• RD Glossary

  Buddhism

  One of the world’s major religions. Buddhism is based on the meditation teachings of Gautama the Buddha who lived and taught in India in the sixth century B. C. Buddhism has mostly vanished from India since the Muslim invasions occurring from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, and is most prevalent in the cultures of Oriental Asia—China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Tibet. The four main branches of Buddhism mentioned in this book are , Tibetan, Tien Tai (Tian Tai), Vipassana, and Zen/Chan.