Then he saw a sick person which made him
think about the weakness of the human body.
Thirdly he saw a corpse which told him of
the impermanence of human life. The fourth
sight was that of a sanyasin (an ascetic) which
suggested to him a way out of life’s troubles.
So though the king tried to protect
his son from all the sorrowful aspects of life,
this short visit told Siddhartha that the sum
of life is sorrow, trouble and death. So at
night he left his wife and son and the palace
and went out to seek for a solution to the
transitoriness and instability of life. He tried
meditation and extreme austerities such as
fasting and exposure to pain and he became
literally a bag of bones. But his penance
and asceticism did not bring him any joy.
Then at the age of 35 he sat under
a tree known as the Bodhi tree (tree of
enlightenment) in the town of Buddha Gaya
in Bihar determined to receive enlightenment.
Suddenly everything became clear to him and
he found the solution to life’s problems. He
was now the Buddha (The enlightened one).
Though he knew the way to enlightenment
and could have attained NIbbana he decided
to remain in the world and communicate his
knowledge about the way to a happy life for the
benefit of the world. He died only when he was
80 years old. His first sermon was in the deer
park of Saranath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
The Buddha collected a number of followers
and instituted a monastic order, the Sangha.
Buddhist practice is based on dana
(charity) and five precepts of which the first one
is ahimsa, non- violence. The other precepts
are disavowing dishonesty, avoiding untruth,
avoiding sensuality and avoiding intoxicating
drinks. The way to NIbbana is hard and all
Buddhists cannot aspire to it. One has to
be a monk to have any chance of salvation,
but all Buddhists try to experience the life of
a monk by joining a monastery for at least a
short period. The key principles of Buddhism
is anatta (no soul) and anicca (no permanency)
A different form of Buddhism called
Mahayana (The greater vehicle) believes in
beings called Bodhisattvas. These are beings
that deserve NIbbana but have stayed behind
to help lesser mortals. These beings can
be prayed to as to gods and they help their
devotees. Some prominent Bodhisattvas are
Amitabha (Great light), a glorious figure,
Avilokiteswara (one who looks down with
compassion on the world,) Maitreya, the
friendly looking Buddha sometimes known
as the Laughing Buddha, and White Tara and
Maya Devi (female Bodhisattvas). Though
the Buddha himself is no longer existent his
figures as well as those of Bodhisattvas are
made and prayed to in Mahayana Buddhism.
There are many variants of Buddhism,
we have already discussed Theravada, and
Mahayana, but there is also Vajrayana
(Tibetan Buddhism), Zen Buddhism and
Pure Land Buddhism. Zen Buddhism talks
of koans (nonsensical questions such as
“what is the sound of one hand clapping?”
and “what is the colour of the wind?”). These
seemingly answerless questions are designed
to liberate the mind from rationality and
logic and attain a state of full freedom for
the mind. The word Zen comes from the
Sanskrit Dhyan (meditation) and this form
of Buddhism is less oriented to doctrines
and more focused on religious experience.
Buddhism was very strong in Kerala
at one time until it was displaced by the
efforts of the great Hindu theologian,
Shankaracharya. (lived in 8th century CE)
If as some anthropologists say the Tiyya (a
corruption of Dweepu) or Ezhava (from the
word Elanka) came from Sri Lanka, they
might have brought the religion of Buddhism
also from the Island kingdom. This must
be the key to why very great scholars and
physicians are to be found in this community,
though they are classed as untouchables.
India should be proud to have given
birth to such a great spiritual figure
and teacher as Gautama Buddha.
Dr. Theodore Gabriel, MA; MLitt;PhD FRSA
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