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Buddhism Facts & Worksheets

Buddhism is a religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama approximately 2,500 years ago in India.

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Buddhism is a religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama approximately 2,500 years ago in India. Today, it is considered one of the world’s major religions, with more than 470 million followers in East and Southeast Asia.

See the fact file below for more interesting Buddhism facts, or alternatively, you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

About Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

  • Siddhartha Gautama was an Indian prince born in Lumbini (present-day Nepal) in 563 BCE. As a prince, he was sheltered and was not allowed to go outside the palace grounds. The king believed that Siddhartha should not see what life was like for people outside the palace.
  • The prince disobeyed his father and wandered outside. During his ventures outside the palace, he encountered several people who led him to the “four sights.” He saw an older man, a sick man, a poor man, and a corpse.
  • From then, Siddharta started meditation by holding his breath, fasting, and feeling pain.
  • At the age of 35, Siddhartha meditated for several days under the Bodhi tree, where he then attained enlightenment.
  • The term Buddha means the “enlightened one” or the “awakened one.”
  • In 483 BCE, Buddha died at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India.

The Beginning and Teachings of Buddhism

  • During the 3rd century BCE, the Mauryan Indian Emperor, Ashoka the Great, made Buddhism the official religion of India. To propagate Buddhism, he ordered the establishment of monasteries, temples, and missionaries.
  • After centuries, the teachings of Buddhism spread in India, resulting in various interpretations. When the Huns invaded India in the 6th century BCE, Buddhism was overshadowed by Islam.
  • Followers of Buddhism do not follow any deities or gods. Instead, they give attention to their inner self and wisdom to achieve enlightenment. Followers are expected to experience the state of Nirvana.
  • Some scholars believed that Buddhism is not a religion but rather “a way of life” or spiritual tradition.
  • It is composed of many philosophies and interpretations, making it open to evolution.
  • Like Hinduism, Buddhism embraces the beliefs of karma or the law of cause and effect, and reincarnation or the cycle of rebirth.
  • The pillars of Buddhism lie in the Four Noble Truths. (1) The truth of suffering (dukkha), (2) the reality of the cause of pain (samudaya), (3) the truth about the end of pain (nirodha), and (4) the path that frees us from suffering (magga).
  • In general, the teachings of Buddhism revolve around the practice of meditation, rituals, and devotion to attain inner peace and wisdom.
  • It is considered the fourth largest religion in the world next to Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Today, it is popularly practiced in China, Japan, some parts of Southeast Asia and is emerging in western countries.
  • Buddhism today is divided into three primary forms practiced in different geographical areas including Theravada Buddhism in Thailand, Sri-Lanka, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma; Mahayana Buddhism in China, Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam; and Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan, and parts of Nepal, Russia, and northern India.
  • Some teachings are combined with the philosophies of Taoism.
  • Within the Four Noble Truths are the Eightfold Paths that guide the believer to the path of liberation. It is categorized into three essential elements of the Buddhist practice of moral conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. These include the right understanding (Samma ditthi), right thought (samma sankappa), right speech (samma vaca), right action (samma kammanta), right livelihood (samma ajiva), right effort (samma vaajma), right mindfulness (samma sati), and right concentration (samma samadhi).
  • Buddha’s teachings, known as dharma, revolve around the virtues of wisdom, patience, kindness, compassion, and generosity. Buddhists are expected to live by the five moral precepts of Buddhism, which prohibits the following: Killing of living things, taking of things which are not given, sexual misconduct, lying, and the use of drugs and alcohol.
  • Some of Buddhism’s sacred text and scriptures are Tipitaka composed of the earliest collections of Buddha’s teachings known as the “three baskets,” Sutras produced of lessons followed by Mahayana Buddhists, and The Book of the Dead, which describes the stages of death.
  • A Buddhist temple is called Vihara, which includes a shrine and rooms for lectures and meditation.

Buddhism Worksheets

This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use Buddhism Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about Buddhism, which is a religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama approximately 2,500 years ago in India. Today, it is considered one of the world’s major religions, with more than 470 million followers in East and Southeast Asia.

Download includes the following worksheets:

  • Buddhism Facts
  • The Life of Buddha
  • Mapping Buddhism
  • The Eightfold Paths
  • It is Buddhism!
  • Four Noble Truths
  • Buddhist Terms
  • World Religions
  • Temples and Shrines
  • Figures of Buddha
  • I Confess

Frequently Asked Questions

What is unique to Buddhism?

Buddhism is a religion that started in India 2,500 years ago. There are millions of people who follow it. The goal for Buddhists is to achieve enlightenment or nirvana. To do this, they must live their lives in certain ways and focus on meditation and labor both spiritual and physical.

What are Buddhist known for?

Buddhism started in India. It is a religion that tells its followers to avoid both doing things that make them happy and doing things that make them unhappy. One of the most important aspects of Buddhism is The Four Noble Truths, which are essential to understanding the religion. In addition, Buddhists believe in other concepts such as karma, the law of cause and effect, and reincarnation, the continuous cycle of rebirth.

Who do Buddhists pray to?

There are many ways to worship in Buddhism. Different schools of Buddhism have different ways of worshiping. In the Mahayana tradition, people show their devotion to Buddha and to Bodhisattvas.

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Link will appear as Buddhism Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 11, 2017

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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