Post 7
There was once a young lad that was destined to be a king or world conqueror. The young man’s name was Siddhartha Gautama and was born into a luxurious lifestyle. Gautama’s father upon the birth of his son sent for some fortune tellers to have Siddhartha’s future read. All of these men saw that this child was special and announced that he would either follow in his father’s footsteps and become a world conqueror or become a savior of the world, or world redeemer. His father obviously wanting to expand his power attempted to keep his son from seeing anything negative and kept him occupied with woman “at his disposal”. Siddhartha eventually married a neighboring town’s princess and between the handsome couple they bore a beautiful child. Siddhartha began to learn of the devastation surrounding his city when he would leave in his carriage and having some men forget their duties Siddhartha saw the Four Passing Sights. The first day he saw an old man that was very weak and leaning on his staff for strength. The next day Siddhartha saw a man “racked with disease” on the side of the road. On yet another outing he saw a corpse of what used to be a man. The final outing that is spoken of is when Siddhartha sees a monk on the road with a shaven head. Now that the prince had learned of devastation, disease and death he also learned of salvation.
After this when Siddhartha was about twenty nine years old he left his family in the middle of the night in search for the truth. He was about to enter into the three phases that spans about six years. The first phase was seeking out two of the most revered Hindu masters and absorbing all that was humanly possible. The second phase “was to join a band of ascetics and give their way a try”. The final phase was to explore and master raja yoga, which is the process of thought and concentration. The phases end with Siddhartha finally reaching enlightenment, but only after diminishing Mara (evil) from his mind. Siddhartha’s enlightenment occurred beneath a tree now called the Bo Tree; where his name changed from Siddhartha to Buddha.
Buddhism was initially different than what it appears to be today, especially different from Hinduism. The original Buddhism lacked the six religious features that normally make up a religion. These six things that make Buddhism so different are the lack of authority, ritual, explanations, tradition, grace and mystery. Buddha felt that the Brahmins had manipulated the system under which religion is defined in order to keep control and power. What Buddha did was first talked about a religion without authority. He spoke about individuals being responsible for their selves and their depth of faith. Secondly, Buddha talked about the absence of ritual. He believed that rituals were ineffective and therefore not needed. Third Buddha expressed the importance of religion not containing theory. Do not attempt to know everything; one does not need all of the answers in order to act in a moral manner. Buddha believed that the answers provided through words were unable to depict the infinite explanation that people were searching for; he simply wanted people to believe. Buddha preached about a religion that was self reliant and also devoid of the idea of the supernatural.
Buddha also preached about the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that life is suffering or dukkha. Buddha defines these noble truths very specifically because dukkha means that not only is there suffering but one can discover how to eliminate suffering. Why is there suffering many have asked. The second truth, tanha, answers that question. Tanha means the desire for self fulfillment. Tanha is what causes dukkha. The third noble truth explains that one can overcome the desires of tanha in order to become closer to enlightenment. The last and fourth noble truth explains how all this can be accomplished. The only way to overcome Tanha is through what Buddha calls an Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path is having the knowledge of the Four Noble truths, having a sound dedication to reach enlightenment, learning to speak only the truth, following the Five Percepts (do not kill, steal, lie, be unchaste and do not take drugs or drink intoxicants), having a job that promote life instead of killing it, using moral application, having the ability to see everything as the way that it is, and finally having the right absorption.
The original form of Buddhism may have died in India as Smith argues but there are still traces of Buddhism in India; just under a different name. Buddhism and Hinduism began to merge together and form one religion in India. Although Buddhism itself is not a main religion Hinduism still is. As we studied Hinduism already there are many similarities in the later versions of Buddhism, since Buddha died. The six features that differentiated Buddhism came around full circle and this is why Buddhism “died” in India and merged with Hinduism because they were very similar after Buddha’s death.
Buddhism changed and became three different sects of Buddhism after Buddha died. The three types were called Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism.
There was once a young lad that was destined to be a king or world conqueror. The young man’s name was Siddhartha Gautama and was born into a luxurious lifestyle. Gautama’s father upon the birth of his son sent for some fortune tellers to have Siddhartha’s future read. All of these men saw that this child was special and announced that he would either follow in his father’s footsteps and become a world conqueror or become a savior of the world, or world redeemer. His father obviously wanting to expand his power attempted to keep his son from seeing anything negative and kept him occupied with woman “at his disposal”. Siddhartha eventually married a neighboring town’s princess and between the handsome couple they bore a beautiful child. Siddhartha began to learn of the devastation surrounding his city when he would leave in his carriage and having some men forget their duties Siddhartha saw the Four Passing Sights. The first day he saw an old man that was very weak and leaning on his staff for strength. The next day Siddhartha saw a man “racked with disease” on the side of the road. On yet another outing he saw a corpse of what used to be a man. The final outing that is spoken of is when Siddhartha sees a monk on the road with a shaven head. Now that the prince had learned of devastation, disease and death he also learned of salvation.
After this when Siddhartha was about twenty nine years old he left his family in the middle of the night in search for the truth. He was about to enter into the three phases that spans about six years. The first phase was seeking out two of the most revered Hindu masters and absorbing all that was humanly possible. The second phase “was to join a band of ascetics and give their way a try”. The final phase was to explore and master raja yoga, which is the process of thought and concentration. The phases end with Siddhartha finally reaching enlightenment, but only after diminishing Mara (evil) from his mind. Siddhartha’s enlightenment occurred beneath a tree now called the Bo Tree; where his name changed from Siddhartha to Buddha.
Buddhism was initially different than what it appears to be today, especially different from Hinduism. The original Buddhism lacked the six religious features that normally make up a religion. These six things that make Buddhism so different are the lack of authority, ritual, explanations, tradition, grace and mystery. Buddha felt that the Brahmins had manipulated the system under which religion is defined in order to keep control and power. What Buddha did was first talked about a religion without authority. He spoke about individuals being responsible for their selves and their depth of faith. Secondly, Buddha talked about the absence of ritual. He believed that rituals were ineffective and therefore not needed. Third Buddha expressed the importance of religion not containing theory. Do not attempt to know everything; one does not need all of the answers in order to act in a moral manner. Buddha believed that the answers provided through words were unable to depict the infinite explanation that people were searching for; he simply wanted people to believe. Buddha preached about a religion that was self reliant and also devoid of the idea of the supernatural.
Buddha also preached about the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that life is suffering or dukkha. Buddha defines these noble truths very specifically because dukkha means that not only is there suffering but one can discover how to eliminate suffering. Why is there suffering many have asked. The second truth, tanha, answers that question. Tanha means the desire for self fulfillment. Tanha is what causes dukkha. The third noble truth explains that one can overcome the desires of tanha in order to become closer to enlightenment. The last and fourth noble truth explains how all this can be accomplished. The only way to overcome Tanha is through what Buddha calls an Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path is having the knowledge of the Four Noble truths, having a sound dedication to reach enlightenment, learning to speak only the truth, following the Five Percepts (do not kill, steal, lie, be unchaste and do not take drugs or drink intoxicants), having a job that promote life instead of killing it, using moral application, having the ability to see everything as the way that it is, and finally having the right absorption.
The original form of Buddhism may have died in India as Smith argues but there are still traces of Buddhism in India; just under a different name. Buddhism and Hinduism began to merge together and form one religion in India. Although Buddhism itself is not a main religion Hinduism still is. As we studied Hinduism already there are many similarities in the later versions of Buddhism, since Buddha died. The six features that differentiated Buddhism came around full circle and this is why Buddhism “died” in India and merged with Hinduism because they were very similar after Buddha’s death.
Buddhism changed and became three different sects of Buddhism after Buddha died. The three types were called Theravada or Hinayana Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism.
posted by Renee Kangas at 10:57 PM
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