Gotma Buddha
Gotma Buddha More than two thousand five hundred years ago, there lived in India, in the shadow of the Himalayas, with a tribe called the Sakyas. The tribe chief was Raja Shuddhodhana and his queen’s name was Mahamaya. Their capital was the gorgeous city of Kapilavastu. One night-Mahamaya had a weird dream. Learned Brahmins interpreted the dream as an indication that Mahamaya would soon give birth to an excellent and noble son. so it came to pass. Mahamaya now turned back and returned to Kapilavastu. King Shuddhodhana received them enthusiastically and there was great rejoicing in the kingdom. Shortly afterward mother and child were visited by the sage Asita. Taking the prince, who was a few days old, in his arms he exclaimed with joy, “Indeed he is a Good One!” Then tears began to trickle down Asita’s cheek. King Shuddhodhana was immediately full of alarm. “What danger is goinwill my son?” he asked anxiously. “I am not crying for the kid,” replied Asita, “but for myself. This child will one day bring deliverance to the world. I’m old and will not live to see that day. So I cry.” Saying this sage went his way. The king and queen rejoiced at hearing Asita’s words and named their son Siddhartha. This name in the pages of history bears much reverence for the work he had rendered for the service of humanity. The religious-philosophical religion he had begun to preach was a response to the evils of other religions at that time. While not much is thought about the earliest styles of Buddhism, it seems the earliest followers believed that there had been only one Buddha and his teaching that might be followed to be enlightened. He was the chief’s son of a tribal group, the Shakyas, so he was born as Kshatriya. At the age of twenty-nine, he left his family to live an ascetic life. some years later he reappears with some followers; he and his followers devote their lives to “The Middle Way,” a way of life that’s midway between an ascetic lifestyle and one that’s world-devoted. At some point, he gained “enlightenment” and commenced to preach this new philosophy within the region of Bihar and Uttar Kadesh. His teaching lasted for several decades and he perished at a very old age, somewhere in his eighties. While Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, spent several decades teaching, none of his teachings were written down until several hundred years later. in the third century, Asoka, the good Mauryan emperor, converted to Buddhism and started to sponsor several monasteries throughout the country. He even sent missionaries to various countries both east and west. During his reign, the teachings of Buddha spread all across India and Sri Lanka. When the teachings of Buddha were finally written into a canon, this canon is named the Tripitaka, or “Three Baskets,” for it’s divided into three parts, the Vinaya, or “Conduct,” the Sutta, or “Discourses,” and also the Abhidhamma, or “Supplementary Doctrines.” The second part, the “Discourses,” is the most vital in Buddhism. These are discourses by the Buddha and are full of Buddhist philosophy and morality. Theravada Buddhism holds that Buddha was a historical one who, on his death, ceased to exist. There were, however, strong tendencies for Buddhists to worship Buddha as a god of some sort; these tendencies probably began as early as Buddha’s lifetime. The Mahayanists developed a theology of Buddha called the doctrine of “The Three Bodies,” or Trikaya. Buddha wasn’t a human being, as he was in Theravada Buddhism, but the manifestation of a universal, belief. This Being had three bodies. When it occupied the earth in the sort of Siddhartha Gautama, it took on the Body of Magical Transformation (nirmanakaya). This Body of Magical Transformation was an emanation of the Body of Bliss (sambhogakaya), which occupies the heavens in the style of a ruling and governing God of the universe. In the Kalama Sutta, we discover the Kalamas, people of apparently sceptical natures, asking Buddha for guidance in distinguishing good teachers from bad ones, and proper teachings from evil ones. The Buddha answers in three parts, which are treasures of wisdom. First, he outlines the factors we must always use to differentiate well from bad teachers and teachings: “It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain, don’t go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor rumour; nor upon what’s in scripture; nor upon surmise; nor an axiom; nor specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher….’ “What does one think, Kalamas? Does greed appear in a man for his benefit or harm? Does hate appear in a man for his benefit or harm? Does delusion appear in a very man for his benefit or harm?” “For his harm, venerable sir.” — “Kalamas, being given to greed, hate, and delusion, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by greed, hate, and delusion, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells lies; he prompts another too, to try and do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and ill?” — “Yes, venerable sir….” “Kalamas, once you know: ‘These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things result in harm and ill,’ abandon them.” He found the world a miserable place and sought eight noble paths for attaining the enlightenment of life. These are as follows: The right view is the true understanding of the four noble truths. Right aspiration is the true desire to free oneself from attachment, ignorance, and hatefulness. These two are named prajna or wisdom. Right speech involves abstaining from lying, gossiping, or hurtful talk. Right action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviours, like killing, stealing, and careless sex. Right livelihood means making your living in such a way as to avoid dishonesty and hurting others, including animals. These