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| Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi Tree until he gained enlightenment and became the Buddha. |
Today's Learning Objective Know the life and moral teachings of the Buddha.
Background Knowledge In
our previous unit, we learned about Hinduism, the first major world
religion to take root in ancient India. A second major religion known as
Buddhism also has its roots in India. Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian spiritual leader. Today you will begin to learn about Siddhartha's life and his founding of Buddhism.
The Life of Buddha One
of the key differences between Hinduism and Buddhism is that Buddhism
had a founder, Siddhartha Gautama, a real life person who started the
religion. Today we will read about his life story and how Buddhism came
to be. We will read the version of the 'Story of the Buddha' created by
the site buddha.net which you can find here.
While
many elements of Siddhartha's story are similar across various sources,
it is very important, especially as history students, to consider the
source when determining the validity and reliability of information. Before
you reading, you should always ask yourself the following: Who wrote
this? What is the author's perspective? Why was it written? Where was it
written? Is it reliable? Why? Why not? Considering the source is a
website that promotes and markets the teachings and practice of
Buddhism, does that make their version of Buddha's story more or less
valid than the version included in our Social Studies textbook? These
are questions we must consider.
As
we read this version of the the 'Story of the Buddha' today, I want you
to identify the key events in Siddhartha's life that you consider to be
the most important in capturing who he was and explaining how Buddhism
came to be. You will record these events using the document Important Events in the Life of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha),
which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom. Tomorrow you will
have an opportunity to check the reliability and consistency of the
version of events you recorded by comparing them to other sources.
Homework (1.) Complete the assignment Hinduism Study Guide (A Central Idea and Its Parts), which is due tomorrow, Friday, February 19. (2.) Complete the assignment Important Events in the Life of Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha), which will be due next Friday, February 26.