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Buddhism
For centuries, Buddhism has been the most dominant religion of the Eastern world. Today it remains the predominant religion in China, Japan, Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia. With thedevelopment of the Asian population in the United States, Buddhism has made a huge impact in the United States. Presently, there are over 300,000 Buddhists in the U.S. It remains the dominant religionin the state of Hawaii and many Americans have also accepted this religion. Buddhism began as an offspring of Hinduism in the country of India. The founder was Siddhartha Gautama. It isn’t easy togive an accurate story of the life of Gautama because there wasn’t any biography created until hundreds of years after his death. Today, much of his life story is misted up in myths and legendswhich arose after his death. Even the best historians have contradictory explanations about his life. Siddhartha Gautama was born in approximately 560 B.C. in northern India. His father Suddhodana wasthe ruler over an area near the Himalayas which is today the country of Nepal. He saw four things that forever changed his life: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a hobo. Intensely distressedby the suffering he saw, he decided to leave the comfort of palace life and begin a quest to find the answer to the problem of pain and human suffering. The thought of a personal God does not fitinto the Buddhist system of religion. Today there are many sects of Buddhism. Many differ in their concept of the divine and of Buddha. In general, Buddhists are pantheistic in their view of God. Manyview God as an impersonal force which is made up of all living things and holds the universe together. Since Buddhism in general does not believe in a personal God or divine being, it does not haveworship, praying, or praising of a divine being. It offers no form of redemption, forgiveness, heavenly hope, or final judgment. Buddhism is more of a moral philosophy, an ethical way of life.