The East: Confucianism Taoism Buddhism
The West: Stoicism Epicureanism Christianity
The East: Confucianism
Taoism Buddhism
The West: Stoicism
Epicureanism Christianity
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. --Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, who lived sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, was a spiritual teacher and philosopher from Northern India. He is recognized as the Supreme Buddha and is the founder of Buddhism.
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. --Buddha
Buddhism is a rough collection of beliefs and practices alternatively called a religion, a philosophy, or a spiritual path. Buddhism is non dogmatic and places emphasis on personal skepticism in determining one's own path.
There are two major branches of Buddhism: Theravada which relies on the earliest writings of the Buddha and Mahayana which encompasses many Buddhist schools, including Pure Land, Zen, Tibetan, and Nichiren, among others. While all forms of Buddhism believe the early Pali canon as having importance, the various sects vary widely on the importance of other texts.
This page is substantially different from other pages on this site in that the writings presented are secondary sources as the primary documents are to vast and in many cases repetitious and hard to read and follow. Instead, presented below you will find writings from the public domain which synthesize the early writing's ideas into a more palatable whole which is more easily grasped. Consider this page an introduction with a general overview, with hopes that this will spur one's curiosity to learn more.
As you will learn from perusing the following documents, Buddhism is a belief in non-extremes or in the middle way. A discerning reader will find many similarities with the Hellenistic philosophies presented elsewhere on this site.
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. --Buddha
Primary Documents:
The Dhammapada
The Life of Buddha
The Gospel of Buddha: Compiled from Ancient Records
The Buddhist Bible
Teach this triple truth to all: A
generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things
which renew humanity. --Buddha
a project of John Trapp
