| |
KF5JRV > TODAY 08.04.19 13:29l 70 Lines 3925 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34094_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Apr 08
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190408/1126Z 34094@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On this day, Buddhists celebrate the commemoration of the birth of
Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, thought to have lived in India
from 563 B.C. to 483 B.C. Actually, the Buddhist tradition that
celebrates his birthday on April 8 originally placed his birth in the
11th century B.C., and it was not until the modern era that scholars
determined that he was more likely born in the sixth century B.C., and
possibly in May rather than April.
According to the Tripitaka, which is recognized by scholars as the
earliest existing record of the Buddha’s life and discourses, Gautama
Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha, the son of the king of the Sakya
people. The kingdom of the Sakyas was situated on the borders of
present-day Nepal and India. Siddhartha’s family was of the Gautama
clan. His mother, Queen Mahamaya, gave birth to him in the park of
Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. A pillar placed there in
commemoration of the event by an Indian emperor in the third century
B.C. still stands.
At his birth, it was predicted that the prince would either become a
great world monarch or a Buddha–a supremely enlightened teacher. The
Brahmans told his father, King Suddhodana, that Siddhartha would become
a ruler if he were kept isolated from the outside world. The king took
pains to shelter his son from misery and anything else that might
influence him toward the religious life. Siddhartha was brought up in
great luxury, and he married and fathered a son. At age 29, he decided
to see more of the world and began excursions off the palace grounds in
his chariot. In successive trips, he saw an old man, a sick man, and a
corpse, and since he had been protected from the miseries of aging,
sickness, and death, his charioteer had to explain what they were.
Finally, Siddhartha saw a monk, and, impressed with the man’s peaceful
demeanor, he decided to go into the world to discover how the man could
be so serene in the midst of such suffering.
Siddhartha secretly left the palace and became a wandering ascetic. He
traveled south, where the centers of learning were, and studied
meditation under the teachers Alara Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra. He soon
mastered their systems, reaching high states of mystical realization,
but was unsatisfied and went out again in search of nirvana, the highest
level of enlightenment. For nearly six years, he undertook fasting and
other austerities, but these techniques proved ineffectual and he
abandoned them. After regaining his strength, he seated himself under a
pipal tree at what is now Bodh Gaya in west-central India and promised
not to rise until he had attained the supreme enlightenment. After
fighting off Mara, an evil spirit who tempted him with worldly comforts
and desires, Siddhartha reached enlightenment, becoming a Buddha at the
age of 35.
The Gautama Buddha then traveled to the deer park near Benares, India,
where he gave his first sermon and outlined the basic doctrines of
Buddhism. According to Buddhism, there are “four noble truthsö: (1)
existence is suffering; (2) this suffering is caused by human craving;
(3) there is a cessation of the suffering, which is nirvana; and (4)
nirvana can be achieved, in this or future lives, though the “eightfold
pathö of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
For the rest of his life, the Buddha taught and gathered disciples to
his sangha, or community of monks. He died at age 80, telling his monks
to continue working for their spiritual liberation by following his
teachings. Buddhism eventually spread from India to Central and
Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, and, in the 20th century, to the
West. Today, there are an estimated 350 million people in 100 nations
who adhere to Buddhist beliefs and practices.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@GMAIL.COM
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
