Buddah Essay, Research Paper

Buddha

Indian philosopher and the founder of Buddhism, born in Lumbini, Nepal. He was theson of the head of the Sakya warrior caste, with the private name of Siddhartha; in later life hewas known also as Sakyamuni (Sage of the Sakyas). The name Gautama Buddha is acombination of the family name Gautama and the appellation Buddha, meaning Enlightened One.

All the surviving accounts of Buddha’s life were written many years after his death by idealizing followers rather than by objective historians. Consequently, it is difficult to separate facts from the great mass of myth and legend in which they are embedded. From the available evidence, Buddha apparently showed an early inclination to meditation and reflection, displeasing his father, who wanted him to be a warrior and ruler rather than a religious philosopher. Yielding to his father’s wishes, he married at an early age and participated in the worldly life of the court. Buddha found his carefree, self-indulgent existence dull, and after a while he left home and began wandering in search of enlightenment. One day in 533 b.c. , according to tradition, he encountered an aged man, a sick man, and a corpse, and he suddenly

and deeply realized that suffering is the common lot of humankind. He then came upon a mendicant monk, calm and serene, whereupon he determined to adopt his way of life and forsake family, wealth, and power in the quest for truth. This decision, known in Buddhism as the Great Renunciation, is celebrated by Buddhists as a turning point in history. Gautama was then 29 years old, according to tradition.

Wandering as a mendicant over northern India, Buddha first investigated Hinduism. He took instruction from some famous Brahman teachers, but he found the Hindu caste system repellent and Hindu asceticism futile. He continued his search, attracting but later losing five followers because he was indulging in good food, and cleansing himself. While next to the river he heard a music teacher tell a student that If you tighten the string to much, it will snap, if the string is to loose, then it won t play . He then decided that the correct way was the middle way, the path between the life of indulgence and that of self-denial. About 528 b.c., while sitting under a bo tree near Gaya, in what is now Buddh Gaya in the state of Bihar, he experienced the Great Enlightenment, which revealed the way of salvation from suffering. Shortly afterward he

preached his first sermon in the Deer Park near Benares (now Varanasi). This sermon, the text of which is preserved, contains the gist of Buddhism. Many scholars regard it as comparable, in its tone of moral elevation and historical importance, to Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.

The five disciples rejoined Buddha at Benares. Accompanied by them, he traveled through the valley of the Ganges River, teaching his doctrines, gathering followers, and establishing monastic communities that admitted anyone regardless of caste. He returned briefly to his native town and converted his father, his wife, and other members of his family to his beliefs. After 45 years of missionary activity Buddha died in Kusinagara, Nepal, as a result of eating contaminated pork. He was about 80 years old.

Buddha was one of the greatest human beings, a man of noble character, penetrating vision, warm compassion, and profound thought. Not only did he establish a great new religion, but his revolt against Hindu hedonism, asceticism, extreme spiritualism, and the caste system deeply influenced Hinduism itself. His rejection of metaphysical speculation and his logical

thinking introduced an important scientific strain heretofore lacking in Oriental thought. Buddha’s teachings have influenced the lives of millions of people for nearly 2500 years.