BARONE ASIAN ANTIQUES

The Truth Behind Mystery of ''Gautama Buddha's Life'' is Finally Revealed

INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM:

Gautama Buddha was the founder of Buddhism. His original name was Siddharth (meaning one who has accomplished). He was also called Sakyamuni, i.e. the sage of the tribe of Sakya. He was born in the year 563 B.C. in the village of Lumbini near Kapila Vastu, within the present borders of Nepal.

According to legend, an astrologer foretold his father, the king, that young Gautama would give up the throne and luxury and renounce the world the day he would see four things (i) an old man, (ii) a sick man, (iii) a diseased man and (iv) a dead man. Hence, the king confined Gautama in a special palace which was provided with all worldly pleasures. He was married at the age of sixteen to Yasoddhra.

At the age of 29 after the birth of his first son, Gautama on the same day saw an old man, a sick man, a diseased man and a dead man. The impact of the dark side of life made him renounce the world that same night and he left his wife and son and became a penniless wanderer.

 

 

He studied and practised Hindu discipline initally, and later, Jainism. For several years he observed rigorous fasting along with extreme self-mortification.On realising that tormenting his body did not bring him closer to true wisdom, he resumed eating normally and abandoned asceticism.

At the age of 35, one evening as he sat beneath a giant fig tree (Bodh tree), he felt that he had found the solution to his problem and felt that he had attained enlightenment. Thus, he came to be known as ‘Gautama', ‘The Buddha', or 'The Enlightened One'.

 

 

Later, he spent 45 years in preaching the truth that he felt he had discovered. He travelled from city to city bare-footed, clean-headed, with nothing more on his self than his saffron robe, walking stick and begging bowl. He died at the age of 80 in the year 483 BC.

Buddhism is divided into two sects viz. Hinayana and Mahayana.

II BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES: 

Historical criticism has proved that the original teachings of Buddha can never be known. It seems that Gautama Buddha's teachings were memorized by his disciples. After Buddha's death a council was held at Rajagaha so that the words of Buddha could be recited and agreed upon. There were differences of opinion and conflicting memories in the council. Opinion of Kayshapa and Ananda who were prominent disciples of Buddha were given preference. A hundred years later, a second council at Vesali was held. Only after 400 years, after the death of Buddha were his teachings and doctrines written down. Little attention was paid regarding its authenticity, genuineness and purity.

Buddhist Scriptures can be divided into Pali and Sanskrit Literature:

A. Pali Literature : 

The Pali literature was monopolized by the Hinayana sect of Buddhism.

Tri Pitaka 

The most important of all Buddhist scriptures is the TRI-PITAKA which is in Pali text. It is supposed to be the earliest recorded Buddhist literature which was written in the 1st Century B.C.

The TRI-PITAKA or Three Baskets of law is composed of 3 books:

1. Vinaya Pitaka: ‘Rules of Conduct' 

his is a boTok of discipline and mainly deals with rules of the order. 

2. Sutta Pitaka: ‘Discourses' 

It is a collection of sermons and discourses of Gautama Buddha and the incidents in his life. It is the most important Pitaka and consists of five divisions known as Nikayas. Dhammapada is the most famous Pali literature and contains aphorisms and short statements covering the truth. 

3. Abhidhamma: ‘Analysis of Doctrine' 

This third basket contains meta physical doctrines and is known as Buddhist meta physicals. It is an analytical and logical elaboration of the first two pitakas. It contains analysis and exposition of Buddhist doctrine. 

B. Sanskrit Literature: 

Sanskrit literature was preferred by the Mahayana. Sanskrit literature has not been reduced to a collection or in Cannon like the Pali literature. Thus much of the original Sanskrit literature has been lost. Some were translated into other languages like Chinese and are now being re-translated into Sanskrit. 

1. Maha vastu: ‘Sublime Story' 

Mahavastu is the most famous work in Sanskrit which has been restored from its Chinese translation. It consists of voluminous collection of legendary stories. 

2. Lalitavistara 

Lalitavistara is one of the holiest of the Sanskrit literature. It belongs to the first century C.E., 500 years after the death of Buddha. It contains the miracles which the superstition loving people have attributed to Buddha. 

III TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA:

A. Noble Truths:

The principal teachings of Gautama Buddha can be summarised in what the Buddhists call the ‘Four Noble Truths':

First – There is suffering and misery in life .

Second – The cause of this suffering and misery is desire.

Third – Suffering and misery can be removed by removing desire.

Fourth – Desire can be removed by following the Eight Fold Path.

B. The Noble Eight Fold Path:

(i) Right Views

(ii) Right Thoughts

(iii) Right Speech

(iv) Right Actions

(v) Right Livelihood

(vi) Right Efforts

(vii) Right Mindfulness

(viii) Right Meditation

C. Nirvana:

Nirvana' literally means "blowing out" or "extinction". According to Buddhism, this is the ultimate goal of life and can be described in various words. It is a cessation of all sorrows, which can be achieved by removing desire by following the Eight Fold Path.

Lets Analysis the teaching of Buddhism

There is suffering and misery in life, no doubt it's true, too maximum extend Desire is the main reason. But by overcoming the desire the suffering & misery of life such as old age, Sickness, disease & death cannot be removed from Human life.

Humans have to pass through different stage of his/her life cycle. Such as Infants stage, Children stage, teenage Stage, Adult Stage & Finally Old age Stage. So Sickness, Disease and death will come in any stage of life. ''How can an Infant or Child, a blind, deaf, dumb or completely handicap person can overcome his/her misery or suffering just by removing  his or her desire. So Misery and Suffering is a part of Human life. So Buddha's Eight Noble Fold Path can't remove Misery & Suffering Such as old age, Sickness, disease & death from Human life''.

To Understand in a better way, why Almighty God has put humans in Misery & Suffering, one should has to know the Basic reason behind the Creation & Purpose of  Existence of Human life on Earth?

Almighty Allah[God] after Creating Heaven and Hell, First He had Sent Angel Gabriel to visit Heaven, So after visiting Heaven the angel Gabriel return back, then Allah ask his Opinion regarding Heaven then He Replied My Lord No One will resist  from going there. Then Allah sent back angel Gabriel again to visit Heaven, So Angel Gabriel return back after Revisiting Heaven & then Allah ask his opinion again. Then Gabriel Replied Now No one will reach to Heaven, Because Almighty God had put so many hurdles [such as Justice, Poverty, Grief, Sorrow, Suffering, Disease, Polities, Fasting, Prayers, Sacrifice, Sincerity, Nobleness, etc.] in way of heaven,

Then He Had Sent Angel Gabriel to Visit Hell, So after visiting Hell the angel Gabriel return back, then Allah ask his Opinion regarding Hell then He Replied My Lord No One will like to go to hell. Then Allah sent back Gabriel again to visit Hell, so Gabriel return back after Revisiting Hell & then Allah ask his opinion again. Then Gabriel Replied Now No one will save themselves from Hell, Because Almighty God had put so much Comfort & Luxuries [such as injustices, cheating, fraud, Suppressing, disobeying etc.] in way of hell.

Almighty Allah Created Souls of all Humans at the same time when he had created First Human Being Prophet Adam & kept their souls in place called Alam-a-Arwa. After Creating Human Souls and before sending to earth Almighty Allah had taken an Oath or Commitment from them & against their Success or Failure of their commitment, He had committed to admit them to either Heaven or Hell.

The true message of All Prophets of god from Prophet Adam Pbuh to Prophet Muhammad Pbuh is Bless are those who were Poor, Pacemaker, Caretaker of Orphans, preacher and one who spread of true message of Almighty God who is true Creator and sustainer of heaven and earth, Owner of Day of Judgment.

Reason for creation of the Mankind -  God has created Mankind with single life[ no rebirth], given "free will", provided complete guidance in form revelations & also sent Prophets to Preach  & Practical demonstrate the Right way of living to their Nations or Peoples of their respective time. Almighty God had sent 1.27 Lakh Messenger or Prophets to earth to guide their nation or Peoples to right path. But Quran contain only few important names of Prophet such as First Prophet Adam, Noah, Lut, Samadu, Hood, Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq or Isaac, Yunus or Jacob, Yusuf or Joseph, Yahiya or John Baptist, Moses, David, Solomon, Daniel, Isa or Jesus and Final Messenger Muhammad.

Torah, Psalm, Injel or Gospel are revelation or Holy Scripture which were revealed to Prophets such Moses, David & Jesus, But After death of their Prophets, Jews and Christians corrupted their books & deviate from right path, Finally God send his last prophet Muhammad Pbuh with Holy Quran for entire Mankind and declared that he will personally protect originality of Holy Quran till the judgment day.

God create both good and evil So that Mankind can to separate good from evil, seek god's refuge from evil, So that they can follow right Path. Even If human commit mistakes & sins, then They Should repent for their evil deeds & seek forgives from god. Humans are created to do Sins, So No human is Sin free because Evil is flowing in human blood, But Humans has to repent & seek forgiveness for their sins from god, and repentance will wash all their sins.       so that we can enter Heaven and Vice versa. This way we will fulfill our Commitment to god & God will admit us to heaven else Vice versa.

God also created angels but he had not given them free will, so they just obey commands & follow his Instruction, Angel of Death, Angel who carry Revolution, Angel who control rain, and Angel who blow horn at end of times. Similarly other creation of Almighty God such Sun, Moon, Star, Earth, Ocean or Sea etc, just follows commands & Instruction of their creator.

So the only way to enter the heaven is one should believe and establish worships with true Creator & Sustainer of Heaven & Earth. Almighty Allah is Very Kind, Just, Merciful & Most Benevolent, so he had given entire Mankind a Superior brain Compare to All his Creation. So that Humans can use their Intellect to understand the difference between good & Evil or Truth & False-Hood. God will forgive everything except Kuffur or making partner with god in worship, such as worshiping the creation of god, like stone idols, trees, sun, moon, stars, humans and animals, so those disbelievers will go to hell forever. Suppose if you employ a person with good salary, food, shelter and car etc then if your employer yields fruits of his work for someone else, then what you do with such a dishonest person, you will severely punish and kick him from job. Similarly your creator has provided everything But Instead of worshiping him, if you are worship his creation such as stone idols, trees, sun, moon, stars, humans and animals. Justify yourself where you are going to belong whether heaven or hell.

Almighty god likes those peoples who obey him when they are in worst suffering & miserable condition of their life. Their misery & suffering will easily wash away sins of their entire life compare to a rich & healthy person. So This Proves Suffering & Misery is Blessing in disguise

Note: If every Human being becomes a monk & starts living as Brahmachari or Celibate life in monastery, without working in fields, just dependent upon alms for food & shelter. Then this beautiful world will comes to an end. Since Men & Women are made Sexual in Nature, if we go against the nature of creation then which will in turns give rise to Social evils like Homosexuality & Lesbianism.

Every Human has Limited Knowledge unless they are chosen Prophets from Almighty God who in turns receives knowledge in form of direct revelation from Creator & Sustainer of Heaven & Earth ''So Gautama Buddha teaching is completely based on the experiences of the journey of his entire life, the main reason for Gautama Buddha to lead such kind of life was the Prediction of the Astrology, If his father had ignored the prediction of Astrologer & allowed Gautama Buddha to leave normal life which billions of people around the world living then his life would be entirely different''.

Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God, Since Buddha had studied Hinduism which promotes both Idol worship & worship of creation of creator such as animals, plants, sun, moon, planets, rivers etc. which he had totally rejected.

Almighty God has sent around 1.27 Lakhs Prophets or Messenger from First Prophet Adam to Last Prophet Muhammad Pbuh, around the world of their respective time to teach their nation or people to right way of life, Suppose If Almighty God revelation or guidance had not reach to the people of any part of world during any time from begin of human life on earth to till last hour of Judgment day. & If those  die, then on the day of Judgment, God will sent a Prophet to those peoples & test their Faith, If they are Successful then They will go to Heaven else Hell.

 

About the Author

Nasir Pasha, 36 Years, B.E Electrical and Electronic, Loving Father, Husband, Author, Thinker, Reader, strongly believe peace is the only way to solve all problems of the world.