Buddha

Buddha [Skt.,=the enlightened One], usual title given to the founder of Buddhism . He is also called the Tathagata [he who has come thus], Bhagavat [the Lord], and Sugata [well-gone]. He probably lived from 563 to 483 BC The story of his life is overlaid with legend, the earliest written accounts dating 200 years after his death (see Buddhist literature ).

Early Life

His given name was Siddhartha and his family name Gautama (or Gotama). He was born the son of a king of the Sakya clan of the Kshatriya, or warrior, caste (hence his later epithet Sakyamuni, "the sage of the Sakyas" ) in the Himalayan foothills in what is now S Nepal. It was predicted at his birth that he would become either a world ruler or a world teacher; therefore his father, King Suddhodana, who wished Siddhartha to succeed him as ruler, took great pains to shelter him from all misery and anything that might influence him toward the religious life.

Siddhartha spent his youth in great luxury, married, and fathered a son. The scriptures relate that at the age of 29, wishing to see more of the world, he left the palace grounds in his chariot. He saw on successive excursions an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a mendicant monk. From the first three of these sights he learned the inescapability of suffering and death, and in the serenity of the monk he saw his destiny. Forsaking his wife, Yashodhara, and his son, Rahula, he secretly left the palace and became a wandering ascetic.

Enlightenment

Siddhartha first studied yogic meditation under the teachers Alara Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra, and after mastering their techniques, decided that these did not lead to the highest realization. He then undertook fasting and extreme austerities, but after six years gave these up fearing that they might cause his death before he attained illumination. Taking moderate food, he seated himself under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya and swore not to stir until he had attained the supreme enlightenment. On the night of the full moon, after overcoming the attacks and temptations of Mara, "the evil one," he reached enlightenment, becoming a Buddha at the age of 35.

Founding of Buddhism

Leaving what was now the Bodhi Tree, or Tree of Enlightenment, he proceeded to the Deer Park at Sarnath, N of Benares (Varanasi), where he preached his first sermon to five ascetics who had been with him when he practiced austerities. They became his first disciples. The first sermon, known as "the setting into motion of the wheel of the dharma," contained the basic doctrines of the "four noble truths" and the "eightfold path."

For the remainder of his life he traveled and taught in the Gangetic plain, instructing disciples and giving his teaching to all who came to him, regardless of caste or religion. He spent much of his time in monasteries donated to the sangha, or community of monks, by wealthy lay devotees. Tradition says that he died at the age of 80. He appointed no successor but on his deathbed told his disciples to maintain the sangha and achieve their own liberation by relying on his teaching. He was cremated and his relics divided among eight groups, who deposited them in shrines called stupas.

Bibliography

See E. J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha as Legend and History (3d ed. 1952, repr. 1960); A. C. A. Foucher, The Life of the Buddha (1963, repr. 1972); D. J. and I. Kalupahana, The Way of Disshartha (1987).

Buddha (Skt.; Pāli). This is not a personal name but an epithet of those who have achieved enlightenment (bodhi), the goal of the Buddhist religious life. Buddha comes from the Sanskrit root ‘budh’, meaning to awaken, and the Buddhas are those who have awakened to the true nature of things as taught in the Four Noble Truths. By contrast, the mass of humanity is seen as asleep and unaware of the reality of the human condition. Doctrinally, the Buddhas are those who have attained nirvāṇa by destroying the defilements known as āśravas. Accordingly they are free of sensual craving (kāma), becoming (bhava), and ignorance (avidyā). Because they have eradicated all craving they have escaped from the round of cyclic existence (saṃsāra) and will never again be reborn. For Theravāda Buddhism, a Buddha is simply a human being who has undergone a profound spiritual transformation. In Mahāyāna thought, by contrast, the concept of the Buddha developed in various ways, notably in the doctrine of the Buddha's ‘three bodies’ (trikāya). In terms of this teaching, the Buddha is seen as a cosmic being who from time to time manifests himself in human form.

An important function of a Buddha is to act as a teacher, leading others to salvation by expounding the Dharma. The exception to this is the ‘private Buddha’ (Pratyekabuddha), who achieves enlightenment but does not teach. Such a Buddha is considered inferior to the ‘fully enlightened Buddha’ (samyak-saṃbuddha) who teaches, and, according to Mahāyāna doctrine, is omniscient (sarvajñā) and possesses ten special powers (daśa-bala). Buddhas are distinguished from other enlightened beings such as Arhats by virtue of the fact that they discover the truth (Dharma) themselves, rather than hearing it from another. All schools of Buddhism believe there have been many Buddhas in the past and there will be more in the future, for instance Maitreya. The Mahāpadāna Sutta of the Pāli Canon mentions six previous Buddhas, and the Buddhavaṃsa gives a list of 24. In all these cases a similar stereotypical biography is supplied. It is generally believed that there can never be more than one Buddha in any particular era, and the ‘historical Buddha’ of the present era was Siddhartha Gautama. Numerous ahistorical Buddhas make an appearance in Mahāyāna literature, notably the five Jinas who are popular in tantric schools.

Buddha (Enlightened One) Title adopted by Gautama Siddhartha (c.563–c.483 bc), the founder of Buddhism. Born at Lumbini, Nepal, Siddhartha was son of the ruler of the Sakya tribe, and his early years were spent in luxury. At the age of 29, he realized that human life is little more than suffering. He gave up his wealth and comfort, deserted his wife and small son, and took to the road as a wandering ascetic. He travelled south, and sought truth in a six-year regime of austerity and self-mortification. After abandoning asceticism as futile, he sought his own middle way towards enlightenment. The moment of truth came in c.528 bc, as he sat beneath a banyan tree in the village of Buddha Gaya, Bihar, India. After this incident, he taught others about his way to truth. The title ‘buddha’ applies to those who have achieved perfect enlightenment. Buddhists believe that there have been several buddhas before Siddhartha, and there will be many to come. The term also serves to describe a variety of Buddha images.