STORY OF BUDDHA
Who was Buddha? A short life story of Buddha Shakyamuni
India is a wonderful country. Before the Christian era, it saw the early flowering of a civilization rich in works of art and poetry. The ancient hymns of the Vedas, the texts of the Brahmanas and the Upanishads were the fruit of the reflections of many generations of sages. The latter, true spiritualist philosophers, have dedicated their lives to the search for answers to the most serious existential problems of all time such as life after death or the existence of God, the cycles of the Universe, hell and Paradise. , Injustice in the world and many more. In short, they all wanted to know the causes and effects of everything that exists, and not only the physical and observable world, but also that of the beyond, of metaphysics. In this article, we will talk about the history of the Buddha. It is especially with the latter that Buddhism begins.
The birth of Buddha
Towards the end of the 6th century BC, great news spread across India. A being had gone beyond the stage of pain because he had found the light. He was called Buddha. It should be noted that the latter is not a proper name, it is above all a title which means the Illuminated One, the one who knows or the one who understands. His father called him Siddhartha Gotham. In fact, he was the son of King Sluddhodana. He was born in Kapilavastu in around 567 BC. This region is located in Nepal. He is not a God and did not claim to be. He was just a modest man with knowledge and wisdom. He received a very good education by the standards of that time. Thus, during the exploration of the path to enlightenment, he taught his disciples the principles of his own experience of his education.
It was at the age of 29 that he realized the lesser importance of wealth and luxury. He was aware that gold and power did not guarantee happiness. So he turned his back on his kingdom and explored the different religions and philosophies of the time to find the key to human happiness. Abandoning his family, he became a monk, living on alms. He studied first, but as the scholars did not give him what he wanted, he therefore joined the ascetics. For years, he reflected and inflicted painful penances on himself, without however arriving at the truth. After six years of spiritual exploration and meditation, he finally found the path to truth called the Middle Path. This is the beginning of enlightenment.
Monuments and representation of the Buddha
The Buddha is represented by a statue of a large man sitting on a pillar. He has large ears, crossed arms, bent legs and small eyes. The statue embodies an individual in full meditation. It is a symbolic object for followers of meditation and spiritual awakening. In this case, it is important to choose the morphology of the Buddha adapted to your needs and desire. For example, there is the meditative Buddha who sits on his back, the Buddha lying down to achieve ecstasy and the Buddha in a teaching position. All body positions of the Buddha have special meanings. It is up to each person to choose the positions they prefer for their spiritual needs.
The Buddhists respect the image of the Buddha. But it is not in worship or in a dimension where they ask him for favors. A statue of Buddha with his hands resting on his knees and a compassionate smile simply reminds Buddhists to strive to develop inner peace and love.
The Actions of Buddha
From a hermit, Buddha becomes a preacher. He first headed towards Benares to join the monks he had left a few months earlier. He spoke to them about the Middle Way, the Four Holy Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.
Soon, priests, anchorites, rich merchants left their homes to join this monk. The latter did not possess any material wealth apart from a tunic, and a garden where he collected the few vegetables for his only daily meal. Surrounded by his disciples, he traveled the country, comforting the unfortunate, exhorting men to live righteously, revealing the truth to them.
His disciples became more and more numerous over time. Everyone he encountered was impressed by his face, his gestures, his way of speaking, his slight, slightly ironic and childish smile. His smile always illuminated his inscrutable expression which reflected strength and serenity, while his eyes, constantly lowered, showed great modesty. Nothing about him indicated haste, agitation, or desire. But, on the contrary, everything expressed self-giving and understanding. Ascetics aspired to this total detachment embodied by Buddha. He does not recommend any penance to his faithful. He only teaches them how to achieve inner peace, while respecting the requirements of the human condition. The origin of the transmigration of beings is lost in the past according to Buddha, impossible to discover a beginning from which beings, plunged in ignorance, chained by the thirst for existence, have wandered from rebirth to rebirth.
Life is only pain, and the greatest joy for man would be to never be reborn. To achieve this, we must, with each reincarnation, strive more towards perfection. The Individual, finally perfect, who has conquered desire, will then enter Nirvana, the end of rebirths, where he will become one with the Universal Spirit.
The doctrine of Buddha
Strictly speaking, Buddhism cannot be called a religion because there is no God in Buddhism. It is a doctrine that he founded and which he summarized in four principles or Holy Truths which are as follows: pain is universal, the cause of pain lies in selfish desires. Then, thirdly, one must suppress the desires by canceling the pain. Finally, the last truth is to advance in the Middle Path or Eightfold Path to no longer have desires.
The symbol of Buddhism is the Wheel of Doctrine. The eight rays represent the eight paths that lead to Nirvana. These are purity of faith, purity of will, purity of action, purity of language, purity of life, purity of application, purity of remembrance and finally purity of meditation. The third and fourth paths mean not killing, not stealing, not committing impure acts, not lying, and not drinking intoxicating drinks according to Buddhists.
Particularity of Buddhism
Buddhism is a philosophy, but it has also been considered for centuries as a religion. A religion without the creator God. In fact, he has up to 500 million followers to date. Which makes it the fourth world religion behind Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. However, its exceptional characteristics can be observed in these few lines.
Awakening or Theravada for Buddhists is the accomplishment of the four noble truths by the individual as well as their total understanding. He then reaches Nirvana and will no longer be under the influence of the dark or earthly forces which govern the world of the living or those of the dead since he is awake and enlightened.
The Dharma is the set of teachings of Buddha. It forms the Pali Canon which can mean the essence of all things, natural law or teaching. The few extracts from the Dharma are among others those who understood that all perishable things no longer fear pain. Then, he who has renounced all good, kept away temptations, renounced desires is the greatest of men. Subsequently, it is difficult to learn to dominate oneself, but those who are able to do so will help others, by their example, to achieve it. Thinking of others is an important rule in the Buddhist religion. Selfish people are not accepted by Buddha.
Moreover, bad and dangerous acts for oneself are easy to perform. It is difficult to do what is good and useful. On the other hand, according to Buddha, to have peace of mind and a life full of happiness, one must always do good deeds. Indeed, the virtuous, intelligent, just, sincere man who takes care of others is loved by the whole world.
The Four Noble Truths of Buddha
The four noble truths are essential for a Buddhist to know. They pose the biggest existential problems of the Universe while trying to resolve them consciously. To become a Buddhist, one must learn its truths by heart. First of all, we have the truth of suffering or duhkha which means that all life is inseparable from suffering or dissatisfaction. Then, the second truth defines that the cause of suffering is desire or attachment, that is, affection.
This one is not good for this religion. Since we know the cause of suffering, we can put an end to it by avoiding attachment to anything. The search for ways to make suffering disappear is the third truth. And finally, the last truth would be to use the Noble Eightfold Path to eliminate suffering.
The characteristics of the existence of Buddha
There are three characteristics of existence in Buddhism. The first is Anatman which means absence of self or impersonality. No one can be self-sufficient alone in the world, because everything is connected, everything is written, the law of the Universe is written everywhere. Then, the second is Anitya or impermanence. Here, everything is constantly changing in the phenomena, nothing is permanent. Beings are born, live and then die. Finally, the third character of Buddha's existence is Duhka or suffering. Human nature is unsatisfied, we always desire whatever we do, whether it is food, wealth or any need like sexuality.
These three characteristics of conditioned existence are also found in the four truths of Buddhist philosophy. They are universal, timeless and omnipresent. They could be checked and calculated at the same time. Regarding nirvana, not being conditioned, escapes the characteristics of suffering and impermanence. However, it is impersonal. It can therefore only be inhabited by the spirit and not the body.
In addition, it should also be noted that Buddhism believes that there are three poisons for the mind. We cite thirst or greed, anger or aversion and ignorance. But we must not forget jealousy and pride either.
According to the Buddha, the causes of human suffering can be the inability to see reality correctly. This ignorance, and the illusions it brings, lead to greed, to the desire to have more than others, to attachment and hatred for people or things.
Some words about the Buddhism religion
Buddhism has the image of a religion of non-violence and peace. Thinkers try to resolve distressing questions through meditation and by observing the vicissitudes of Buddhist life. The latter have the principle of placing superiority on the soul. For them, the body is a simple burden since it is the source of all human ills, including illness, death and unhealthy desires. The feelings linked to this material life such as affections, glory, pride, love of wealth, self-love bring more sorrow than joy.
These Buddhists therefore decided to free themselves from all pain by forgetting bodily demands. They taught their disciples that to find fullness, happiness, it was necessary to annul the body. The name yogi, that is to say ascetics, was soon given to those who thus left all their property and their family to live on alms. Buddha was one of these people before his enlightenment, later he opened the way to a new doctrine which did not require penance of the body of the faithful, but which nevertheless allows one to achieve fulfillment or Nirvana.
The true story of Buddha in video report:
Other sources on Buddha: http://www.jutier. net/content/histbou.htm
