Buddhism

Buddhism was founded in 520 B.C. in northern India by Siddharta Gautama. At the time

of his birth, it was foretold that he may shy away from the shallow things in life. His father did

his best to block this from happening, but as with most prophecy, it happened anyway. When

Gautama was older, he went on four chariot rides that changed his way of thinking forever.

During those rides, he saw things that disheartened him immensely. Outside of the comfortable

life that he was accustomed to, he saw the real world, and it wasn’t as rosy as he once believed.

The world that he saw, contained aging, sickness and death. The luxuries that he once knew

suddenly seemed as a passing fancy. As was told by the prophet at his birth, Gautama, soon to be

known as Buddha, left his home and riches, including his wife and son in pursuit of a more

meaningful existence (Fisher, 2013, p. 138). Thus Buddhism was on its way into formation.

The beliefs and practices of Buddhism consists of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-

Fold Path. The Four Noble Truths are designed to help with the human suffering. Truths one and

two identifies and finds the reasons behind the suffering. More importantly, the second Truth lets

practitioners know that it is because of desire and want that they are suffering. If they want the

suffering to end, they need to accept things as they are. The third and fourth Truths provides for a

way out of that suffering, which leads into the Eight-Fold Path.

The Eight-Fold Path, or the Wheel of Dhamma, presents the “Rights” which are Right

Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort,

Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration ("Basics of Buddhism", n.d..). Th...

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...iscipline was essential to remaining humble. It was even more

important for members of leadership to practice self-discipline as it allowed them to show

compassion to those that followed them, therefore leading by example ("Confucius Biography",

2014).

The bases for Confucianism are mercy, social order, and fulfilling ones responsibilities.

In order to meet the requirements for everyone must act with benevolence with one another what

Confucius defined as the Five Cardinal Relations. Those relations are master & servant, parent &

child, husband & wife, older & younger brother, and friends ("Cultural Beliefs and Practices:

Role of Confucianism", 2014). Outside of these principles, there are no real practical practices of

Confucianism. Along with China, Confucianism has a foothold in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam

with approximately 6 million followers.