving right in their own neighborhood. Much of this has come about as a result of the international refugee movement. Sizable Asian communities have established themselves in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and other places. As more and more immigrants put down roots in their new land, they also bring along their religion. At the same time, more of the people in the West are coming face-to-face with Buddhism for the first time. This, along with the permissiveness and spiritual decline in the traditional churches, has caused some people to become converts to the “new” religion.—2 Timothy 3:1, 5.

2 Thus, according to the 1989 Britannica Book of the Year, Buddhism claims a worldwide membership of some 300 million, with about 200,000 each in Western Europe and, North America, 500,000 in Latin America, and 300,000 in the Soviet Union. Most of Buddhism’s adherents, however, are still found in Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Japan, Korea, and China. Who, though, was the Buddha? How did this religion get started? What are the teachings and practices of Buddhism?

A Question of Reliable Source

3 “What is known of the Buddha’s life is based mainly on the evidence of the canonical texts, the most extensive and comprehensive of which are those written in Pali, a language of ancient India,” says the book World Religions—From Ancient History to the Present. What this means is that there is no source material of his time to tell us anything about Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of this religion, who lived in northern India in the sixth century B.C.E. That, of course, presents a problem. However, more serious is the question of when and how the “canonical texts” were produced.

4 Buddhist tradition holds that soon after the death of Gautama, a council of 500 monks was convened to decide what was the authentic teaching of the Master. Whether such a council actually did take place is a subject of much debate among Buddhist scholars and historians. The important point we should note, however, is that even Buddhist texts acknowledge that the authentic teaching decided upon was not committed to writing but memorized by the disciples. Actual writing of the sacred texts had to wait for a considerable time.

5 According to Sri Lankan chronicles of the fourth and sixth centuries C.E., the earliest of these Pali “canonical texts” were put in writing during the reign of King Vattagamani Abhaya in the first century B.C.E. Other accounts of the Buddha’s life did not appear in writing until perhaps the first or even the fifth century C.E., nearly a thousand years after his time.

6 Thus, observes the Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, “The ‘biographies’ are both late in origin and replete with legendary and mythical material, and the oldest canonical texts are the products of a long process of oral transmission that evidently included some revision and much addition.” One scholar even “contended that not a single word of the recorded teaching can be ascribed with unqualified certainty to Gautama himself.”

Answer 3

Well, I am not an expert but I do have some basic knowledge of it.
Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and a life-enhancing system of applied psychology.
An essential part of the Buddha’s teachings regarding the holy life and the goal of liberation is constituted by the "The Four Noble Truths" about suffering or the sorrow of life . The Four Noble Truths about suffering state what are its nature, its cause, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation. This way leading to the cessation of suffering is called "The Noble Eighfold Path", which is one of the basics of Buddhist virtuous or moral life.

Then again, Buddhism is very profound and I only know a little about it. IF you are interested, you can do a research on this subject.

Answer 4

Buddhism offers peace within while the world is in chaos.

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what
would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future:
it transcends a personal god, avoids dogmas and theology;
it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on
a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity."
--Albert Einstein

Answer 5

(1)"BUDDHAM CHARANAM GACHAAMI"=I go towards the lotus feet of knowledge and wisdom(Not superstitions and and irrational beleifs)
(2) "DHAMMAM(This is in Paali language--Sanskrit DHARMAM)CHARANAM GACHAAMI" = I go to the lotus feet of Righteous conduct(in all walks of my Life)
(3)"SANGAM CHARANAM GACHAAMI"=I go the lotus feet of union with the intelligent ,wise and peple of righteous conduct and beleive in Peace,non-violence both in word and deed.

Answer 6

It is nothing but a bunch of crap.