Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Content Adviser April C Armstrong Princeton University Reading Adviser Marla Conn MS Ed Literacy specialist Read-Ability Inc Photo Credits Bule Sky Studio Shutterstock cover 1 Fabio Imhoff Shutterstock 5 Nadezhda1906 Shutterstock 6 Photographee eu Shutterstock 8 Dragon Images Shutterstock 10 Globe Turner Shutterstock 13 Sean Pavone Shutterstock 14 Stephane Bidouze Shutterstock 16 19 Laura PI Shutterstock 20 thodonal88 Shutterstock 22 vipflash Shutterstock 23 beibaoke Shutterstock 25 Gastuner Shutterstock 26 mai111 Shutterstock 28 Copyright 2017 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names Marsico Katie 1980 author Title Buddhism by Katie Marsico Description Ann Arbor Michigan Cherry Lake Publishing 2017 Series Global citizens world religions Includes bibliographical references and index Identifiers LCCN 2016033581 ISBN 9781634721585 hardcover ISBN 9781634722247 pdf ISBN 9781634722902 pbk ISBN 9781634723565 ebook Subjects LCSH Buddhism Juvenile literature Classification LCC BQ4032 M375 2017 DDC 294 3 dc23 LC record available at https lccn loc gov 2016033581 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning Please visit www p21 org for more information Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katie Marsico is the author of more than 200 children’s books She lives in a suburb of Chicago Illinois with her husband and children
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 History Roots of the Religion 4 CHAPTER 2 Geography Mapping How Faith Formed 12 CHAPTER 3 Civics Organization and Ideas 18 CHAPTER 4 Economics Funding a Faith 25 THINK ABOUT IT 30 FOR MORE INFORMATION 31 GLOSSARY 32 INDEX 32
CHAPTER 1 History Roots of the Religion Since people began recording history they have written about the idea of a power greater than themselves Thousands of years later various beliefs in this power continue to shape both individual lives and entire cultures Religion is the system people use to organize such beliefs Religion also standardizes ceremonies and rules for worship The Story of Siddhartha Gautama Buddhism is an example of a major world religion It is based on the idea that human suffering is part of a cycle of birth death and rebirth Buddhists believe that gaining spiritual knowledge and awareness allows a person to break the cycle Once someone reaches this point he or she is said to have achieved 4 21st century skills library
Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism enlightenment That individual is then able to enter nirvana a state outside the cycle of death and rebirth where the person is finally free from suffering Historians say the history of Buddhism can be traced back to the sixth century bce That is when Siddhartha Gautama was most likely born in India He eventually became the founder of Buddhism Gautama was the son of a warrior-king and enjoyed great wealth and nobility Yet according to the story of how Buddhism developed he decided to give up this lifestyle One Global Citizens World Religions 5 55
