With over 10% of its people practicing it, Buddhism is the second most practiced religion in Nepal. Buddhism was founded around 6 century B.C.. by Prince Siddhartha , who after years of wandering and meditation became the Buddha – also known as the Enlightened One, in northern India, which borders Nepal.

Buddhism has four Noble Truths:
1. There is suffering in life
2. There are causes of suffering
3. There is a way to end this suffering
4. There is a condition of existence without suffering, known as Nirvana.

The Buddha believes there is an eight fold path to achieving Nirvana. This path consist of eight practices: right perception, right conceptualization, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right religious effort, right mindfulness and right concentration (or contemplation). The religion has numerous gods, but they are not viewed as supreme beings, rather they are seen as bodiless state in a heavenly existence. The religion is also guided by ten precepts, which are similar to commandments, but are practiced as ethical recommendations to guide those on the path.

These precepts are to abstain from:

Buddhism provides a fascinating insight into Nepal’s architecture, people, and culture. For a basic primer on the Buddhism, we recommend these two websites:

An interview with Dr. Su onasekera, which is an excellent primer on Buddhism
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=60,6016,0,0,1,0

The Big View website has an easy to follow and detailed summary of Buddhism
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/precepts.html