The Buddhism
Buddhism is the religion established by the Sakyamuni Buddha (born as Prince Siddharta Gautama of the Sakya clan), who lived in India some 3000 years ago. As a young man, Siddhartha observed the suffering of the cycle of birth, sickness, old age and death and decided to enter the priesthood, striving for the enlightenment and salvation of all beings.
He explained in his teachings that in the essence of all human experience there is something eternal and unchanging-the law of cause and effect, that is, the eternal law of life. Sakyamuni taught about the eternity of life and about the circumstances of our daily lives. He explained that people, when they die, take with them their own existence and the causes and relationships of all the actions carried out during their past lives; This is known as karma. These causes and relationships determine the circumstances of our next existence. According to the principle of karma, all events (effects) of our present life are the result of our actions (causes) made in the past, and the actions we do now (causes) will shape our future.
"Wishing to know the causes of the past, look at the effects in the present. Wishing to know the effects in the future, look at the causes of the present. "(Nichiren Daishonin, The Opening of the Eyes, Shinpen, 571)
The Sakyamuni Buddha revealed various teachings according to the capacity of beings. But in the last eight years of his life he preached the Lotus Sutra, which was the goal of his advent in this world, according to the phrase:
"I recognized and realized the different living conditions of various types of people. Thus, I have revealed several expedient teachings to guide them. I did not reveal the supreme and true teaching during the 40 years of my preaching. He can not attain enlightenment through these expedient teachings, because he does not know the great way to enlightenment. "
He later stated:
"Abandon sincerely all the provisional teachings, for I will reveal only the Supreme Way."
This "Supreme Way" is the Lotus Sutra, the only one to realize the aspiration of Buddha Sakyamuni. Still, Buddha Sakyamuni himself predicted that two thousand years after his death Buddhism he preached would lose his strength.
For the salvation of future generations, he transmitted the integrity of his teachings to a disciple, Bodhisattva Jogyo. He also predicted that a more powerful Buddha (rebirth of the Bodhisattva Jogyo) would make his advent to the east to direct people to the truth. According to this prediction, Nichiren Daishonin, the Original Buddha for the salvation of all people, made his advent in Japan, on the land east of India, in this Age of Dharma End.