Religion 13 Life of Buddha

sangha

A community created by Buddha and his first five disciples; the term also refers to any Buddhist monastery.

Mara

A god who was the personification of evil and death, and who tempted Buddha to return home during his spiritual quest.

shramana

A hermit who retreats from society to practice yoga.

Middle Way

A path between extreme self-indulgence and harsh self-denial that avoids attachment to all extremes.

Buddha's search for truth

A village woman offered Buddha some food. According to some versions of the story, she found Buddha beneath a sacred tree while she was on her way to worship the spirit of the tree. In another legend, Buddha went to a food stall and ate. When his five companions saw him eating, they considered Buddha a traitor. They abandoned him and returned to their lifestyle of renunciation in the forest.

philosophy of the Middle Way

Buddha followed two spiritual teachers who taught him about release. He was not satisfied with their instruction and began to practice severe asceticism in order to obtain release. He met five ascetics and became their spiritual leader.

Buddha's search for truth

He practiced fasting to the point of near starvation. According to the legends, he ate only a few grains of rice each day. He also underwent many hardships. Buddha allowed filth to accumulate on his body, wore irritating garments, sat on thorns, slept among rotting corpses, and sat in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.

Buddha's enlightenment

He returned to the five ascetics and spoke to them about dharma. Buddha told them that there are two extreme ways. The first is the way of luxury, and the second is the path of asceticism. Buddha said that both ways are useless. He urged them to follow the Middle Way, which avoids extremes and leads to enlightenment. Buddha managed to convert the five ascetics. They adopted the Middle Way and became his first disciples.

Buddha's first sermon

He taught the Four Noble Truths about suffering and the Eightfold Path that leads to liberation from samsara. Buddha called the liberation from samsara, the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth, nirvana.

Buddha's search for truth

One day Buddha became so weak that he fell into a stream. The cold water revived him and made him realize his true situation. Buddha now understood that the path he had been following was no more effective than the path of philosophy and meditation. He had tried everything and had not yet obtained release.

Buddha's death

According to another story, Buddha told his closest follower Ananda and other monks that his earthly journey had come to an end. Buddha told them to take refuge only in the dharma. He was eighty years old when he died in 483 B.C.E.

Buddha's enlightenment

According to some versions of the story, Buddha debated whether or not he should tell others about what he had learned. He feared that people would not understand his teaching. The god Brahma tried to convince Buddha not to share what he had uncovered in his spiritual quest. Yet because Buddha had compassion for all people, he felt that he was compelled to teach

white elephant

According to the legends about Buddha, his birth was accompanied by a number of signs. These stories record that his mother, Maya, had a dream in which a ____ _____ entered her body through her side; this is how Buddha was conceived. In one story, Buddha emerged from Maya's side instead of through her womb. She did not feel any pain. Buddha then stood up and said that he would have no more rebirths.

Buddha's death

After traveling around India and teaching his understanding of nirvana for forty-five years, Buddha realized that his existence on earth was about to end. According to one story, he became ill after eating some poisonous mushrooms given to him by a blacksmith. In other legends, he became ill after eating pork. He told the person who had given him this bad food that he should not feel terrible and that he had earned great merit by providing Buddha with a meal.

Shakyamuni/Sakayamuni

Another name for Buddha, meaning "wise one of the Sakya clan."

Buddha's life

Buddha ordered his chariot driver to explain these four sights that he had never seen before. He was quite disturbed because he realized that he would one day experience sickness, old age, and death. Despite his father's further attempts to make him happy, Buddha decided to leave the palace and escape the emptiness that he now felt in his life. Buddha left his family and became an ascetic living in the forest. According to the legends, Buddha was twenty-nine years old at the time he began his spiritual quest.

the community called sangha

Buddha spent the remaining forty-five years of his life traveling around the country preaching and organizing many ______. He soon had sixty arhats (enlightened disciples) who had attained liberation and enlightenment. Buddha sent them throughout India to preach his understanding of the dharma to others.

Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha's complete, given name.

Buddha's life

Despite his life of luxury, Buddha was not happy in the palace. He continued to ask his father to allow him to leave and see the world. Buddha's father told him that his duty was to first fulfill his role as a householder, and then later in life become an ascetic and withdraw from the world.

Buddha's enlightenment

During the second watch of the night, Buddha understood that people are bound to the cycle of death and rebirth because of their deeds. In the third watch of the night, Buddha understood the cause of death, rebirth, and suffering.

philosophy of the Middle Way

Eventually, he realized that the truth lay in the Middle Way. This became the basis for the religion that would eventually become known as Buddhism. The Middle Way teaches that people should avoid extremes. The way to understand the dharma is to follow a middle course between asceticism and indulgence.

Buddha's search for truth

Having renounced his lifestyle of wealth and privilege, Buddha chose the path of the forest dweller. He spent a period of time studying under gurus. He then spent a short period wandering and practicing severe self-denial. Buddha eventually came to a village near Gaya in India, where he met five other ascetics. Buddha spent six years with these five monks, who were impressed by his spiritual struggle.

Buddha's enlightenment

In the fourth watch of the night, Buddha recognized that he had solved the mystery of suffering and had discovered a way of eliminating it. Buddha, at the age of thirty-five, had finally attained enlightenment and was now fully "awake" to reality. He was now called the Buddha, the "enlightened one" or the "one who has awakened."

nirvana

Liberation from samsara's perpetual cycle of death and rebirth.

bhikkhu

Pali term for Buddhist monks.

bhikkhuni

Pali term for Buddhist nuns.

Buddha's life

Some legends mention celestial events that took place when he was born. According to other accounts, a Brahmin interpreted Maya's dream and predicted that Buddha would become the king of all India or a great ascetic. Buddha's mother died seven days after his birth and his father married his mother's sister.

stupas

Special mound shrines that contain the remains of Buddha.

...

Stories claim that the gods allowed Buddha to see the Four Sights: a sick man, an old man, a dead man, and a shramana. After Buddha had seen these Four Sights, he abandoned his lifestyle of privilege and became an ascetic.

the community called sangha

The five ascetics became his first disciples and the founding members of a community called the _____. Buddha taught that the sangha was open to everyone, irrespective of his or her caste. Once people joined the monastic order of the sangha, they were equal to one another.

Buddha

The founder of Buddhism, who became enlightened and put others on the path to enlightenment; a title for any person who attains nirvana.

Four Sights

The four visions that appeared to Buddha and sparked him to begin his spiritual quest; in these visions, the gods appeared as a sick man, an old man, a dead man, and a shramana.

enlightenment

The state in which an individual is fully awake to reality.

Tathagata

Title for Buddha that means "one who has come" or "one who has gone."

Buddha's enlightenment

When Buddha returned to his meditation, he passed through many states of deep consciousness. During the first watch of the night, Buddha saw his previous lives. He had compassion for all people because they suffered an endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Buddha's life

When he was young, Buddha was trained to become a great king. He grew up in the palace, where he was surrounded by all the luxuries that his father could provide. In order to keep Buddha in the palace, his father provided him with a wife, a harem, and training in the martial arts. Buddha had at least one son.

evil and death

While Buddha sat beneath the tree meditating, he encountered the god Mara, who was the personification of ____ and _____. Mara tried to convince Buddha to return home. When he failed, Mara produced three goddesses and dancers to seduce Buddha. Mara then sent demons to scare Buddha. According to the legends, Buddha touched the earth with his right hand, asking it to bear witness to his merit and his quest for spiritual perfection. This produced an earthquake and a raging stream that washed away Mara and the other spirits. Buddha then continued meditating.

Buddha

______ is a title that means the "enlightened one." It was given to a man named Siddhartha Gautama after he had reached enlightenment. Buddha was born into a society that was governed by the caste system and the Brahmin rituals. The traditional date of Buddha's birth is 624 B.C.E., although some scholars believe that he was actually born around 563 B.C.E.