Buddhism in Npal.

Buddhism derives its name from its founder Sakyamuni Buddha. Sakyamuni means 'sage of the sakya clan'. He was the son of the King of the Sakya clan. Buddha however is a title, meaning 'one who is enlightened and will enlighten others'. This title may be applied to any historical or even present day enlightened person. Here Buddhism differs from Christianity familiar no doubt, even if a little vaguely, to many readers. There is and can be only one Christ, but their have been and may be many Buddhas. Christianity is also distinguished in that it has a clearly defined relatively small Scripture, which has remained unchanged for 1,500 years or more. Buddhism, by contrast, has a huge and ever expanding range of scriptural literature, as any visit to any Gompa on the Annapurna circuit will demonstrate. Like Christianity, Buddhism includes the life story of its founder within its literature Before we move on to Buddha's life story, a little explanation of some of the concepts of Buddhism may be needed. Buddhists believe in a cycle of birth and rebirth, extinguished only by 'enlightenment'. Sakyamuni's previous lives as a 'Boddhisattva' are part of his lifestory. A Boddhisattva is someone who has reached the point where his advance in wisdom means that enlightenment is inevitable. There is a lot of technical jargon to master. It's a bit like computers.