Walk with the Buddha

Overview

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, being exceeded in numbers only by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. The first known Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, founded it in Northern India . As Buddhism expanded across Asia , it evolved into two main forms, which evolved largely independently from each other


From a Prince to a Monk

Born to king Shudodhana in 563 B.C in Lumbini, (now in Nepal ) prince siddhartha was raised amid the finest luxuries of the time. Having demonstrated his skill in archery, Siddartha chose Yasodhara and lived a luxurious life within his palaces until his son Rahula was born. One day while strolling outside his palace he happened to come across an old man, sick man, dead man, and a religious ascetic. These sights made him think about the human miseries. So he decided to renounce his kingdom and seek a way out human miseries of old age, sickness and death.

Siddartha practiced yoga and meditation and eventually took upon the path of extreme austerities. He fasted for long periods of time and his flesh shrank, bones almost stuck out of his skin so that he could touch his spine from the front. However, to gain the strength he felt he needed for concentration he decided to start eating again.

With his mind thus concentrated and cleansed he directed it to the remembrance of former existences from previous births, also perceiving cycles of evolution and dissolution of the universe.

He directed his mind to the means of ultimate release and realized that there is pain, a cause of pain, the cessation of pain, and a way that leads to that cessation of pain. Thus his mind was emancipated from sensual desires, the desire for existence, and ignorance.

Thus the light dispelled darkness and ignorance as Siddartha Gautama became enlightened and was henceforth known as the Buddha.


Emergence of Dharma

Buddha (also known as the shakyamuni) always believed that it was more important for anyone to place the dharma (doctrine) higher than the Buddha, because the dharma would remain and was what they needed to practice to attain enlightenment and even afterwards. He rejected significant aspects of Hindu philosophy, challenged the authority of the priesthood, denied the validity of the Vedic scriptures, and rejected the sacrificial cult based on them. He opened his movement to members of all castes, denying that a person's spiritual worth is a matter of birth. Apart from the four noble truths Buddhas teaching also analyzes Anatman, Karma and Nirvana .
Anatman

Human existence is made up of five aggregates or “bundles” ( skandhas ): the material body, feelings, perceptions, predispositions or karmic tendencies, and consciousness. A person is only a temporary combination of these aggregates, which are subject to continual change. Thus he taught the doctrine of anatman, or the denial of a permanent soul.
Karma

Closely related to this belief is the doctrine of karma, Karma consists of a person's acts and their ethical consequences. Human actions lead to rebirth, wherein good deeds are inevitably rewarded and evil deeds punished. Thus, neither undeserved pleasure nor unwarranted suffering exists in the world, but rather a universal justice. The karmic process operates through a kind of natural moral law rather than through a system of divine judgment.
Nirvana

The ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its inherent suffering. To achieve this goal is to attain NIRVANA, an enlightened state in which the fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance have been quenched. Not to be confused with total annihilation, nirvana is a state of consciousness beyond definition. After attaining nirvana, the enlightened individual may continue to live, burning off any remaining karma until a state of final nirvana ( parinirvana ) is attained at the moment of death.

Monks Who Carried the Baton

Sects

After Buddha, his followers divided his doctrine into

* Hinayana or Theravada or lesser vehicle

* Mahayana or higher vehicle


Theravada or Hinayana has been popular in countries like Sri Lanka , Thailand , Cambodia , Burma , and Laos while places like China , Japan , Taiwan , Tibet , Nepal , Mongolia , Korea , Vietnam , and Mahayana has dominated India .

Places

Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the land of its birth. Missionaries dispatched by King Asoka introduced the religion to southern India and to the northwest part of the subcontinent. Theravada was carried to Burma from Sri Lanka during the reign of Asoka and spread to the area of modern Thailand in the 6th century. About the beginning of the Christian era, Buddhism was carried to Central Asia and entered China along the trade routes by the early 1st century ad . Buddhism was first introduced into Tibet through the influence of foreign wives of the king, beginning in the 7th century ad and had become a significant force in Tibetan culture.

Monastic life

The most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. Their shaved heads identified its members and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. The early Buddhist monks, or bhikkus, wandered from place to place, settling down in various communities the world over. Monastic life was governed by the rules of the Vinaya sutra. The sangha included an order for nuns as well as for monks, a unique feature among Indian monastic orders.