Introduction
Scarcely celebrated outside Asia before the turn of the twentieth century, nowadays Buddhism became one of the world religions. In fact, numerous people from the most different parts of the world are astonished to see Buddhism attracting more and more adherents in their lands. One of the reasons for such unexpected thriving of Buddhism is in the international refugee movement which established sizable Asian communities along with their religious traditions in North America, Australia, Western Europe, and many more other lands. However, religion quickly became popular among the native people in those lands as it is very appealing for the reason of its practical teachings.
In the following paper, the history of this religion along with its basics will be examined. In addition, the world’s view of Buddhism will be also considered. Evaluating the general information about this religion, it appears that Buddhism is seen as one of the most popular and widespread religions on the earth the reason of its pragmatic and attractive philosophies which are so appealing for people of the most diversified backgrounds and ways of thinking.
Main body
First of all, speaking about Buddhism, the history of its origin is to be discussed. The originator of this religion is Siddhattha Gotama, the son of King Suddhodana ruling in the territory which is now known as Nepal in the seventh century B.C. E. As a result of his search for the sense of life and deep meditations, this outstanding person who was later called Buddha managed to create a new way of thinking and popular philosophy which eventually became one of the most popular religions on the earth.
Further, the most important teachings of Buddhism including the concept of life beginning and the creation of humans are to be discussed. With regards to life origin, Buddhists believe that God appeared to be the source of life (Buddhism par.24). Concerning the origin of humanity, Buddhists state that, again, it was God who presented the first human with the precious gift of life.
Finally, the world’s view of Buddhism is going to be addressed. Generally, Buddhism is seen as a popular and “convenient” religion attracting the most diversified public form all around the world. Buddhism claims an international membership of around 500 million people, with around 500,000 each in North America and Western Europe and, 800,000 in Latin America, and 500,000 in the former republics of the Soviet Union. However, the majority of adherents of this religion are still from Asian territories including Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Myanmar (Burma), South Korea, and China. According to Introduction to Buddhism (n. d., par. 1), its above-described popularity is explained in the following way:
Buddhism has been described as a very pragmatic religion. It does not indulge in metaphysical speculation about first causes; there is no theology, no worship of a deity, or deification of the Buddha. Buddhism takes a very straightforward look at our human condition; nothing is based on wishful thinking, at all. Everything that the Buddha taught was based on his own observation of the way things are.
Conclusion
Concluding on all the information related above, it should be stated that Buddhism is considered to be one of the most popular and widespread religions on the earth. It is also one of the fastest-growing religions, and this is no wonder on the reason of pragmatic and appealing philosophies the religion is propagating which are so appealing for people of the most diversified backgrounds and ways of thinking.
References
Buddhism. (n. d.). Web.
Introduction to Buddhism. (n. d.). Web.