The Buddha's Life Teachings
A United India
Asoka the Buddhist King
- Buddhism began from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama
- Siddhartha was a fifth-century B.C. prince born in wealth and luxury
- He gave up wealth when he saw suffering in the world
- Fled to find a place of peace
- Siddhartha starved himself for six years then meditated under a fig tree
- Siddhartha found the way to end world suffering through the Four Nobel Truths
- The Truths are people suffer because their minds are not at ease, unease, suffering can come from wants, people can stop suffering by not having wants, and that people can stop wanting by following the eightfold path
A United India
- Separate Aryan kingdoms battled each other for centuries
- Around 550 B.C. northeastern Magadha kingdom gained strength
- Chandragupta Maurya became king of Magadha around 321 B.C.
Asoka the Buddhist King
- Chandragupta's grandson Asoka was the greatest Magadha king
- Carved policies of nonviolence, truth, and kindness on rocks and pillars
- Sent missionaries to spread Buddhism, but aloud other religions
- Improved travel by building walls, and rest houses by roads