The Buddha

The Buddha was a leader who followed asceticism, as well as a teacher. He was born in Nepal. The Buddha’s teachings gave birth to a new faith: Buddhism. Buddha, in literal terms refers to one who is enlightened and awakened. He was a teacher for about 45 years and went places to promote his ideas. He believed in balance and talked about the undeniable sorrow that every human being faces. Despite being brought up in a luxurious family, the Buddha realised how people are facing problems around the world and became determined to solve this situation. 

The Buddha and the Quest for Enlightenment

• The Buddha was born in 623 BC, in the Lumbini Province in Nepal
• According to their culture, Siddhartha, as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan
• The Buddha was born into luxury. He was born to King Suddhodana Tharu and Queen Maya
• Warned by a prophecy that Siddhartha might become a holy man, his parents protected him from the outside world
• At the young age of 16, Siddhartha got married to Yashodhara
• As he grew up and explored the outside world, he realized how humans suffered through what is now commonly known as the Four Sights
• His observations led him to give up all luxuries and seek answers to a painless life 
• Siddhartha explored several paths including bodily mortification which led him to a situation of close death
• Then he meditated for several days and finally attained enlightenment
• As a result of his actions towards a better way of life, Siddhartha came to be known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One 
• As He learnt more about the world, the Buddha taught about dhamma, or the way for righteous living.

The Teachings of The Buddha

• Several stories from Sutta are recreated as Lord Buddha’s teachings
• According to certain accounts Buddha relies upon reasons and rationale, others talk about his power as wonderful
• According to Buddhist philosophy, World is transient (anicca) and constantly changing
• It doesn’t have a soul(anatta) in it as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it
• Sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence
• It is followed by the path of shift between severe pain and self-indulgence that human beings can rise above worldly troubles
• Buddha described the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin
• He advised kings and gajapatis to be humane and ethical
• The Buddha explained individual agency as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain self-realisation and nibbana and thus end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world
• One of the main teachings of the Buddha was the Three Universal Truths
• The Three Universal Truths talk about three main teachings that help ease human problems
  
  These truths are:

1. Everything is impermanent. Change is an ever present part of life
2. Impermanence causes sorrow and suffering as it makes one realize that life isn’t ideal
3. However, the self or identity of a person is one thing that remains unchanged
4. Along with these, The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path are two other important teachings of the Buddha

Followers of the Buddha:

• Buddha founded a sangha, an organization of monks who became teachers of dhamma
• These priests lived in simple settings, having just the fundamental necessities for survival, they lived on alms, or donations, and were known as bhikkhus
• Only men were allowed into the sangha, but after sometime women also came to be admitted
• Ananda, one of the Buddha’s favourite disciples, persuaded him to allow women into the sangha
• Buddha’s homeless step mother, Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni
• Many women started joining as teachers of dhamma and went on to become theris
• Buddha’s followers came from many social groups
• They included kings, wealthy men and gajapatis
• Humbler folk: workers, slaves and craftspeople
• Within the sangha, all were equal, having shed their earlier social identities on becoming bhikkhus and bhikkhunis
• The internal functioning of the sangha was through consensus, if that failed, decisions were taken by a vote on the subject
• The emphasis placed on metta (fellow feeling) and karuna (compassion), drew men and women to Buddhist teachings.

Conclusion

The Buddha has been an influential religious leader who has inspired many with His ideas and teachings. The Buddha believed that one can only be happy if one manages to regulate between luxury and simplicity. There is no denying the human suffering. He introduced a huge population to the religion of what is now called Buddhism. After a luxurious life, the Buddha developed empathy for those who didn’t have all the facilities and face sorrow. His followers did not belong to a particular caste or religion, they were individuals who believed in the Buddha’s beliefs and connected with his ideas. However, teachers with the Buddha were a part of a sangha, where initially only men were allowed. As time passed, a beloved follower of the Buddha convinced him to involve women as well. Through his teachings such as the Three Universal Truths, the Buddha aimed to reduce the pain of individuals.