We have heard repeatedly about the ideals of our ancestors. Did we really taken time to ponder over these and inquired about their relevance in present time? As many, I have heard about Buddha and his teachings. May be I studied them as part of my high school studies. Over the time, the same knowledge and the principles give better meaning and make more sense. Thus it is better to revisit them time and again. Hence this short post.
[Ch. 4.7]
Whenever there is decline of Dharma and ascendance of Adharma, then, O scion of the Bharata race! I manifest (incarnate) Myself in a body.
Around 2500 years ago, a baby boy born to King Shuddhodhan and Queen Mahamaya of kingdom of Kapilavastu in ancient India. Like other holy ancestors, he was also born in an unusual place, it was in Garden of Lumbini.
Great sage Asita muni predicted with firmness that Siddhartha is going to become saint in future. Fearing that his only son will renounce everything and become saint, king Shuddhodhan decided to keep him away from all pains and sorrows of the world. Pains and sorrows of the world create a sense of awakening and reveal the impermanence of material world.
Young Siddhartha got married to Yashodhara. They were blessed with a baby boy, named as Rahul. But fortune had stored something different for Siddhartha. After a round trip across his kingdom with his charioteer Chenna, he got to see the impermanence of material world in the form of disease, old age, and death. He got to know that these come to everyone irrespective of religion and position of a living being. This arose lot of questions and worries inside Siddhartha."Need is the mother of invention" seems to be equally true in spiritual quest. Thus started quest to find answers to the sorrows and worries of the mankind. He renounced everything and started his spiritual journey.
It is believed that Siddhartha undergone training of meditation under renowned sages of his time. But he couldn't find the eternal truth through all these practices. With firm decision, he sat under Pipal tree for meditation and decided not to get up until he gets the eternal knowledge. During this time, it is believed that he faced tortures from maya of greed, kama, ego etc. Nothing could stand before his firm quest for truth. One fine day as Sun was rising in the east, he got eternal knowledge. Thus Siddhartha became Buddha (One who is perfect, enlightened and do not get disturbed by anything）.
[Ch. 5.27-28]
Excluding all sense perceptions; fixing the look between the eye brows: steadying the flow of Prana (out-going breath) and Apana (incoming breath) through the nostrils; controlling the senses, mind and intellect; devoid of desires, fear and anger; and aspiring for liberation alone - a meditative sage is liberated for ever.
Buddha never dictated any God to follow or never projected himself as one. He always emphasized on the need to understand and follow his eternal learnings.
Following are his simple and eternal teachings. Although each point needs to be paused and pondered over.
Four noble truths
Noble eightfold path
May be in another post will cover Buddha teachings in more detail.
All comments are welcome.
Buddha
According to Hinduism, Buddha is ninth avatara (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu. As Lord Krishna says in Bhagvad Gita:[Ch. 4.7]
Yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati Bharata |
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tad'atmanam srjamy adham ||
Whenever there is decline of Dharma and ascendance of Adharma, then, O scion of the Bharata race! I manifest (incarnate) Myself in a body.
Around 2500 years ago, a baby boy born to King Shuddhodhan and Queen Mahamaya of kingdom of Kapilavastu in ancient India. Like other holy ancestors, he was also born in an unusual place, it was in Garden of Lumbini.
Great sage Asita muni predicted with firmness that Siddhartha is going to become saint in future. Fearing that his only son will renounce everything and become saint, king Shuddhodhan decided to keep him away from all pains and sorrows of the world. Pains and sorrows of the world create a sense of awakening and reveal the impermanence of material world.
Young Siddhartha got married to Yashodhara. They were blessed with a baby boy, named as Rahul. But fortune had stored something different for Siddhartha. After a round trip across his kingdom with his charioteer Chenna, he got to see the impermanence of material world in the form of disease, old age, and death. He got to know that these come to everyone irrespective of religion and position of a living being. This arose lot of questions and worries inside Siddhartha."Need is the mother of invention" seems to be equally true in spiritual quest. Thus started quest to find answers to the sorrows and worries of the mankind. He renounced everything and started his spiritual journey.
It is believed that Siddhartha undergone training of meditation under renowned sages of his time. But he couldn't find the eternal truth through all these practices. With firm decision, he sat under Pipal tree for meditation and decided not to get up until he gets the eternal knowledge. During this time, it is believed that he faced tortures from maya of greed, kama, ego etc. Nothing could stand before his firm quest for truth. One fine day as Sun was rising in the east, he got eternal knowledge. Thus Siddhartha became Buddha (One who is perfect, enlightened and do not get disturbed by anything）.
[Ch. 5.27-28]
Sparsan krtva bahir bahyams
caksus c'aiv'antare bhruvoh |
pran'apanau samau krtva
nas'abhyantara carinau ||
Yat'endriya-mano-buddhir
munir moksa parayanah |
vigat'eccha-bhaya-krodho
yah sada mukta eva sah ||
Excluding all sense perceptions; fixing the look between the eye brows: steadying the flow of Prana (out-going breath) and Apana (incoming breath) through the nostrils; controlling the senses, mind and intellect; devoid of desires, fear and anger; and aspiring for liberation alone - a meditative sage is liberated for ever.
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| Vietnamese Buddha temple, Paris, France |
Buddhism
After getting enlightenment, Buddha started to spread his learnings among the masses. Highlight of theses teaching was its simplicity to understand and daily implementation. Thus it penetrated the masses across South-East Asia.Buddha never dictated any God to follow or never projected himself as one. He always emphasized on the need to understand and follow his eternal learnings.
Following are his simple and eternal teachings. Although each point needs to be paused and pondered over.
Four noble truths
- Life has inevitable suffering
- There is a cause to our suffering
- There is an end to suffering
- The end to suffering is contained in the eight fold path
Noble eightfold path
May be in another post will cover Buddha teachings in more detail.
All comments are welcome.
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