Table of Contents
LORD BUDDHA
WHAT WE WILL STUDY?
• EARLY LIFE
• EVERY HUMAN IS GOD
• TEACHINGS(Four noble truths,Eight fold paths)
• PATH OF SALVATION(Nirvana)
EVENTS
EVENTS SYMBOLS
Buddha’s Birth Lotus & Bull, The Great Departure
(Mahabhinishkramana) Horse Enlightenment (Nirvana ) Bodhi Tree
First Sermon (Dhammachakraparivartan) Wheel Death (Parinirvana) Stupa.
• Buddha who is the founder of the Buddhist religion is called
Buddha Shakyamuni “Shakya” is the name of the royal family into
which he was born, and “Muni” means “Able One.”
• Buddha Shakyamuni was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a
place called Lumbini, in what is now Nepal. His mother’s name
was Queen Mayadevi and his father’s name was King Shuddhodana.
• He grew up in Kapilavastu. Gautama was born as a Kshatriya. The
day of the Buddha’s birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries
as Vesak. Buddha’s Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal,
Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full
moon day.
EARLY LIFE
• Siddhartha was brought up by his mother’s younger sister, Maha Pajapati.
By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince
and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him.
• His father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great
king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from
knowledge of human suffering.
• When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his
marriage to a cousin of the same age named YASODHARA she gave
birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years
as a prince in Kapilavastu.
• Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything
he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt
that material wealth was not life’s ultimate goal.
SUFFERINGS
• Sometimes Prince Siddhartha would go into the capital city of his
father’s kingdom to see how the people lived. During these visits he
came into contact with many old people and sick people, and on one
occasion he saw a corpse.
• These encounters left a deep impression on his mind and led him to
realize that all living beings without exception have to experience the
sufferings of birth, sickness, ageing and death.
• Because he understood the laws of reincarnation he also realized that
they experience these sufferings not just once, but again and again, in life
after life without cessation.
• He developed a sincere wish to free all of them from their suffering the
power to help all living beings in this way, he resolved to leave the palace
and retire to the solitude of the forest where he would engage in
profound meditation until he attained enlightenment.
RENUNCIATION
• At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. His
charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince
went on further trips beyond the palace.
• Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama
quit his palace for the life of a mendicant.Gautama initially went to
Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street.
• After King Bimbisara’s men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of
his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected
the offer but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining
enlightenment.
• He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic
meditation.After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama However,
Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a
student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta he was not satisfied.
GYAN KI PRAPTI(ENLIGHTENMENT)
• After realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but
that extreme asceticism didn’t work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists
know as being, the Middle Way which was known as NOBLE EIGHT
FOLD PATHS(Dhammacakkappavattana ).
• In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to
have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.
• Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree now known as the
Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until
he had found the truth.
• Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned
his search and become undisciplined, ceased to stay with him, After a
reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have
attained Enlightenment, and became known as the Buddha or
“Awakened One“.
GAUTAM BUDDHA
• He realised complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining
liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, suffering and dying
again. Buddha have regarded the practice of dhyana as leading to
Nirvana and moksha.
• Nirvana is the extinguishing of the “fires” of desire, hatred, and ignorance,
that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going. Nirvana is also
regarded as the “end of the world”, in that no personal identity or
boundaries of the mind remain.
• Immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he
should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were
so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never
recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. But late was
convinced that at least some will understand it..
SANGHA TEACHINGS
• After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika who became
his first lay disciples. He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi
where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by
delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had
sought enlightenment.
• Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist
monks. For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have
travelled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and
southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people.
• Upon hearing of his son’s awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten
delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine
occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message and instead
joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by
Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama’s (who also became an arahant),
however, delivered the message.
MAGIC
• During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha.
The Buddha’s cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his
five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined,
and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda
also joined and became an arahant.
• In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali
when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to
have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father
became an arahant.
Mahaparinirvana
• At the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon
reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his
earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had
received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda.
• According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha died Kushinagar
which became a pilgrimage centre.
• After his death, Buddha’s cremation relics were divided amongst 8
royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be
enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas.
NINE VIRTUES
• Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist
meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues
are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues
include:
Buddho awakened
Sammasambuddho self awakened
Vijja-carana-sampano higher knowledge
Sugato well spoken
Lokavidu knowledge of many worlds
Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi unexcelled trainer of untrained
people.
Satthadeva-Manussanam teacher of gods and humans.
Bhagavathi blessed one
Araham worthy of homage
WHAT AND WHO IS BUDDHA?
• ‘Buddha’ means ‘Awakened One’, someone who has awakened from
the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. There is
nothing that Buddha does not know. Because he has awakened from
the sleep of ignorance and has removed all obstructions from his
mind, he knows everything of the past, present, and future, directly
and simultaneously.
• Moreover, Buddha has great compassion which is completely
impartial, embracing all living beings without discrimination. . A
Buddha’s compassion, wisdom, and power are completely beyond
conception. With nothing left to obscure his mind, he sees all
phenomena throughout the universe as clearly as he sees a jewel held
in the palm of his hand.
• Just as the sun does not need to motivate itself to radiate light and
heat but does so simply because light and heat are its very nature, so
a Buddha does not need to motivate himself to benefit others but does
so simply because being beneficial is his very nature.
TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA
• Forty-nine days after Buddha attained enlightenment he was requested to
teach. As a result of this request, Buddha rose from meditation and
taught the first Wheel of Dharma.
• These teachings which include the Sutra of the Four Noble Truths and other
discourses, are the principal source of the Hinayana, or Lesser Vehicle, of
Buddhism.
• Later, Buddha taught the second and third Wheels of Dharma, which
include the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and the Sutra Discriminating the
Intention respectively. These teachings are the source of the Mahayana, or
Great Vehicle, of Buddhism.
• In the Hinayana teachings Buddha explains how to attain liberation from
suffering for oneself alone, and in the Mahayana teaching he explains how to
attain full enlightenment, or Buddhahood, for the sake of others.
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
“Dharma” means “protection”. By practicing Buddha’s teachings we
protect ourself from suffering and problems.
• The truth of suffering (Dukkha) – Suffering comes in many forms. Three
obvious kinds of suffering correspond to the first three sights the Buddha saw
on his first journey outside his palace: old age, sickness and death.
• The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya) – Our day-to-day troubles
may seem to have easily identifiable causes: thirst, pain from an injury,
sadness from the loss of a loved one. This comes in three forms, which he
described as the Three Roots of Evil, or the Three Fires, or the Three
Poisons.
1 – Greed and desire, represented in art by a rooster
2 – Ignorance or delusion, represented by a pig
3 – Hatred and destructive urges, represented by a snake
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
• Cessation of suffering (Nirodha) – The Buddha taught that the way to
extinguish desire, which causes suffering, is to liberate oneself from
attachment.This is the third Noble Truth – the possibility of liberation.
Nirvana
means extinguishing. Attaining nirvana – reaching enlightenment –
means extinguishing the three fires of greed, delusion and hatred.Someone
who reaches nirvana does not immediately disappear to a heavenly realm.
Nirvana is better understood as a state of mind that humans can reach.
It is a state of profound spiritual joy, without negative emotions and
fears.Someone who has attained enlightenment is filled with compassion for
all living things.
EIGHT FOLD PATHS
• Path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) The final Noble Truth is the
Buddha’s prescription for the end of suffering. This is a set of principles called
the Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path is also called the Middle Way: it avoids both indulgence
and severe asceticism, neither of which the Buddha had found helpful
in his search for enlightenment.
THE EIGHT DIVISIONS
• Right Understanding Accepting Buddhist teachings. (The Buddha never
intended his followers to believe his teachings blindly, but to practise them
and judge for themselves whether they were true.)
EIGHT FOLD PATHS
• Right Intention – A commitment to cultivate the right attitudes.
• Right Speech -Speaking truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip and
abusive
• Right Action – Behaving peacefully and harmoniously; refraining from
stealing, killing and overindulgence in sensual pleasure.
• Right Livelihood – Avoiding making a living in ways that cause harm, such
as exploiting people or killing animals, or trading in intoxicants or weapons.
• Right Effort – Cultivating positive states of mind; freeing oneself from evil
and unwholesome states and preventing them arising in future.
• Right Mindfulness – Developing awareness of the body, sensations,
feelings and states of mind.
• Right Concentration – Developing the mental focus necessary for this
awareness.
• The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom
EIGHT FOLD PATHS
• Right Concentration – Developing the mental focus necessary for this
awareness.
The eight stages can be grouped into Wisdom (right understanding
and intention), Ethical Conduct (right speech, action and
livelihood) and Meditation (right effort, mindfulness and
concentration).The Buddha described the Eightfold Path as a
means to enlightenment, like a raft for crossing a river. Once one
has reached the opposite shore, one no longer needs the raft
and can leave it behind.
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