THE BUDDHA

THE BUDDHA

‘Who ever sees me sees the teaching’, said the Buddha

Siddhartha was the son of King Suddhodana of the Sakya dynasty and Maya Devi. Maya passed away soon (exactly a week) after the birth of her son and he was then raised by the father and Prajapati, the sister of Maya.

The story of Buddha’s birth is enveloped by portents of his extraordinary greatness.  He would not be just a king of Sakya dynasty but the emperor of the world prophesised Asita the sagacious one. Canki the chief priest of Sakya dynasty was perhaps too scared of King Suddhodhana that he exhorted the ruler to encumber free movement of the young one so that he was not to be a witness of misery.

It is also believed when Maya Devi was pregnant she dreamt of giving birth to a white bull-elephant with six tusks. As per traditions the white elephant signified the mount of Indira the king of Gods and also the displacement of any impediments. Elephant is also an attribute of Lord Ganesha (son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati). Elephant in Buddhism signifies serenity, stolidity and power.

It is believed that the king and foster mother did not have any conjugal relationship. Siddhartha transformed into Monk Gautama and then into Buddha the awakened or the enlightened one. It is a remarkable journey of this unique personality, who perhaps can be called as the greatest psychologists ever to set his feet on the planet.

Siddhartha, Gautama or Buddha choose whatever you may call veritably pealed the human mind like one peals an onion and analysed as to why man suffers and then enunciated and unravelled the four noble truths and the eight-fold path to provide succour to the distraught human mind.

Upon awakening, or realising the eternal truth, Buddha the ‘awakened’.the ‘enlightened ‘ or ‘the compassionate one’ gave his first sermon at Sarnath to a small group of five disciples.

Buddhism along with Jainism, the Charvaka philosophy were among sixty-two heterodox sects that struck roots in India when Aryanism/ Brahmanism / Hinduism became highly ecclesiastical and orthodox and was unable to provide solutions to the day to day muddles of the citizenry of that period.

Buddhism is not based on the belief or precept in God, nor does it have set credo, creed, a central papal authority or a universally accepted scripture. This aspect is quite similar to the pantheon of Hinduism, except where the seeker believes in the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh along with their consorts.

Buddha was perhaps the first to lay emphasis on the formation of associations or Sanghas. With the passage of time, Sanghas have mushroomed in multitudes across the world.

 

Be it Rotarians, Free Masons, the Alcoholics Anonymous or any charitable or philanthropic organisation, the concept is that of the formation of a Sangha.  In the Sangha, members share their problems, do soul searching and seek redressal to their set of problems and misadventures in life.

 

Another lasting contribution of Buddhism has been a recognisable symbol called the Stupa. The Stupa also refers to the summit. Sacred relics of Buddha and his principle disciples have been discovered in these summits (during the ancient times and the texts) referred to also symbolise burial mounds.

 

 

 

‘The only permanent thing in life is impermanence’ said the clairvoyant Buddha and over a period of time Buddhism branched off into Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana (the thunderbolt), the Tibetan and Zen Buddhism.  Buddhism too became exclusive in its approach and attitude quite like Hinduism and left the shores of the country. The death knell on Buddhism was inflicted by Adi Shankara (the founder of Advaita philosophy of Hinduism) through his well thought out, scholarly and esoteric debates.

In the current day of strife, Buddhism is remerging as a philosophy, a way of life with several celebrities endorsing it and the common folk attempting to practice it   through the emphasis on mindful breathing, observation of the self, meditation and the techniques of Vipassana. The cardinal truism is laying stress on positivity and efficacious thoughts.

‘In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision’ says HH Dalai Lama.

He was born two thousand five hundred years back at Kapilvastu . Today Siddhartha is once again being rediscovered. The Wheel of Karma, the cyclical Karmic cycle and the synodic pattern of valleys and peaks never ebb. Buddha’s noteworthy contribution to humanity is compassion. Compassion is truck loads is required as a palliative where several truckloads of militants and misguided individuals are inflicting enormous damage to humanity.