The section The Buddhist Challenge in this chapter interested me the most. I am a fan of meditation, yoga and all things that can put me into a zen feel or a “nirvana” state of mind. I have read a couple passages from different books throughout my lifetime that practiced Buddhism, and not till I read this passage from Strayer’s textbook is when I learned that Buddhism is only much of simpler form of the practice Hinduism. Much of the Buddha's teaching reflected the Hindi traditions from where it sprang. They both strive to enlighten human beings, though they do have differences in attaining that level of peace. Buddhists did not really agree with the Hindi belief that their route to individual holiness connects to God. The inspiring individual who introduced Buddhism and started a small yet growing community, was Siddhartha Gautama and he was a prince from a small north Indian state.
Also, another fun fact that I have learned was that Siddhartha was a loved and fortunate child, though he wanted more after realizing that life was too short. So he left his family and all his wealth behind to go on this 6-year spiritual quest to attain greater and self- enlightenment. He achieved his goal at the age of 35 (which I think was still very young). What an awesome human-being.
