Buddhism began as a reformation movement within Hinduism. Its founder
was Siddhartha Gautama, who was born about 563 B.C. in the ruler warrior
caste of Hinduism. (Died in 483.) His father, Suddhodana, was a Raja a
chieftain of the Sakya clan, a family of the Kshatriya
(warrior-nobility) caste of ancient Bharata. His father reigned over (Kapilavastu),
a small district on the slope of the Himalayas on the Indian that
borders between India and Nepal. His mother’s name was Maya. When
Gautama was 16 or 19, he married the princess Yasodharma and later had a
son named Rahula. Gautama grew up surrounded by a life of luxury, but he
grew dissatisfied in his 20s.
It is not easy to give an accurate historical account of the life of
Gautama, since no biography was recorded until hundreds of years after
his death. Today, much of his life story is clouded in myths and legends
which arose after his death. The best historians of our day have several
different and even contradictory accounts of Gautama’s life. The
biography of Siddhartha Gautama was not recorded during his lifetime.
These teachings were orally passed down to future generations of
Buddhist monks within various Buddhist communities in India. The
earliest available accounts of his life were collected some three
hundred years or more after his death. four centuries later, in about 80
B.C., Buddhist scribes finally compiled the teachings of the Buddha on
paper, which became the Pali Canon. Both the historical and legendary
descriptions of his life have been included in the Pali Canon and
Sanskrit accounts. It has become indistinguishable to know where to draw
the line between history and legend. Whether the stories about
Siddhartha Gautama are true or myth, his life has been and still is an
inspiration and model for all Buddhists. Buddhist scriptures and sayings
attributed to Gautama written about four centuries after Buddha’s death.
There is no way to be sure these are really Gautama’s words. By the time
they were written Buddhism was split into opposing sects. The question
of authority is an important issue that needs answering in the Buddhist
system.
At birth Gautama (his family name) received the name of Siddhartha,
meaning “he who has accomplished his objectives.” Later in life he
became known as the Buddha (“the Enlightened One” or ‘awakened one”).
During Siddhartha’s infancy, the sage Asita visited King Suddhodana’s
court and had prophesied that Siddhartha would become either a great
ruler like his father if he remained within his father’s palace or a
Buddha if he went out into the world. His father King Suddhodana
believed that if his son observed human misery in the world, Siddhartha
would leave his home of luxury to seek for truth. The king naturally
wanted his son to inherit his throne and kingdom after his death. So he
issued strict orders to his subjects that the young prince was to be
kept from seeing any form of evil or suffering. Gautama’s Father
sheltered his son from the outside world confining him to the palace. so
he lived his life surrounded with pleasures and wealth. Despite his
father’s efforts, Gautama one day finally saw the darker side of life by
taking a trip outside the palace walls.
The legend of the Four Passing Sights tells how he became aware of the
world’s suffering in spite of his parents’ efforts to keep him away from
seeing the world of evil and suffering. Siddhartha decided to elude the
royal attendants and was able to leave his father’s palace where he rode
his chariot four times through the city. During his journey He saw an
old man, a person suffering from a disease(a leper), a dead man, and a
beggar (an ascetic) shaven monk ( Other accounts say he merely
envisioned these four states of humanity.) Going outside he saw for the
first time that great suffering exists with the people. He realized from
his observations that life was full of sorrows and that happiness was an
illusion. It was from these sights of suffering he became Deeply
distressed. He decided to leave the luxury of palace life and begin a
quest to find the answer to the problem of pain and human suffering. and
chose a path of renunciation.
It is said on the same night in which Yashodara gave birth to their son
Rahula, Siddhartha who was 29 at the time abandoned his family and
kingdom compelled to seek the truth that was hidden from him all his
life. This was of course not such an easy decision and he certainly
anguished over his decision to leave everything he loved, but now that
his son, whose name means “hindrance,” was born and could continue the
royal line. He was free to begin his spiritual quest that was burning
inside himself. He took his faithful servant Channa and his devoted
horse Kanthaka to the forest, where he shaved off his hair and changed
his robes in search of wisdom and enlightenment.
His journey began by seeking communion with the supreme cosmic spirit,
He first subjected himself to Hindu masters and began a pilgrimage of
inquiry and asceticism as a poor beggar monk. For six or seven years He
studied the Hindu scriptures under Brahmin hermit priests, and then in
the company of five monks. but became disillusioned with the teachings
of Hinduism. He then devoted himself to a life of extreme asceticism in
the jungle such as fasting. . Other physical austerities included
sleeping on brambles to mortify the desires of his body and abstaining
from sitting by crouching on his heels to develop his concentration.
Legend has it that he eventually learned to exist on one grain of rice a
day which ended up reducing his body to a skeleton. His practice of
self-mortification had brought him closer to the point of death instead
of enlightenment. One day while swimming he almost drowned being so
weak. He soon concluded, however, that asceticism did not lead to peace
and self realization but merely weakened the mind and body.
Despite all these efforts, Siddhartha did not succeed in attaining
truth. Finally, in a moment of profound insight he realized that his
life as an ascetic was of no greater value than his previous life as a
prince living in luxury. Self-torture was vain and fruitless; depriving
oneself was no better than pleasure. He understood then the importance
of what he called the Middle Way. Abandoning a life of extreme
austerities, Siddhartha began to eat solid food. This act angered his
fellow monks, who felt Siddhartha had weakened and succumbed to his
physical needs. They promptly deserted him, thoroughly disgusted with
his seeming worldliness.
Gautama eventually turned to a life of meditation. On the wide bank at a
major city in northeast India, While deep in meditation under a fig tree
known as the Bohdi tree (meaning, “tree of wisdom”), Gautama experienced
the highest degree of God-consciousness called Nirvana. There Mara, the
evil one, tried to thwart Siddhartha from becoming the Buddha, luring
him with worldly temptations during his meditations. Siddhartha
withstood all the challenges presented and experienced the revelation of
liberating awareness. The way that provides escape from the cruel
causality of samsara (the cycle of rebirths). He discovered the Four
Noble Truths, which became known as the wisdom of Realization. Gautama
then became known as Buddha, the “enlightened one.” He believed he had
found the answers to life’s most puzzling questions the answer of why
there is pain and suffering.
Gautama’s approach to religion was quite different from the Hinduism out
of which he had come from. Hinduism had degenerated to empty
philosophical speculations and disputes, to polytheism, rituals, magic,
and superstition. Authority for truth was the exclusive ownership of the
highest caste. Gautama attacked the caste system and rejected their
forms of speculation, ritual, and occultism. Interesting that Tibetan
Buddhism has become much of what Gautama rejected. Some compare Buddhas
break to Martin Luther’s reformation in Christianity. He believed
everyone was equally capable of the highest spiritual development.
The Buddha was 80 when Cunda the blacksmith served him pig’s flesh or
some claim mushrooms. He became extremely ill and died. Before he passed
away, he sent a message to Cunda saying that he should not feel guilty
for being the cause of his death, for it was destined to be. Just before
his death, he exhorted his disciples not to grieve. His last recorded
words were: “Decay is inherent in all omponent things! Work out your own
salvation with diligence.” (Christmas Humphreys, Buddhism, p.41.)
By the time of his death at age 80, Buddhism had become a major force in
India. Three centuries later it had spread to all of Asia. Buddha never
claimed to be deity but rather that he was an enlightened human being, a
“way- shower.” Strangely enough seven hundred years later, some of the
followers of Buddha began to worship him as deity despite his not
teaching this.
Since Gautama’s death, many sects have developed within Buddhism. These
sects can sometimes be like comparing two different religions. Many have
developed their own unique concept of God. Some are pantheistic in their
view of God, others are atheistic. Still others have developed a
polytheistic system of gods (like its originator Hinduism). Some have
combined pantheism and polytheism. Several sects have elevated Gautama
(or Buddha) to the level of a savior or divine being although it is
clear he never claimed to be a deity. Other sects have tried to
synchronize together some of the doctrines of God from other religions
with Buddhism . As there are some Churches that adopt some Buddhist
teachings into Christianity. While there are general similarites in some
ethics and moral teachings Buddhism is not condusive to Christianity.
The two are mutually exclusive, they both can’t be right at the same
time, nor can the two be blended together
The two differ in there concept of God. For Buddhists in general, their
is no Absolute which has a purpose in our daily living. Gautama said
little about any concept of God. Buddha was monistic in his view of the
Absolute as an impersonal force made up of all living things but denied
the existence of a personal God. The Bible teaches of a God who rules
the universe, is personal and sovereign and wants to have communion with
man. Therein lies a vast difference in these religions teachings.