Buddha
Buddha (563?-483?bc),
Indian philosopher and the founder of Buddhism, born in Lumbinī, Nepal.
He was
the son of the head of the Sakya warrior caste, with the private name of
Siddhartha; in later life he was known also as Sakyamuni (Sage of the
Sakyas).
The name Gautama Buddha is a combination 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, 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. About
528,
while sitting under a bo tree near Gaya, in what is now Buddh Gaya in
the state
of Bihār, 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 Vārānasi). 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 food. 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.
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