Angels-BUDDHISM

Buddhism is a major world religion with a long and ancient history.
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama Buddha in northern
India in the 6th century B.C. The Buddha spent several years of his life
in extreme fasting and meditation with a group of religious ascetics,
but did not find the enlightenment he sought. Legend has it that after
he left the monks to continue his quest on his own, he sat down under
a bo-tree and resolved to remain in meditation there until he achieved
enlightenment. After a night of spiritual struggle with the forces of
Mara, the evil one, he became the Awakened, the Buddha and
entered a blissful, eternal, spiritual realm of being (nirvana). Out of
compassion for the suffering of humanity, the Buddha forestalled
entering nirvana. He chose instead to remain in his physical body and
live out his lifespan in order to proclaim the Dharma, the eternal truth
to which he had awakened.
The Buddha was a religious reformer teaching “the Middle Way”
between extreme asceticism and materialism. The goal of the religious
life of the Buddhists is to escape the cycle of rebirth (samsara) and
achieve nirvana. The Buddha taught his disciples a three-fold path of
meditation, morality, and wisdom toward this goal. His disciples were
originally wandering shramanas (ascetic monks) who eventually settled
into permanent communities.
Buddhism flourished for a time in India, but in the twelfth century
A.D was supplanted through Islamic invasion. The Buddhist communities
now extant are primarily in China, Tibet, Korea, Japan, and southeast Asia. It was not until the schism between Theravada Buddhism
and Mahayana Buddhism occurred (first century A.D.) that the
Buddhists embraced the idea of the bodhisattva or Being of Wisdom,
somewhat akin to Western angels. In Theravada Buddhism, the older
school of Buddhist thought, nirvana could only be achieved by those
who, like the Buddha, lived the life of the ascetic monk. Mahayana
Buddhism “the Greater Vehicle (to salvation),” offered salvation to
all, by additional means. The practice of devotional Buddhism was
introduced, allowing lay Buddhists to achieve eternal bliss through
the intercessions of the bodhisattvas.