Buddha or the ‘enlightened one,’ as his name can be literally translated to mean, is the founder of the Buddhist religion.

He is held to be one of the ten incarnations (avatars) of Lord Vishnu who came to the world to rid it of pain and suffering and teach people the lesson of peace, love and tolerance. He came here at a time when common people had forgotten the teachings of the Vedas and were held in the clutches of the priests who had usurped the power to behave in an anarchical manner. Animal and human sacrifices were rampant and people were duped in the name of religion.

Biographical

Buddha was born in B.C. 563 and died at the age of eighty in B.C. 483. He was born to King Suddhodhan and Queen Mayadevi in the small kingdom of Kapilvastu, in northern India (presently in Nepal). One night the queen saw a white elephant entering her womb and that very night she conceived Buddha, a child who was a pure and powerful being. On his birth a seer predicted that he would either become a great king or a great saint and chances were that he would become the latter. He warned the king to keep the child away from pain and suffering or else he would leave all worldly possessions and become an ascetic.

The king tried his best to shield his son from distress and misery even going to the extent of marrying the sixteen year old Siddhartha to Yashodhara. One day, at the age of 29, on his way round his kingdom Siddhartha came across an old man, a dead body and a sick man and learnt that the world was not the rosy place he had been led to believe. He also saw a monk and found out that the saint had left all earthly desires in the search of greater truth. These things had a profound effect on Siddhartha. He left home in search of answers and traveled a long time before he settled himself under a Bodhi tree and gained enlightenment.

Buddhism

After attaining enlightenment, Buddha traveled far and wide spreading the message of love and truth, through the length and breadth of northern India. More and more people came under his influence and became his followers, so much so that his own son, Rahul followed his father and became a monk.

Buddha’s followers practiced non-violence and spread the message of peace and came to be known as Buddhists. The religion they followed came to be known as Buddhism.

Posted by admin on October 2nd, 2007
Filed as: Buddha | Leave a Comment | Trackback