nature of the buddha
The Buddhist religion is one of many philosophies and ideas, but the basis and foundation for the entire religion is the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. His past lives (Jatakas) leading up to (and including) his final incarnation as the Sakyamuni Buddha personify what can be described as the nature of Buddhas. Around the time of approximately 560 b.c.e., Siddhartha was born as a prince within a tribe called the Sakyas, grew up, and eventually became a renunciant. It is difficult to separate what is truly fact and historical regarding Siddhartha from what is myth and legend, and the man is at the basis of the religion (is, in fact, the religion himself, as some would say), and is inseparable from the beliefs and legends of Buddhism. "The historian must recognize that he has virtually no strictly historical criteria for distinguishing between history and myth in the accounts of the life of the Buddha" (Gethin, pge 16). Siddhartha was born in what is modern day Nepal, in the Ksatrya caste. Siddhartha's legendary aspects began with his conception (which consisted of a white elephant with a lotus flower touching his mother's side in a dream). On her way back to the village where she was raised, Siddhartha's mother gave
for to exist is to be apart of the unstable, shifting world of conditions" (Gethin, pge 28), which goes against the stable, completeness that summarizes the nature of Buddha. Once he left the palace, Siddhartha then cut his hair, donned rags, and became an ascetic, searching for teachers who would instruct him in the art of meditation. 27), and the infant Siddhartha could walk and talk right away, informing his mother that this would be his final birth. All Buddha's share in many other traits besides the 32 marks of great men, "in fact, it is the possession of these common properties that make it sensible to call them all Buddha's" (Griffiths, course pack, pge 47). "These stories of past lives serve mostly as fables and morality tales" (Bentley, oct 27). Four incalculable ages and one hundred thousand aeons ago, the Buddha vowed to become a Buddha and began the process (at the time he made this pledge, he was a Brahman ascetic named Sumheda) (Strong, coursepack pge28). All Buddha's (as well as rulers and other exemplary figures) must exhibit the 32 (major) marks of great man, or laksana mahapurusa (Handout # 22). Once outside the walls, Siddhartha witnessed what has come to be referred to as 'The 4 Sightings', which included seeing his first elderly person, his first ill person, his first dead person and his first ascetic (Bentley, oct 27). While sitting under the bhodi tree, The Buddha remembered all of his previous lives, and the deeds that he performed that led to his final incarnation as Siddhartha. The karmic connection between past and present is what symbolized the nature of the Buddha; how his interactions with individuals in his past led to situations in other jatakas as well as connections to his life as the Sakyamuni Buddha (the idea that karma is collected and passed along from lifetime to lifetime). Until the age of 29, Siddhartha lived a princely life of splendor in his father's home, but eventually became restless and left the palace walls. These perfections give Buddha's the physicality needed to effortlessly overcome all challenges, as well as command respect and attention with the power of their speech. These (among numerous other physical perfections) are necessary for the Buddha "to command respect when he speaks, forcing those around him to listen to his words" (Bentley, Oct 29). For the Sakyamuni Buddha, these traits were acquired over a period of 4 incalculable ages plus 100000 aeons, during the course of which he took the form of rulers, peasants, gods and animals to perform services to the Buddha of the time, which perfected his traits (over this enormous period of time), so that he would display them all when he was born as his final incarnations, Siddhartha Gautama.
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Acceptance Essays
