Bodhgaya
Buddhism is a world religion and is based on the teachings of Sidhartha Gautama who is known as the Buddha (literally the Enlightened Once A wakened One).
Siddhartha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism After asceticism and meditation, he discovered the Buddhist Middle Way a path of moderation away form the extremes of self indulgence and self mortification. Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.
Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu Kshatriya family. His father was king Suddodana, the leader of Shakya clan whose capital was Kapilavastu Uttar Pradesh. Queen Maya, his mother. On her way to her father’s kingdom gave birth to her son at Lumbini Nepal in a garden beneath a sal tree. The infant was given the name Siddhartha Pali: Siddhattha), meaning he who achieves his aim During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed form his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or great holy man.
When he reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to a cousin Yasodhara. They had a son named Rahul Siddhartha is then said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilvastu Although his father ensured that Sidhartha was provided with everything he could want or need Buddhist scriptures say that Buddha felt that material wealth was not life sultimate goal.
An the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father s efforts to hide from him the sick aged and suffering Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he enconterd a diseased man, a decaying corpse and an ascetic. These depressed him and he initially strove to overcome ageing, sickness and death by living the life of an ascetic and bence hence left his princely abode for the life of a mendicant.
Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara’s men recognized Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest Bimisra offered Siddhartha the throne Siddhartha rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first upon attaining enlightenment.
He left Rajagaha and practiced under two hermit teachers After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama Skr. Arada Kalama he was asked by Kalama to seucced him.
Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods including food practicing self mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restrictinghis food intake to around a leaf or nut per day he Siddhartha began to reconsider his path Then he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season’ plowing He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing the jhana.
According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative jhana was the right path to awakening but that extreme call the Middle Way a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Gautam was seated under a banyan tree now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodha Gaya India when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth Kaundinya and four other companions believing that he had abandoned his search and had become undisciplined left After a reputed 49 days of meditation he is said to have attained Enlightenment From that time Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or “A wakended One” Buddha” also sometimes translated as The Enlightened Once He is often referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha or The Awakened Once of the Shakya Clan.
According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insigh into the cause of suffering and the steps necessary to eliminate in Truths”, which are at the heart of Buddhis teaching Throught mastery of these truthes a state of superme liberation or Nirvana is belived Nirvana as the perfect peace of a mind that is free from ignorance gread hatred and other affictive states or degilement kilesas. Nirvana is also regarded as the end of the world in that no personal indentity of boundaries of the mind remain In such a state a being in said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.
After his awakening the Buddha met two merchants named Tapussa and Bhallika who become his first lay disciles. The Budha intended to visit Asita and his former teachers Alara kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta to explain his findings but they had already died.
He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi Benares in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment Together with him they formed the first Sangha the company of Buddhist monks.
All five become Arahants and within the first two months with the conversion of yasa fifty four of his friends the number for such Arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the Sangha to more than 1000.
For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have travelled in the Gangetic Plain in Uttar Pradesh Bihar and southern street sweepers muderers such as Angulimala and connaibals such as Alavaka From the outset, Buddhism was equally open to all races and classes and had no caste structure.
The Sangha traveld thrught the subcontinent expounding the Dharma. The continued throughout the year except during the four monthes of the Vassna rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely travelled. One reason was that it was more religions rarely travelled Once reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of years the Sangha would retreat to monasteries. Public parks of forests where people would come to them.
The first Vassana was spent at Varanasi when the Sangha was formed. After this the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha capital of Magadha to visit King Bimbisara During this visit Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciple after which they were to become the Buddha two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagha capital of Magadha.
Upon hering of his son’s awakening King Suddhodana sent over a period of time ten delegation to ask him to return to Kapilavastu On the first nine occasion the delegates failed to deliver the message and instead joined the Sangha to become Arahants The tenth delegation led by Kaludayi a childhood friend of Gautama (who also become an Arahant) however, delivered the message.
Two years after his awakening the Buddha agreed to return and made a two month journey by foot to Kapilavastu teaching the Dharma as he went Buddhist texts say that king Suddhodana invited the Sangha into the palace for a meal followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a Sotapanna During the visit many members of the royal family joined the Sangha. The Buddha’s cousins Anands and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahul also joined and became one of his ten chief dicples His half borther Nanda also joined and became an Arahant.
Of the Buddha’s disciples, Sariputta Maudgalyayana Mahakasyapa. Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quoined for Upali Subhoti Rahula Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth Vassana the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father He is said to have gone to king Suddhodana and taught the Dharma after which his father became an Arahant.
The king death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was order of nuns Buddhist was reluctant to ordain women His foster mother Maha Pajapati for example approached him asking to join the Sangha but he refused Maha Prajapati however was so intent on the path of awakening that she after Anadha championed their cause the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and five years after the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and five years after the formation of the Sangha agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.
Buddha found patronage in the ruler fo Magadha, emperor Bimbisara The emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith Bimbisara. The emperor accepted Buddhism after as personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist “Viharas” This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.
The Maurya empire reached its peak at the time of Emperor Asoka who himself converted to Buddhism after the Battle of Kaliga. This heralded a long period of stability under the Buddhist emperor. The power of the empire was vast ambassadors were sent to other countries to propagate Budhism.
The Buddha did not appoint any successor and asked his followers to work for personal salvation. The teachings of the Buddha exited only in oral traditons. The Sangha held a number of Buddhist councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice. Buddha attained Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kusinara modern Kushinanagar in Uttar Pradesh.
