The Buddha: The Spiritual Journey that Became a Religion

Twenty-five hundred years ago one’s man’s spiritual journey was the beginning of one of the world’s seven religions -- boasting 376 million followers today. He is simply called “The Buddha,” and he grew up the son of a king…sheltered from the realities of human suffering. When he finally learned the harsh truth, he left his family and set off on a path to understand life itself -- first as a monk and then as a teacher.

Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Crystal Sullivan
Producer - Jack Cole
Executive Producer - Shell Harris

Other Biographics Videos:

Cleopatra Biography: Who Was She?

Leonidas of Sparta: This is Sparta

[joshglover]

His willingness to listen to others and accept criticism and questions shows a lot about his true intentions. 😊

[Yong]

The Buddha is NOT a GOD but rather a teacher, therefore the depictions of Buddha on the Swayambhunath stupa in Kathmandu do not have ears. This because Buddha refuses to hear peoples wishes and is also unable to grant wishes but rather he is able to guide and teach followers on the righteous paths.

[prasadperera]

As a devoted Buddhist from Sri Lanka, I really admire your video where you have the correct abstract in a simple format even for the non-Buddhists to understand easily. Keep up the good work.

[ignitionfrn]

0:45 - Chapter 1 - Early life
4:25 - Chapter 2 - Awakening
5:45 - Chapter 3 - The teacher
9:05 - Chapter 4 - Buddhism
13:25 - Chapter 5 - Death & legacy

[HollyStAmour-txnn]

I just discovered these on YouTube and I'm totally addicted! It makes going to work a lot easier when I listen to these on my commute. More please?!

[pratikkhadtale]

"Question what i teach" no religion dares to do thi

[bandulahewawasan]

The essence of Buddhism in a single sentence is how to be happy by giving up attachments. You have to understand this truth and refrain from believing. Congratulations to you for your speech on the Buddha and and his teachings.

[JuandelaCruz]

Some points of clarification:

1) In the description, it is written the Buddhism started 25, 000 years ago instead of 2, 500.

2) Beginning @ 4:45, "The Middle Way" is in fact the real name of this religion in English and not as if some doctrine/idea within Buddhism. This religion was labelled "Buddhism" by Western religious scholars as they are wont to do out of convenience to name belief systems from their founders (i.e. - Christianity, Mohammedanism).

3) You left out probably the pivotal event of the realization of Siddhartha when he overheard a master of the lute/harp instructing his student: "If the string is too tight, it will break. If it is too loose, it will not play". This was the actual turning point towards the path he took; it is NEITHER in the extremes of both worldly, carnal pursuits NOR in rigid asceticism that one can find liberation but in "The Middle Way".

[mccabber]

Hey you could make a religion out of this

[triciak]

Thank you so much for this. I had found Buddhism many years ago. It has helped me so much in times of trouble and sorrow. To learn that happiness comes from within is huge. To know that material things will never make you truly happy is sometimes difficult to keep in mind but it’s true. But the one thing that has really helped me is the fact that death is part of life. Once again thank you for this awesome bio of lord Buddha.

[shanabeywardene]

technically buddhism is a "vision" rather than a religion. actually lord buddha encouraged people to ask questions to clear out any doubts in his teachings. the way simon presented that part makes people think that lord buddha condemned asking questions. lord buddha actually discouraged questioning about ideas like "creation" or "begining" as it achieves nothing but more questions. he advised to focus about trying walking on the path of enlightenment which will achieve positive outcomes rather than drowning in more questions asking about things like "creation". however when other religions simply answered with "god created everything", he taught that the universe was composed with a "universal element" (singular) which agrees with todays sub atomic particle sciences. however still we havent found a scientific answer for the "creation" since big bang clearly seems as not the t=0. A lot of the buddhist teachings were documented out of the history of people in india asking questions from lord buddha. then he would answer with great deep details which we learn today as his teachings

[DarqueQueen]

Wow! A lot of stuff packed into a little video! But I'm really impressed! Once again, two thumbs up, Simon and co!

[nathanwatches]

Quality stuff. Buddhism is a huge topic and it's not easy to packed it into 15 mons video. Great job guys.

[thresawhite]

This teaching changed my life permanently. After a short while of studying, I had a good cry because I knew my life would never be the same 🕉

[epetro]

Reguardless of race or location, Buddhism is the one way we all connect ☸

[nesirsitsir]

My submission 6 months ago has finally come to fruition. Thank you Simon.

[M.M]

Loved the video Simon & the Crew. I hope you guys do more episodes on major religious figures. I know that they're really hard/time consuming to research for many reasons and often the only 'facts' you have at hand come from religious texts & scripture (they aren't exactly the most reliable sources of information as we all know). But, the crew at Biographics did a wonderful job on this episode! As religious figures are probably the toughest people to profile as the smallest research error, a mispronunciation or anything else of that nature can cause huge offense to countless people all over the world. It certainly isn't gonna be easy but I hope to see more bio's of religious figures, prophet's etc. on the channel. Please don't me down guys!

[dwightperdunn]

When I watch Simon's videos I always feel like I've gained an ounce of wisdom and understanding. I hope he continues these videos for a hundred years.

[mauricewalker]

It's is a religion of peace and love for your fellow human being. Buddhism preaches friendship and understanding of life.

[chickadeestevenson]

H.P. Lovecraft needs to be a video.
Might make a good Halloween one.