BUDDHISM

> The founder of Buddhism was Gautam Buddha. He is called the Light of Asia.

*Gautam Buddha was born in 563 BC at a place called Lumbini in Kapilvastu.

*A His father Shuddhodhan was the head of the Shakya clan.

*His mother, Mayadevi, died during his

*She died on the seventh day of her birth. She was brought up by her step mother Prajapati
Gautami.

*His childhood name was Siddhartha.

*Gautam Buddha was married to Yashodhara at the age of 16. Their son's name was Rahul.

> When Siddhartha went on a walk in Kapilavastu, he saw the following four scenes in
sequence - 1. An old man, 2. A sick man, 3. A dead body and 4. A monk.

*Troubled by worldly problems, Siddhartha left home at the age of 29, which is called
Mahābhiniṣkramaṇa in Buddhism.

> After leaving home, Siddhartha (Buddha) learnt Sankhya philosophy from Alara Kalam of
Vaishali. Alara Kalam became Siddhartha's first guru. From whom he gained the knowledge of
zero.

*After Alara Kalam, Siddhartha received education from Rudrakaramaputta of Rajgir. From
whom he gained the knowledge of yoga.

*At Uruvela, Siddhartha met five seekers named Kaundinya, Vappa, Bhadia, Mahanama and
Assagi.

> After 6 years of rigorous penance without eating or drinking anything, at the age of 35, on the
night of the full moon of Vaishakha, Niranjana (Phalgu)

*Siddhartha attained enlightenment on the banks of the river, under a peepal tree. > After
attaining enlightenment, Siddhartha became known as Buddha. That place was called Bodh
Gaya.

> Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath (Rishipatnam), which is called
Dharmachakrapravartan in the Buddhist texts.

*Buddha gave his teachings in the common man's language, Pali.

> Buddha gave his sermons in Kosala, Vaishali, Kaushambi and other states

(Most sermons were given in Sravasti, the capital of Kosala country).

> His main follower rulers were Bimbisara, Prasenjit and Udayin.

*Buddha died at the age of 80 in 483 BCE at Kushinagar (Deoria, Uttar Pradesh) after eating a
meal offered by Chunda, which is called Mahaparinirvana in Buddhism.

> The Mallas performed the last rites of Buddha with utmost respect. * According to Adbhut
Bharat (Author A.L. Vasham), Buddha attained enlightenment after 49 days of meditation.

*According to a tradition, after his death, the remains of Buddha's body were divided into eight
parts and eight stupas were built on them. The date of Buddha's birth and death has been
determined on the basis of the Canton inscription of the Chinese tradition.

- We get detailed knowledge about Buddhism from Tripitaka (Vinayapitaka, Sutrapitaka and
Abhidhammapitaka). The language of all three Pitakas is Pali. The Pali Tripitaka of Theravada
sect is the oldest.

- Buddha's religious principles have been compiled in the form of dialogues in the Sutrapitaka.
Vinaypitaka contains a collection of rules made for the monks and nuns of the Sangha and a list
of atonements to be made for breaking the discipline of the Sangha has also been given in it.
Abhidhammapitaka contains a summary of the lists and a quiz required for the systematic study
of the principles described in the Sutrapitaka.

Note: The Pali Tripitaka was first written down in the 1st century BCE under the guidance of
Vattagamini, the ruler of Sri Lanka.

> The five Nikayas of Sutrapitaka are Digha, Majjhima, Samyukta, Anguttara, Khuddaka. The
Jataka tales related to the previous births of Buddha are one of the 15 books of Khuddaka
Nikaya. The Khuddaka Nikaya contains Dhammapada (a collection of moral teachings),
Theragatha (songs of Buddhist monks) and Therigatha (songs of Buddhist nuns).

> Buddhism is basically atheistic. There is no concept of soul in this.

> There is a belief in rebirth in Buddhism.

> Buddha calls the state of diminishing of desires as Nirvana.

> Buddha took the principle of "The world is full of suffering" from the Upanishads.

> The followers of Buddha were divided into two parts-

1. Bhikshuks: Those who took up sainthood to preach Buddhism were called 'bhikshuks'.

2. Upasaka: Those who adopted Buddhism while living a family life were called Upasaka.

> The minimum age limit to join the Buddhist Sangha was 15 years

Entry into the Buddhist Sangha was called Upasampada.

> The three jewels of Buddhism are Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.

>After Fourth Buddhist Sangiti, Buddhism got divided into two parts, Hinayana and Mahayana.

> The ideal of Mahayana Buddhism is Bodhisatva. Bodhisatvas delay their own nirvana while
prioritizing the welfare of others.

*The ideal of Hinayana is to attain the position of Ahanta, a person who attain nirvana through
meditation are called Arhats.

*Religious processions were first started by Buddhism.

* The most sacred festival of Buddhists is Vaishakh Purnima, which is also known as Buddha
Purnima. Its importance is because on the day of Buddha Purnima, Buddha was born, attained
enlightenment and attained Mahaparinirvana.

*Buddha preached four noble truths regarding worldly sufferings. These are- 1. Suffering 2.
Origin of suffering 3. Cessation of suffering 4. The path leading to the cessation of suffering.

> To get rid of these worldly sufferings, the Buddha spoke of the eightfold path. These means
are: 1. Samyak Drishti 2. Samyak Sankalp 3. Samyak Vani 4. Samyak Karmanta 5. Samyak
Ajivam 6. Samyak Vyayam 7. Samyak Smriti and 8. Samyak Samadhi

> According to Buddha, after following the Eightfold Path, a person's desire for worldly things is
destroyed and he attains Nirvana.

*Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhism, which means 'the extinguishing of the lamp' i.e. to be
free from the cycle of life and death. To make attainment of Nirvana easy, Buddha stressed on
the following ten rules -
1. Non-violence, 2. Truth, 3. Asteya (not stealing), 4. Aparigraha (not keeping any kind of
property), 5. Not consuming alcohol, 6. Not eating untimely, 7. Not sleeping on a comfortable
bed, 8. Not accumulating wealth, 9. Staying away from women and 10. Staying away from
dancing, singing etc. It was mandatory for householders to follow only the first five rules and for
monks it was mandatory to follow all the ten rules.
> Buddha preached the middle path (Madhyama Pratipada). > There is similarity between
Buddhism and Jainism in the matter of atheism.

> Jataka tales show that Bodhisattvas can incarnate in human form as well as in animal form.

> In a long series of rebirths as a Bodhisattva, the Buddha took his final birth as Shakya Muni,
but after this Maitreya and other unnamed Buddhas are yet to be incarnated.

*Most of the Buddha statues were made in the Gandhar style, but the first statue of Buddha was
probably made in the Mathura style.

> Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpanch) propagated Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan and neighboring
countries. He belonged to the Vajrayan branch of Buddhism. His 123 feet high statue is in
Rewal Sir is in the lake,Himachal Pradesh.

Note: The first idol to be worshipped in India was probably that of Buddha.