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Gautama Buddha

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious figures and
leaders

   Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern
   Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet.
   Enlarge
   Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern
   Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet.

   Siddhārtha Gautama ( Pāli सिद्धार्थ गौतम: Gotama Buddha) was a
   spiritual teacher from the ancient Indian subcontinent and the
   historical founder of Buddhism. He is universally recognized by
   Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha of our age. The time of his birth and
   death are uncertain; most modern historians date his lifetime from 563
   BCE to 483 BCE, though some have suggested a date about a century later
   than this.

   Gautama is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life,
   discourses, and monastic rules were summarized after his death and
   memorized by the saṅgha. Passed down by oral tradition, the Tripiṭaka,
   the collection of discourses attributed to Gautama, was committed to
   writing about 400 years later.

Buddha's life

   As few of the details of the Buddha's life can be independently
   verified, it is difficult to gauge the historical accuracy of these
   accounts. The main sources of information on Siddhārtha Gautama's life
   are the earliest available Buddhist texts. The following is a summary
   of those narratives.

Conception and birth

   According to tradition, Siddhārtha was born more than 200 years before
   the reign of the Maurya king Aśoka (lived 304–232 BCE).
   The birth of Siddhartha, (2nd-3rd century).
   Enlarge
   The birth of Siddhartha, (2nd-3rd century).

   Siddhartha was born in Lumbini in modern day Nepal. His father was
   Suddhodan, the chief of the Shakya nation, one of several ancient
   tribes on the growing state of Kosala. His mother was Queen Maya, King
   Sudhodhana's wife.

   The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Buddhist
   countries as Vesak Day. Gautama was born a prince, destined to a
   luxurious life, with three palaces (one for each season) especially
   built for him. On the night Gautama was conceived, Māyādevī dreamt that
   a white elephant entered her right side, and following the dream
   Siddharta was born from her right side (see image right). Various
   sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or
   seven days later. During the birth celebrations, the seer Asita
   announced that this baby would either become a great king (
   chakravartin) or a great holy man. His father, King Śuddhodana, wishing
   for Gautama to be a great king, shielded his son from religious
   teachings or knowledge of human suffering.

   While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a
   hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of Ikṣvāku
   (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars believe that Śuddhodana was the elected
   chief of a tribal confederacy.

Marriage

   When the young Prince Siddhārtha Gautama was a baby, an ascetic named
   Kaladevala went into the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and predicted that the
   young prince would become the Buddha. As the boy reached the age of 16,
   his father arranged his marriage to Yaśodharā ( Pāli: Yasodharā), a
   cousin of the same age. In time, she gave birth to a son, Rahula.
   Gautama spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu, a place now situated
   in Nepal. Although his father ensured that Gautama was provided with
   everything he could want or need, Gautama felt that material wealth was
   not the ultimate goal of life.

The Great Departure

   The Four Heavenly Messengers
   Enlarge
   The Four Heavenly Messengers

   While venturing outside of his palace, Gautama is said to have seen an
   old crippled man ( old age), a diseased man ( illness), a decaying
   corpse ( death), and an ascetic. These four scenes are referred to as
   the four sights, or the four heavenly messengers ( Pali: devaduta).
   Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age,
   illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic. Gautama soon left
   his palace, his possessions, and his entire family at age 29, to take
   up the lonely life of a wandering monk.

   Abandoning his inheritance, he is then said to have dedicated his life
   to learning how to overcome suffering. He meditated with two hermits,
   and, although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, he
   was still not satisfied with his path.
   The Buddha as an ascetic. Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE. British Museum.
   Enlarge
   The Buddha as an ascetic. Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE. British Museum.

   Gautama then chose the robes of a mendicant monk and headed to Magadha
   in what is today Bihar in India. He began his training in the ascetic
   life and practicing vigorous techniques of physical and mental
   austerity. Gautama proved quite adept at these practices, and surpassed
   even his teachers.

   However, he found no answer to his questions regarding freedom from
   sufferings Leaving behind his caring teachers, he and a small group of
   close companions set out to take their austerities even further.
   Gautama tried to find enlightenment through complete deprivation of
   worldly goods, including food, and became a complete ascetic. After
   nearly starving himself to death (some sources claim that he nearly
   drowned), Gautama began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a
   moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the
   season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and
   focused state that was blissful and refreshing.

The Great Enlightenment

   After asceticism and concentrating on meditation or Anapana-sati
   (awareness of breathing in and out), Gautama is said to have discovered
   what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the
   extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted a
   little rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Then, sitting
   under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, he vowed
   never to arise until he had found the Truth. At the age of 35, he
   attained Enlightenment; according to some traditions, this occurred
   approximately in May, and according to others in December. Gautama,
   from then on, was known as "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One", the
   Samyaksambuddha ( Pāli: Sammāsambuddha).

   At this point, he is believed to have stated that he had realized
   complete awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human
   suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate
   it. These truths were then categorized into the Four Noble Truths; the
   state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called Nirvana.
   He then came to possess the Nine Characteristics, which are said to
   belong to every Buddha.

   According to one of the stories in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya
   VI.1), a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons, immediately
   after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he
   should teach the Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as
   human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would
   not be able to see the true dharma, which was subtle, deep and hard to
   understand. However, a divine spirit, Brahmā Sahampati, interceded and
   asked that he teach the dharma to the world, as "there will be those
   who will understand the Dharma". With his great compassion to all
   beings in the universe, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
   Painting of the first sermon depicted at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand.
   Enlarge
   Painting of the first sermon depicted at Wat Chedi Liem in Thailand.

   At the Deer Park near Vārāṇasī (Benares) in northern India, he set in
   motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group
   of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment.
   They, together with the Buddha, formed the first saṅgha, the company of
   Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem (Buddha,
   Dharma and Sangha) was completed.

   According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct
   understanding. He questioned the average person's notions of divinity
   and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind
   and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in
   decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the
   sentient beings who must tread the path of Nirvāṇa ( Pāli: Nibbāna)
   themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and see truth
   and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight, thought, and
   meditation practice is not believed to have been revealed divinely, but
   by the understanding of the true nature of the mind, which could be
   discovered by anybody.

   For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have
   traveled in the Gangetic Plain of Northeastern India and Southern
   Nepal, teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse
   range of people— from nobles to outcaste street sweepers, including
   many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded
   the community of Buddhist monks and nuns (the Sangha) to continue the
   dispensation after his Parinirvāna ( Pāli: Parinibbāna) or "complete
   Nirvāna", and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all
   races and classes and had no caste structure. On the other hand,
   Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns: he
   eventually accepted them on the grounds that their capacity for
   enlightenment was equal to that of men (and the Lotus Sutra, in Chapter
   12, contains a description of the dragon king's daughter attaining
   enlightenment in her present body), but he gave them certain additional
   rules (Vinaya) to follow.

The Great Passing

   Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.
   Enlarge
   Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.

   According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of
   80, the Buddha announced that he would soon enter Parinirvana or the
   final deathless state abandoning the earthly body. After this, the
   Buddha ate his last meal, which, according to different translations,
   was either a mushroom delicacy or soft pork, which he had received as
   an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill,
   Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal
   eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal
   would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the much-needed
   energy for the Buddha.

   Ananda protested Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the
   abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (Pāli: Kusināra) of the Mallas. Buddha,
   however, reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a
   righteous king that resounded with joy:


   Gautama Buddha

     44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten
     sounds -- the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the
   rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song,
   cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"


   Gautama Buddha

   The sharing of the relics of the Buddha.
   Enlarge
   The sharing of the relics of the Buddha.

   Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikshus to clarify any doubts or
   questions they had. They had none. He then finally entered Parinivana.
   The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive
   for your own salvation with diligence." The Buddha's body was cremated
   and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are
   believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of
   the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where the
   right tooth relic of Buddha is kept at present.

   According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa
   and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after
   the death of Buddha. According to one Mahayana record in Chinese (十八部論
   and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of
   Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE
   according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record.
   However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the
   Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the
   reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier
   than current estimates (based on Aśoka's own inscriptions, and
   therefore among the soundest dates in early Indian history).
   Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, Musée Guimet.
   Enlarge
   Gandhara Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, Musée Guimet.

Physical characteristics

   Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his
   rather impressive physical characteristics. He was at least six feet
   tall and had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and
   was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by
   Buddhists to have " the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

   Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the
   1st century CE (see Buddhist art), his physical characteristics are
   described in one of the central texts of the traditional Pali canon,
   the Digha Nikaya. They help define the global aspect of the historical
   Buddha, his physical appearance is described by Prince Siddhartha's
   wife to his son Rahula upon Buddha's return in the scripture of the
   "Lion of Men":


   Gautama Buddha

                       Like the full moon is His face;

                         He is dear to Gods and men;
                     He is like an elephant amongst men;
         His gait is graceful as that of an elephant of noble breed.
                  That, indeed, is your father, lion of men

       He is of Aryan (aristocratic nobility) lineage, sprung from the
                              Kshatriya caste;
                His feet have been honoured by Gods and men;
         His mind is well established in morality and concentration.
                 That, indeed, is your father, lion of men.

                 Long and prominent is His well-formed nose,
                 His eye-lashes are like those of a heifer;
               His eyes are extremely blue; like a rainbow are
                           His deep blue eyebrows.
                 That, indeed, is your father, lion of men.

                  Round and smooth is His well-formed neck;
                       His jaw is like that of a lion;
                   His body is like that of king of beast;
               His beautiful skin is of bright golden colour.
                  That, indeed is your father, lion of men.


   Gautama Buddha

   Interpretations may vary, and the reliability of the Sutras may be
   questioned. The description above is indicative of a typically
   Indo-Aryan body type. This can also be related to the tradition
   describing the historic Buddha as a member of the Indian/Nepali
   Kshatriya warrior caste.

Teachings

   The teachings of the Buddha are covered in the articles on Buddhism and
   Buddhist philosophy. While there is disagreement amongst various
   Buddhist sects over more esoteric aspects of Buddha's teachings and
   over disciplinary rules for monks, there is generally agreement over
   these points:
     * The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of
       existence; that the origin of suffering is ignorance and the main
       symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and craving; that
       attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the Noble
       Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving
       and therefore suffering.
     * The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right
       speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
       mindfulness, and right concentration.
     * The concept of dependent origination: that any phenomenon 'exists'
       only because of the ‘existence’ of other phenomena in a complex web
       of cause and effect covering time past, present and future. Because
       all things are thus conditioned and transient ( anicca), they have
       no real independent identity ( anatta).
     * Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings
       should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience
       and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details.
     * Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things are impermanent.
     * Anatta (Sanskrit: anātman): That the perception of a constant "
       self" is an illusion.
     * Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkha): That all beings suffer from all
       situations due to unclear mind.

Language

   It is unknown what language the Buddha spoke, and no conclusive
   documentation has been made at this point. However, modern scholars,
   primarily philologists, believe it is most likely that the Buddha spoke
   an East-Indian popular language, Mâgadhî Prakrit.

Buddha as viewed by other religions

Hinduism

   Buddhism is a dharmic religion. The systems of Buddhism and Hinduism
   must not be considered to be either contradictory to one another or
   completely self contained. Coomaraswamy wrote:

          "The more supreficially one studies Buddhism, the more it seems
          to differ from Brahmanism in which it originated; the more
          profound our study, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish
          Buddhism from Brahmanism, or to say in what respects, if any,
          Buddhism is really unorthodox."

   Buddhist scholar Rahula Vipola wrote that the Buddha was trying to shed
   the true meaning of the Vedas. Buddha is said to be a knower of the
   Veda (vedajña) or of the Vedanta (vedântajña) (Sa.myutta, i. 168) and
   (Sutta Nipâta, 463).

   Hinduism and Buddhism share many common features including Sanskrit,
   yoga, karma and dharma. Indians such as Ashoka the great and B.R.
   Ambedkar took to Buddism. India also is home to the government of Tibet
   in exile under Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.

   In addition, Siddhartha Gautama is seen in Hinduism as the ninth avatar
   of Vishnu.

Taoism, Confucianism and Shintoism

   The arrival of Buddhism caused Taoism to renew and restructure itself
   and address existential questions raised by Buddhism. Buddhism was seen
   as a kind of foreign Taoism and its scriptures were translated into
   Chinese with Taoist vocabulary. Chan ( Seon, Thien, or Zen) Buddhism in
   particular holds many beliefs in common with philosophical Taoism. Some
   early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought Buddha to be a reincarnation of
   Lao Tzu born in the land of barbarians.

   Buddhism shares many commonalities with Neo-Confucianism , which is
   Confucianism with more religious elements. In fact, the ritual of
   ancestor worship normally practiced by Confucianists, has been adapted
   to Chinese Buddhist beliefs.

   In the Japanese religion of Shinto, the long coexistence of Buddhism
   and Shintoism resulted in the merging of Shintoism and Buddhism. Gods
   in Shintoism were given a position similar to the Hindu gods in
   Buddhism. Moreover, because one of Mahayana Buddha's (Dainichi Nyorai)
   symbols was the sun, many equated Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, as the
   previous reincarnation (bodhisattva) of Dainichi Nyorai. However, the
   Tokugawa Shogunate era saw a revival movement within Shinto. Some
   Shinto scholars started to argue that Buddhas were previous
   incarnations of Shinto gods, thus turning the position of Shintoism and
   Buddhism upside down. Shinto and Buddhism were officially separated
   after the Meiji Restoration.

Islam


   Gautama Buddha

     If you desire to see the most noble of mankind, look at the king in
       beggar's clothing; it is he whose sanctity is great among men.


   Gautama Buddha

                        — Abdul Atahiya, Arab Poet.

   The Buddhist monastic class flowed into what came to be called Islamic
   monasticism — Sufism — which has given many poets and scientists to
   both Islam and the world. The Qalandariyah Sufi Order, a Muslim
   mystical movement, attracted many Buddhist monks. This order arose in
   9th century as a result of the Malamatiyya, and became established in
   Khorasan (Eastern Persia) as early in the 11th century.

   Ascetic practices within the Sufi philosophy are associated with
   Buddhism. The notion of purification (cleaning one' s soul from all
   evil things and trying to reach Nirvana and to become immortal in
   Nirvana) plays an important role in Buddhism. The same idea shows
   itself in the belief of vuslat (communion with God) in Sufi philosophy.


   Gautama Buddha

      The mission of the Buddha was quite unique in its character, and
    therefore it stands quite apart from the many other religions of the
   world. His mission was to bring the birds of idealism flying in the air
   nearer to the earth, because the food for their bodies belonged to the
                                   earth.


   Gautama Buddha

                           —Hazrat Inayat Khan.

   The Indian scholar Maulana Abul Kalam Azad proposed in a commentary on
   the Qur'an that Siddhartha Gautama is the prophet of Islam Dhū'l-Kifl
   referred to in Sura 21 and Sura 38 of the Qur'an together with the
   Biblical characters Ishmael, Idris ( Enoch), and Elisha. Azad suggested
   that the Kifl in Dhū'l-Kifl (Ar: "possessor of a double portion") is an
   Arabic pronunciation of Kapilavastu, where the Buddha spent his early
   life. There is no direct evidence to support this speculation.
   According to other ancient Muslim scholars Dhū'l-Kifl was either a
   righteous man and not a prophet, or he was the prophet called Ezekiel
   in the Bible.

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