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THE BUDDHISM
THE LIFE OF LORD BUDDHA
There was a small kingdom in Nepal whose capital was Kepilvastu. One night,
the queen of this kingdom, Queen Maya, wife of King Sudodhana, had a
dream. She dreamt that she saw a brilliant white light shining down to her
from the sky, and in the rays of the light there was a magnificent, pure white
elephant. This elephant had six tusks. It flew closer to her and melted into her
body. After waking up, she went to the king who in turn asked the wise men
the significance of this dream. They told the king that the queen was going to
give birth to a great man. In the course of time the queen gave birth to a male
child in Lumbini which was on her way to her father's house. The boy was
named Siddharth.
He was very sensitive from the childhood. He was greatly touched by pain,
sickness, old age, etc. that we see in our daily lives. His father was quite
concerned at his son's views of life, so he got his son married to a princess of a
neighbouring state. Her name was Yashodhara. In the course of time, they
had a son who was named Rahula.
One night, Siddharth left the palace in search of truth. He came to Vaishali
and spent some time amongst the Jain monks. He found this life style to be of
extreme penance and austerity, so he left the place and went to the Magadha
capital called Rajgriha, where King Bimbisar was ruling. Then he continued
on beyond the Hindu holy town of Gaya. He crossed the Niranjana (Phalagu)
river and entered a forest. He found a group of five wise men in the forest.
They practised penance to control suffering. Siddharth practised extreme
penance for six years and grew very weak and thin. Nearby the forest, lived
Sujata and her husband, a herdsman. She once took a delicious meal called
`khir (a kind of pudding)' in the local language into the forest as an offering to
the spirits. On seeing Siddharath in meditation, she thought he was the spirit.
So she offered him the food which he took. Finally, after some time, he
obtained enlightenment under a fig (Pipal) tree.
After his enlightenment, he travelled to Sarnath and gave his first sermon to
the wise men who had left him in the forest. He also gave sermons on the
Vulture Peak at Rajgriha to King Bimbisar . He went to Vaishali several
times, and there he gave a sermon even to Amrapali who was the famous
dancer. He accepted her invitation to come to her mango grove. It was not
liked by the chiefs of Vaishali. It was here, he allowed women, his foster
mother, his wife and Amrapali, etc., to join the Samgham ( Order ) as nuns at
the request of his disciple Ananda. He died at Kushinagar close to his place of
birth at the age of 80 in the year 483 B.C..
BUDDHA'S LAST WORDS TO HIS DISCIPLE ANANDA
These last words clearly show the difference between Buddhism and
Hinduism and are quite famous. These are: "Be island to yourself, Ananda!
Be a refuge to yourself; do not take to yourself any other refuge. See truth as
an island, see truth as refuge. Do not seek refuge in anyone but yourselves.
Have done, Ananda! Do not weep, do not distress yourself! Have I not often
told you that it is in the very nature of things that we must eventually be
parted from all that is near and dear to us ? For how, Ananda, can it be other
wise ? Since everything born evolved, and organized contains within itself the
germs of disintegration, how can it be otherwise then that a being should pass
away ? No other condition is possible !
For long you, Ananda, have been very near to me by acts of devotion,
faithfulness and affectionate, ever loyal beyond all reckoning."
As mentioned earlier, Lord Buddha went to Sarnath to give his first sermon to
the wise men. Sarnath was near the holy city of Varanasi and within the
Koshal Kingdom.
BUDDHA'S FIRST TEACHING
TURNING THE WHEEL OF DHARMA
Lord Buddha's teachings were simple and of practical nature unlike Vedantic
philosophy. He spoke in the Pali language which was the language of the
common masses. He did not concern himself with the problem of God or the
Soul since he believed such discussions were of no use in the moral progress.
He declared that everything was impermanent or transitory. He proclaimed
Four Noble Truths: ( a) sorrow, ( b ) cause of sorrow, ( c ) cessation of sorrow,
and ( d ) the path leading to the cessation of sorrow. These are discussed in
slight details below:
1. Noble Truth of Suffering According to him, life is full of suffering, miseries,
sickness, death, unhappiness, etc. People go after pleasure which is transitory
and the end result is pain.
2. Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering When our mind is full of desire and
greed, then suffering is bound to happen.
3. Noble Truth of the End of Suffering If we remove all cravings and desires
from our mind, suffering will also end. We will experience peace and
happiness as a result.
4. Noble Truth of the Path If we take the path of avoid harming all other
living beings; if we sharpen and focus our mind; and if we gain wisdom then
we will end all our misery. This noble path is also called the Eightfold Path,
and it is:
1. Right Views - Seeing life as it is, i.e. realizing the three characteristics:
a. change or impermanence,
b. sorrow, and
c. unsubstantiality or non-egoism
2. Right Mindedness - Having friendly thoughts towards fellow human beings.
3. Right Speech - Speaking kindly, truthfully,and narrating incidents
accurately.
4. Right Action - Acting skilfully and sympathetically, while avoiding vain or
violent effort.
5. Right Livelihood - Practising a means of living that does not cause oneself
nor others to infringe lawful morality (abstaining from killing, stealing,
adultery and lying).
6. Right Endeavour - Self-perception by avoiding and rejecting lower
qualities, while accepting noble qualities.
7. Right Mindfulness - The cultivation and practice of self-awareness and
compassion, resulting in self-reliance and equanimity.
8. Right Concentration - Contemplation resulting in Samadhi.
Lord Buddha's idols were not used until 400 to 500 years after his death.
There were only stupas (topes) built in his memory which was in practice in
Jainism before Lord Buddha's time. Another symbol that was used by his
followers was a wheel called `Dharma Chakra'. It has eight spokes out of
which four are thick. The thick ones represent the noble truths whereas the
eight of them combined represent the paths.
BUDDHISM AND GOD
Lord Buddha denied the existence of both the Dynamic God as well as the
Atman as the Individualized Soul, which were respectively, the concepts of
Truth in Hinduism and Jainism. This is also known as the Sunyavaada. His
thinking is quite clear in his last words to Ananda where he mentions that the
germs of disintegration are existent in our bodies and that Ananda should
take refuge in `truth' only, knowing it is an island whereby completely
contradicting the infinite nature of God in Hinduism.
He was against animal sacrifice and untouchability practised by the Hindus.
He took the middle path between Hinduism and Jainism. The Jains saw life in
practically everything, so they practised extreme form of non-violence, on the
other hand the Hindus used animal sacrifice and were quite violent in relative
terms. Lord Buddha did eat meat but only if the animal was not killed for
him. He did emphasize non-violence, but not to the extent done in Jainism.
KING ASHOKA AND BUDDHISM
King Ashoka belonged to the Mauryan Dynasty of the rulers of Magadha. In
the Buddhist literature, he is referred to as a very cruel king in the beginning
and there is some truth to it because he acceded to the throne in the year 269
B.C., approximately three years after his father's death. It is quite possible
that there might have been struggle between him and his brothers for the
throne. He had inherited a vast empire and he attacked Kalinga (Orrisa)
shortly after becoming the king. This event was a turning point in his life and
one of the most important events in the World History. More than one
hundred thousand people were killed in the battle and many hundreds of
thousands were injured. There was blood and suffering everywhere. This
bloodshed, changed his heart, and he adopted Buddhism. He sent monks
including his son, Mahendra, and his daughter, Sanghmitra, to spread the
message of peace preached by Lord Buddha, all over the known world at that
time, which included Tibet, China, etc. in the north; Burma, Cambodia,
Thailand, Indonesia in the east; Sri Lanka in the south; and Iran, Syria,
Egypt, Greece, Macedonia, etc. in the west. This message of peace was well
received in all the countries and thus Buddhism, spread beyond the
boundaries of India, unlike Jainism or Hinduism where such missions were
never undertaken. It was his missionary zeal that Buddhism is one of the
major religions of the world. Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam are mainly
Buddhist countries. Even though there is communism in China, it is believed
the people are still Buddhists. It was due to Ashoka's zeal for spreading the
message of peace that made this religion much better organized than
Hinduism or Jainism. After Lord Buddha's death, the first Buddhist
Conference was held at Vaishali in year 383 B.C. and the second one took
place at the Ashoka's capital, Pataliputra, in the year 247 B.C. He erected
several pillars, with edits at several places within his kingdom. He built
monasteries and stupas (topes) because idols of Lord Buddha were not
worshipped during his time. He abolished animal sacrifices. He instituted
medical treatment of two kinds - one for human beings and the other for the
lower creations. He did these not only within his kingdom but also in the other
countries such as Sri Lanka, Syria, Iran, Macedonia, Egypt etc..His system of
medical treatment is famous in the history of the world and that too, for the
animals.
BUDDHISM IN BIHAR IN POST-ASHOKA PERIOD
Buddhism was practised in India until the eighth century but was on the
decline after the death of King Harshvardhana of Thaneshvar in the seventh
century. Bihar was the last strong hold of Shankaracharya's and Kumarilla
Bhatt's opposition to Buddhism. The Pala kings supported Buddhism by
including their generous grants to Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities
which were one of the most ancient universities in the world. The students and
scholars from all over the world came to study there. The Nalanda University
had its beginning from the time of Ashoka but the remains show its
prominence starting from the Gupta period.
It is worth mentioning here that (a) the rise of Mahayana sect in this religion
started in the second century B.C.. Before this, there was only Hinayana sect,
and no image of Lord Buddha was used for worshipping during those years.
THE DALAI LAMA AND BUDDHISM OF TIBET
The Dalai Lama was the head of the state of Tibet and also its spiritual leader
who practised Lord Buddha's teachings and can be considered as a symbol of
Buddhism. He believes in extreme form of non-violence. His people have
suffered immensely but he has never preached violence. He is the living
symbol of Lord's Christ, Mahavira, and Buddha, in this sense. For his faith
and courage, he
has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize. He belongs to the Mahayana sect of
Buddhism.
HINDUISM, BUDDHISM AND JAINISM
If the mental qualities of the sthitaprajna of Gita and Arhat of Buddhism are
compared, we would find a great deal of similarities between the two. The
qualities of the two namely: (a) peaceful, (b) desireless, (c) mindless, (d) equal
in pain or happiness etc., are the same. In fact, the 20 values mentioned in the
Gita discussed earlier, are more or less same as the Eight Fold Path
mentioned in Buddhism. There are statements in the Buddhistic religious
treaties that Gautama Buddha had personal discussions and conversations
with highly moral brahmins, and bearded ascetics who were well versed in the
Vedas and other Vedic literature.
If we compare the Buddha's preachings and the Path of Renunciation where it
believed that all the activities in this world produce `desire' which in turn
leads to unhappiness as mentioned in the Second Chapter of the Gita, it is
quite clear that both concepts are almost identical.
The only difference is that Buddha has clearly said that the Atman or the
Brahman does not exist in reality, but is mere illusion; therefore, one should
not waste time in thinking about the Atman.
However, he said that (a) as a result of casualty, the body which is defined by
Name and Form, has to take birth again and again in this perishable world,
and (2) this worldly life is full of unhappiness and it is necessary to acquire
permanent peace.These two views are identical in the Vedic religion.
Long after Buddha, the Mahayana sect started worshipping him which was
similar to the Vedic Path of Devotion. They even preached that attaining
nirvana (anhilation) was only his pastime and that he (Buddha) is eternal or
can never be destroyed. In some of the Buddhistic treaties, it was preached
that the true Buddha was the father of the world and people are his children,
a statement possibly derived from the Gita, where Lord Krishna says that he
is the father and from his seeds in Hiranyagarha, all the creation (Shristi) has
come about.
There are many other similarities. Practically, the Jainism and Vedic religions
grew or evolved side by side for many centuries and people changed faiths or
never knew the difference between the two on most of the occasions. However,
Buddhism actually is an evolute of Jainism which can be clearly seen from the
Lord Buddha's life itself.
HINDUISM, BUDDHISM & CHRISTIANITY
It was quite clear from discussions above that Buddhism evolved from
Hinduism-Jainism. After Alexander's invasion of India, there were smaller
Greek kingdoms in Iran, Syria, Egypt etc. The Buddhist monks frequently
visited these places and exchanged ideas with the kings and other sages of
these countries. It is believed in India that Christianity resembles very closely
with the Mahayana sect of Buddhism where Buddha is almost treated as God.
The system of monkhood and nuns (missionary system), and statements by
Lord Christ are there, in a number of Buddhist literature and in the Gita. It is
even believed that Lord Christ came to India during the `missing years' when
he went to religious centres like Dwarka, Puri, and Laddakh. It was the
Buddhist era in India during these years and the Mahayana sect had already
taken its roots there. In the eyes of the Indians or Buddhists, the early
descriptions of Christianity are almost similar to those of Buddhism.
In fact, an actual statement about Mahatma Gandhi was made by a professor
in the eighties of this century, who came to visit India from France. He was a
Christian and while visiting one of the places in India he said that he could not
tell that Mahatma Gandhi was not a Christian. It was profound statement.
The Hindus never thought that he (Gandhi) was anything but a Hindu.
Therefore, the same person appears different to different people depending on
their faiths. It shows that the Truth is the same, no matter which religion one
follows.