Buddhism

The sixth century B.C. is considered a wonderful century in history. Great thinkers like Buddha, Mahavira, Heraclitus, Zoroaster, Confucius and Lao Tse lived and preached their ideas in this century. Among them the most successful were Jainism and Buddhism whose impact on the Indian society was remarkable.

Main aspects related to Buddhism

• Life of Buddha

• • Buddha is also called as Sakyamuni or Thathagata. He is considered as the founder of Buddhism. He was born as Siddhartha to Suddhodhana, the ruler of Sakyan republic, and his wife Maya, on Vaisaka Purnima in the Lumbini gardens near Kapilvastu in the 6th century BC

• • Siddhartha married Yashodhara and had a son Rahula. His luxury life left him dissatisfied and he was troubled by the signs of sickness, old age and death that he observed in the worldly life.

• • At the age of 29, he decided to leave the palace in search of peace and understanding of the world’s ills.

• • At the age of 35, again on Vaisaka Purnima, he attained enlightenment at what is now famously known as Bodh Gaya. He gave his first sermon in a deer park at Sarnath before his first disciples

• • Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana at Kusinara
• Teachings associated with Buddhism
• • To avoid extremes of life, whether it is addiction to worldly pleasures or a life of painful asceticism and self-mortification.
  • Buddhism does not concern itself with metaphysical controversies
  • Buddha emphasized on moral progress which was independent of any creator of the universe
  • The essence of Buddhism lies in the realization that life is transient
  • Buddha seems to have accepted the idea of transmigration
  • Four noble truths of Buddhism are: They are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
  • The path to nirvana or cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold path- Right understanding (Samma ditthi), Right thought (Samma sankappa), Right speech (Samma vaca), Right action (Samma kammanta), Right livelihood (Samma ajiva), Right effort (Samma vayama), Right mindfulness (Samma sati) and Right concentration (Samma samadhi)

• Buddhist councils:

• • After Buddha’s death, 4 councils were held

• The Tripiṭaka is composed of threemain categories of texts that collectively constitute the Buddhist canon: the Sutra Piṭaka (discourses and sermons of Buddha, some religious poetry and is the largest basket), the Vinaya Piṭaka (dealing with rules or discipline of the sangha) , and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka(treatises that elaborate Buddhist doctrines, particularly about mind, also called the “systematic philosophy” basket)

• Buddhism and Bodhisattva
• Mudras in Buddhism
• Schools of Buddhism
• Similarities & Differences Between Jainism & Buddhism