Lately my wife and myself have started to observe the Buddha
statues in houses and how people have been using those. While this piqued my
interest, it also gave way too many questions – some of which we had read in
the history books and possibly forgotten by now.
Buddhism as we know today is mainly a religion followed in
the Eastern Asia, though originated in India. Today there are approx. 500+
Million Buddhist followers across the globe – thus making it one of the major
religions of the day.
As most of us know, Buddhism is following the teachings of
Gautam Buddha, who was born as Prince Siddhartha of Kaushambi. When Siddhartha
was born to his parents Mahamaya and King Shudhodhana, Mahamaya had a dream of
a white elephant. The elephant gave her a flower and circumambulated her three
times before entering her womb. The learned scholars of the time explained the
dream as the mark of the birth of a great prince who shall be very wise and
very powerful. However, the prince shall be highly emotional and in such a
case, he may even renounce everything in search of higher wisdom. Mahamaya
passed away just after the birth of the great prince. King Shudhodhana made
every effort in his capacity to keep the prince engulfed in the fun and frolic
and kept him away from the sorrows and suffering faced by the humans. Yet, one
day, Siddhartha went out of the palace to see the people living out there and
saw the three scenes – a sick person crying in pain, a dead person being
carried for the final rites and an ascetic who had given up all the worldly
relations. Siddhartha then realized that the life is more than what he has led
in the palace. And he must make amends to understand the true meaning or
purpose of life and escape the suffering of the three scenes he saw. Siddhartha
gave up his family – wife Yashodhara, son Rahul, father Shudhodhana and the
kingdom of Kaushambi to meditate and find the truth.
At one point in his search for the truth, he was fatally ill
and hungry. At that time a girl offered him food. With this he realized that
most of the suffering we face is a result of our own desires. Desires give rise
to expectations and they cause grief when they are not met.
Prince Siddhartha meditated and looked for the answers
within. Having been born at a time when the Hinduism and Jainism were already
prevalent, Siddhartha looked for a path that is acceptable to both yet was
different. And with this he gained nirvana and became Gautama Buddha ~ one who
destroys darkness with the bright light of his mind.
Buddha’s teachings were later adopted as the middle path (Neither
rigid as Jainism and nor fluid as Hinduism) and were widely known as the eight-fold
path –
1.
Right view – The first of the eight-fold path,
relates to the view about karma and rebirth and a belief in the importance of
the four noble truths (Dukkha – the pain from the incapability of satisfaction,
Samudaya – arising of Dukkha, Niroda – cessation of dukkha and Magga – the path
leading to the cessation of dukkha) and the true realities.
2.
Right resolve – Also considered as “right
thought”, “right intention” or “right aspiration”, this path tells the
practitioner to have a resolve to dedicate himself to the spiritual pursuit.
3.
Right speech – Abstaining from lying, divisive
or abusive speeches and idle chatter have been suggested to be the way of right
speech. In a Pali canonical scripture, Buddha says that never speaking
something that is not beneficial, and only speaking what is true and beneficial
– when the circumstances are right and whether they are welcome or not – are all
the signs of right speech.
4.
Right action – Abstaining from killing, stealing
and sexual misconduct were stated as parts of right action.
5.
Right livelihood – Earning of livelihood by
following the noble path and not by any wrong doings to anyone. Also, the Buddhist
monks always preached not to earn more than necessary to lead the life.
6.
Right effort – The right effort is by putting
forth your effort to generate energy and strive to maintain wholesome mental
states that have already arisen and to keep them free of delusion.
7.
Right mindfulness – This path leads the
practitioner to cultivate complete and constant awareness of the nature of
reality as impermanent, suffering. The most important learning in this path is
to be able to separate self from the surroundings – be an observer.
8.
Right concentration – Right Samadhi – state in
which the practitioner is detached from all senses or desires and enters the
state of dhyana in which there is applied and sustained thinking.
The eight-fold path have a lot more to explain and lay
wonderful guidelines for a practitioner. My knowledge is too limited to be able
to comment and decipher them all. Yet, I found a pattern –
·
The first two paths relate to Wisdom. (Prana)
·
The next three paths relate to Moral Virtues.
(Sheel)
·
And finally the last three paths relate to
Meditation. (Samadhi)
If one is able to follow the paths or even resolve to follow
the paths to an extent, I am sure there is a great difference one can make to
their life and all those around them.
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