” ဗုဒၶဘာသာ သမိုင္း ”
ဘုရား အေလာင္းေတာ္ သည္ – ၆၂၄ – ဘီစီ တြင္( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ၀ါဆုိ လျပည့္၊ ၾကာသာပေတး ေန႔တြင္ ) မယ္ေတာ္ မာယာ ၀မ္းၾကာ တုိက္ တြင္သေႏၶယူ ပါသည္။ ဘုရားေလာင္း သည္ – ၆၂၃ – ဘီစီ၊ ( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ကဆုန္ လျပည့္၊ ေသာၾကာ ေန႔ ) တြင္ နီေပါ ႏုိင္ငံ၊ လုမၺိနီ ဥယ်ာဥ္ ၌ မယ္ေတာ္မာယာ ေဒ၀ီ၊ ခမည္းေတာ္ သုေဒၶါ ဒန မင္းႀကီး
တုိ႔မွ ေမြးဖြား ခဲ႔ ပါသည္။ ဘုရား ေလာင္း နာမည္ မွာ သိဒၶတၳ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
၁၆ – ႏွစ္ မွ ၂၉ ႏွစ္ အထိ နန္း
စည္းစိမ္ ကုိ ခံစား ပါသည္။
ဘီစီ – ၅၉၄ – ( ျမန္မာ လ လုိ – ၀ါဆုိ လျပည့္၊ တနလၤာ ေန႔ ) တြင္ အိမ္ရာ တည္ေထာင္ လူ႔ေဘာင္ ခြါ ကာ ေတာထြက္ ေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။
( သက္ေတာ္၂၉ – ႏွစ္ အရြယ္ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ )၂၉ – ႏွစ္ မွ ၃၅ – ႏွစ္ အထိ ဒုကၠရ စရိယာ -ပင္ပန္းေသာ အက်င္႔ က်င္႔ ခဲ႔ ရပါ သည္။ ဘီစီ – ၅၈၈ –
( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ကဆုန္ လျပည့္၊ ဗုဒၶဟူး ေန႔ ) တြင္ သဗၺညဳတ ဉာဏ္ေတာ္ ကုိ ရရွိ ေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။
( သက္ေတာ္ ၃၅ – ႏွစ္ အရြယ္ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ )
၄င္းဘီစီ – ၅၈၈ – ( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ၀ါဆုိ လျပည့္ စေနေန႔ ) တြင္ ပထမ ဆုံး ေသာ ဓမၼစၾကာ သုတ္ေတာ္ ကုိ ဗာရာဏသီ ၿမိဳ႕အနီး မိဂဒါ ၀ုန္ ေတာမွာ ေဟာေတာ္ မူ ပါသည္။ ( မွတ္ခ်က္ ။ ။ ဗုဒၶဂယာ
ႏွင္႔ မိဂဒါ ၀ုန္ေတာ သည္ – ၁၈ – ယူဇနာ / မုိင္ အားျဖင္႔ – ၁၄၄ – မုိင္ ေ၀းပါ သည္။ )
ဓမၼစၾကာ တရားပြဲ မွာ လူသား အေနနဲ႔ ပဥၥ၀ဂၢီ ငါးဦး သာ ပါ၀င္ ပါသည္။ ၄င္း တရားပြဲ မွာ အရွင္ ေကာ႑ည သည္ အ႐ုဏ္ မတတ္ မီ ေသာတာပန္ တည္ပါ သည္။ ေနာက္ ဆက္လက္ ၿပီး ဘုရားရွင္ က – အနတၱ လကၡဏ သုတ္ကုိ ေဟာေသာ အခါ ပဥၥ၀ဂၢီ ရဟန္း ေတာ္ ငါးဦး စလုံး ရဟႏၱာ ျဖစ္ေတာ္မူ ၾကပါ
သည္။
ဘီစီ – ၅၈၈ – တြင္ ဘုရားရွင္ သည္ ပထမဆုံး သာသနာ ျပဳ ခရီးစဥ္ ကုိ စတင္ ခဲ႔ပါသည္။ ဘီစီ – ၅၄၃ – ( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ကဆုန္ လျပည့္၊ အဂၤါ ေန႔ ) တြင္ ဘုရား ရွင္ သက္ေတာ္ ( ၈၀ )၊ ၀ါေတာ္ ( ၄၅ ) တြင္ ကုသိနာ႐ုံ၊ အင္ၾကင္း ေတာ ၌
ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။ ကဆုန္ လဆုပ္ ( ၅ ) ရက္၊ တနဂၤေႏြေန႔ တြင္ အေလာင္း ေတာ္ ကုိ မီး ပူေဇာ္ ပါ သည္။
ပထမ သဂၤါယနာ –
ဘုရားရွင္ သက္ေတာ္ ( ၃၅ – မွ – ၈၀ ) အတြင္း၊ ၀ါေတာ္ အေန အားျဖင္႔ ( ၄၅ ) ၀ါ
အတြင္း ေဟာၾကား ခဲ႔ေသာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္မ်ား ကုိ တစ္စု တစ္ေ၀း တည္း စီစဥ္ ဖုိ႔ရန္ ဘုရားရွင္ ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳၿပီး တစ္လ အၾကာ – ဘီစီ – ၅၄၃ – မွာ
ပထမ ဆုံး သဂၤါယနာ ကုိ ရာဇၿဂိဳလ္ ၿမိဳ႕၊ သတၱပဏၰိ လႈိဏ္ဂူ ၌ ပိဋကတ္ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ စုေပါင္း ရြတ္ဆုိျခင္း ဟူေသာ သဂၤါယနာ တင္ၾက ပါသည္။ ပထမ
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ပြဲ မွာ ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ သည္ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ ျဖစ္၍ အရွင္ ဥပါလိ မေထရ္ က
၀ိနည္း အရာ တာ၀န္ယူ ၍၊ အရွင္ အာနႏၵာ က သုတၱန္ အရာ တာ၀န္ ယူ ပါသည္၊ အဖြဲ႔၀င္ သံဃာ ေတာ္
( ၅၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ၀ါေခါင္ လဆုပ္ ( ၅ ) က စတင္ က်င္းပကာ ( ၇ ) လ ၾကာ ပါသည္။ အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ဒကာေတာ္ သည္ အဇာ တသတ္ မင္း ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
( မွတ္ခ်က္ ။ ။ ဗုဒၶ ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳၿပီး ပထမ
သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ခ်ိန္ က စတင္ ၍
( အဂၤလိပ္ လုိ -B.E ) သုန္း ကာ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ႏွစ္ ကုိစတင္ ေရတြက္ ပါသည္။ “သဂၤါယနာ” ဟူသည္ စုေပါင္း ရြတ္ဆုိ ျခင္း ဟု အဓိပၸါယ္ ရပါ သည္။ )
ဘုရားရွင္ ေဟာၾကား ခဲ႔ေသာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ တုိ႔ကုိ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ စေသာ မေထရ္ အဆက္ဆက္ တုိ႔ ဆက္ ကာ ဆက္ကာ ေဆာင္ယူ ထိန္းသိမ္း ခဲ႔တဲ႔
အစဥ္ အလာ ကုိ အစြဲျပဳ ၍ “ေထရိက”၊ ေနာက္ မေထရ္ အစဥ္ အဆက္ တုိ႔ ထိန္း သိမ္း ခဲ႔ေသာ ဗုဒၶ အယူ ၀ါဒ အေန အားျဖင္႔ “ေထရ ၀ါဒ သာသနာ”
အျဖစ္ အမည္ တြင္ ခဲ႔ပါသည္။
ဒုတိယ သဂၤါယနာ –
( BC – 443 / B.E – 100 ) သာသနာႏွစ္ ( ၁၀၀ ) အေရာက္ မွာ ေ၀သာလီ ၿမိဳ႕၊ ၀ါဠဳကာ႐ုံ ေက်ာင္း မွာ ဒုတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။ ဦးေဆာင္
ဆရာေတာ္ သည္ အရွင္ ယသ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ အရွင္ သဗၺမိ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အရွင္ ေရ၀တ မေထရ္ တုိ႔က အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ကာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ
ရြတ္ဆုိ ၾကပါ သည္။ အဖြဲ႔ ၀င္ သံဃာေတာ္
( ၇၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ( ၈ ) လ ၾကာပါ သည္။ အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ေပးေသာ ဒကာ သည္ ကာလာ ေသာက မင္း ျဖစ္ပါသည္။
တတိယ သဂၤါယနာ –
( BC – 249 / B.E – 300 ) သာသနာ ႏွစ္ ( ၃၀၀ ) အေရာက္ မွာ ပါဋလိ ပုတ္ ၿမိဳ႕ေတာ္၊ အေသာ ကာ႐ုံ ေက်ာင္း ၌ ၏ တတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။
ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ အရွင္ မဟာ ေမာဂၢလိ ပုတၱတိႆ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ ကာက႑ ၏ သားျဖစ္ ေသာ အရွင္ ယသ မေထရ္
တုိ႔က အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ေဆာင္ရြက္ ပါသည္။
အဖြဲ႔၀င္ သံဃာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ
( ၁၀၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ဤ သံဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ပြဲ ၌ ၀ိနည္း ေရးရာ မ်ား ကုိ အဓိက
ထားကာ ေဆြးေႏြး ျခင္း ျပဳလုပ္ ၾကပါသည္။
အေထာက္ အပံ႔ မင္း မွာ အေသာက မင္းႀကီး ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ဤ တတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ သည္ ( ၉ ) လျကာပါ သည္။
တတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ၿပီး ခ်ိန္ ကစၿပီး ( ၉ ) တုိင္း ( ၉ ) ဌာန တုိ႔သုိ႔ အရွင္ မဟာ ေမာဂၢလိ ပုတၱ တိႆမေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အေသာက မင္းႀကီး တုိ႔ တာ၀န္ ယူ ကာ
သာသနာ ျပဳ ေစလႊတ္ ေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။
( ၉ ) တုိင္း ( ၉ ) ဌာနႏွင္႔ သာသနာျပဳ မေထရ္ မ်ား –
၁။ ကသၼီရ ႏွင္႔ ဂႏၶာရ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဇၥ်ႏၱိက မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၂။ မဟႎသက အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ေဒ၀ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၃။ ၀န၀ါသိ အရပ္= အရွင္ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၄။ အပရႏ ၱအရပ္ = အရွင္ ေယာနက ဓမၼ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၅။ မဟာရ႒ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ဓမၼ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၆။ ေယာနက အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၇။ ဟိမ၀ႏ ၱာ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဇၥ်ိမ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၈။ သု၀ဏၰဘူမိ အရပ္ = အရွင္ ေသာဏ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အရွင္ ဥတၱရ မေထရ္ တုိ႔ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၉။ တမၺပဏၰိ ( သီဟုိဠ္ ) အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟိႏၵ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
စတုတၳ သဂၤါယနာ –
( B.C 94 / B.E 450 ) သာသနာ ေတာ္ သကၠရဇ္ ( ၄၅၀ ) အေရာက္ တြင္ သီဟုိဠ္၊ မလယ ဇနပုဒ္၊ အာေလာက လႈိဏ္ တြင္ စတုတၳ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ပါသည္။ ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ မဟာ ဓမၼ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍ အဖြဲ႔၀င္ ဆရာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ သည္ ( ၅၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ ( ၁ ) ႏွစ္ အခ်ိန္ ယူ ကာ
သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။ အေထာက္
အပံ့ ေပးေသာ ဒကာ သည္ ၀ဋၬ ဂါမဏိ မင္း ျဖစ္ ပါ သည္။ ဤ စတုတၳ သဂၤါ ယနာ တြင္ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ ေပရြက္ တြင္ အကၡရာ ေရးျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ
ယနာ တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။
ႏုိင္ငံမ်ား ႏွင္႔ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေရာက္ရွိ ပုံ –
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ နဲ႔ ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ –
ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံမွာ 3rd Century A.D – တြင္ ဗုဒၶသာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ နဲ႔ တ႐ုတ္ ႏုိင္ငံ –
တ႐ုတ္ ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ 1st Century A.D – တြင္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ နဲ႔ ဗီယက္နမ္ ႏုိင္ငံ –
ဗီယက္နမ္ ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ A.D 189 – တြင္ ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာစတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါ သည္။ တ႐ုတ္ မွတဆင္႔ ေရာက္ရွိ ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ ကုိရီးယား ႏုိင္ငံ –
ကုိရီးယား ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ A.D 372 – ႏွစ္ တြင္ ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာစတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုုဒၶဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ ဂ်ပန္ ႏုိင္ငံ –
ဂ်ပန္ ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D ၅၅၂၊ သာသနာ ေတာ္ႏွစ္ – ၁၀၉၅- တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ ကေမၻာဒီယား ႏုိင္ငံ –
ကေမၻာဒီးယား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၅ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ ထုိင္း ႏုိင္ငံ –
ထုိင္း ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု၊ သာသနာ ေတာ္ႏွစ္ -၁၃၀၀ – တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ အင္ဒုိနီးရွား ႏုိင္ငံ –
အင္ဒုိနီးရွား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶသာသနာ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ တိဗက္ ႏုိင္ငံ-
တိဗက္ ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၇ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ႏွင္႔ ႐ုရွား ႏုိင္ငံ-
႐ုရွား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၁၇ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
အိႏၵိယ ႏုိင္ငံႏွင္႔ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ –
အိႏၵိယ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု ေလာက္က စၿပီး ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ တေျဖးေျဖး ကြယ္ေပ်ာက္ သြားခဲ႔
ပါသည္။
ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ ပုဂံ ဗုဒၶသာသနာ –
ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ ပုဂံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၁၁ – ရာစု ေလာက္တြင္ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။ အရွင္ အရဟံ ႏွင္႔
အေနာ္ရထာ မင္းႀကီး တုိ႔ ဦးစီး ကာ ျမန္မာ ျပည္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ပုိမုိ စည္ပင္ ျပန္႔ပြား ေအာင္ လုပ္ေဆာင္ ခဲ႔ၾက ပါသည္။
ပဥၥမ သဂၤါယနာ –
A.D – ၁၈၇၁ / ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေတာ္ ႏွစ္ -၂၄၁၅ -ခု / ျမန္မာ သကၠရစ္ – ၁၂၃၂ -ခုႏွစ္၊ တန္ေဆာင္ မုန္းလ တြင္ ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ၊ မႏၱေလး ေတာင္ေျခ တြင္ ပဥၥမ
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။ ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ မႏၱေလး၊ ဒကၡိဏာ ရာမ ေက်ာင္းတုိက္ ဆရာေတာ္ အရွင္ ဇာဂရာ ဘိ၀ံသ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍၊ အဖြဲ႔၀င္
ဆရာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ ၂၄၀၀ – ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ဒကာ မွာ မင္းတုန္း မင္း ႀကီး ျဖစ္ပါသည္။ ဤ ပဥၥမ သဂၤါယနာ တြင္ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ားကုိ ေက်ာက္ ထက္ အကၡရာ တင္ျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ ယနာ
တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။ ေက်ာက္ ခ်ပ္ ေရ – ၇၂၉ – ခ်ပ္ ရွိပါသည္။ ေက်ာက္ ထက္ အကၡရာ တင္ရာ ၌ ၾကာခ်ိန္ မွာ ( ၇ ) ႏွစ္၊ ( ၆ ) လ ႏွင္႔ ( ၁၄ ) ရက္ ၾကာပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေတာ္ အလံ ႏွင္႔ သမုိင္း –
A.D – ၁၈၈၀ – ခုႏွစ္ တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ႔ အလံ ကုိ အေမရိကန္ ႏုိင္ငံသား
စစ္ဗုိလ္ႀကီး – Henry Steel
Olcott – က စတင္ တီထြင္ ခဲ႔ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
အဂၤလန္ ႏုိင္ငံ ၌ ပထမ ဆုံး ေသာ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ႔အဖြဲ႔အစည္း –
A.D – ၁၈၈၁ – ခုႏွစ္ တြင္ အဂၤလန္ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ – ပါဠိ က်မ္းစာ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း – ဆုိၿပီး ပထမ ဆုံးေသာ ပိဋကတ္ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း အဂၤလန္ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္စတင္ ေပၚေပါက္ ခဲ႔ ပါသည္။ တည္ေထာင္ သူ မွာ –
T.W. Rhys Davids – ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ သူသည္ မူရင္း ခရစ္စ္ ယာန္ ဘာသာ ၀င္ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ အိႏၵိယ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ ျပန္လည္ ေမြးဖြား ျခင္း-
A.D – ၁၈၉၁ – ခုႏွစ္ တြင္ သီရိ လကၤာ ႏုိင္ငံ မွ အနာဂါရိက ဓမၼပါလ သူေတာင္စင္ ႀကီး ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ
အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံ၊ ဗုဒၶ ဂယာ မွာ မဟာ ေဗာဓိ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း ဆုိၿပီး ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ျပန္လည္ တည္ေထာင္ ပါ သည္။
A.D – ၁၉၅၆ – ခု တြင္ အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံသား Dr. B.R Ambedkar – ဦးေဆာင္ ၿပီး အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ ဗုဒၶသာသနာ ပုိမုိ ျပန္႔ပြား ေအာင္ လုပ္ေဆာင္ ခဲ႔ ပါ
သည္။ ၁၉၅၆ – ခု၊ ေအာက္တုိဘာ – ၁၄ – ရက္ တြင္အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံ သား ( ၁ ) သန္း ခန္႔ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ အျဖစ္သုိ႔ ကူးေျပာင္း ၾက ပါသည္။
ဆ႒ သဂၤါယနာ –
A.D ၁၉၅၄ – ၅၆ / ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေတာ္ ႏွစ္ ၂၄၉၈ -ခု၊ ျမန္မာ သကၠရဇ္ ၁၃၁၆ – ခု၊ ကဆုန္ လျပည့္ ေန႔တြင္ ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ၊ ရန္ကုန္ ၿမိဳ႕၊ ကမၻာ ေအး၊ မဟာ
ပါသာဏ လႈိဏ္ဂူ ၌ ဆ႒ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။
ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ ေညာင္ရမ္း ဆရာေတာ္ အရွင္ ေရ၀တ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍၊ အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ရြတ္ဖတ္ သရဇၥ်ာယ္ ေသာ မေထရ္ မ်ား မွာ မဟာစည္
ဆရာေတာ္ ႏွင္႔ မင္းကြန္း ဆရာေတာ္ တုိ႔ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
အဖြဲ႔၀င္ ဆရာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ ေထရ၀ါဒ( ၅ )ႏုိင္ငံ ( သီရိလကၤာ၊ ျမန္မာ၊ ထုိင္း၊ ေလာ၊ကေမၻာဒီယား ) တုိ႔မွ ( ၂၅၀၀ ) ေသာ မေထရ္တုိ႔ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ အျခား ေသာ ႏုိင္ငံ ( ၂၄ ) ႏုိင္ငံ တုိ႔မွလည္း အကူ အညီ မ်ား ေပးၾက ပါသည္။ အေထာက္
အပံ႔ ဒကာ မွာ ၀န္ႀကီး ခ်ဳပ္ ဦးႏု ႏွင္႔ ျမန္မာ ျပည္သူ၊ ျပည္သား မ်ား ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ ( မွတ္ခ်က္ ။ ။ ဤ ဆ႒
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ပြဲ မွာ ပါဠိေတာ္ တင္ မက အ႒ကထာ၊ ဋီကာ မ်ား ကုိပါ ျပန္လည္ စစ္ေဆးဆုံးျဖတ္ ျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါသည္။ )
မူရင္းကို Credit ေပးပါသည္။
တုိ႔မွ ေမြးဖြား ခဲ႔ ပါသည္။ ဘုရား ေလာင္း နာမည္ မွာ သိဒၶတၳ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
၁၆ – ႏွစ္ မွ ၂၉ ႏွစ္ အထိ နန္း
စည္းစိမ္ ကုိ ခံစား ပါသည္။
( သက္ေတာ္၂၉ – ႏွစ္ အရြယ္ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ )၂၉ – ႏွစ္ မွ ၃၅ – ႏွစ္ အထိ ဒုကၠရ စရိယာ -ပင္ပန္းေသာ အက်င္႔ က်င္႔ ခဲ႔ ရပါ သည္။ ဘီစီ – ၅၈၈ –
( ျမန္မာ လလုိ – ကဆုန္ လျပည့္၊ ဗုဒၶဟူး ေန႔ ) တြင္ သဗၺညဳတ ဉာဏ္ေတာ္ ကုိ ရရွိ ေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။
( သက္ေတာ္ ၃၅ – ႏွစ္ အရြယ္ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ )
ႏွင္႔ မိဂဒါ ၀ုန္ေတာ သည္ – ၁၈ – ယူဇနာ / မုိင္ အားျဖင္႔ – ၁၄၄ – မုိင္ ေ၀းပါ သည္။ )
ဓမၼစၾကာ တရားပြဲ မွာ လူသား အေနနဲ႔ ပဥၥ၀ဂၢီ ငါးဦး သာ ပါ၀င္ ပါသည္။ ၄င္း တရားပြဲ မွာ အရွင္ ေကာ႑ည သည္ အ႐ုဏ္ မတတ္ မီ ေသာတာပန္ တည္ပါ သည္။ ေနာက္ ဆက္လက္ ၿပီး ဘုရားရွင္ က – အနတၱ လကၡဏ သုတ္ကုိ ေဟာေသာ အခါ ပဥၥ၀ဂၢီ ရဟန္း ေတာ္ ငါးဦး စလုံး ရဟႏၱာ ျဖစ္ေတာ္မူ ၾကပါ
သည္။
ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။ ကဆုန္ လဆုပ္ ( ၅ ) ရက္၊ တနဂၤေႏြေန႔ တြင္ အေလာင္း ေတာ္ ကုိ မီး ပူေဇာ္ ပါ သည္။
အတြင္း ေဟာၾကား ခဲ႔ေသာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္မ်ား ကုိ တစ္စု တစ္ေ၀း တည္း စီစဥ္ ဖုိ႔ရန္ ဘုရားရွင္ ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳၿပီး တစ္လ အၾကာ – ဘီစီ – ၅၄၃ – မွာ
ပထမ ဆုံး သဂၤါယနာ ကုိ ရာဇၿဂိဳလ္ ၿမိဳ႕၊ သတၱပဏၰိ လႈိဏ္ဂူ ၌ ပိဋကတ္ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ စုေပါင္း ရြတ္ဆုိျခင္း ဟူေသာ သဂၤါယနာ တင္ၾက ပါသည္။ ပထမ
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ပြဲ မွာ ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ သည္ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ ျဖစ္၍ အရွင္ ဥပါလိ မေထရ္ က
၀ိနည္း အရာ တာ၀န္ယူ ၍၊ အရွင္ အာနႏၵာ က သုတၱန္ အရာ တာ၀န္ ယူ ပါသည္၊ အဖြဲ႔၀င္ သံဃာ ေတာ္
( ၅၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ၀ါေခါင္ လဆုပ္ ( ၅ ) က စတင္ က်င္းပကာ ( ၇ ) လ ၾကာ ပါသည္။ အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ဒကာေတာ္ သည္ အဇာ တသတ္ မင္း ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
( မွတ္ခ်က္ ။ ။ ဗုဒၶ ပရိနိဗၺာန္ ျပဳၿပီး ပထမ
သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ခ်ိန္ က စတင္ ၍
( အဂၤလိပ္ လုိ -B.E ) သုန္း ကာ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ႏွစ္ ကုိစတင္ ေရတြက္ ပါသည္။ “သဂၤါယနာ” ဟူသည္ စုေပါင္း ရြတ္ဆုိ ျခင္း ဟု အဓိပၸါယ္ ရပါ သည္။ )
ဘုရားရွင္ ေဟာၾကား ခဲ႔ေသာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ တုိ႔ကုိ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ စေသာ မေထရ္ အဆက္ဆက္ တုိ႔ ဆက္ ကာ ဆက္ကာ ေဆာင္ယူ ထိန္းသိမ္း ခဲ႔တဲ႔
အစဥ္ အလာ ကုိ အစြဲျပဳ ၍ “ေထရိက”၊ ေနာက္ မေထရ္ အစဥ္ အဆက္ တုိ႔ ထိန္း သိမ္း ခဲ႔ေသာ ဗုဒၶ အယူ ၀ါဒ အေန အားျဖင္႔ “ေထရ ၀ါဒ သာသနာ”
အျဖစ္ အမည္ တြင္ ခဲ႔ပါသည္။
ဆရာေတာ္ သည္ အရွင္ ယသ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ အရွင္ သဗၺမိ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အရွင္ ေရ၀တ မေထရ္ တုိ႔က အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ကာ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ
ရြတ္ဆုိ ၾကပါ သည္။ အဖြဲ႔ ၀င္ သံဃာေတာ္
( ၇၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ( ၈ ) လ ၾကာပါ သည္။ အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ေပးေသာ ဒကာ သည္ ကာလာ ေသာက မင္း ျဖစ္ပါသည္။
ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ အရွင္ မဟာ ေမာဂၢလိ ပုတၱတိႆ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍ အရွင္ မဟာ ကႆပ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ ကာက႑ ၏ သားျဖစ္ ေသာ အရွင္ ယသ မေထရ္
တုိ႔က အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ေဆာင္ရြက္ ပါသည္။
အဖြဲ႔၀င္ သံဃာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ
( ၁၀၀၀ ) ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ဤ သံဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ပြဲ ၌ ၀ိနည္း ေရးရာ မ်ား ကုိ အဓိက
ထားကာ ေဆြးေႏြး ျခင္း ျပဳလုပ္ ၾကပါသည္။
အေထာက္ အပံ႔ မင္း မွာ အေသာက မင္းႀကီး ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ ဤ တတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ သည္ ( ၉ ) လျကာပါ သည္။
တတိယ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ၿပီး ခ်ိန္ ကစၿပီး ( ၉ ) တုိင္း ( ၉ ) ဌာန တုိ႔သုိ႔ အရွင္ မဟာ ေမာဂၢလိ ပုတၱ တိႆမေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အေသာက မင္းႀကီး တုိ႔ တာ၀န္ ယူ ကာ
သာသနာ ျပဳ ေစလႊတ္ ေတာ္မူ ပါသည္။
( ၉ ) တုိင္း ( ၉ ) ဌာနႏွင္႔ သာသနာျပဳ မေထရ္ မ်ား –
၁။ ကသၼီရ ႏွင္႔ ဂႏၶာရ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဇၥ်ႏၱိက မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၂။ မဟႎသက အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ေဒ၀ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၃။ ၀န၀ါသိ အရပ္= အရွင္ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၄။ အပရႏ ၱအရပ္ = အရွင္ ေယာနက ဓမၼ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၅။ မဟာရ႒ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ဓမၼ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၆။ ေယာနက အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟာ ရကၡိတ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၇။ ဟိမ၀ႏ ၱာ အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဇၥ်ိမ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၈။ သု၀ဏၰဘူမိ အရပ္ = အရွင္ ေသာဏ မေထရ္ ႏွင္႔ အရွင္ ဥတၱရ မေထရ္ တုိ႔ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
၉။ တမၺပဏၰိ ( သီဟုိဠ္ ) အရပ္ = အရွင္ မဟိႏၵ မေထရ္ ဦးေဆာင္ ကာ ႂကြ။
သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။ အေထာက္
အပံ့ ေပးေသာ ဒကာ သည္ ၀ဋၬ ဂါမဏိ မင္း ျဖစ္ ပါ သည္။ ဤ စတုတၳ သဂၤါ ယနာ တြင္ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ား ကုိ ေပရြက္ တြင္ အကၡရာ ေရးျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ
ယနာ တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။
ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ နဲ႔ ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ –
တ႐ုတ္ ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ 1st Century A.D – တြင္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဗီယက္နမ္ ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ A.D 189 – တြင္ ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာစတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါ သည္။ တ႐ုတ္ မွတဆင္႔ ေရာက္ရွိ ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
ကုိရီးယား ႏုိင္ငံ မွာ A.D 372 – ႏွစ္ တြင္ ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာစတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ဂ်ပန္ ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D ၅၅၂၊ သာသနာ ေတာ္ႏွစ္ – ၁၀၉၅- တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ကေမၻာဒီးယား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၅ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
ထုိင္း ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု၊ သာသနာ ေတာ္ႏွစ္ -၁၃၀၀ – တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
အင္ဒုိနီးရွား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶသာသနာ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
တိဗက္ ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၇ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
႐ုရွား ႏုိင္ငံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၁၇ – ရာစု တြင္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ စတင္ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။
အိႏၵိယ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ A.D – ၆ – ရာစု ေလာက္က စၿပီး ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ တေျဖးေျဖး ကြယ္ေပ်ာက္ သြားခဲ႔
ပါသည္။
ျမန္မာ ႏုိင္ငံ ပုဂံ သုိ႔ A.D – ၁၁ – ရာစု ေလာက္တြင္ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ေရာက္ရွိ ပါသည္။ အရွင္ အရဟံ ႏွင္႔
အေနာ္ရထာ မင္းႀကီး တုိ႔ ဦးစီး ကာ ျမန္မာ ျပည္ ဗုဒၶ သာသနာ ပုိမုိ စည္ပင္ ျပန္႔ပြား ေအာင္ လုပ္ေဆာင္ ခဲ႔ၾက ပါသည္။
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။ ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ မႏၱေလး၊ ဒကၡိဏာ ရာမ ေက်ာင္းတုိက္ ဆရာေတာ္ အရွင္ ဇာဂရာ ဘိ၀ံသ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍၊ အဖြဲ႔၀င္
ဆရာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ ၂၄၀၀ – ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
အေထာက္ အပံ႔ ဒကာ မွာ မင္းတုန္း မင္း ႀကီး ျဖစ္ပါသည္။ ဤ ပဥၥမ သဂၤါယနာ တြင္ ပိဋကတ္ ေတာ္ မ်ားကုိ ေက်ာက္ ထက္ အကၡရာ တင္ျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ ယနာ
တင္ခဲ႔ ၾကပါ သည္။ ေက်ာက္ ခ်ပ္ ေရ – ၇၂၉ – ခ်ပ္ ရွိပါသည္။ ေက်ာက္ ထက္ အကၡရာ တင္ရာ ၌ ၾကာခ်ိန္ မွာ ( ၇ ) ႏွစ္၊ ( ၆ ) လ ႏွင္႔ ( ၁၄ ) ရက္ ၾကာပါသည္။
စစ္ဗုိလ္ႀကီး – Henry Steel
Olcott – က စတင္ တီထြင္ ခဲ႔ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။
A.D – ၁၈၈၁ – ခုႏွစ္ တြင္ အဂၤလန္ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္ – ပါဠိ က်မ္းစာ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း – ဆုိၿပီး ပထမ ဆုံးေသာ ပိဋကတ္ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း အဂၤလန္ ႏုိင္ငံ တြင္စတင္ ေပၚေပါက္ ခဲ႔ ပါသည္။ တည္ေထာင္ သူ မွာ –
T.W. Rhys Davids – ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ သူသည္ မူရင္း ခရစ္စ္ ယာန္ ဘာသာ ၀င္ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံ၊ ဗုဒၶ ဂယာ မွာ မဟာ ေဗာဓိ အဖြဲ႔ အစည္း ဆုိၿပီး ဗုဒၶ ဘာသာ ျပန္လည္ တည္ေထာင္ ပါ သည္။
သည္။ ၁၉၅၆ – ခု၊ ေအာက္တုိဘာ – ၁၄ – ရက္ တြင္အိႏိၵယ ႏုိင္ငံ သား ( ၁ ) သန္း ခန္႔ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ အျဖစ္သုိ႔ ကူးေျပာင္း ၾက ပါသည္။
ပါသာဏ လႈိဏ္ဂူ ၌ ဆ႒ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ ပါသည္။
ဦးေဆာင္ ဆရာေတာ္ မွာ ေညာင္ရမ္း ဆရာေတာ္ အရွင္ ေရ၀တ မေထရ္ ျဖစ္၍၊ အဓိက တာ၀န္ ယူ ရြတ္ဖတ္ သရဇၥ်ာယ္ ေသာ မေထရ္ မ်ား မွာ မဟာစည္
ဆရာေတာ္ ႏွင္႔ မင္းကြန္း ဆရာေတာ္ တုိ႔ ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။
အဖြဲ႔၀င္ ဆရာေတာ္ အေရ အတြက္ မွာ ေထရ၀ါဒ( ၅ )ႏုိင္ငံ ( သီရိလကၤာ၊ ျမန္မာ၊ ထုိင္း၊ ေလာ၊ကေမၻာဒီယား ) တုိ႔မွ ( ၂၅၀၀ ) ေသာ မေထရ္တုိ႔ ျဖစ္ပါ သည္။ အျခား ေသာ ႏုိင္ငံ ( ၂၄ ) ႏုိင္ငံ တုိ႔မွလည္း အကူ အညီ မ်ား ေပးၾက ပါသည္။ အေထာက္
အပံ႔ ဒကာ မွာ ၀န္ႀကီး ခ်ဳပ္ ဦးႏု ႏွင္႔ ျမန္မာ ျပည္သူ၊ ျပည္သား မ်ား ျဖစ္ ပါသည္။ ( မွတ္ခ်က္ ။ ။ ဤ ဆ႒
သဂၤါယနာ တင္ပြဲ မွာ ပါဠိေတာ္ တင္ မက အ႒ကထာ၊ ဋီကာ မ်ား ကုိပါ ျပန္လည္ စစ္ေဆးဆုံးျဖတ္ ျခင္း ျဖင္႔ သဂၤါ ယနာ တင္ျခင္း ျဖစ္ပါသည္။ )
ဗုဒၶဘာသာ ဘာသာတရား
Lotus-buddha.svg
သမိုင္း
ဗုဒၶဝင္ - သမိုင္း - သဂၤါယနာမ်ား
ဘုရားမ်ား
နွစ္က်ိပ္ရွစ္ဆူ- ကကုသန္ဘုရား- ေကာဏဂံုဘုရား- ကႆပဘုရား-ေဂါတမဘုရား၊
ဆရာ (အစရိယ)
သိဒၶတၳေဂါတမ - ဘိကၡု (ရဟန္း) - ဘိကၡုနီ (သီလရွင္)
လကၡဏာေရးသံုးပါး
အနိစၥ - အနတၱ - ဒုကၡ
ရတနာသံုးပါး
ရတနာသံုးပါး-ဗုဒၶ - ဓမၼ - သံဃာ
အယူဝါဒ
သစၥာေလးပါး - ခနၶာငါးပါး - ငါးပါးသီလ - သီတင္းသီလ
တိပိဋကနွင့္က်မ္းစာမ်ား
တိပိဋက (ဝိနည္းပိဋကတ္ - သုတ္ပိဋကတ္ - အဘိဓမၼာပိဋကတ္)
အဆင့္မ်ား
ပုထုဇဉ္၊ ကိုရင္၊ ရဟန္း၊ ေသာတာပန္၊ သကဒါဂါမ္၊ အနာဂါမ္၊ ရဟနၱာ၊ ဧတဒဂ္၊ ဘုရား၊ နိဗၺာန္
က်င့္စဉ္မ်ား
သမထ၊ ဝိပႆနာ၊ သတိပ႒ဌာန္၊ ဓုတင္၊ ကမၼ႒ဌာန္း၊ ဒုကၠရစရိယာ၊ နိကာယ္ ငါးရပ္၊
ဂါထာမ်ား
က်င့္ဝတ္၊ သုတ္ေတာ္၊ ဂုဏ္ေတာ္၊ ဂါထာေတာ္၊ ဘုရားပင့္၊ ျသကာသ၊ ပုတီးစိပ္နည္း၊
ဂိုဏ္းမ်ား
ေထရဝါဒ - မဟာယာန-တိဘက္ဗုဒၶဘာသာ
နိုင္ငံနွင့္ေဒသမ်ား
ဓမၼစျကာ
Buddha in Sarnath Museum (Dhammajak Mutra).jpg
ဗုဒၶဟူေသာ စကားလံုးအေပၚ အဓိပၸာယ္ဖြင့္ဆိုခ်က္
သိဒၶတၳ ေဂါတမ (သကၠတ- सिद्धार्थ गौतम; ပါဠိ: सिद्धाथ गोतम Siddhārtha Gautama) သည္ တရားဓမၼ တို့ကိုေဟာျကားခဲ့ေသာ ျကီးျမတ္ေသာ လူသား အေတြးအေခၚ ပညာရွိ တဦး (Almighty Buddha)(Supreme Buddha) ျဖစ္သည္။ " ဗုဒၶ" အဓိပၸာယ္သည္ "နိုးျကားလာေသာတစ္ဦး" သို့မဟုတ္ "ဉာဏ္အလင္းရေသာတစ္ဦး" ျဖစ္သည္။ ခရစ္သကၠရာဇ္ ဘီစီ ၆၂၃ တြင္ျမတ္ဗုဒၶ ကိုဖြားျမင္ေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။ [၁] [၂] [၃] သမိုင္းပညာရွင္မ်ားသည္ သူ၏ ေမြးဖြားခ်ိန္အားဘီစီ ၆၂၃ သက္တမ္းသတ္မွတ္ျကသည္။ ဘီစီ ၅၉၄ အထိ မဟာလူသားတစ္ဦး ျဖစ္ခဲ့သည္။ ဘီစီ ၅၉၄ (သက္ေတာ္ ၂၉နွစ္) မွစျပီး တရားက်င့္ျကံအားထုတ္ ခဲ့သျဖင့္ ဘီစီ ၅၈၈ (သက္ေတာ္ ၃၅နွစ္) တြင္ ဉာဏ္အလင္းရေသာတစ္ဦး ျဖစ္ခဲ့၏။ [၄] [၅] ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ သည္ အာနာပါန တရားရႈမွတ္ျခင္း ၊ ဝိပႆနာ က်င့္စဉ္၊ စာရိတၱက်င့္ဝတ္၊ ျမတ္ေသာအက်င့္သီလ၊ ေမတၱာ ကမၼ႒ဌာန္းစီးျဖန္းျခင္း ၊ေဗာဇၩင္ ၇ ပါး ၊ . သတိပဌာန္ (၄) ပါး ခ်စ္ခင္ျကင္နာျခင္း နွင့္ သည္းခံျခင္း ....ကို က်င့္ျကံအားထုတ္ ခဲ့ေသာ လူသားတဦး ျဖစ္သည္။[၆][၇] [၈][၉][၁၀][၁၁][၁၂] လူတိုင္းသည္ ေကာင္းစြာေျဖာင့္မွန္စြာက်င့္ျကံအားထုတ္ပါက လူတိုင္းသည္ ဗုဒၶျဖစ္ လာနိုင္၏။ မည္သည့္သာသနာကို ယံုျကည္သူ လိုက္နာသူမဆို သူလို တရားအားထုတ္ပါက ဗုဒၶျဖစ္လာနိုင္၏။
လူ့သမိုင္းတြင္ ဩဇာအျကီးမားဆံုးေသာအျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုးေသာ၊ထိပ္ဆံုး အဓိကပုဂၢိုလ္
ဗုဒၶေဂါတမ သည္ ဟိနၵူဗိႆနိုးဘုရား ဝင္စားသူဟု ဟိနၵူဘာသာ ဝင္တို့က ယံုျကည္ျကသည္။ ဟိနၵူဘာသာ စေသာ အျခားေသာ ဘာသာအယူဝါဒမ်ား၊ ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ဘုရားသခင္ တည္ရွိမႈကို အယံုအျကည္မရွိသူ ဘာသာမဲ့ဆိုသူမ်ားကပင္ ေဂါတမဗုဒၶကို တနည္းမဟုတ္တနည္းျဖင့္ ျကည္ညိုေလးစားျကသည္။ ေဂါတမဗုဒၶသည္ လူ့သမိုင္းတြင္ အျကီးမားဆံုးေသာအျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုးေသာ၊ ထိပ္ဆံုးအဓိကပုဂၢိုလ္တဦးျဖစ္ခဲ့၏။ [၁၃][၁၄] ေဂါတမ အား ဘိုးေတာ္ အဉၥနမင္း ျဖိုျကြင္းသကၠရာဇ္ ၆၈ ခု ကဆုန္ လျပည့္ ေသာျကာေန့ ဘီစီ ၆၂၃တြင္ နီေပါနိုင္ငံ လုမၺိနီဥယ်ာဉ္ေတာ္ အတြင္းရွိ အင္ျကင္းပင္ sal tree ေအာက္တြင္ ဖြားျမင္ေတာ္မူသည္။ ဌာနကား နီေပါနိုင္ငံ ကပိလဝတ္ ေနျပည္ေတာ္၊ ခမည္းေတာ္ကား သုေဒၶါဒနမင္းျကီး၊ မယ္ေတာ္ကား မယ္ေတာ္မာယာ(သိရီမဟာမာယာေဒဝီ) မိဖုရားျကီး၊ အမည္ေတာ္ကား သိဒၶတၱမင္းသား ျဖစ္ေလသည္။ သကၠ((Shakya)) သာကီဝင္ျဖစ္သည္။ ဖခင္သုေဒၶါဒနမင္းျကီး မွာနီေပါနိုင္ငံ သကၠတိုင္း ကပိလဝတ္ျပည္ျကီးကို စိုးအုပ္ပိုင္သေသာ ကပိလဝတ္ ဘုရင္ျဖစ္သည္။ ထိုေနရာေဒသအား က်မ္းစာမ်ားတြင္ ကပိလဝတ္ (Kapilavastu) ဟုေခၚသည္။
သိဒၶတၳမင္းသား၏ မယ္ေတာ္ မဟာမာယာ သည္လည္း ေကာလိယမ်ိုးနြယ္စု အျကီးအကဲတစ္ဦး၏ သမီးျဖစ္ပါသည္။ မယ္ေတာ္မဟာမာယာသည္ သိဒၶတၳမင္းသားအား ဘီစီ ၆၂၃ လုမၺိနီဥယ်ာဉ္ေတာ္အတြင္းရွိ အင္ျကင္းပင္တစ္ပင္ေအာက္တြင္ ေမြးဖြားေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။ ဘုရားေလာင္း သိဒၶတၳမင္းသား သည္ ဖြားေတာ္မူျပီးေနာက္ အေရွ့အရပ္မွ ေျမာက္သို့ လွည့္ေတာ္မူလ်က္ ခုနစ္ဖဝါးသြား၍ မတ္မတ္ရပ္ေတာ္မူျပီးေသာ္-(The first miracle of Buddha)
အေဂၢါဟမသၼိေလာကႆ
ေဇေ႒ဌာဟမသၼိေလာကႆ
ေသေ႒ဌာဟမသၼိေလာကႆ
ဟူေသာ သံုးခြန္းစကား ဆိုေတာ္မူသည္။
("I am chief of the world, Eldest am I in the world, Foremost am I in the world. This is the last birth. There is now no more coming to be." ) [၁၅]
ဘုရားေလာင္း သိဒၶတၳမင္းသား(ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ ) က ေလာကသံုးပါး ရွိရွိသမွ် လူ၊ နတ္၊ ျဗဟၼာအားလံုးတြင္ ငါသည္ ဩဇာအျကီးမားဆံုး အျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုး သေဗၺညုတ ဉာဏ္ေတာ္ရွင္ ျဖစ္သည္ ..ငါသည္အဓိကထိပ္ဆံုး ျဖစ္သည္ [၁၆][၁၇] (I am the supreme Saint , the Perfect One, the supreme Buddha.)..ဟု မိန့္ဆိုေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား၏ ဂုဏ္ေတာ္(၉)ပါး တြင္ သတၳာေဒဝ မနုႆာနံ--- နတ္ လူ ျဗဟၼာ သတၱဝါအားလံုးတို့၏ ဆရာသခင္ ျဖစ္သည္ (Buddha was the Teacher of the humans)...ဟု ဂုဏ္ေတာ္ ပါရွိခဲ့သည္။ မိန့္ဆိုေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။[၁၈][၁၉] ငါသည္ ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ထာဝရဘုရား God ျဖစ္သည္ ဟု မိန့္ဆိုေတာ္မမူခဲ့ပါ ။ နတ္- လူ- ျဗဟၼာ-သတၱဝါ-အားလံုးတို့၏ အျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုးဆရာသခင္ ျဖစ္သည္....(He was a teacher of humans (Satthadevamanusssanam) ..ဟု မိန့္ဆိုေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။ [၂၀]
ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ (Gautama Buddha BC 623-BC 543)
ဘုရားနွင့္ ပတ္သက္၍ ဘာသာတရားအမ်ိုးမ်ိုးမွ အဓိပၸါယ္အမ်ိုးမ်ိုး ဖြင့္ဆိုျကျပီး ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ကို ယံုျကည္သူမ်ား ရွိသကဲ့သို ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ကို မယံုျကည္သူမ်ားလည္း ရွိသည္။ ဗုဒၶ သည္ “ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ ထာဝရဘုရားမရွိ” ဟု အတိအလင္းျငင္းဆို ျခင္းမရွိ ဆို၏ ။ အမ်ိုးဇာတ္ အနိမ့္အျမင့္ ခြဲျခားသည့္ဝါဒကို အတိအလင္းရႈတ္ခ်၏။ ဧဟိပႆိက ဂုဏ္ေတာ္" ehipassiko" တြင္ လာပါ၊ က်င့္စမ္းပါ ဟု အတိအလင္းဆို၏။ (The Dharma of the Buddha is not a religion of blind faith)[၂၁] ဗုဒၶတရားတခုတြင္ သက္ရွိသတၱဝါတို့၏ အသက္ကိုမသတ္ရလို ေဟာျကားခဲ့၏။ လူမ်ားကိုသာမက သတၱဝါအေပါင္းအားသနားျကင္နာသည္။ (ပါဏာတိပါတာေဝရမဏိ သိကၡါပဒံ သမာဒိယာမိ။ ) ဗုဒၶဘာသာ သီလဟူသည္ ပါဠိဘာသာစကားျဖစ္ျပီး ကိုယ္၊နႈတ္၊စိတ္ အျပုအမူ က်င့္ဝတ္တစ္ခုခုကို ေစာင့္ထိန္းေဆာက္တည္ျခင္းဟု အဓိပၸါယ္ရပါသည္။ ေထရဝါဒ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ တရားေတာ္အရ သီလကို ငါးပါးသီလ၊ ရွစ္ပါးသီလ၊ ဆယ္ပါးသီလ စသည္ျဖင့္ အေရအတြက္ကိုလိုက္၍ အမ်ိုးမ်ိုး ခြဲျခားသတ္မွတ္ထားပါသည္။ ငါးပါးသီလ ေစာင့္ထိန္းျခင္းသည္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာဝင္တိုင္းအတြက္ အျဖစ္မေနလိုက္နာ ေစာင့္ထိန္းျကရမည့္သီလအမ်ိုးအစားျဖစ္သည္။ ရွစ္ပါးသီလ မွာမူ လူပုဂၢိုလ္မ်ားအတြက္ လဆန္း (၈)ရက္၊ လဆုပ္ (၈)ရက္၊ လျပည့္၊ လကြယ္ စေသာ အခါျကီးရက္ျကီး ဥပုသ္ေန့ မ်ားတြင္သာ အထူးတလည္ေစာင့္ထိန္းျကေလ့ရွိေသာ သီလျဖစ္ပါသည္။ ဆယ္ပါးသီလ မွာမူ ရဟန္းမ်ား ရွင္သာမေဏ မ်ားေစာင့္ထိန္းျကရသည့္ သီလျဖစ္ပါသည္။
သစၥာေလးပါး
ေဂါတမဗုဒၶရွင္ေတာ္သည္ ေျခာက္နွစ္တာ ကာလပတ္လံုး လူသာမန္တို့ က်င့္ဖို့ရာ ခဲယဉ္းလွသည့္ ဒုကၠရစရိယာအက်င့္ျမတ္ကို က်င့္ျကံျကိုးကုတ္ ပြားမ်ားအားထုတ္ခဲ့ရာ ေနာက္ဆံုး၌ မဇၩိမပဋိပဒါ (ေခၚ) အလယ္အလတ္ အက်င့္တရားလမ္းစဉ္ကို ေတြ့ျမင္ျပီး ကာမ အာရံုခံစားမႈ လက္ယာအစြန္းနွင့္ အတၱေဘာ ပင္ပန္းေစသည့္ လက္ဝဲအစြန္းတည္းဟူေသာ အစြန္းတရားနွစ္ပါးကို ေရွာင္ျကည္ကာ သစၥာေလးပါး တရားေတာ္ကို သိျမင္ေတာ္မူပါသည္။ “ဒုကၡ၊ သမုဒယ၊ နိေရာဓ၊ မဂၢ” ဟူေသာ ထိုသစၥာေလးပါး ျမတ္တရားေတာ္သည္ “ဓမၼစျကာတရားေတာ္”ပင္ ျဖစ္ပါသည္။ ဓမၼစျကာတရားေတာ္သည္ ျမတ္ဗုဒၶ၏ တိက်ခိုင္မာေသာ သေဘာတရားကို ထင္ရွားစြာေတြ့ျမင္နိုင္ပါသည္။ အရွင္ေတာ္ျမတ္သည္ ေလးအသခၤ်ေ နွင့္ ကမၻာ တစ္သိန္း ျဖည့္က်င့္ဆည္းပူးခဲ့ေသာ ပါရမီေတာ္ အဟုန္တို့ေျကာင့္ ရရွိခဲ့သည့္ သဗၺညုတ ေရွြဉာဏ္ေတာ္စြမ္းအားျဖင့္ ဓမၼစျကာတရားေတာ္ကို ေဟာေဖာ္ညွြန္ျပခဲ့ျခင္းျဖစ္ပါသည္။ အရွင္ကိုယ္ေတာ္ျမတ္သည္ ထိုးထြင္း၍ သိျမင္ေတာ္မူအပ္ေသာ သစၥာေလးပါးကို ျမင္တတ္ေသာ၊ ပညာမ်က္စိကို ျပုတတ္ေသာ၊ သစၥာေလးပါးကို သိျခင္းကို ျပုတတ္ေသာ၊ အျကင္အလယ္အလတ္ျဖစ္ေသာ ၊အက်င့္သည္ ကိေလသာျငိမ္းျခင္းတည္းဟူေသာ သဥပါဒိေသသနိဗၺာန္ အက်ိုးငွာ သစၥာေလးပါးကို ထူးေသာ ဉာဏ္ျဖင့္ သိျခင္းငွာ၊ သစၥာေလးပါကို ေကာင္းစြာသိျခင္းငွာ၊ အနူပါဒိေသသ နိဗၺာန္အက်ိုးငွာ ျဖစ္၏။ ထိုအလယ္အလတ္ အက်င့္သည္ အဘယ္နည္းဟု သိသာထင္ရွားစြာ ေဟာေဖာ္ညွြန္ျပေတာ္မူပါသည္။
အမွန္တရား အားလံုးတို့၏ ေရွ့ေျပး ပထမျဖစ္ေသာ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား၏ မဂၢင္ (၈) ပါး
မဂၢင္ဟူသည္ ကိေလသာတို့ကို ပယ္သတ္ေျကာင္း၊ နိဗၺာန္သို့ ေရာက္ေျကာင္းျဖစ္ေသာ တရားစုဟု အဓိပၸာယ္ရရွိပါသည္။ ゞင္းတို့မွာ ေဖာ္ျပလတၱံပါအတိုင္း (၈) ပါးရွိသည္။
သမၼာဒိဌိ = ေကာင္းစြာ ျမင္ျခင္း
သမၼာသကၤၸ = ေကာင္းစြာျကံျခင္း
သမၼာဝါစာ = ေကာင္းစြာဆိုျခင္း
သမၼာကမၼနၱ =ေကာင္းစြာျပုျခင္း
သမၼာအာဇီဝ =ေကာင္းစြာ အသက္ေမြးျခင္း
သမၼာဝါယမ =ေကာင္းစြာအားထုတ္ျခင္း
သမၼာသတိ = ေကာင္းစြာေအာက္ေမ့ျခင္း
သမၼာသမာဓိ = ေကာင္းစြာတည္ျကည္ျခင္း
ဤအက်င့္ျမတ္သည္ကား အဂၤါရွစ္ပါးနွင့္ ျပည့္စံုသည့္ မဂၢင္တရားျမတ္ျဖစ္ေျကာင္း ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူပါသည္။ ထိုမွတဖန္ ရွင္ေတာ္ျမတ္သည္ ဇာတိ ပဋိသေနၶေနရျခင္း ဆင္းရဲမွ၊ အိုမင္းရင့္ေရာျခင္း ဆင္းရဲ၊ ဖ်ားနာရျခင္း ဆင္းရဲ၊ ေသရျခင္း ဆင္းရဲ၊ မခ်စ္မနွစ္လိုအပ္ေသာ သတၱဝါသခၤါရတို့နွင့္ ေကြကင္းရျခင္းဆင္းရဲ၊ ခ်စ္ခင္နွစ္လိုအပ္ေသာ သတၱဝါတို့နွင့္ ေကြကင္းရျခင္း ဆင္းရဲ၊ ပဋိသေနၶေနရျခင္း ဆင္းရဲ၊ ခနၶာငါးပါးတို့၏ ဆင္းရဲ စေသာ ဇာတိသေဘာတရားသည္ ဒုကၡျဖစ္ေသာ အရိယာတို့၏ သိအပ္ေသာ သစၥာမည္၏ဟူ၍ ဒုကၡသစၥာကို ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူပါသည္။ ပဉၥဝဂၢီရဟန္းတို့အား တဏွာေလာဘသည္ တဖန္ဘဝသစ္ကို ျဖစ္ေစတတ္၏။ နွစ္သက္ျခင္း၊တပ္မက္ျခင္းနွင့္ တကြ ျဖစ္၏။ ထိုထိုဘဝ ထိုထိုအာရံု၌ အလြန္နွစ္သက္တတ္၏။
ဤတဏွာဟူသည္ အဘယ္နည္း။
ကာမတဏွာ = ရူပါရံုစေသာ ဝတၳုကာမကို တပ္မက္ေသာ တဏွာ။
ဘဝတဏွာ = သႆတဒိဌိနွင့္ တကြျဖစ္ေသာ တဏွာ။
ဝိဘဝတဏွာ = ဥေစၦဒဒိဌိနွင့္တကြျဖစ္ေသာ တဏွာ။ ဟူ၍ ဤတဏွာဟူေသာ သေဘာတရားသည္ ဒုကၡအေျကာင္းျဖစ္ေသာ အရိယာတို သိအပ္ေသာ သစၥာမည္၏ဟု သမုဒယသစၥာအေျကာင္းကို ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူပါသည္။
ထိုတဏွာေလာဘ၏ အျကြင္းမဲ့ တပ္မက္ျခင္းကင္းရာ၊ ခ်ုပ္ရာျဖစ္ေသာ နိဗၺာန္သည္ ရွိ၏။ စြန့္ရာျဖစ္ေသာ နိဗၺာန္သည္ ရွိ၏။ ေဝးစြာစြန့္ရာျဖစ္ေသာ နိဗၺာန္သည္ ရွိ၏။ လြတ္ရာျဖစ္ေသာ နိဗၺာန္သည္ ရွိ၏။ ကပ္ျငိျခင္းကင္းရာျဖစ္ေသာ နိဗၺာန္သည္ ရွိ၏။ ဤနိဗၺာန္ဟူေသာ သေဘာတရားသည္ ဒုကၡ၏ ခ်ုပ္ျငိမ္းရာျဖစ္ေသာ အရိယာတို့သည္ သိအပ္ေသာ သစၥာမည္ေသာ နိေရာဓသစၥာ ကို ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူပါသည္။ မဂၢသစၥာနွင့္စပ္၍ မဂၢင္ရွစ္ပါး အက်င့္တရားသည္သာလွ်င္ ဒုကၡ၏ခ်ုပ္ျငိမ္းရာ နိဗၺာန္ သို့ ေရာက္ေျကာင္း အက်င့္ျဖစ္ေသာ အရိယာတို့ သိအပ္ေသာ သစၥာမည္၏ဟု ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူပါသည္။
ဇာတိမဟတၱ --- အမ်ိုးဇာတ္အားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
ပုညမဟတၱ --- ဘုန္းသမၻာကုသိုလ္ ပါရမီအားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
သီလမဟတၱ --- အက်င့္သီလအားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
သမာဓိမဟတၱ --- တည္ျကည္ခိုင္ခံ့ေသာ သမာဓိအားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
ဣဒၶိမဟတၱ ---တန္ခိုးအာနုေဘာ္အားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
ဗုဒၶိမဟတၱ --- ဉာဏ္ပညာအားျဖင့္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း၊
ဟူ၍ ေလာကတြင္ ရွိရွိသမွ် လူနတ္ျဗဟၼာ သတၱဝါတို့ထက္ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း အမ်ိုးမ်ိုးနွင့္ ျပည့္စံုမွသာလွ်င္၊ ျပည့္စံုေသာ ပုဂၢိုလ္ထူးကိုသာလွ်င္ ဘုရား(ဗုဒၶ) ဟု ဆိုရသည္။
သိဒၶတၳေဂါတမ ကို (ခရစ္သကၠရာဇ္BC 623) လြန္ခဲ့ေသာနွစ္ေပါင္း ၂၆၀ဝ ေက်ာ္က ေမြးဖြားခဲ့သည္။ လြန္ခဲ့ေသာနွစ္ေပါင္း၂၆၀ဝ ေက်ာ္ေလာက္က ပြင့္ေတာ္မူေသာ ေဂါတမျမတ္စြာဘုရားကား ဆိုခဲ့ျပီးေသာ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း အမ်ိုးမ်ိုးနွင့္ ျပည့္စံုေသာေျကာင့္ ေလာကသံုးပါးတြင္ ဘုရားစင္စစ္ ျဖစ္ေတာ္မူသည္။
ေရွးေရွးကမၻာ့ကမၻာက ပြင့္ေတာ္မူခဲ့ျကေသာ ဂဂၤါဝါဠုသဲစုပမာ မ်ားလွစြာေသာ ဘုရားမ်ား၊ လြန္ခဲ့ေသာ ဆယ့္ေျခာက္ အသခၤ်ေအတြင္း ပြင့္ေတာ္မူခဲ့ျကေသာ ျဗဟၼာေဒဝ စေသာ ဘုရားမ်ား၊ လြန္ခဲ့ေသာ ေလးသခၤ်ေနွင့္ ကမၻာတစ္သိန္းအတြင္း ပြင့္ေတာ္မူေသာ တဏွကၤရာ ဘုရားအစ၊ ကႆပဘုရား အဆံုးရွိေသာ နွစ္က်ိပ္ခုနစ္ဆူေသာ ဘုရားမ်ားလည္း ေလာကသံုးပါးတြင္ ဘုရားစင္စစ္ ျဖစ္ေတာ္မူျကသည္။
သုေဒၶါဒနမင္းျကီး၏ အမ်ိုးအနြယ္အစဉ္အဆက္မွာ ဩကၠာကရာဇ္မင္းမွစ၍ ဇယေသနမင္းအထိ ရွစ္ေသာင္းနွစ္ေထာင္ေသာမင္းတို့သည္ ကပိလဝတ္ျပည္ ျကီး၌ မင္းျပုျကကုန္၏။ ထိုမင္းတို့တြင္အစျဖစ္ေသာ ဩကၠာကရာဇ္မင္းျကီး၏ သျကာဝတေဘာကုမာရာ=အခ်င္းတို့ သားေတာ္တို့သည္စြမ္းနိုင္ကုန္စြ တကား ဟူေသာ ဥဒါန္းက်ူးရင့္မိန့္ခြန္းဆင့္သည္ကိုအစြဲျပု၍ သာကီဝင္မ်ိုးဟု ေခၚေျကာင္းကို သုတ္သီ လကၡန္ပါဠိေတာ္၌ ေဟာျပထားေလသည္။ အရြယ္ေတာ္ ဆယ့္ေျခာက္နွစ္မွစ၍ နွစ္ဆယ့္ကိုးနွစ္အတြင္း ထီးနန္းစည္းစိမ္ကို ခံစားသည္။ မိဖုရားျကီးကား ယေသာဓရာဗိေဒဝီ၊ သားေတာ္ကား ရာဟုလာျဖစ္သည္။
သူအို၊ သူနာ၊ သူေသ၊ ရဟန္း အသြင္ နိမိတ္ျကီး ေလးပါးကို ျမင္သျဖင့္၊ သတိသံေဝဂ ရလွ်က္ ၉၇ ခု ဝါဆိုလျပည့္ တနလၤာေန့တြင္ ေတာထြက္၍၊ ရဟန္းျပု ေတာ္မူသည္။
ေျခာက္နွစ္ပတ္လံုး ဒုကၠရ စရိယာအက်င့္ကို က်င့္ျပီးလွ်င္ (ဘီစီ ၅၈၈) ၁ဝ၃ ခု ကဆုန္လျပည့္ ဗုဒၶဟူးေန့ ေဗာဓိပင္ရင္းဝယ္၊ သေဗၺညုတဉာဏ္ေတာ္ကိုရ၍၊ ေလာကသံုးပါးတြင္ ဘုရားစင္စစ္ ျဖစ္ေတာ္မူသည္။
ဘုရားျဖစ္ျပီးေနာက္၊ ၄၅ ဝါပတ္လံုး တရားေဟာကာ၊ အညာတေကာ႑ဍည အစ၊ သုဘဒၵ အဆံုးရွိေသာ ေဝေနယ်မ်ားစြာ သတၱဝါတို့ကို နိဗၺာန္သို့ပို့ေဆာင္ေတာ္မူျပီးလွ်င္၊ (ဘီစီ ၅၄၃) ၁၄၈ ခု ကဆုန္လျပည့္ အဂၤါေန့တြင္ ပရိနိဗၺာန္ စံဝင္ေတာ္မူသည္။
၄၅ ဝါပတ္လံုး ေန့စဉ္ ျပုလုပ္အပ္ေသာ လုပ္ငန္းမ်ားကား-
ပုေရဘတၱကိစၥ---နံနက္ဆြမ္းခံျကြျခင္း၊
ပစၦာဘတၱကိစၥ---ညေနဒါယကာ ဒါယိကာမတို့အား တရားေဟာျခင္း၊
ပူရိမ ယာမကိစၥ---ညဉ့္ဦးယံ ရဟန္းမ်ားအား တရားေဟာျခင္း၊
မဇၩိမယာမကိစၥ--- ညဉ့္လယ္ယံ နတ္မ်ားအား တရားေဟာျခင္း၊
မစၦိမယာမကိစၥ--- ညဉ့္ေနာက္ဆံုးယံကို သံုးပံုပံုတစ္ပံု စကၤျံသြားျခင္း၊
တစ္ပံု က်ိန္းစက္ ျခင္း၊ တစ္ပံု ကြ်တ္ထိုက္ေသာ သတၱဝါတို့ကို ျကည့္ရႈ့ျခင္း ဟူ၍ ငါးပါးျဖစ္သည္။
ဂုဏ္ေတာ္ကား-
အရဟံ --- ပူေဇာ္အထူးကို ခံေတာ္မူထိုက္ျခင္း၊
သမၼာသဗုဒၶ--- ေဉယ်ဓံတရား အလံုးစံုကို အကုန္အစဉ္ သိျမင္ေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
ဝိဇၨာစရဏသမၸဇၩ--- ဝိဇၨာသံုးပါး၊ ဝိဇၨာရွစ္ပါး၊ စရဏတစ္ဆယ့္ငါးပါးနွင့္ ျပည့္စံုေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
သုဂတ--- ေကာင္းေသာစကားကိုဆိုေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
ေလာကဝိဒူ--- ေလာကသံုးပါးကို သိေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
အနုတၱေရာပုရိသ--- ဆံုးမသင့္ ဒမၼသာရထိ ဆံုးမထိုက္ေသာ သူတို့ကို ဆံုးမရာ၌ အတုမရွိ ျမတ္ေတာ္ မူျခင္း၊
သတၳာေဒဝ--- နတ္လူတို့မနုႆာန ဆရာျဖစ္ေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
ဗုဒၶ--- သစၥာေလးပါးကို သိေတာ္မူျခင္း၊
ဘဂဝါ--- ဘုန္းေတာ္ေျခာက္ပါး နွင့္ ျပည့္စံုေတာ္မူျခင္း၊ ဟူ၍ကိုးပါးျဖစ္သည္။
ထိုမွတစ္ပါး မကၡလိ၊ ပူရဏ၊ အဇိတ၊ ပကုဒၶ၊ နိဂဏၭ၊ သဉၥယဟူ၍ အယူဝါဒကို ျပုလုပ္တတ္ေသာ တိတၳိဆရာျကီး ေျခာက္ဦးကိုလည္း ဘုရားဟုေခၚဆိုျကသည္။ ထိုသို့ေခၚဆို ျကေသာ္လည္း၊ ယင္းဆရာျကီး ေျခာက္ဦးတို့မွာ ယခင္ျပဆို ခဲ့ေသာ ျကီးက်ယ္ျမင့္ျမတ္ျခင္း အမ်ိုးမ်ိုးနွင့္ မျပည့္စံုသည့္ အတြက္ ဘုရား မမည္နိုင္ေပ။
Gautama (ေဂါတမ)၊ စကၤျာမုနိ သို့မဟုတ္ စျကာမုနိ (Shakyamuni) ဟုလည္း သိထားျကေသာ ("စျကဝေတးမင္းမ်ား၏ ပညာရွိ") သည္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာတြင္ အဓိက ပုဂၢိုလ္ျဖစ္ျပီး သူ့ဘဝျဖစ္စဉ္၊ ေဟာေျပာခ်က္မ်ားနွင့္ ရဟန္း ဘဝ လိုက္နာရမည့္ ဥပေဒမ်ားသည္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာဝင္မ်ား၏ ယံုျကည္သက္ဝင္ျခင္းခံရျပီးေဂါတမ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား ပရိနိဗၺာန္ စံဝင္ေတာ္မူျပီးေနာက္တြင္ အနွစ္ခ်ုပ္ျပုလုပ္၍ သူ၏ေနာက္လိုက္တပည့္မ်ားက အလြတ္က်က္မွတ္ထားျကသည္။ Gautama (ေဂါတမ ဗုဒၶ) ၏ ေျမာက္ျမားလွစြာေသာ အဆံုးအမမ်ိုးစံု စုေဆာင္းထားရွိျခင္းမ်ားသည္ နႈတ္ျဖင့္ေျပာဆိုျခင္းဓေလ့ျဖင့္ လက္ဆင့္ကမ္း ဆင္းသက္လာျပီး နွစ္ေပါင္း ၄၀ဝ ခန့္အျကာတြင္ ပထမဦးစြာ စာျဖင့္ေရးသားလာျကသည္။
သိပၸံနည္းက် ဗုဒၶဘာသာ
ရူပေဗဒပညာရွင္၊ သခၤ်ာပညာရွင္၊ နကၡတၱေဗဒ ပညာရွင္၊ အေတြးအေခၚ ပညာရွင္နယူတန္ ၏ နိယာမ ေတြ့ရွိခ်က္မ်ားသည္ ေဂါတမ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား၏ ကံ ကံ၏အက်ိုး (cause and effect law ,The Theory of Karma in Buddhism.The theory of Karma is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism.) အဆံုးအမ အမွန္တရားေတာ္ ေနာက္ နွစ္ေပါင္း (၉ဝဝ) ေနာက္က်ျပီးမွ နယူတန္ သည္(cause and effect law) ကို ရွာေဖြ ေဖာ္ထုတ္နိုင္ခဲ့သည္။ ဆရာျကီးအဲလ္ဘတ္ အိုင္းစတိုင္း ၏ ရီေလတီဗတီ သီအိုရီ (Relativity Theory) နိယာမ ေတြ့ရွိခ်က္မ်ားသည္ ေဂါတမ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား၏ ပဋိစၥသမုပၸါဒ္ အေျကာင္းအက်ိုးသေဘာတရားမ်ား၊ ပ႒ဌာန္း ၂၄-က်မ္း နွင့္ ကံ- ကံ၏အက်ိုး cause and effect law အဆံုးအမ အမွန္တရားေတာ္ ၏ ေနာက္ နွစ္ေပါင္း (၂၄ဝဝ) ေနာက္က်ျပီးမွ အိုင္းစတိုင္း သည္ (၂၄ ပစၥည္း ပ႒ဌာန္း (ပ႒ဌာန)) ၏ အေျခခံ Theory of relativity and E = mc² ကို ရွာေဖြ ေဖာ္ထုတ္နိုင္ခဲ့သည္။ ဗုဒၶဘာသာတြင္အေျကာင္းအရာတစ္ခုကိုေလ့လာ က်င့္ျကံရာ၌ နည္းစံနစ္က်သည္။ သိပၸံနည္းက်သည္။ ဗုဒၶတရားေတာ္မ်ားသည္ အေျကာင္း အက်ိုး ဆက္စပ္မႈရွိျခင္း၊ ယုတၱိနည္းက် လက္ေတြ့က်ျခင္း၊ စနစ္တက် ဖြဲ့စည္းမႈ ရွိျခင္း၊ မွန္သည္-မွားသည္၊ လုပ္သင့္သည္-မလုပ္သင့္သည္၊ အက်ိုးရွိသည္-အက်ိုးမဲ့သည္ တို့ကို မိမိတို့ကိုယ္တိုင္ ေဝဖန္စမ္းစစ္ ခြင့္ရွိျခင္း၊ အခ်ိန္မေရြး၊ ေနရာမေရြး၊ လူမ်ိုး ဘာသာမေရြး လက္ေတြ့က်င့္ျကံျပီး ေအးခ်မ္းမႈကို ကိုယ္တိုင္သိရွိနိုင္ျခင္း၊ အျမဲထာဝရ မွန္ကန္ျခင္း စေသာ အရည္အခ်င္းမ်ား ျပည့္စံုေသာေျကာင့္ ဗုဒၶ၏အဆံုးအမမ်ားနွင့္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာသည္ သိပၸံနည္းက် ဘာသာ အမွန္တရားနွင့္ လက္ေတြ့သဘာဝက် သည့္ ဘာသာလည္း ျဖစ္သည္။
ဗုဒၶဘာသာတြင္ တပည့္တို့၏ဝတၱရား၊ ဆရာတို့၏ဝတၱရား၊ သားသမီးတို့၏ဝတၱရား၊ မိဘတို့၏ဝတၱရား၊ စသည္တို့ရွိရာ ဆရာဝတ္ တြင္ အတတ္လည္းသင္ ပဲ့ျပင္ဆံုးမ သိပၸမခ်န္ ေဘးရန္ဆီးကာ သင့္ရာအပ္ပို့ ဆရာတို့ က်င့္ဖို့ဝတ္ငါးျဖာ ဟုပါရွိသည္။ (၃၈) ျဖာေသာမဂၤႅာတရားေတာ္တြင္လည္း အျပစ္ကင္းေသာ သိပၸ အတတ္ပညာတို့ကိုတတ္ေျမာက္ျခင္းသည္လည္း မဂၤႅာ တစ္ပါးဟု အဆိုရွိပါသည္။ "ကမၻာဦးအစမွ ရွိခဲ့ျပီးေသာ ေတြ့ရွိခ်က္၊ အမွန္တရားတို့သည္ အတိုင္းအတာ တစ္ခု၊ အေျခအေန အခ်ိန္အခါ ေနရာေဒသ တစ္ခု၊ လူအုပ္စုတစ္စု အတြက္ သာ မွန္ကန္သည့္ အမွန္တရား (customary truth and conventional truth) သမုတိသစၥာမွ်သာ ျဖစ္ေျကာင္း၊ အျမဲထာဝရ မွန္ကန္သည့္ အမွန္တရား (Universal truth and ultimate truth) ပရမတၱ သစၥာ တရားမွာ ျမတ္ဗုဒၶ၏ တရားေတာ္၌သာ ေတြ့နိုင္ေျကာင္း၊ ဝိဇၨာ၊ သိပၸံပညာရွင္တို့၏ ေတြ့ရွိခ်က္မ်ား အပါအဝင္ အယူဝါဒဆိုင္ရာ အမွန္တရား အားလံုးတို့၏ ေရွ့ေျပး ပထမ အမွန္ဆံုးတရား ျဖစ္သည္" ဟု သီတဂူဆရာေတာ္ ဦးဉာဏိႆရ၊ ခ်မ္းေျမ့ဆရာေတာ္ အရွင္ဇနကာဘိဝံသ၊ နနၵာသိန္းဇံ ၊ ေဒါက္တာ မင္းတင္မြန္၊ ဓမၼာစရိယ ဦးေဌးလွိုင္၊ Egerton C. Baptist နွင့္ ျမို့မ-ျမင့္ျကြယ္ တို့က မွတ္ခ်က္ ျပုျကသည္။ [၂၂] [၂၃] [၂၄][၂၅] [၂၆] [၂၇]
ကမၻာ့ဒီမိုကေရစီ ပထမအစ၊ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရားက
ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား ၏ တရားေတာ္မ်ားသည္ လြန္ခဲ့ေသာ နွစ္ေပါင္း ၂၆၀ဝ ကပင္ လြတ္လပ္စြာ ေျပာဆို ေဝဖန္ဆန္းစစ္ခြင့္ ရွိေသာေျကာင့္ ကမၻာ့ဒီမိုကေရစီ ပထမအစ၊ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား က' ဟု ဆိုအပ္လွေပသည္။ ဒီမိုကေရစီ၏အစ၊ ပထမ ဟု ထိုစဉ္ကအမ်ားက သက္မွတ္ထားေသာ ဂရိ နိုင္ငံ တြင္ ဒီမိုကေရစီ မေပၚထြန္းေသးပါ၊ ကမၻာ့ အေတြးအေခၚပညာရွင္ ဆိုကေရးတီး (ဘီစီ ၄၆၉-၃၉၉)၊ ပေလတို (ဘီစီ ၄၂၈-၃၄၈) ၊ အရစၥတိုတယ္ (ဘီစီ ၃၈၄-၃၂၂)၊နွင့္ မဟာအလက္ဇနၵား (ဘီစီ ၃၅၆-ဘီစီ၃၂၃)၊ တို့ မေမြးေသးပါ။ ဗုဒၶ သည္ က်င့္ျကံအားထုတ္ ခဲ့သျဖင့္ ဘီစီ 588 တြင္ အျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုးေသာ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား ျဖစ္ခ်ိန္တြင္ တရုတ္အေတြးအေခၚပညာရွင္ ဒႆန ဆရာျကီးကြန္ျဖူးရွပ္ (ဘီစီ ၅၅၁-၄၇၉) မေမြးေသးပါ။ ကမၻာ့ရူပေဗဒပညာရွင္ သခၤ်ာပညာရွင္ နယူတန္(၁၆၄၃ ဇနၷဝါရီလ ၄ - ၁၇၂၇ မတ္လ ၃၁) ၊ အဲလ္ဘတ္ အိုင္းစတိုင္း( ၁၈၇၉ ခုနွစ္ မတ္လ ၁၄ ရက္-၁၉၅၅ ခုနွစ္၊ ဧျပီလ ၁၈ ရက္ ) တို့ မေမြးေသးပါ။ ခရစ္ယာန္ဘာသာမွ ထာဝရဘုရားသခင္ ၏ သားေတာ္ ခရစ္ေတာ္၊ ေယရႈ(Jesus Christ BC 5-AD 30) နွင့္ အစၥလမ္ဘာသာ တမန္ေတာ္ မိုဟာမက္ (Muhammad AD 570- AD 632) တို့ မေပၚေသးပါ။ ဗုဒၶတရားေတာ္မ်ားသည္ naturally or universally သဘာဝနည္းက်အားျဖင့္လည္းေကာင္း၊ logically ေျကာင္းက်ိုးဆက္စပ္ေဗဒအရလည္းေကာင္း၊ scientifically သိပၸံနည္းက်အားျဖင့္လည္းေကာင္း၊ medically ေဆးပညာေဗဒအရလည္းေကာင္း မွန္ကန္လွေပသည္။ မိခင္ဝမ္းတြင္း သားသေနၶတည္ပံုကို လြန္ခဲ့ေသာ နွစ္ေပါင္း (၂၆၀ဝ) ေက်ာ္ကတည္းက ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား က မိုက္ခရိုစကုပ္မပါ၊ အာထရာေဆာင္းမပါ၊ ဓါတ္မွန္မပါ ဉာဏ္ေတာ္ျဖင့္ ထိုးထြင္းသိျမင္ေတာ္မူ၍ ရွင္းျပေတာ္မူနိုင္ခဲ့ေပသည္။ ထို့ျပင္ ယေန့ေခတ္ သိပၸံေဗဒ က်န္းမာေရးသုေတသနမ်ားအရ သိရွိလာျကရေသာ စိတ္သည္ ဦးေနွာက္တြင္ ျဖစ္ေပၚျခင္းမဟုတ္ဘဲ၊ နွလံုးသား၏အခ်ိုင့္ေလးတြင္ ျဖစ္ေပၚေျကာင္းကို ဗုဒၶက ေဟာျပေတာ္မူသျဖင့္ ဝါရင့္ဗုဒၶဘာသာ ျမန္မာမ်ား သိရွိခဲ့ျကသည္မွာလည္း ျကာျပီျဖစ္သည္။ ခနၶာေဗဒ၏ျဖစ္စဉ္ပ်က္စဉ္အေျကာင္းကိုလည္း ဗုဒၶဘာသာ ျမန္မာတို့ ယေန့ေခတ္ ဆဲလ္မ်ားအစားထိုးျဖစ္တည္မႈအေျကာင္း သိပၸံနည္းက် မသိရေသးခင္ကပင္ သိရွိခဲ့ျကျပီးျဖစ္သည္။ Anatomy အနတ္တိုမီ (ေခၚ ) ခနၶာေဗဒကိုလည္း ဗုဒၶျမတ္စြာဘုရားက တရားေတာ္မ်ား၌ ေဟာျကားေတာ္မူခဲ့ျပီးျဖစ္သည္။ ဗုဒၶ ျမတ္စြာဘုရား က ယေန့ေခတ္ သိပၸံပညာရွင္တို့ အဏုျမူ အက္တမ္ (Atom) အေျကာင္း မေလ့လာမီကပင္ ပရမာအဏုျမူ စသည္ျဖင့္ ေဟာျပေတာ္မူခဲ့သည္။ မည္သို့ပင္ဆိုေစကာမူ ဗုဒၶ၏တရားေတာ္မ်ားသည္ သိပၸံနည္းက်၊ ေျကာင္းက်ိုးဆက္စပ္ေဗဒ၊ ခနၶာေဗဒ၊ ေဆးပညာေဗဒ စသည္တို့ျဖင့္ ကိုက္ညီမွန္ကန္ေနလ်က္ရွိျပီး၊ ဗုဒၶျမတ္စြာဘုရားေဟာျကားေတာ္မူခဲ့သမွ် တရားေတာ္မ်ားကို သိပၸံပညာက လိုက္မမီနိုင္ေသးေသာ အေနအထားမ်ား ယေန့ထက္တိုင္ ရွိေနေသးသည္မွာလည္း အမွန္ပင္ျဖစ္သည္။
ဗုဒၶဘာသာ သေဘာတရားခံယူခ်က္
အခ်ို့ေသာ ပညာရွင္မ်ားသည္ Pali Canon (ပါဠိ စာမ်ား) နွင့္ Agamas (အဂါမား) တို့၏ အခ်ို့ေသာအပိုင္း မ်ားတြင္ ဗုဒၶ၏ အမွန္တကယ္ျဖစ္ေသာ သမိုင္းဝင္အဆံုးအမမ်ား (စကားလံုးမ်ားပင္ေသာ္မွ ျဖစ္နိုင္သည္) တို့ ပါဝင္နိုင္သည္ဟု ယံုျကည္ျကသည္။ ဤအရာသည္ ေနာင္ေသာအခါ Mahayana sutras (မဟာယာန နတ္မင္းျကီးမ်ား) အတြက္ အေထာက္အထား မဟုတ္ပါ။ ေထရဝါဒ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ၏ ပိဋကက်မ္းဆိုင္ရာ လုပ္ငန္းမ်ားသည္ မဟာယာန လုပ္ငန္းမ်ားထက္ နွစ္ကာလအလိုက္ေရွ့ အလ်င္က်ျပီး၊ ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ၏ အမွန္ တကယ္ျဖစ္ေသာ သမိုင္းဝင္အဆံုးအမမ်ားနွင့္ ပတ္သက္ေသာ သတင္းအခ်က္အလက္မ်ားအတြက္ ယံုျကည္ နိုင္ေလာက္ေသာ အဓိကအရင္းအျမစ္အျဖစ္ မ်ားစြာေသာ အေနာက္တိုင္းပညာရွင္မ်ားက မွတ္ယူျကသည္။
ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ၏ အေျခခံက်ေသာ အခ်ို့အဆံုးအမမ်ား
Sermon in the Deer Park depicted at Wat Chedi Liem-KayEss-1.jpeg
ျမင့္ျမတ္ေသာ အမွန္တရားေလးရပ္ - ထိုေဝဒနာခံစားရျခင္းသည္ တည္ရွိျခင္း၏ ရွိရင္းစြဲအစိတ္အပိုင္း တစ္ခုျဖစ္သည္။ ထိုေဝဒနာခံစားရျခင္း၏ မူလသည္ မသိျခင္းျဖစ္ျပီး ထိုမသိျခင္း၏ အဓိက လကၡဏာမ်ားသည္ သံေယာဇဉ္တြယ္တာမႈနွင့္ မက္ေမာေတာင့္တျခင္းျဖစ္သည္။ ထိုသံေယာဇဉ္ တြယ္တာမႈနွင့္ မက္ေမာေတာင့္တျခင္းတို့သည္ ရပ္စဲနိုင္သည္၊ ျပီးေနာက္တြင္ ျမင့္ျမတ္ေသာ လမ္းေျကာင္းရွစ္ပါး ေနာက္သို့ လိုက္ပါျခင္းသည္ သံေယာဇဉ္တြယ္တာမႈနွင့္ မက္ေမာေတာင့္တျခင္းကို ရပ္စဲျခင္းဆီသို့ ဦးတည္လိမ့္မည္ျဖစ္ျပီး ေဝဒနာခံစားရျခင္းကိုပါ ရပ္စဲနိုင္မည္။ ျမင့္ျမတ္ေသာ လမ္းေျကာင္းရွစ္ပါး - မွန္ကန္ေသာ နားလည္ျခင္း၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အေတြးအေခၚ၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အေျပာအဆို၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အျပုအမူ၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အသက္ေမြးဝမ္းေျကာင္းမႈ၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အားထုတ္မႈ၊ မွန္ကန္ေသာ သတိရွိမႈနွင့္ မွန္ကန္ေသာ အာရံုစူးစိုက္မႈ။ မွီခိုအားထားေနရေသာ မူရင္းျဖစ္ျခင္း- မည္သည့္ ျဖစ္စဉ္မဆို 'တည္ရွိနိုင္' သည္မွာ အခ်ိန္ကာလ အတိတ္၊ ပစၥုပၸန္နွင့္ အနာဂတ္တို့ကို လွြမ္းျခံုထားသည့္ ရႈတ္ေထြးလွစြာေသာ အေျကာင္းနွင့္အက်ိုး ကြန္ရက္တစ္ခုအတြင္းရွိ အျခားေသာျဖစ္စဉ္မ်ား၏ တည္ရွိမႈေျကာင့္သာျဖစ္သည္။ အရာအားလံုးသည္ သို့ျဖစ္ပါ၍ ျပုျပင္ဖန္တီးခံရျပီး ယာယီသာျဖစ္သည္ (အနိစၥ)၊ ゞင္းတို့တြင္ စစ္မွန္ေသာ အမွီအခိုကင္းသည့္ ကိုယ္ပိုင္လကၡဏာမရွိပါ (အနတၱ)။ လက္ခံထားေသာ ပိဋကက်မ္းမ်ား၏ အမွားကင္းျခင္းကိုပယ္ခ်ျခင္း- အကယ္၍ အဆံုးအမမ်ားသည္ ကြ်နု္ပ္တို့၏အေတြ့အျကံုမ်ားမွေန၍ ေထာက္ခံျခင္းမရွိျခင္းနွင့္ ပညာရွိတို့၏ ခ်ီးက်ူးျခင္းမရွိပါက ゞင္းတို့ကို လက္မခံသင့္ပါ။ အေသးစိတ္အတြက္ Kalama Sutta (ကာလာမ သုတၱန္) ကိုျကည့္ပါ။
မာတိကာ
ကာလာမသုတ္
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခုကို တဆင့္ျကားရံုမွ်ျဖင့္ သို့တည္းမဟုတ္ သူတပါး ေဟာျကားသည္ကို ျကားရံုမွ်ျဖင့္ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း ေျပာသံျကားရံုနဲ့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ ေရွးရိုးစဉ္ဆက္စကားရယ္လို့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ အဲသလိုျဖစ္ဖူးသတဲ့လို့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ စာေပက်မ္းဂန္ထဲမွာပါတယ္လို့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ ကိုယ့္ဘာသာ ေတြးမိျကံမိတာေလာက္ကေလးနဲ့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ ကိုယ့္ခံယူထားခ်က္နဲ့ တူတယ္ဆိုရံုနဲ့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။ ကိုယ္ယံုျကည္ ရိုေသတဲ့သူရဲ့စကားဆိုျပီးေတာ့လည္း မယံုနဲ့။
ေနာက္ ကာလာမသားေတြကို ေလာဘ၊ ေဒါသ၊ ေမာဟ။ (တပ္မက္မႈ၊ အမ်က္ထြက္မႈ၊ မိုက္မဲေတြေဝမႈ) ဆက္ေဟာေလ၏။
ကာလာမသုတ္ အက်ယ္ဖြင့္ဆိုခ်က္
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခုကို တဆင့္ျကားရံုမွ်ျဖင့္ သို့တည္းမဟုတ္ သူတပါး ေဟာျကားသည္ကို ျကားရံုမွ်ျဖင့္ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပသည္ မိမိတို့၏ ဘိုးေဘးစဉ္ဆက္ ဆင္းသက္လာေသာ မိရိုးဖလာ အယူဝါဒျဖစ္သည္ဟူ၍လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍ လည္းေကာင္း မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပသည္ ဤအရာသည္ ဤသို့ျဖစ္သည္ ဟူေသာ ေကာလဟလျဖင့္လည္း သို့တည္းမဟုတ္ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို ယံုျကည္ကိုးကြယ္သူမ်ားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ မိမိတို့သင္ထားေသာ စာမ်ားနွင့္ ညီညြတ္ရံုမွ်ျဖင့္လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍ လည္းေကာင္း ၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ မိမိျကံစည္ထားေသာအျကံအစည္ အေတြးအေခၚနွင့္ ကိုက္ညီသည္ သိုတည္းမဟုတ္ မိမိ အယူဝါဒျခင္း တူသည္ ဟူ၍ လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပ သည္ သူတစ္ပါးတို့ လုပ္နည္းကိုင္နည္းကို သေဘာျက၍ သို့တည္းမဟုတ္ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို သူတပါးတို့ ကိုးကြယ္ယံုျကည္ သည္ ဟူ၍လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍ လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္းမဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပသည္ မိမိတို့ ယံုျကည္ထိုက္ေသာပုဂၢိုလ္၏ စကားျဖစ္သည္ဟု ပုဂၢိုလ္စြဲအားျဖင့္လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍ လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္း မဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခု၏ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပသည္ ငါတို့၏ ဆရာစကား ျဖစ္ရံုမွ်ျဖင့္လည္း ထိုအယူဝါဒကို မွန္သည္ ဟူ၍ လည္းေကာင္း၊ မွားသည္ ဟူ၍လည္းေကာင္းမဆံုးျဖတ္သင့္ေပ။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခုမွ လာေသာ အဆံုးအမ၊ လမ္းစဉ္ေတြသည္ ေကာင္းလည္းမေကာင္း၊ အျပစ္လည္းမကင္း၊ ပညာရွိတို့ ကဲ့ရဲ့စရာလည္းျဖစ္၏။ ထိုလမ္းစဉ္အတိုင္း က်င့္ျကံလွ်င္ (မိမိအားလည္းေကာင္း၊ သူတပါးအားလည္းေကာင္း၊ ေလာကအားလည္းေကာင္း) စီးပြားမဲ့ ဒုကၡေရာက္ဖို့ျဖစ္၏- ဟု ကိုယ္တိုင္ နားလည္လာေသာအခါမွသာ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို စြန့္လွြတ္သင့္ပါသည္။
အယူဝါဒတစ္ခုမွ လာေသာ အဆံုအမ၊ လမ္းစဉ္ေတြသည္ ေကာင္းလည္းေကာင္း၊ အျပစ္တို့ မွလည္းကင္း၊ ပညာရွိတို့ ခ်ီးမွြမ္းစရာလည္းျဖစ္၏။ ထိုလမ္းစဉ္အတိုင္း က်င့္ျကံလွ်င္ (မိမိအားလည္းေကာင္း၊ သူတပါးအားလည္းေကာင္း၊ ေလာကအားလည္းေကာင္း) ေကာင္းေသာအက်ိုးစီးပြားျဖစ္ဖို့သာရွိ၏- ဟု ကိုယ္တိုင္နားလည္လက္ခံ နိုင္ေသာအခါမွသာ ထိုအယူဝါဒကို စြဲျမဲစြာလက္ခံသင့္ပါသည္။
ထိုေဟာျကား ခ်က္မွာ အယူဝါဒတခု၏ အမွားအမွန္ကို ဆံုးျဖတ္ရာတြင္ တဆင့္ျကားမွ်ျဖင့္လည္း ဟုတ္ျပီ မွန္ျပီဟု လက္မခံသင့္၊ မိရိုးဖလာ အယူဝါဒျဖစ္၍လည္း လက္မခံသင့္၊ ဤအရာသည္ ဤသို့ျဖစ္သကဲ့ဟူေသာ ေကာလာဟာလျဖင့္လည္း လက္မခံသင့္၊ က်မ္းဂန္စာေပနွင့္ ညီညြတ္သည္ဆိုရံုနွင့္လည္း လက္မခံသင့္၊ မိမိတို့ ယံုျကည္ထိုက္ေသာ ပုဂၢိုလ္၏ စကားျဖစ္သည္ဟုဆိုကာ ပုဂၢိုလ္စြဲျဖင့္လည္း လက္မခံသင့္၊ မိမိတို့ ေလးစားေသာ ဆရာ၏ စကားျဖစ္သည္ဟုဆိုကာ ဆရာစြဲျဖင့္လည္း လက္မခံသင့္ဘဲ ေဝဖန္ဆန္းစစ္ကာ လက္ေတြ့လုပ္ျကည့္၍ အက်ိုးရွိသည့္ အယူဝါဒ ( ဝိဘဇၥဝါဒ) ကိုသာ လက္ခံရမည္ ဆိုသည့္အခ်က္ ျဖစ္သည္။
Anicca (အနိစၥ) - ထိုအရာအားလံုးသည္ အျမဲမတည္ရွိနိုင္ပါ။
Dukkha (ဒုကၡ) - ထိုသတၱဝါအားလံုးတို့သည္ မျပတ္သားေသာစိတ္ေျကာင့္ အေျခ အေနမ်ားအားလံုးမွ ဒုကၡခံစားရသည္။
Anatta (အနတၱ) - မေျပာင္းလဲေသာ "မိမိကိုယ္ကို" ဟူေသာအျမင္သည္ အေတြးမွားတစ္ခုသာ ျဖစ္သည္။
မည္သို့ပင္ဆိုေစကာမူ၊ အခ်ို့ေသာ မဟာယာနေက်ာင္းမ်ားတြင္ ထိုအခ်က္မ်ားကို အနည္း သို့မဟုတ္ အမ်ား အားျဖင့္ အကူအပံ့သေဘာမွ်သာျဖစ္ေျကာင္း သတ္မွတ္လာျပီျဖစ္သည္။ ဗုဒၶအဆံုးအမမ်ား၏ ပို၍နက္နဲေသာ ရႈေထာင့္မ်ားနွင့္ ရဟန္းေတာ္မ်ားအတြက္ အခ်ို့ေသာ စည္းကမ္းထိန္းသိမ္းေရးဆိုင္ရာဥပေဒမ်ား တို့ အေပၚတြင္ သေဘာမတူညီမႈအခ်ို့ကို မ်ားစြာေသာ ဗုဒၶဘာသာေက်ာင္းမ်ား အတြင္းတြင္ ေတြ့ရသည္။
အျမင့္ျမတ္ဆံုးေသာ၊ထိပ္ဆံုးကမၻာ့ဘာသာ
ကမၻာေပၚတြင္ရွိေသာ ဘာသာျကီး( ၄) ဘာသာတြင္ ဟိနၵူဘာသာသည္ အေစာဆံုးျဖစ္ေသာ္လည္း ေစာလြန္းလွသျဖင့္ သကၠရာဇ္ အတိအက် သိရန္ခက္လွသည္။ တည္ေထာင္သည့္ သကၠရာဇ္ အတိအက် ေဖာ္ျပနိုင္ေသာ က်န္ဘာသာျကီး ၃ ခု အနက္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာသည္ ဘီစီ ၅၈၈ တြင္ စတင္ေပၚေပါက္ခဲ့သျဖင့္ အေစာဆံုး ပထမ ကမၻာ့ဘာသာျဖစ္သည္။ ခရစ္ယာန္ဘာသာသည္ ေအဒီ ၃၀ တြင္ စတင္ေပၚေပါက္ခဲ့သျဖင့္ ဒုတိယေျမာက္ ကမၻာ့ဘာသာျဖစ္သည္။ အစၥလာမ္ဘာသာသည္ ေအဒီ ၆၃၀ ခန့္တြင္ စတင္ေပၚေပါက္ခဲ့သျဖင့္ တတိယေျမာက္ ကမၻာ့ဘာသာျဖစ္သည္။ ေဖာ္ျပပါ ကမၻာ့ဘာသာျကီး ၄ ခုတို့သည္ သူ့နည္း သူ့ဟန္နွင့္သူ လူသားမ်ားအတြက္ အက်ိုးရွိေသာ ဆံုးမဩဝါဒမ်ား ပါရွိျကသည္။
ဗုဒၶသည္ နာဗာန (ပါဠိ- နိဗၺာန္) တရားရႈမွတ္ျခင္း လမ္းေျကာင္းကို ေလွ်ာက္လမ္းမည့္ သတၱဝါမ်ားအတြက္ တစ္ဦးတည္းေသာ လမ္းညွြန္ေပးသူနွင့္ ဆရာသခင္ျဖစ္ျပီး ゞင္းတို့အား ဘာသာေရးဆိုင္ရာ နိုးျကားျခင္း ေဗာဓိကိုရရွိရန္နွင့္ အမွန္တရားနွင့္ လက္ေတြ့သဘာဝက်ျခင္းကို ရွိသည့္အတိုင္း ေတြ့ျမင္ရန္အတြက္ ညွြန္ျပေပးသည္။ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ စံနစ္ျဖစ္သည့္ ထိုးထြင္းသိျမင္စြမ္းေသာဉာဏ္နွင့္ တရားထိုင္ျခင္းက်င့္စဉ္သည္ စိတ္ျဖင့္အာရံုခံ၍ ယံုျကည္ရန္ေဖာ္ျပျခင္း မျပုနိင္ပါ။ သို့ေသာ္၊ စိတ္၏ စစ္မွန္ေသာသဘာဝကို နားလည္ျခင္းျဖင့္သာ ေဖာ္ျပနိုင္သည္။ ゞင္းအရာကို ဗုဒၶ၏အဆံုးအမမ်ားျဖင့္ လမ္းညွြန္ျပသထားေသာ ဘာသာေရးဆိုင္ရာ လမ္းေျကာင္းကို ေလွ်ာက္လမ္းျခင္းျဖင့္ ကိုယ္တိုင္ကိုယ္က် ရွာေဖြေတြ့ရွိနိုင္သည္။ တစ္နည္းတစ္ဖံု ေျပာရလွ်င္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာတြင္ တစ္ခုေနာက္တစ္ခုလိုက္ပါေနသည့္ စိတ္ကို ျပုစုပ်ိုးေထာင္ျခင္း ၊ က်င့္ဝတ္မ်ားကိုတိုးတက္ေကာင္းမြန္ေအာင္ ေစာင့္ထိန္းျခင္းနွင့္ ဉာဏ္ပညာျကီးမားျခင္းတို့ သည္ အျမင့္ဆံုးပန္းတိုင္ေရာက္ရွိရန္အတြက္ အလိုအပ္ဆံုးလည္းျဖစ္သည္။ ဗုဒၶျမတ္စြာဘုရား ေဟာျပသည့္ဓမၼအတိုင္း လက္ေတြ့လိုက္နာ က်င့္သံုးသူမ်ားကို ဗုဒၶဘာသာဝင္လို့ေခၚဆိုပါသည္၊ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ သည္ ကမၻာေပၚတြင္ လူဦးေရ (သန္း ၆၉၀ဝ) ေက်ာ္ ရွိသည့္ အနက္ ဗုဒၶဘာသာသည္ ကမၻာ့လူဦးေရ (သန္းေပါင္း ၂၀ဝ - ၃၀ဝ ) ခန့္အထိ ကိုးကြယ္ယံုျကည္ေသာ ဘာသာတရား နွင့္ အယူဝါဒျဖစ္သည္။ ဟိနၵူဘာသာဝင္ ၁,ဝ၈၃,၈၀ဝ,၃၅၆ (သန္း ၁၀ဝ၀ ေက်ာ္) တို့ကလည္း ေဂါတမဗုဒၶျမတ္စြာဘုရား ကို ျကည္ညို ေလးစားျကသည္။(In Hindu world is signed Lord Buddha as ninth avatar of Supreme God Vishnu and Hindu accept teachings of Buddha, but do not directly worship him. )[၂၈] ဟိနၵူဘာသာ စေသာ အျခားေသာ ဘာသာအယူဝါဒမ်ား၊ ဖန္ဆင္းရွင္ ဘုရားသခင္(God) တည္ရွိမႈကို အယံုအျကည္ မရွိသူ ဘာသာမဲ့ (free-thinkers/ Atheists/Anti-theist/no religion person) မ်ားကပင္ ေဂါတမဗုဒၶ ကို တနည္းမဟုတ္တနည္းျဖင့္ ျကည္ညို ေလးစားျကသည္။ [၂၉][၃၀] ေထရဝါဒဗုဒၶဘာသာသည္ ကမၻာေပၚတြင္နာမည္အေက်ာ္ျကားဆံုး လူသိအမ်ားဆံုး(most popular religion)- ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းမႈ အရွိဆံုး(most peaceful religion) ဘာသာ ျဖစ္သည္။ ဗုဒၶဘာသာ ၏ ေမတၱာ-ကရုဏာ (Loving-kindness) ၊ သီလ၊သမာဓိ၊ပညာ နွင့္ သည္းခံျခင္း(Tolerance) သည္ ကမၻာေပၚတြင္အလြန္ေက်ာ္ျကားလွသည္။
Ref:https://my.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ဗုဒ္ဓ
Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha 
A statue of the Buddha from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 4th century CE
Religion Buddhism Known for Founder of Buddhism Other names Siddhartha Gautama, Siddhattha Gotama, Shakyamuni Personal Born c. 563 BCE or c. 480 BCE[1][2]
Lumbini, Shakya Republic(according to Buddhist tradition)[note 1] Died c. 483 BCE or c. 400 BCE (aged 80)
Kushinagar, Malla Republic(according to Buddhist tradition)[note 2] Spouse Yasodharā Children
Parents
- Śuddhodana (father)
- Maya Devi (mother)
Senior posting Predecessor Kassapa Buddha Successor Maitreya
Part of a series on Buddhism 
Gautama Buddha (c. 563 BCE/480 BCE – c. 483 BCE/400 BCE), also known as Siddhārtha Gautama[sid̪ːʱɑːrt̪ʰə gəut̪əmə], Shakyamuni Buddha [ɕɑːkjəmun̪i bud̪ːʱə],[4] or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic (śramaṇa) and sage,[4] on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.[5] He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.[6][note 3]
Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇamovement[7] common in his region. He later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.[6][8]
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as an enlightened teacher who attained full Buddhahood, and shared his insights to help sentient beings end rebirth and suffering. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
| Gautama Buddha | |
|---|---|
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A statue of the Buddha from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 4th century CE
| |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Known for | Founder of Buddhism |
| Other names | Siddhartha Gautama, Siddhattha Gotama, Shakyamuni |
| Personal | |
| Born | c. 563 BCE or c. 480 BCE[1][2] Lumbini, Shakya Republic(according to Buddhist tradition)[note 1] |
| Died | c. 483 BCE or c. 400 BCE (aged 80) Kushinagar, Malla Republic(according to Buddhist tradition)[note 2] |
| Spouse | Yasodharā |
| Children | |
| Parents |
|
| Senior posting | |
| Predecessor | Kassapa Buddha |
| Successor | Maitreya |
| Part of a series on |
| Buddhism |
|---|
|
Gautama Buddha (c. 563 BCE/480 BCE – c. 483 BCE/400 BCE), also known as Siddhārtha Gautama[sid̪ːʱɑːrt̪ʰə gəut̪əmə], Shakyamuni Buddha [ɕɑːkjəmun̪i bud̪ːʱə],[4] or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic (śramaṇa) and sage,[4] on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.[5] He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.[6][note 3]
Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇamovement[7] common in his region. He later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.[6][8]
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as an enlightened teacher who attained full Buddhahood, and shared his insights to help sentient beings end rebirth and suffering. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.
Contents
Historical Siddhārtha Gautama
Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE, or c. 400 BCE),[9][10][11] the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatasatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara.[12][13] Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential Śramaṇa schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana.[14] Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira (referred to as 'Nigantha Nataputta' in Pali Canon),[15] Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, as recorded in Samaññaphala Sutta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with.[16][17][note 4] Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic;[19] and the Pali canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought. There is also philological evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques.[20] Thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time.[21] In an era where holiness of person was judged by their level of asceticism,[22]Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism.[23] While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted,[24][page needed] there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.[25][26]
The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE.[1][27] More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988,[28][29][30] the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.[1][31][note 3]These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.[35][36][note 5]
The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[41] It was either a small republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain, or oligarch.[41] According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilvastu, which may have been either in what is present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India.[note 1] He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.
No written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhammatexts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon.[58][59] [note 7] The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.[60]
On the basis of philological evidence, Indologist and Pali expert Oskar von Hinüber says that some of the Pali suttas have retained very archaic place-names, syntax, and historical data from close to the Buddha's lifetime, including the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta which contains a detailed account of the Buddha's final days. Hinüber proposes a composition date of no later than 350–320 BCE for this text, which would allow for a "true historical memory" of the events approximately 60 years prior if the Short Chronology for the Buddha's lifetime is accepted (but also reminds that such a text was originally intended more as hagiography than as an exact historical record of events).[61][62]
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Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught, and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE, or c. 400 BCE),[9][10][11] the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatasatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara.[12][13] Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential Śramaṇa schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana.[14] Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira (referred to as 'Nigantha Nataputta' in Pali Canon),[15] Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, as recorded in Samaññaphala Sutta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with.[16][17][note 4] Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic;[19] and the Pali canon frequently depicts Buddha engaging in debate with the adherents of rival schools of thought. There is also philological evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques.[20] Thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time.[21] In an era where holiness of person was judged by their level of asceticism,[22]Buddha was a reformist within the śramaṇa movement, rather than a reactionary against Vedic Brahminism.[23] While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted,[24][page needed] there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.[25][26]
The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE.[1][27] More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988,[28][29][30] the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death.[1][31][note 3]These alternative chronologies, however, have not been accepted by all historians.[35][36][note 5]
The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE.[41] It was either a small republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain, or oligarch.[41] According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilvastu, which may have been either in what is present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India.[note 1] He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.
No written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhammatexts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon.[58][59] [note 7] The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.[60]
On the basis of philological evidence, Indologist and Pali expert Oskar von Hinüber says that some of the Pali suttas have retained very archaic place-names, syntax, and historical data from close to the Buddha's lifetime, including the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta which contains a detailed account of the Buddha's final days. Hinüber proposes a composition date of no later than 350–320 BCE for this text, which would allow for a "true historical memory" of the events approximately 60 years prior if the Short Chronology for the Buddha's lifetime is accepted (but also reminds that such a text was originally intended more as hagiography than as an exact historical record of events).[61][62]
Traditional biographies
Biographical sources
The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā.[63] Of these, the Buddhacarita[64][65][66] is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE.[67] The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.[68] The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.[68] The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra,[69] and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.[70]
From canonical sources come the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123), which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts.[71] The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.
The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā.[63] Of these, the Buddhacarita[64][65][66] is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE.[67] The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE.[68] The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.[68] The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra,[69] and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.[70]
From canonical sources come the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123), which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts.[71] The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.
Nature of traditional depictions
In the earliest Buddhist texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience(sabbaññu)[72] nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu.[72] In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing [73] while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā).[74] The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher.[75]
Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".[76] Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.
Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:
The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist.[78] British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure.[79] Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.[24]
In the earliest Buddhist texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience(sabbaññu)[72] nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu.[72] In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing [73] while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā).[74] The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher.[75]
Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".[76] Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.
Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:
The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist.[78] British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure.[79] Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.[24]
Biography
Conception and birth
The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha.[81][note 1] He grew up in Kapilavastu.[note 1] The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown.[82] It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India,[53] or Tilaurakot, in present-day Nepal.[83] Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart.[83]
Gautama was born as a Kshatriya,[84][note 9] the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan",[6]whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side,[86][87] and ten months later[88] Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[89] Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu.[90] By traditional account,[which?] this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[90] Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[91]
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.[92] The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.[93] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.[94]
Birth and childhood of the Buddha
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The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha.[81][note 1] He grew up in Kapilavastu.[note 1] The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown.[82] It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India,[53] or Tilaurakot, in present-day Nepal.[83] Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart.[83]
Gautama was born as a Kshatriya,[84][note 9] the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan",[6]whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side,[86][87] and ten months later[88] Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.
The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak.[89] Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu.[90] By traditional account,[which?] this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.[90] Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.[91]
While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.
Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition.[92] The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic.[93] The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.[94]
| Birth and childhood of the Buddha |
Early life and marriage
Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[95] By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. His father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering. While Śuddhodana has traditionally been depicted as a king, and Siddhartha as his prince, more recent scholarship suggests the Shakya were in-fact organized as a semi-republican oligarchy rather than a monarchy.[96]
When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account,[which?] she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.[95]
Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.[95] By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. His father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering. While Śuddhodana has traditionally been depicted as a king, and Siddhartha as his prince, more recent scholarship suggests the Shakya were in-fact organized as a semi-republican oligarchy rather than a monarchy.[96]
When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account,[which?] she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.[95]
Renunciation and ascetic life
At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.[97]
Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"[98] to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.
Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation.[99][100][101] After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra).[102] With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.[103]
At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.[97]
Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods"[98] to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.
Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.
He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation.[99][100][101] After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra).[102] With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.[103]
Awakening
According to the early Buddhist texts,[104] after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists know as being, the Middle Way[104]—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which is regarded as the first discourse of the Buddha.[104] In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.[105] Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.[105]
Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree—now known as the Bodhi tree—in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth.[106] Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, ceased to stay with him, and went to somewhere else. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment,[106][107] and became known as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").
According to some sutras of the Pali canon, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, suffering and dying again.[108][109][110] According to scholars, this story of the awakening and the stress on "liberating insight" is a later development in the Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha may have regarded the practice of dhyana as leading to Nirvana and moksha.[111][112][108][note 10]
Nirvana is the extinguishing of the "fires" of desire, hatred, and ignorance, that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going.[113] Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain.[citation needed] In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.[citation needed]
According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) — a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampaticonvinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.
According to the early Buddhist texts,[104] after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists know as being, the Middle Way[104]—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which is regarded as the first discourse of the Buddha.[104] In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.[105] Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.[105]
Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree—now known as the Bodhi tree—in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth.[106] Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, ceased to stay with him, and went to somewhere else. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment,[106][107] and became known as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").
According to some sutras of the Pali canon, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining liberation from samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, suffering and dying again.[108][109][110] According to scholars, this story of the awakening and the stress on "liberating insight" is a later development in the Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha may have regarded the practice of dhyana as leading to Nirvana and moksha.[111][112][108][note 10]
Nirvana is the extinguishing of the "fires" of desire, hatred, and ignorance, that keep the cycle of suffering and rebirth going.[113] Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain.[citation needed] In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.[citation needed]
According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) — a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampaticonvinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.
Formation of the sangha
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After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan — who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.
He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.
All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty-four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.
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After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan — who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.
He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.
All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty-four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.
Travels and teaching
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For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka.[114] Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.
The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vassa rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayanawere converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha.
Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.
Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:
The Buddha is said to have replied:
Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.
Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.
The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.
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For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka.[114] Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.
The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vassa rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayanawere converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha.
Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.
Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:
The Buddha is said to have replied:
Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.
Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.
The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.
Mahaparinirvana
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[115] Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[116][117]
The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.
Waley suggests that Theravadins would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate literally as pig-soft, to mean "soft flesh of a pig" or "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical", as there are several plants known to have suukara- (pig) as part of their names,[note 11]and as Pali Buddhism developed in an area remote from the Buddha's death, suukaramaddava could easily have been a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in Pali regions. Specifically, local writers writing soon after the Buddha's death knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and hundreds of kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware that it may have been a local plant name and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.[118]
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha died at Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India), which became a pilgrimage center.[119] Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king and the appropriate place for him to die.[120]
The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had and cleared them all in a way which others could not do. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, the Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE.[121] whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.[122]
At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana nirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira,[123] Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.[115] Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning.[116][117]
The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.
Waley suggests that Theravadins would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate literally as pig-soft, to mean "soft flesh of a pig" or "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical", as there are several plants known to have suukara- (pig) as part of their names,[note 11]and as Pali Buddhism developed in an area remote from the Buddha's death, suukaramaddava could easily have been a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in Pali regions. Specifically, local writers writing soon after the Buddha's death knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and hundreds of kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware that it may have been a local plant name and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.[118]
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha died at Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India), which became a pilgrimage center.[119] Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king and the appropriate place for him to die.[120]
The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had and cleared them all in a way which others could not do. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, the Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.
According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE.[121] whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.[122]
At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.
While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana nirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira,[123] Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.
Relics
After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas.[124][125] Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.
After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas.[124][125] Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.
Physical characteristics
An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry.[citation needed] He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general.[citation needed] He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.
Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142).[127] In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").[128]
An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry.[citation needed] He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general.[citation needed] He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".
The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)
"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)
A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.
Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142).[127] In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").[128]
Nine virtues
Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka,[130] and include:
- Buddho – Awakened
- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.
- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.
- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one
- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."
Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka,[130] and include:
- Buddho – Awakened
- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.
- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.
- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one
- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."
Teachings
Use of Brahmanical motifs
In the Pali Canon, the Buddha uses many Brahmanical devices. For example, in Samyutta Nikaya 111, Majjhima Nikaya 92 and Vinaya i 246 of the Pali Canon, the Buddha praises the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Gayatri mantra as the foremost meter:
In the Pali Canon, the Buddha uses many Brahmanical devices. For example, in Samyutta Nikaya 111, Majjhima Nikaya 92 and Vinaya i 246 of the Pali Canon, the Buddha praises the Agnihotra as the foremost sacrifice and the Gayatri mantra as the foremost meter:
Tracing the oldest teachings
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Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts.[note 12] The reliability of these sources, and the possibility of drawing out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute.[134][135][136][137] According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.[132][note 13]
According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:[140]
- "Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"[note 14][note 15], from the oldest extant texts a common kernel can be drawn out.[141] According to Warder, c.q. his publisher: "This kernel of doctrine is presumably common Buddhism of the period before the great schisms of the fourth and third centuries BC. It may be substantially the Buddhism of the Buddha himself, although this cannot be proved: at any rate it is a Buddhism presupposed by the schools as existing about a hundred years after the parinirvana of the Buddha, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers".[141] and Richard Gombrich. [142] Richard Gombrich: "I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By "the main edifice" I mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and of the main body of monastic rules."[137]
- "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"[note 16][note 17]
- "Cautious optimism in this respect."[note 18]
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Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts.[note 12] The reliability of these sources, and the possibility of drawing out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute.[134][135][136][137] According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.[132][note 13]
According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:[140]
- "Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"[note 14][note 15], from the oldest extant texts a common kernel can be drawn out.[141] According to Warder, c.q. his publisher: "This kernel of doctrine is presumably common Buddhism of the period before the great schisms of the fourth and third centuries BC. It may be substantially the Buddhism of the Buddha himself, although this cannot be proved: at any rate it is a Buddhism presupposed by the schools as existing about a hundred years after the parinirvana of the Buddha, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was formulated by anyone else than the Buddha and his immediate followers".[141] and Richard Gombrich. [142] Richard Gombrich: "I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By "the main edifice" I mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and of the main body of monastic rules."[137]
- "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"[note 16][note 17]
- "Cautious optimism in this respect."[note 18]
Dhyana and insight
A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight.[135][134][137]Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[138][134][135]
A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight.[135][134][137]Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[138][134][135]
Earliest Buddhism
According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna,[146] as a workable alternative to painful ascetic practices.[147][note 19] Bronkhorst agrees that Dhyāna was a Buddhist invention,[134][page needed] whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices."[149] Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.[150][151]
According to the Mahāsaccakasutta,[note 20] from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to.[149][134][page needed] According to Schmithausen and Bronkhorst, "liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism.[138][134][page needed] The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:[152]
Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.[153][note 21]
According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way".[154] In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.[154]
According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas[112][108][page needed] in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas.[155] According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight".[156] Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."[155]
The three marks of existence[note 22] may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.[157]
The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term;[158] but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.[134]
According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna,[146] as a workable alternative to painful ascetic practices.[147][note 19] Bronkhorst agrees that Dhyāna was a Buddhist invention,[134][page needed] whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices."[149] Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.[150][151]
According to the Mahāsaccakasutta,[note 20] from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to.[149][134][page needed] According to Schmithausen and Bronkhorst, "liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism.[138][134][page needed] The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:[152]
Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.[153][note 21]
According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way".[154] In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.[154]
According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas[112][108][page needed] in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas.[155] According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight".[156] Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."[155]
The three marks of existence[note 22] may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.[157]
The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term;[158] but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.[134]
Later developments
In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":[135][134]
- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;
- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;
- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.
In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":[135][134]
- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;
- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;
- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.
Other religions
Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu.[note 8][159] However, Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and the concepts of Brahman-Atman.[160][161][162] Consequently Buddhism is generally classified as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so"[note 23]) in contrast to the six orthodox schools of Hinduism.[165][166][167]
The Buddha is regarded as a prophet by the minority Ahmadiyya[168] sect of Muslims – a sect considered a deviant and rejected as apostate by mainstream Islam.[169][170] Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Laozi.[171]
Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher.[172] His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.[173]
The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph.[174]The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha.[175] Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).
In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism, the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.[176]
In Sikhism, Buddha is mentioned as the 23rd avatar of Vishnu in the Chaubis Avtar, a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.[177]
Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu.[note 8][159] However, Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and the concepts of Brahman-Atman.[160][161][162] Consequently Buddhism is generally classified as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so"[note 23]) in contrast to the six orthodox schools of Hinduism.[165][166][167]
The Buddha is regarded as a prophet by the minority Ahmadiyya[168] sect of Muslims – a sect considered a deviant and rejected as apostate by mainstream Islam.[169][170] Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Laozi.[171]
Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher.[172] His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.[173]
The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph.[174]The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha.[175] Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).
In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism, the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.[176]
In Sikhism, Buddha is mentioned as the 23rd avatar of Vishnu in the Chaubis Avtar, a composition in Dasam Granth traditionally and historically attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.[177]
Depiction in arts and media
- Films
- Little Buddha, a 1994 film by Bernardo Bertolucci
- Prem Sanyas, a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai
- Television
- Buddha, a 2013 mythological drama on Zee TV
- Literature
- The Light of Asia, an 1879 epic poem by Edwin Arnold
- Buddha, a manga series that ran from 1972 to 1983 by Osamu Tezuka
- Siddhartha novel by Hermann Hesse, written in German in 1922
- Lord of Light, a novel by Roger Zelazny depicts a man in a far future Earth Colony who takes on the name and teachings of the Buddha
- Creation (novel), a 1981 novel by Gore Vidal, includes the Buddha as one of the religious figures that the main character encounters
- Music
- Karuna Nadee, a 2010 oratorio by Dinesh Subasinghe
- The Light of Asia, an 1886 oratorio by Dudley Buck
- Films
- Little Buddha, a 1994 film by Bernardo Bertolucci
- Prem Sanyas, a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai
- Television
- Buddha, a 2013 mythological drama on Zee TV
- Literature
- The Light of Asia, an 1879 epic poem by Edwin Arnold
- Buddha, a manga series that ran from 1972 to 1983 by Osamu Tezuka
- Siddhartha novel by Hermann Hesse, written in German in 1922
- Lord of Light, a novel by Roger Zelazny depicts a man in a far future Earth Colony who takes on the name and teachings of the Buddha
- Creation (novel), a 1981 novel by Gore Vidal, includes the Buddha as one of the religious figures that the main character encounters
- Music
- Karuna Nadee, a 2010 oratorio by Dinesh Subasinghe
- The Light of Asia, an 1886 oratorio by Dudley Buck
See also
History of Buddhism
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The history of Buddhism spans from the 5th century BCE to the present; which arose in the eastern part of Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama. This makes it one of the oldest religions practiced today. The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent through Central, East, and Southeast Asia. At one time or another, it influenced most of the Asian continent. The history of Buddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements, schisms, and schools, among them the Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna traditions, with contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.
Contents
[hide]- 1Life of the Buddha
- 2Early Buddhism
- 3Aśokan proselytism (c. 261 BC)
- 4Rise of the Shunga (2nd–1st century BC)
- 5Greco-Buddhist interaction (2nd century BC–1st century AD)
- 6Rise of Mahāyāna (1st century BC–2nd century AD)
- 7Mahāyāna expansion (AD 1st–10th century)
- 8Emergence of the Vajrayāna (5th century)
- 9Theravāda Renaissance (starting in the 11th century)
- 10Expansion of Buddhism to the West
- 11See also
- 12Notes
- 13References
Life of the Buddha[edit]
Siddhārtha Gautama was the historical founder of Buddhism. He was born a Kshatriya warrior prince in Lumbini, Shakya Republic, which was part of the Kosala realm of ancient India, now in modern-day Nepal.[1]He is also known as the Shakyamuni (literally: "The sage of the Shakya clan").
After an early life of luxury under the protection of his father, Śuddhodhana, the ruler of Kapilavasthu which later became incorporated into the state of Magadha, Siddhartha entered into contact with the realities of the world and concluded that life was inescapably bound up with suffering and sorrow. Siddhartha renounced his meaningless life of luxury to become an ascetic. He ultimately decided that asceticism couldn't end suffering, and instead chose a middle way, a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Under a fig tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, he vowed never to leave the position until he found Truth. At the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment. He was then known as Gautama Buddha, or simply "The Buddha", which means "the enlightened one", or "the awakened one".
For the remaining 45 years of his life, he traveled the Gangetic Plain of central India (the region of the Ganges/Ganga river and its tributaries), teaching his doctrine and discipline to a diverse range of people. By the time of his death, he had thousands of followers.
The Buddha's reluctance to name a successor or to formalise his doctrine led to the emergence of many movements during the next 400 years: first the schools of Nikaya Buddhism, of which only Theravada remains today, and then the formation of Mahayana and Vajrayana, pan-Buddhist sects based on the acceptance of new scriptures and the revision of older techniques.
Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyan-s or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India.[2][3] Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez asserts they also used the term Bauddha,[4] although scholar Richard Cohen asserts that that term was used only by outsiders to describe Buddhists.[5]
Early Buddhism[edit]
Early Buddhism remained centered on the Ganges valley, spreading gradually from its ancient heartland. The canonical sources record two councils, where the monastic Sangha established the textual collections based on the Buddha's teachings and settled certain disciplinary problems within the community.
1st Buddhist council (5th century BC)[edit]
The first Buddhist council was held just after Buddha's Parinirvana, and presided over by Gupta Mahākāśyapa, one of His most senior disciples, at Rājagṛha (today's Rajgir) during the 5th century under the noble support of king Ajāthaśatru. The objective of the council was to record all of Buddha's teachings into the doctrinal teachings (sutra) and Abhidhamma and to codify the monastic rules (vinaya). Ānanda, one of the Buddha's main disciples and his cousin, was called upon to recite the discourses and Abhidhamma of the Buddha, and Upali, another disciple, recited the rules of the vinaya. These became the basis of the Tripiṭaka (Three Baskets), which is preserved only in Pāli.
Actual record on the first Buddhist Council did not mention the existence of the Abhidhamma. It existed only after the second Council.
2nd Buddhist council (4th century BC)[edit]
The second Buddhist council was held at Vaisali following a dispute that had arisen in the Saṅgha over a relaxation by some monks of various points of discipline. Eventually it was decided to hold a second council at which the original Vinaya texts that had been preserved at the first Council were cited to show that these relaxations went against the recorded teachings of the Buddha.
Aśokan proselytism (c. 261 BC)[edit]
The Mauryan Emperor Aśoka (273–232 BC) converted to Buddhism after his bloody conquest of the territory of Kalinga (modern Odisha) in eastern India during the Kalinga War. Regretting the horrors and misery brought about by the conflict, the king magnanimously decided to renounce violence, to replace the misery caused by war with respect and dignity for all humanity. He propagated the faith by building stupas and pillars urging, amongst other things, respect of all animal life and enjoining people to follow the Dharma. Perhaps the finest example of these is the Great Stupa of Sanchi, (near Bhopal, India). It was constructed in the 3rd century BC and later enlarged. Its carved gates, called toranas, are considered among the finest examples of Buddhist art in India. He also built roads, hospitals, resthouses, universities and irrigation systems around the country. He treated his subjects as equals regardless of their religion, politics or caste.
This period marks the first spread of Buddhism beyond India to other countries. According to the plates and pillars left by Aśoka (the edicts of Aśoka), emissaries were sent to various countries in order to spread Buddhism, as far south as Sri Lanka and as far west as the Greek kingdoms, in particular the neighboring Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and possibly even farther to the Mediterranean.
3rd Buddhist council (c. 250 BC)[edit]
King Aśoka convened the third Buddhist council around 250 BC at Pataliputra (today's Patna). It was held by the monk Moggaliputtatissa. The objective of the council was to purify the Saṅgha, particularly from non-Buddhist ascetics who had been attracted by the royal patronage. Following the council, Buddhist missionaries were dispatched throughout the known world.
Hellenistic world[edit]
Some of the edicts of Aśoka describe the efforts made by him to propagate the Buddhist faith throughout the Hellenistic world, which at that time formed an uninterrupted continuum from the borders of India to Greece. The edicts indicate a clear understanding of the political organization in Hellenistic territories: the names and locations of the main Greek monarchs of the time are identified, and they are claimed as recipients of Buddhist proselytism: Antiochus II Theos of the Seleucid Kingdom (261–246 BC), Ptolemy II Philadelphos of Egypt (285–247 BC), Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia (276–239 BC), Magas (288–258 BC) in Cyrenaica (modern Libya), and Alexander II (272–255 BC) in Epirus (modern Northwestern Greece).
- "The conquest by Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas (5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni (Sri Lanka)." (Edicts of Aśoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).
Furthermore, according to Pāli sources, some of Aśoka's emissaries were Greek Buddhist monks, indicating close religious exchanges between the two cultures:
- "When the thera (elder) Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror (Aśoka), had brought the (third) council to an end (...) he sent forth theras, one here and one there: (...) and to Aparantaka (the "Western countries" corresponding to Gujarat and Sindh) he sent the Greek (Yona) named Dhammarakkhita". (Mahavamsa XII).
Aśoka also issued edicts in the Greek language as well as in Aramaic. One of them, found in Kandahar, advocates the adoption of "piety" (using the Greek term eusebeia for Dharma) to the Greek community:
- "Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Aśoka) made known (the doctrine of) piety (Greek:εὐσέβεια, eusebeia) to men; and from this moment he has made men more pious, and everything thrives throughout the whole world."
- (Trans. from the Greek original by G.P. Carratelli[6])
It is not clear how much these interactions may have been influential, but some authors[citation needed] have commented that some level of syncretism between Hellenist thought and Buddhism may have started in Hellenic lands at that time. They have pointed to the presence of Buddhist communities in the Hellenistic world around that period, in particular in Alexandria (mentioned by Clement of Alexandria), and to the pre-Christian monastic order of the Therapeutae (possibly a deformation of the Pāli word "Theravāda"[7]), who may have "almost entirely drawn (its) inspiration from the teaching and practices of Buddhist asceticism"[8] and may even have been descendants of Aśoka's emissaries to the West.[9] The philosopher Hegesias of Cyrene, from the city of Cyrene where Magas of Cyrene ruled, is sometimes thought to have been influenced by the teachings of Aśoka's Buddhist missionaries.[10]
Buddhist gravestones from the Ptolemaic period have also been found in Alexandria, decorated with depictions of the Dharma wheel.[11] The presence of Buddhists in Alexandria has even drawn the conclusion: "It was later in this very place that some of the most active centers of Christianity were established".[12]
In the 2nd century AD, the Christian dogmatist, Clement of Alexandria recognized Bactrian Buddhists (śramanas) and Indian gymnosophists for their influence on Greek thought:
- "Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the śramanas among the Bactrians ("Σαρμαναίοι Βάκτρων"); and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called śramanas ("Σαρμάναι"), and others Brahmins ("Βραφμαναι")." Clement of Alexandria "The Stromata, or Miscellanies" Book I, Chapter XV[13]
Expansion to Sri Lanka and Burma[edit]
Sri Lanka was proselytized by Aśoka's son Mahinda and six companions during the 2nd century BC. They converted the King Devanampiya Tissa and many of the nobility. In addition, Aśoka's daughter, Saṅghamitta also established the bhikkhunī (order for nuns) in Sri Lanka, also bringing with her a sapling of the sacred bodhi tree that was subsequently planted in Anuradhapura. This is when the Mahāvihāra monastery, a center of Sinhalese orthodoxy, was built. The Pāli canon was written down in Sri Lanka during the reign of king Vattagamani (29–17 BC), and the Theravāda tradition flourished there. Later some great commentators worked there, such as Buddhaghoṣa (4th–5th century) and Dhammapāla (5th–6th century), and they systemised the traditional commentaries that had been handed down. Although Mahāyāna Buddhism gained some influence in Sri Lanka at that time, the Theravāda ultimately prevailed and Sri Lanka turned out to be the last stronghold of it. From there it would expand again to South-East Asia from the 11th century.
In the areas east of the Indian subcontinent (modern Burma and Thailand), Indian culture strongly influenced the Mons. The Mons are said to have been converted to Buddhism from the 3rd century BC under the proselytizing of the Indian Emperor Aśoka, before the fission between Mahāyāna and Hinayāna Buddhism. Early Mon[citation needed] Buddhist temples, such as Peikthano in central Burma, have been dated to between the 1st and the 5th century CE.
The Buddhist art of the Mons was especially influenced by the Indian art of the Gupta and post-Gupta periods, and their mannerist style spread widely in South-East Asia following the expansion of the Mon kingdom between the 5th and 8th centuries. The Theravāda faith expanded in the northern parts of Southeast Asia under Mon influence, until it was progressively displaced by Mahāyāna Buddhism from around the 6th century AD.
According to the Aśokāvadāna (2nd century AD), Aśoka sent a missionary to the north, through the Himalayas, to Khotan in the Tarim Basin, then the land of the Tocharians, speakers of an Indo-European language.
Rise of the Shunga (2nd–1st century BC)[edit]
The Shunga dynasty (185–73 BC) was established in 185 BC, about 50 years after Aśoka's death. After assassinating King Brhadrata (last of the Mauryan rulers), military commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Shunga took the throne. Buddhist religious scriptures such as the Aśokāvadāna allege that Pushyamitra (an orthodox Brahmin) was hostile towards Buddhists and persecuted the Buddhist faith. Buddhists wrote that he "destroyed hundreds of monasteries and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Monks":[14] 840,000 Buddhist stupas which had been built by Aśoka were destroyed, and 100 gold coins were offered for the head of each Buddhist monk.[15] In addition, Buddhist sources allege that a large number of Buddhist monasteries (vihāras) were converted to Hindu temples, in places like, but not limited to, Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, and Mathura, among many others.
Modern historians, however, dispute this view in the light of literary and archaeological evidence. They opine that following Aśoka's sponsorship of Buddhism, it is possible that Buddhist institutions fell on harder times under the Shungas, but no evidence of active persecution has been noted. Etienne Lamotte observes: "To judge from the documents, Pushyamitra must be acquitted through lack of proof."[16] Another eminent historian, Romila Thaparpoints to archaeological evidence that "suggests the contrary" to the claim that "Pushyamitra was a fanatical anti-Buddhist" and that he "never actually destroyed 840,000 stupas as claimed by Buddhist works, if any". Thapar stresses that Buddhist accounts are probably hyperbolic renditions of Pushyamitra's attack of the Mauryas, and merely reflect the desperate frustration of the Buddhist religious figures in the face of the possibly irreversible decline in the importance of their religion under the Shungas.[17]
During the period, Buddhist monks deserted the Ganges valley, following either the northern road (uttarapatha) or the southern road (dakṣinapatha).[18]Conversely, Buddhist artistic creation stopped in the old Magadha area, to reposition itself either in the northwest area of Gandhāra and Mathura or in the southeast around Amaravati. Some artistic activity also occurred in central India, as in Bhārhut, to which the Shungas may or may not have contributed.
Greco-Buddhist interaction (2nd century BC–1st century AD)[edit]
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At the start of the Silk Road in the crossroads between India and China (modern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Tajikistan) Greek kingdoms had been in place since the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great around 326 BC and continued for over 300 years: first the Seleucids from around 323 BC, then the Greco-Bactrian kingdom from around 250 BC and finally the Indo-Greek Kingdom, lasting until 10 CE.
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The Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I invaded the Indian Subcontinent in 180 BC, establishing an Indo-Greek kingdom that was to last in parts of Northwest South Asia until the end of the 1st century CE. Buddhism flourished under the Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kings, and it has been suggested that their invasion of India was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire and to protect the Buddhist faith from the alleged religious persecutions of the Shungas (185–73 BC).
One of the most famous Indo-Greek kings is Menander (reigned c. 160–135 BC). He converted to Buddhism and is presented in the Mahāyāna tradition as one of the great benefactors of the faith, on a par with king Aśoka or the later Kushan king Kaniśka. Menander's coins bear the mention of the "saviour king" in Greek; some bear designs of the eight-spoked wheel. Direct cultural exchange is also suggested by the dialogue of the Milinda Pañha around 160 BC between Menander and the Buddhist monk Nāgasena, who was himself a student of the Greek Buddhist monk Mahadharmaraksita. Upon Menander's death, the honor of sharing his remains was claimed by the cities under his rule, and they were enshrined in stupas, in a parallel with the historic Buddha.[19] Several of Menander's Indo-Greeksuccessors inscribed "Follower of the Dharma," in the Kharoṣṭhī script, on their coins, and depicted themselves or their divinities forming the vitarka mudrā.
It is also around the time of initial Greek and Buddhist interaction that the first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha are found, often in realistic Greco-Buddhist style. The former reluctance towards anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha, and the sophisticated development of aniconic symbols to avoid it (even in narrative scenes where other human figures would appear), seem to be connected to one of the Buddha’s sayings, reported in the Digha Nikaya, that discouraged representations of himself after the extinction of his body.[20] Probably not feeling bound by these restrictions, and because of "their cult of form, the Greeks were the first to attempt a sculptural representation of the Buddha".[21][page needed] In many parts of the Ancient World, the Greeks did develop syncretic divinities, that could become a common religious focus for populations with different traditions: a well-known example is the syncretic God Sarapis, introduced by Ptolemy I in Egypt, which combined aspects of Greek and Egyptian Gods. In India as well, it was only natural for the Greeks to create a single common divinity by combining the image of a Greek God-King (The Sun-God Apollo, or possibly the deified founder of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Demetrius), with the traditional attributes of the Buddha. Many of the stylistic elements in the representations of the Buddha point to Greek influence: the Greco-Roman toga-like wavy robe covering both shoulders (more exactly, its lighter version, the Greek himation), the contrappostostance of the upright figures (see: 1st–2nd century Gandhara standing Buddhas[22]), the stylicized Mediterranean curly hair and topknot (ushnisha) apparently derived from the style of the Belvedere Apollo (330 BCE),[23] and the measured quality of the faces, all rendered with strong artistic realism (See: Greek art). A large quantity of sculpturescombining Buddhist and purely Hellenistic styles and iconography were excavated at the Gandharan site of Hadda.
Several influential Greek Buddhist monks are recorded. Mahadharmaraksita (literally translated as 'Great Teacher/Preserver of the Dharma'), was "a Greek ("Yona") Buddhist head monk", according to the Mahavamsa (Chap. XXIX[24]), who led 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alasandra" (Alexandria of the Caucasus, around 150 km north of today's Kabul in Afghanistan), to Sri Lanka for the dedication of the Great Stupa in Anuradhapuraduring the rule (165 BC - 135 BC) of King Menander I. Dharmaraksita (Sanskrit), or Dhammarakkhita (Pali) (translation: Protected by the Dharma), was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize the Buddhist faith. He is described as being a Greek (Pali: "Yona", lit. "Ionian") in the Mahavamsa.
Central Asian expansion[edit]
A Buddhist gold coin from India was found in northern Afghanistan at the archaeological site of Tillia Tepe, and dated to the 1st century AD. On the reverse, it depicts a lion in the moving position with a nandipada in front of it, with the Kharoṣṭhī legend "Sih[o] vigatabhay[o]" ("The lion who dispelled fear").
The Mahayana Buddhists symbolized Buddha with animals such as a lion, an elephant, a horse or a bull. A pair of feet was also used. The symbol called nandipada by archaeologists and historians is actually a composite symbol. The symbol at the top symbolizes the "Middle Path", the Buddha dhamma. The circle with a centre symbolizes cakka. Thus, the composite symbol symbolizes dhammacakka, the Buddhist Wheel of the Law. Thus, the symbols on the reverse of the coin jointly symbolize Buddha rolling the dhammacakka. In the "Lion Capital" of Saranath, India, Buddha rolling the dhammacakka is depicted on the wall of the cylinder with lion, elephant, horse and bull rolling the dhammacakkas. On the obverse, an almost naked man only wearing an Hellenistic chlamys and wearing a head-dress rolls a dhammacakka. The legend in Kharoṣṭhī reads "Dharmacakrapravata[ko]" ("The one who turned the Wheel of the Law"). It has been suggested that this may be an early representation of the Buddha.[25]
The head-dress symbolizes the "Middle Path". Thus, the man with the head-dress is a person who adheres to the Middle Path. (In one of the Indus Valley seals, we find a similar head-dress worn by 9 women.)
Thus, on both sides of the coin, we find Buddha rolling the dhammacakka.
As no scientific study on literary and physical symbolization of Buddha and Buddhism was conducted by the archaeologists and historians, imaginary and false interpretations were only given on coins, seals, Brahmi and other inscriptions and other archaeological finds.
Rise of Mahāyāna (1st century BC–2nd century AD)[edit]
Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, which are among the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras,[26][27] developed among the Mahāsāṃghika along the Kṛṣṇa River in the Āndhraregion of South India.[28]
The earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the Prajñāpāramitā genre, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably written down in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.[29][30] Guang Xing states, "Several scholars have suggested that the Prajñāpāramitā probably developed among the Mahāsāṃghikas in southern India, in the Āndhra country, on the Kṛṣṇa River."[31] A.K. Warder believes that "the Mahāyāna originated in the south of India and almost certainly in the Āndhra country."[32]
Anthony Barber and Sree Padma note that "historians of Buddhist thought have been aware for quite some time that such pivotally important Mahayana Buddhist thinkers as Nāgārjuna, Dignaga, Candrakīrti, Āryadeva, and Bhavaviveka, among many others, formulated their theories while living in Buddhist communities in Āndhra."[33] They note that the ancient Buddhist sites in the lower Kṛṣṇa Valley, including Amaravati, Nāgārjunakoṇḍā and Jaggayyapeṭa "can be traced to at least the third century BCE, if not earlier."[34] Akira Hirakawa notes the "evidence suggests that many Early Mahayana scriptures originated in South India."[35]
The Two Fourth Councils[edit]
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The Fourth Council is said to have been convened in the reign of the Kashmir emperor Kaniṣka around 100 AD at Jalandhar or in Kashmir. Theravāda Buddhism had its own Fourth Council in Sri Lanka about 200 years earlier in which the Pāli canon was written down in toto for the first time. Therefore, there were two Fourth Councils: one in Sri Lanka (Theravāda), and one in Kashmir (Sarvāstivādin).
It is said that for the Fourth Council of Kashmir, Kaniṣka gathered 500 monks headed by Vasumitra, partly, it seems, to compile extensive commentaries on the Abhidharma, although it is possible that some editorial work was carried out upon the existing canon itself. Allegedly during the council there were altogether three hundred thousand verses and over nine million statements compiled, and it took twelve years to complete. The main fruit of this council was the compilation of the vast commentary known as the Mahā-Vibhāshā ("Great Exegesis"), an extensive compendium and reference work on a portion of the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma.
Scholars believe that it was also around this time that a significant change was made in the language of the Sarvāstivādin canon, by converting an earlier Prakrit version into Sanskrit. Although this change was probably effected without significant loss of integrity to the canon, this event was of particular significance since Sanskrit was the sacred language of Brahmanism in India, and was also being used by other thinkers, regardless of their specific religious or philosophical allegiance, thus enabling a far wider audience to gain access to Buddhist ideas and practices. For this reason there was a growing tendency among Buddhist scholars in India thereafter to write their commentaries and treatises in Sanskrit. Many of the early schools, however, such as Theravāda, never switched to Sanskrit, partly because Buddha explicitly forbade translation of his discourses into what was an elitist religious language (as Latin was in medieval Europe). He wanted his monks to use a local language instead - a language which could be understood by all. Over time, however, the language of the Theravādin scriptures (Pāli) became a scholarly or elitist language as well, exactly opposite to what the Buddha had explicitly commanded.
Mahāyāna expansion (AD 1st–10th century)[edit]
From that point on, and in the space of a few centuries, Mahāyāna was to flourish and spread in the East from India to South-East Asia, and towards the north to Central Asia, China, Korea, and finally to Japan in 538 AD and Tibet in the 7th century.
India[edit]
After the end of the Kushans, Buddhism flourished in India during the dynasty of the Guptas (4th-6th century). Mahāyāna centers of learning were established, especially at Nālandā in north-eastern India, which was to become the largest and most influential Buddhist university for many centuries, with famous teachers such as Nāgārjuna. The influence of the Gupta style of Buddhist art spread along with the faith from south-east Asia to China.
Indian Buddhism had weakened in the 6th century following the White Hun invasions and Mihirakula's persecution.
Xuanzang reported in his travels across India during the 7th century, of Buddhism being popular in Andhra, Dhanyakataka and Dravida, which area today roughly corresponds to the modern day Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.[36] While reporting many deserted stupas in the area around modern day Nepal and the persecution of Buddhists by Shashanka in the Kingdom of Gauda in modern-day West Bengal, Xuanzangcomplimented the patronage of Harṣavardana during the same period. After the Harṣavardana kingdom, the rise of many small kingdoms that led to the rise of the Rajputs across the gangetic plains and marked the end of Buddhist ruling clans along with a sharp decline in royal patronage until a revival under the Pāla Empire in the Bengal region. Here Mahāyāna Buddhism flourished and spread to Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim between the 7th and the 12th centuries before the Pālas collapsed under the assault of the Hindu Sena dynasty. The Pālas created many temples and a distinctive school of Buddhist art. Xuanzang noted in his travels that in various regions Buddhism was giving way to Jainism and Hinduism.[37] By the 10th century Buddhism had experienced a sharp decline beyond the Pāla realms in Bengal under a resurgent Hinduism and the incorporation in Vaishnavite Hinduism of Buddha as the 9th incarnation of Vishnu.[38]
A milestone in the decline of Indian Buddhism in the North occurred in 1193 when Turkic Islamic raiders under Muhammad Khilji burnt Nālandā. By the end of the 12th century, following the Islamic conquest of the Buddhist strongholds in Bihar and the loss of political support coupled with social pressures, the practice of Buddhism retreated to the Himalayan foothills in the North and Sri Lanka in the south. Additionally, the influence of Buddhism also waned due to Hinduism's revival movements such as Advaita, the rise of the bhakti movement and the missionary work of Sufis.
Central and Northern Asia[edit]
Central Asia[edit]
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Central Asia had been influenced by Buddhism probably almost since the time of the Buddha. According to a legend preserved in Pāli, the language of the Theravādin canon, two merchant brothers from Bactria named Tapassu and Bhallika visited the Buddha and became his disciples. They then returned to Bactria and built temples to the Buddha.
Central Asia long played the role of a meeting place between China, India and Persia. During the 2nd century BC, the expansion of the Former Han to the west brought them into contact with the Hellenistic civilizations of Asia, especially the Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms. Thereafter, the expansion of Buddhismto the north led to the formation of Buddhist communities and even Buddhist kingdoms in the oases of Central Asia. Some Silk Road cities consisted almost entirely of Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and it seems that one of their main objectives was to welcome and service travelers between east and west.
The Theravādin traditions first spread among the Iranian tribes before combining with the Mahāyāna forms during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC to cover modern-day Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Various Nikāya schools persisted in Central Asia and China until around the 7th century AD. Mahāyāna started to become dominant during the period, but since the faith had not developed a Nikaya approach, Sarvāstivādins and Dharmaguptakas remained the Vinayas of choice in Central Asian monasteries.
Parthia[edit]
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Buddhism expanded westward into the easternmost fringes of Arsacid Parthia, to the area of Merv, in ancient Margiana, today's territory of Turkmenistan. Soviet archeological teams have excavated in Giaur Kala near Merv a Buddhist chapel, a gigantic Buddha statue and a monastery.
Parthians were directly involved in the propagation of Buddhism: An Shigao (c. 148 AD), a Parthian prince, went to China, and is the first known translator of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.
Tarim Basin[edit]
The eastern part of central Asia (Chinese Turkestan, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang) has revealed extremely rich Buddhist works of art (wall paintings and reliefs in numerous caves, portable paintings on canvas, sculpture, ritual objects), displaying multiple influences from Indian and Hellenistic cultures. Serindian art is highly reminiscent of the Gandhāran style, and scriptures in the Gandhāri script Kharoṣṭhī have been found.
Central Asians seem to have played a key role in the transmission of Buddhism to the East. The first translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese were Parthian (Ch: Anxi) like An Shigao (c. 148 AD) or An Hsuan, Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity like Lokaksema (c. 178 AD), Zhi Qian and Zhi Yao or Sogdians like Kang Sengkai. Thirty-seven early translators of Buddhist texts are known, and the majority of them have been identified as Central Asians.
Central Asian and East Asian Buddhist monks appear to have maintained strong exchanges until around the 10th century, as shown by frescoes from the Tarim Basin.
These influences were rapidly absorbed, however, by the vigorous Chinese culture, and a strongly Chinese particularism develops from that point.
China[edit]
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According to traditional accounts, Buddhism was introduced in China during the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) after an emperor dreamed of a flying golden man thought to be the Buddha. Although the archaeological record confirms that Buddhism was introduced sometime during the Han dynasty, it did not flourish in China until the Six Dynasties period (220-589 AD).[42]
The year 67 AD saw Buddhism's official introduction to China with the coming of the two monks Moton and Chufarlan. In 68 AD, under imperial patronage, they established the White Horse Temple (白馬寺), which still exists today, close to the imperial capital at Luoyang. By the end of the 2nd century, a prosperous community had settled at Pengcheng (modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu).
The first known Mahāyāna scriptural texts are translations into Chinese by the Kushan monk Lokakṣema in Luoyang, between 178 and 189 AD. Some of the earliest known Buddhist artifacts found in China are small statues on "money trees", dated c. 200 AD, in typical Gandhāran drawing style: "That the imported images accompanying the newly arrived doctrine came from Gandhāra is strongly suggested by such early Gandhāra characteristics on this "money tree" Buddha as the high uṣniṣa, vertical arrangement of the hair, moustache, symmetrically looped robe and parallel incisions for the folds of the arms."[43]
In the period between 460-525 AD during the Northern Wei dynasty, the Chinese constructed Yungang Grottoes, and it's an outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51,000 Buddha statues and statuettes.
Another famous Buddhism Grottoes is Longmen Grottoes which started with the Northern Wei Dynasty in 493 AD. There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 1,400 caves, ranging from an 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, whence the name "Forest of Ancient Stelae", as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas.
Buddhism flourished during the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The dynasty was initially characterized by a strong openness to foreign influences and renewed exchanges with Indian culture due to the numerous travels of Chinese Buddhist monks to India from the 4th to the 11th centuries. The Tang capital of Chang'an (today's Xi'an) became an important center for Buddhist thought. From there Buddhism spread to Korea, and Japanese embassies of Kentoshi helped gain footholds in Japan.
However, foreign influences came to be negatively perceived towards the end of the Tang Dynasty. In the year 845, the Tang emperor Wuzong outlawed all "foreign" religions including Christian Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism in order to support the indigenous Taoism. Throughout his territory, he confiscated Buddhist possessions, destroyed monasteries and temples, and executed Buddhist monks, ending Buddhism's cultural and intellectual dominance.
However, about a hundred years after the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, Buddhism revived during the Song Dynasty (1127–1279).
Pure Land and Chan Buddhism, however, continued to prosper for some centuries, the latter giving rise to Japanese Zen. In China, Chan flourished particularly under the Song dynasty (1127–1279), when its monasteries were great centers of culture and learning.
In the last two thousand years, the Buddhist have built The Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism, they are Mount Wutai, Mount Emei, Mount Jiuhua, Mount Putuo.
Today, China boasts one of the richest collections of Buddhist arts and heritages in the world. UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Mogao Cavesnear Dunhuang in Gansu province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan province, the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi province, and the Dazu Rock Carvings near Chongqing are among the most important and renowned Buddhist sculptural sites. The Leshan Giant Buddha, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty and looking down on the confluence of three rivers, is still the largest stone Buddha statue in the world.
Korea[edit]
Buddhism was introduced around 372 AD, when Chinese ambassadors visited the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, bringing scriptures and images. Buddhism prospered in Korea - in particular Seon (Zen) Buddhism from the 7th century onward. However, with the beginning of the Confucian Yi Dynasty of the Joseon period in 1392, a strong discrimination took place against Buddhism until it was almost completely eradicated, except for a remaining Seon movement.
Japan[edit]
The Buddhism of Japan was introduced from Three Kingdoms of Korea in the 6th century. The Chinese priest Ganjinoffered the system of Vinaya to the Buddhism of Japan in 754. As a result, the Buddhism of Japan has developed rapidly. Saichō and Kūkai succeeded to a legitimate Buddhism from China in the 9th century.
Being geographically at the end of the Silk Road, Japan was able to preserve many aspects of Buddhism at the very time it was disappearing in India, and being suppressed in Central Asia and China.
The Buddhism quickly became a national religion and thrived, particularly under Shotoku Taishi (Prince Shotoku) during Asuka period (538-794). From 710, numerous temples and monasteries were built in the capital city of Nara, such as the five-story pagoda and Golden Hall of the Hōryū-ji, or the Kōfuku-ji temple. Countless paintings and sculptures were made, often under governmental sponsorship. The creations of Japanese Buddhist art were especially rich between the 8th and 13th centuries during Nara period(710-794), Heian period(794-1185) and Kamakura period(1185-1333).
During Kamakura period, major reformation activities started, namely changing from Buddhism for the imperial court to the Buddhism for the common people. The traditional Buddhism mostly focused on the protection of the country, imperial house or noble families from the ill spirits and salvation of the imperial families, nobles and monks themselves (self-salvation). On the other hand, new sects such as Jodo shu (pure land sect) founded by Honen and Jodo Shinshu (true pure land sect) founded by Shinran, Honen's disciple, emphasized salvation of sinners, common men and women and even criminals such as murderers of parents. Shinran preached the commoners by teaching that saying nembutsu (prayer of Amida Buddha) is a declaration of faith in Amida's salvation. Also for the first time in the history of Buddhism, Shinran started a new sect allowing marriage of monks by initiating his own marriage, which was deemed as taboo from the traditional Buddhism.
Another development in Kamakura period was Zen, by the introduction of the faith by Dogen and Eisai upon their return from China. Zen is highly philosophical with simplified words reflecting deep thought, but, in the art history, it is mainly characterized by so-called zen art, original paintings (such as ink wash and the Enso) and poetry (especially haikus), striving to express the true essence of the world through impressionistic and unadorned "non-dualistic" representations. The search for enlightenment "in the moment" also led to the development of other important derivative arts such as the Chanoyu tea ceremony or the Ikebana art of flower arrangement. This evolution went as far as considering almost any human activity as an art with a strong spiritual and aesthetic content, first and foremost in those activities related to combat techniques (martial arts).
Buddhism remains active in Japan to this day. Around 80,000 Buddhist temples are preserved and regularly restored.
Tibet[edit]
Buddhism arrived late in Tibet, during the 7th century. The form that predominated, via the south of Tibet, was a blend of mahāyāna and vajrayāna from the universities of the Pāla empire of the Bengal region in eastern India.[44] Sarvāstivādin influence came from the south west (Kashmir)[45] and the north west (Khotan).[46] Although these practitioners did not succeed in maintaining a presence in Tibet, their texts found their way into the Tibetan Buddhist canon, providing the Tibetans with almost all of their primary sources about the Foundation Vehicle. A subsect of this school, Mūlasarvāstivādawas the source of the Tibetan Vinaya.[47] Chan Buddhism was introduced via east Tibet from China and left its impression, but was rendered of lesser importance by early political events.[48]
From the outset Buddhism was opposed by the native shamanistic Bon religion, which had the support of the aristocracy, but with royal patronage it thrived to a peak under King Rälpachän (817-836). Terminology in translation was standardised around 825, enabling a translation methodology that was highly literal. Despite a reversal in Buddhist influence which began under King Langdarma (836-842), the following centuries saw a colossal effort in collecting available Indian sources, many of which are now extant only in Tibetan translation. Tibetan Buddhism was favored above other religions by the rulers of imperial Chinese and Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368).
Southeast Asia[edit]
During the 1st century AD, the trade on the overland Silk Road tended to be restricted by the rise in the Middle-East of the Parthian empire, an unvanquished enemy of Rome, just as Romans were becoming extremely wealthy and their demand for Asian luxury was rising. This demand revived the sea connections between the Mediterranean and China, with India as the intermediary of choice. From that time, through trade connection, commercial settlements, and even political interventions, India started to strongly influence Southeast Asian countries (excluding Vietnam). Trade routes linked India with southern Burma, central and southern Siam, islands of Sumatra and Java, lower Cambodia and Champa, and numerous urbanized coastal settlements were established there.
For more than a thousand years, Indian influence was therefore the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The Pāli and Sanskrit languages and the Indian script, together with Theravāda and Mahāyāna Buddhism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism, were transmitted from direct contact and through sacred texts and Indian literature such as the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata.
From the 5th to the 13th centuries, South-East Asia had very powerful empires and became extremely active in Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The main Buddhist influence now came directly by sea from the Indian subcontinent, so that these empires essentially followed the Mahāyāna faith. The Sri Vijaya Empire to the south and the Khmer Empireto the north competed for influence, and their art expressed the rich Mahāyāna pantheon of the bodhisattvas.
Srivijayan Empire (7th–13th century)[edit]
Srivijaya, a maritime empire centered at Palembang on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, adopted Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism under a line of rulers named the Sailendras. Yijing described Palembang as a great center of Buddhist learning where the emperor supported over a thousand monks at his court. Yijing also testified to the importance of Buddhism as early as the year 671 and advised future Chinese pilgrims to spend a year or two in Palembang.[49] Atiśa studied there before travelling to Tibet as a missionary.
As Srivijaya expanded their thalassocracy, Buddhism thrived amongst its people. However, many did not practice pure Buddhism but a new syncretism form of Buddhism that incorporated several different religions such as Hinduism and other indigenous traditions.[50]
Srivijaya spread Buddhist art during its expansion in Southeast Asia. Numerous statues of bodhisattvas from this period are characterized by a very strong refinement and technical sophistication, and are found throughout the region. Extremely rich architectural remains are visible at the temple of Borobudur the largest Buddhist structure in the world, built from around 780 in Java, which has 505 images of the seated Buddha. Srivijaya declined due to conflicts with the Hindu Chola rulers of India, before being destabilized by the Islamic expansion from the 13th century.
Khmer Empire (9th–13th centuries)[edit]
Later, from the 9th to the 13th centuries, the Mahāyāna Buddhist and Hindu Khmer Empire dominated much of the South-East Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand. Angkor was at the center of this development, with a temple complex and urban organization able to support around one million urban dwellers. One of the greatest Khmer kings, Jayavarman VII (1181–1219), built large Mahāyāna Buddhist structures at Bayon and Angkor Thom.
Vietnam[edit]
Buddhism in Vietnam as practiced by the Vietnamese is mainly of Mahāyāna tradition. Buddhism came from Vietnam as early as the 2nd century AD through the North from Central Asia via India. Vietnamese Buddhism is very similar to Chinese Buddhism and to some extent reflects the structure of Chinese Buddhism after the Song Dynasty. Vietnamese Buddhism also has a symbiotic relationship with Taoism, Chinese spirituality and the native Vietnamese religion.
Emergence of the Vajrayāna (5th century)[edit]
Various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Saivism.[51]The Mañjusrimulakalpa, which later came to classified under Kriyatantra, states that mantras taught in the Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri.[52] The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Saiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas.[53] The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava, introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place.[54]
Theravāda Renaissance (starting in the 11th century)[edit]
From the 11th century, the destruction of Buddhism in the Indian mainland by Islamic invasions led to the decline of the Mahāyāna faith in South-East Asia. Continental routes through the Indian subcontinent being compromised, direct sea routes developed from the Middle-East through Sri Lanka to China, leading to the adoption of the Theravāda Buddhism of the Pāli canon, introduced to the region around the 11th century from Sri Lanka.
King Anawrahta (1044–1078); the founder of the Pagan Empire, unified the country and adopted the Theravādin Buddhist faith. This initiated the creation of thousands of Buddhist temples at Pagan, the capital, between the 11th and 13th centuries. Around 2,200 of them are still standing. The power of the Burmese waned with the rise of the Thai, and with the seizure of the capital Pagan by the Mongols in 1287, but Theravāda Buddhism remained the main Burmese faith to this day.
The Theravāda faith was also adopted by the newly founded ethnic Thai kingdom of Sukhothaiaround 1260. Theravāda Buddhism was further reinforced during the Ayutthaya period (14th–18th century), becoming an integral part of Thai society.
In the continental areas, Theravāda Buddhism continued to expand into Laos and Cambodia in the 13th century. From the 14th century, however, on the coastal fringes and in the islands of south-east Asia, the influence of Islam proved stronger, expanding into Malaysia, Indonesia, and most of the islands as far as the southern Philippines.
Nevertheless, since Suharto's rise to power in 1966, there has been a remarkable renaissance of Buddhism in Indonesia. This is partly due to the requirements of Suharto's New Order for the people of Indonesia to adopt one of the five official religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism or Buddhism. Today it is estimated there are some 10 million Buddhists in Indonesia. A large part of them are people of Chinese ancestry.
Expansion of Buddhism to the West[edit]
After the Classical encounters between Buddhism and the West recorded in Greco-Buddhist art, information and legends about Buddhism seem to have reached the West sporadically. An account of Buddha's life was translated into Greek by John of Damascus, and widely circulated to Christiansas the story of Barlaam and Josaphat. By the 14th century this story of Josaphat had become so popular that he was made a Catholic saint.
The next direct encounter between Europeans and Buddhism happened in Medieval times when the Franciscan friar William of Rubruck was sent on an embassy to the Mongol court of Mongke by the French king Saint Louis in 1253. The contact happened in Cailac (today's Qayaliq in Kazakhstan), and William originally thought they were wayward Christians (Foltz, "Religions of the Silk Road").
In the period after Hulagu, the Mongol Ilkhans increasingly adopted Buddhism. Numerous Buddhist temples dotted the landscape of Persia and Iraq, none of which survived the 14th century. The Buddhist element of the Il-Khanate died with Arghun.[55]
The Kalmyk Khanate was founded in the 17th century with Tibetan Buddhism as its main religion, following the earlier migration of the Oirats from Dzungaria through Central Asia to the steppe around the mouth of the Volga River. During the course of the 18th century, they were absorbed by the Russian Empire.[56] At the end of the Napoleonic wars, Kalmyk cavalry units in Russian service entered Paris.[57]
Interest in Buddhism increased during the colonial era, when Western powers were in a position to witness the faith and its artistic manifestations in detail. The opening of Japan in 1853 created a considerable interest in the arts and culture of Japan, and provided access to one of the most thriving Buddhist cultures in the world.
Buddhism started to enjoy a strong interest from the general population in the West following the turbulence of the 20th century. In the wake of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, a Tibetan diaspora has made Tibetan Buddhism in particular more widely accessible to the rest of the world. It has since spread to many Western countries, where the tradition has gained popularity. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. The number of its adherents is estimated to be between ten and twenty million.[58]
See also[edit]
- Timeline of Buddhism
- Ordination of women in Buddhism
- Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
- Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China
- 14th Dalai Lama
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