Buddhism Religion: Siddhartha Gautama or Buddha
Buddhism, one of the major world religions, was founded in the late 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha which means “awakened one.” He was born a prince to a very wealthy family in 563 B.C.E. in Nepal located in Northern India. His mother died giving birth to him and his father, King Śuddhodana, was the ruler of a small region in India. Siddhartha’s father desired for his son the wealth and power offered by the world, therefore, he took every measure to shield his son from the dark side of human existence and surrounded him with every luxury.
Siddhartha became weary of the material splendor of the palace. Wanting to see the real world, Siddhartha went to his father who reluctantly agreed to send him on a tour to Paris outside of his sheltered life. One day, while taking a ride in his chariot, he encounters an old man which he has never seen. Being shielded from old age throughout his sheltered life, Siddhartha asks the charioteer what he is seeing. The charioteer explains that everyone gets old; no one is exempt from old age. On another occasion, the young prince encounters a man suffering from the disease on the side of the road. Upset, he again asks the charioteer what he is seeing. The charioteer tells him that every person falls ill during their life. On the third chariot ride, Siddhartha sees a dead man and is told that everyone eventually dies. During the last tour, Siddhartha sees “a sannyasin, a wandering ascetic who has left behind spouse and family and job and home in search of spiritual liberation”. Siddhartha learns of the life of withdrawal from the world in order to find true freedom. Siddhartha is deeply shaken and experiences a spiritual crisis. He does not know how to deal with the inescapable human phenomena of decrepitude, disease, and death.
Siddhartha knew there had to be more to life than living in luxury, power, pleasure, and prestige which he had been doing his whole life. At the age of twenty-nine, the prince leaves the palace unprotected, known as the “Great Departure,” allowing his spiritual desires to override the duties of family devotion. Siddhartha decides to adopt a monastic life in search of freedom, to understand suffering, and how to end suffering. He divests himself of his princely apparel (The Great Renunciation) and cuts his hair with his sword. Near Gaya in Northeast India, Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree and vowed not to move until he attained enlightenment. After forty-nine days, an awakening came upon him and he saw that all things are impermanent and ever-changing. We suffer because we wish the world were something it is not and through these insights, he saw his suffering go away. From this point on he was the Buddha, “Awakened One,” and his compassion moved him to remain on earth to help others.
Unlike most religions, followers of Buddhism do not acknowledge a supreme god or deity. Although Buddhists respect and look up to the Buddha, they do not believe he was a god. Instead, Buddhists focus on achieving enlightenment, a state of inner peace and wisdom, or nirvana.
Buddhists believe suffering, dukkha, is the main problem in the world. Buddhists trace human problems to the karma-fueled cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Rebirth is undesirable because life is marked by suffering, which Buddhists seek to overcome. The Four Noble Truths compress the problem, solution, and techniques of Buddhism: life is marked by suffering, but suffering has an origin; so it can be eliminated, and the path to the elimination of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. The first noble truth states that life is marked by uncertainty, sickness, decrepitude, loss, and death. Nothing is permanent, so nothing can permanently satisfy us (all pleasures fade). All things are subject to impermanence which ensures dukkha’s presence as long as the heart is attached to anything and craves lasting satisfaction. The second noble truth explains that suffering has an origin. Our craving, desire, and ignorance cause suffering. We suffer because we close our eyes to the way the world really is, we pretend we are independent when we are interdependent, we pretending to change things are unchanging, and we desperately desire the world and the people who populate it to be as we imagine it to be. Suffering can be eliminated is the third noble truth. Dharma as Buddha taught is the way of living in harmony with cosmic law. The disease (suffering) and the cause (desire) can be rooted out by living in conformity with dharma. Lastly, the fourth noble truth is to follow the Eightfold Path. Since the disease pervades all aspects of life, the cure too must apply to all aspects. Buddha proposed the Eightfold Path as a remedy for desire.
The Eightfold Path is both a way of living and a way of being to the end that the disciple lives in total conformity with dharma. This path, which the Buddha taught to his followers, gives Buddhists a guide to follow to end suffering. This path to reach nirvana is comprised of eight aspects that should be practiced. These eight parts are grouped in three essential elements of Buddhist practice: moral conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom. The eight practices are right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Buddhists also believe in karma, action-driven by intention which leads to future consequences. Due to this belief, they try to perform good actions such as generosity and compassion and avoid bad actions such as those based on hatred or greed. If they perform good actions with good intentions, they will be rewarded in their next life; however, if they perform bad actions with bad intentions, they will be punished during their next lifetime.
Buddhism religion is practiced through meditation and worship. Different types of meditation include following your breath, mindfulness meditation (vipassana) in which a person is mindful of their feelings, thoughts, or sensations, and loving-kindness meditation (metta) which is unconditional love without attachment or expectation of return. When Buddhists worship together in the temple, they show their love for the Buddha by making offerings of candles, flowers, incense, and pure water at a shrine. They may sit on the floor barefoot facing an image of Buddha and chanting (Primary). When they worship alone, in their home, they usually have a statue of Buddha and will meditate and read from the Buddhist holy books.
There are also three different types of Buddhism which have their own ways to practice Buddhism. The branches of Buddhism are Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana (Tibetan). Theravada Buddhism, “Way of the Elders,” is a monastic tradition and claims to teach what Buddha himself taught. People withdraw from the worlds of family, work, sex, and money to a celibate life of monks. It stresses self-reliance, effort, wisdom, and insight through meditation and monastic life. It is common for men to live as monks temporarily to gain merit for parents as a rite of passage. Mahayana Buddhism, “The Great Raft,” stresses the person of Buddha as divine savior, availability of grace, compassion, laity, ritual, and reverence for bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas are disciples dedicated to seeking and having attained enlightenment; they are able to enter nirvana, but they refuse and transfer the merit of their own karma to devotees. Vajrayana Buddhism, “The Diamond Raft” or “Diamond Vehicle,” is the smallest sect of Buddhism and is also known as Tibetan Buddhism. Buddha is depicted with a diamond scepter which symbolizes spiritual sovereignty, and diamond-like strength and clarity of teaching.
Something I particularly like about Buddhism is the Eightfold Path and I believe all people should follow this. I feel that following these moral codes will create peace and harmony not only within oneself but also with others. Another aspect of Buddhism I feel is important not only for Buddhists but for everyone is meditation. Meditation can have help with beneficial habits and feelings such as positive mood and outlook as well as self-discipline. I think the Four Noble Truths logically make sense; however, I do not agree with them. The only part I can agree with is that suffering has an origin. I do not believe that life revolves around suffering and that it can be eliminated by following the Eightfold Path. Sometimes suffering is inevitable and unavoidable, such as the death of a loved one, and no action would be able to eliminate that suffering.
