Who Was the Buddha?
Who Was The Buddha?
Siddartha Gautama, the man known to history as The Buddha, was born in Northern India (modern-day Nepal) in 563 B.C.E. He was a prince and the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya. The Buddha-to-be grew up in a world of privilege and seclusion from the suffering of the world.
This was ordered and ensured by his father after the prophets in his court told him that his son would either be a great king who would rule the world or a great world-savior. The prophet informed the king that his son would be the latter, if he was exposed to human suffering. The king did all in his power to prevent his son from exposure to anything that would interfere with his son becoming a great ruler.
While in his late 20s, Siddartha witnesses an old person, illness, and death for the first time in his life. He is greatly dismayed, realizing that he too was subject to these forces. Then he encounters a holy man and he immediately understands that if these terrible things exist in the world, there must be a way to overcome them. He decides to leave his princely life in search of a way to overcome these human difficulties.
After studying under a variety of teachers, Siddhartha attained enlightenment at the age of 35. He planted himself beneath a Bodhi Tree and vowed not to rise from the spot until he had discovered the ultimate truth. The rest is history, as they say. 2500 years later 376 million human beings adhere to the Buddha's Middle Way and The Noble Eightfold Path; making Buddhism the 4th largest "religion" in the world.
However, if you include "cultural Buddhists" there are probably more Buddhists than any other religion on the planet. The Buddha himself is revered as a shining example of human potential, determination, and possibility. His practices and teachings are the basis for many relaxation, visualization, and self-improvement techniques.
What Did Buddha Teach?
The Buddha taught that human beings and all life is in a bit of a bind. We continue being born and dying over and over again because of a process called Dependent Origination. This is a cosmic causal loop where, beginning with desire, beings come into an existence through a series of attachments to existence. Buddhism is huge on both cause and effect (the
The problem the Buddha identified is that beings suffer because they’re caught in this cycle (Samsara). He sought to find a way to break the cycle. There were many teachers in his time seeking the answer to this problem. Some advocated for extreme asceticism (to the point of starvation) and other teachers went to the opposite extreme, advocating for complete materialism. Buddha identified what he termed “The Middle Way.” This was a path that avoided these extremes and applied reason and wisdom to the problem.
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha described both the problem and the solution in his Four Noble Truths. These truths are the core of Buddhist philosophy.
There is suffering.
Suffering arises because of our thirst or desire for existence.
Suffering can be ended by letting go of our attachments to the trappings of existence.
There is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path
The way for escaping the cycle prescribed by the Buddha is the Noble Eightfold Path. It is the embodiment of Buddhist practice in daily life. Remember there are degrees of this that even the Buddha recognized. Those involved in monastic life have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of enlightenment. They may abide by these standards to a stricter degree. Whereas laypeople, “householders” as they’re often called, are living a regular life, holding down a job, and raising a family. They may adopt these principles in their daily lives and business dealings but at a more superficial level.
Right View - this is essentially and understanding and acceptance of The Four Noble Truths as accurate in defining the primary challenge of life and as a pointing to the solution to it.
Right Intention - this step involves a peaceful renunciation of your old life and embodying a life of compassion, peace, and contemplation.
Right Speech - this involves using your speech to support the life envisioned by Right Intention. This involves being truthful, kind, and peaceful in your speech.
Right Conduct - this is another embodiment of Right Intention. You align your conduct with that life. Generally, this viewed as not harming others, avoiding sexual misconduct, and minimizing or mitigating your desires. It’s a kind of purifying the mind by purifying the body.
Right Livelihood - this involves aligning your vocation with the principles that you are living your life by. It means you’re not involved in a profession that causes harms to other beings or even more powerfully you do something that contributes positively to the well-being of others.
Right Effort - this principle means that, understanding that the desire for existence comes through the senses, the Buddhist practitioner guards the “sense doors” in a way that prevents harmful desires for gaining control. This often involves the practice of mindfulness that his cultivated in meditation.
Right Mindfulness - this involves both guarding the mind and even empowering it to produce more positive, wholesome ways of thought that help to block thoughts that can bring you back into desire.
Right Samadhi - this has sometimes been translated as Right Concentration or Right Meditation. These are the specific meditation practices Buddha and subsequent generations of teachers found to cultivated states of awareness that opened the door to the seven factors of awakening in meditation - Mindfulness, Investigating Nature of Reality, Energy, Joy/Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration, and Equanimity.