No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings

by Noah Rasheta

started off studying Tibetan Buddhism, then shifted focus to Zen Buddhism. I later graduated from a ministry program that was heavily influenced by Pure Land Buddhism, but today I practice secular Buddhism.

Buddha is a word that means “awakened one” or “a person who is awake” in both Sanskrit and Pali. The idea of awakening and being awake runs throughout Buddhist philosophy.

Before becoming the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama married a woman named Yasodhara, and they had a son named Rahula.

His cousin Ananda is the monk who memorized his teachings and sermons, which would be spread orally until the Pali Canon was written.

Chinese Buddhist monk called Budai, also known as the Laughing Buddha or the Fat Buddha. When you see a statue of a fat, bald man with a smile, you’re seeing Budai, not Siddhartha Gautama, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.