A message about the Buddha in history is brief. Briefly about the history of the Buddha's life - from birth to his final departure to nirvana. Ethics and Morality of Buddhism

The story of Buddha, an awakened sage from the Shakya family, the legendary founder of the world religion of Buddhism and spiritual teacher, begins in the 5th-6th century BC (the exact date is unknown). Blessed, revered by the world, walking in goodness, completely perfect... He is called by different names. Buddha lived a rather long life, about 80 years, and traveled an amazing path during this time. But first things first.

Biography reconstruction

Before Buddha, one important nuance should be noted. The fact is that there is no material for the scientific reconstruction of his biography. modern science very little. Therefore, all information known about the Blessed One is taken from a number of Buddhist texts, from a work called “Buddhacharita” for example (translated as “Life of the Buddha”). Its author is Ashvaghosha, an Indian preacher, playwright and poet.

Also one of the sources is the work of “Lalitavistara”. Translated as " Detailed description games of Buddha. Several authors worked on the creation of this work. It is interesting that it is “Lalitavistara” that completes the process of deification, deification of the Buddha.

It is also worth mentioning that the first texts relating to the Awakened Sage began to appear only four centuries after his death. By that time, the stories about him had already been slightly changed by the monks to exaggerate his figure.

And we must remember: the works of the ancient Indians did not cover chronological aspects. Attention was focused on philosophical aspects. After reading many Buddhist texts, one can understand this. There, the description of the Buddha's thoughts prevails over the stories about the time in which all the events took place.

Life before birth

If you believe the stories and legends about the Buddha, then his path to enlightenment, a holistic and complete awareness of the nature of reality began tens of thousands of years before his actual birth. This is called the wheel of alternating lives and deaths. The concept is more common under the name “samsara”. This cycle is limited by karma - the universal law of cause and effect, according to which a person’s sinful or righteous actions determine his destiny, the pleasures and sufferings intended for him.

So, it all began with the meeting of Dipankara (the first of the 24 Buddhas) with a learned and rich brahmana, a representative of the upper class, named Sumedhi. He was simply amazed by his calmness and serenity. After this meeting, Sumedhi promised himself to achieve exactly the same state. So they began to call him a bodhisattva - one who strives for awakening for the benefit of all beings, in order to emerge from the state of samsara.

Sumedhi died. But his strength and desire for enlightenment are not. It was she who determined his multiple births in different bodies and images. All this time, the bodhisattva continued to improve his mercy and wisdom. They say that on his penultimate time he was born among the gods (devas), and was given the opportunity to choose the most favorable place for his final birth. Therefore his decision became the family of the venerable Shakya king. He knew that people would have more confidence in the preaching of one who had such a noble birth.

Family, conception and birth

According to the traditional biography of the Buddha, his father's name was Shuddhodana, and he was a rajah (ruler) of a small Indian principality and the head of the Shakya tribe - a royal family of the foothills of the Himalayas with the capital of Kapilavatthu. Interestingly, Gautama is his gotra, an exogamous clan, analogous to a surname.

There is, however, another version. According to it, Shuddhodana was a member of the Kshatriya assembly - an influential class in ancient Indian society, which included sovereign warriors.

Buddha's mother was Queen Mahamaya of the Koliya kingdom. On the night of Buddha's conception, she dreamed that a white elephant with six light tusks entered her.

In accordance with Shakya tradition, the queen went to her parents' house to give birth. But Mahamaya did not reach them - everything happened on the road. I had to stop in the Lumbini grove (modern location - the state of Nepal in South Asia, a settlement in the Rupandehi district). It was there that the future Sage was born - right under the Ashoka tree. This happened in the month of Vaishakha - the second from the beginning of the year, lasting from April 21 to May 21.

According to most sources, Queen Mahamaya died a few days after giving birth.

The hermit-seer Asita from the mountain monastery was invited to bless the baby. He found 32 signs of a great man on the child's body. The seer said - the baby will become either a chakravartin (great king) or a saint.

The boy was named Siddhartha Gautama. The naming ceremony was held on the fifth day after his birth. "Siddhartha" is translated as "one who has achieved his goal." Eight learned brahmins were invited to predict his future. All of them confirmed the boy's dual fate.

Youth

Talking about the biography of the Buddha, it should be noted that his younger sister Mahamaya was involved in his upbringing. Her name was Maha Prajapati. The father also took a certain part in the upbringing. He wanted his son to become a great king, and not a religious sage, therefore, remembering the dual prediction for the boy’s future, he tried in every possible way to protect him from teachings, philosophy and knowledge about human suffering. He ordered the construction of three palaces especially for the boy.

The future was ahead of all his peers in everything - in development, in sports, in science. But most of all he was drawn to reflection.

As soon as the young man turned 16, he was married to a princess named Yashodhara, the daughter of King Sauppabuddha of the same age. A few years later, they had a son, who was named Rahula. He was the only child of Buddha Shakyamuni. Interestingly, his birth coincided with a lunar eclipse.

Looking ahead, it is worth saying that the boy became a disciple of his father, and later an arhat - one who achieved complete liberation from kleshas (obscurations and affects of consciousness) and emerged from the state of samsara. Rahula experienced enlightenment even when he simply walked next to his father.

For 29 years Siddhartha lived as the prince of the capital Kapilavastu. He got everything he could want. But I felt: material wealth is far from the final goal of life.

What changed his life

One day, in the 30th year of his life, Siddhartha Gautama, the future Buddha, went outside the palace, accompanied by the charioteer Channa. And he saw four sights that changed his life forever. These were:

A poor old man.
A sick man.
Decaying corpse.
Hermit (a person who ascetically renounces worldly life).

It was at that moment that Siddhartha realized the harsh reality of our reality, which remains relevant to this day, despite the past two and a half millennia. He understood that death, aging, suffering and illness are inevitable. Neither nobility nor wealth can protect you from them. The path to salvation lies only through self-knowledge, since it is through this that one can comprehend the causes of suffering.

That day really changed a lot. What he saw inspired him to leave his home, family and all his property. He abandoned his previous life to go in search of a way to get rid of suffering.

Gaining knowledge

From that day a new story of Buddha began. Siddhartha left the palace with Channa. Legends say that the gods muffled the sound of his horse's hooves to keep his departure secret.

As soon as the prince left the city, he stopped the first beggar he met and exchanged clothes with him, after which he released his servant. This event even has a name - “The Great Departure”.

Siddhartha began his ascetic life in Rajagriha, a city in the Nalanda district, which is now called Rajgir. There he begged on the street.

Naturally, they found out about this. King Bimbisara even offered him the throne. Siddhartha refused it, but made a promise to go to the kingdom of Magadha after achieving enlightenment.

So the Buddha's life in Rajagriha did not work out, and he left the city, eventually coming to two brahmin hermits, where he began to learn yogic meditation. Having mastered the teaching, he came to a sage named Udaka Ramaputta. He became his disciple, and after achieving the highest level of meditative concentration, he set out on the road again.

His target was southeastern India. There, Siddhartha, along with five other people seeking the truth, tried to come to enlightenment under the leadership of the monk Kaundinya. The methods were the most severe - asceticism, self-torture, all kinds of vows and mortification of the flesh.

Being on the verge of death after six (!) years of such existence, he realized that this does not lead to clarity of mind, but only clouds it and exhausts the body. Therefore, Gautama began to reconsider his path. He remembered how, as a child, he fell into a trance during the plowing holiday, and felt that refreshing and blissful state of concentration. And plunged into Dhyana. This is a special state of contemplation, concentrated thinking, which leads to calming the consciousness and subsequently to a complete stop of mental activity for a while.

Enlightenment

After renouncing self-torture, the Buddha’s life began to take a different turn - he went to wander alone, and his path continued until he reached a grove located near the town of Gaya (Bihar state).

By chance, he came across the house of a village woman, Sujata Nanda, who believed that Siddhartha was the spirit of a tree. He looked so exhausted. The woman fed him rice with milk, after which he sat down under a large ficus tree (now it is called and vowed not to get up until he comes to the Truth.

This did not please the tempter demon Mara, who headed the kingdom of the gods. He seduced the future God Buddha with various visions, showed him beautiful women, trying in every possible way to distract him from meditation by demonstrating the attractiveness of earthly life. However, Gautama was unshakable, and the demon retreated.

He sat under the ficus tree for 49 days. And on the full moon, in the month of Vaisakha, on the same night when Siddhartha was born, he achieved Awakening. He was 35 years old. That night he gained a complete understanding of the causes of human suffering, of nature, and also of what it takes to achieve the same state for other people.

This knowledge later became known as the “Four Noble Truths.” Briefly they can be stated as follows: “There is suffering. And there is a reason for it, which is desire. The cessation of suffering is nirvana. And there is a path that leads to its achievement, called the Eightfold.”

For several more days, Gautama thought, being in a state of samadhi (disappearance of the idea of one’s own individuality), whether to teach the acquired knowledge to others. He doubted whether they would be able to achieve Awakening, because they were all filled with deception, hatred and greed. And the ideas of Enlightenment are very subtle and deep to understand. But the highest deva Brahma Sahampati (god) stood up for the people, who asked Gautama to bring the Teaching into this world, since there will always be those who will understand it.

Eightfold Path

When talking about who the Buddha is, one cannot fail to mention the Noble Eightfold Path, which the Awakened One himself traversed. This is the road leading to the cessation of suffering and liberation from the state of samsara. We can talk about this for hours, but in short, the Eightfold Path of the Buddha is 8 rules, following which you can come to Awakening. Here's what they are:

Correct view. It implies the comprehension of the four truths that were indicated above, as well as other provisions of the teaching that need to be experienced and formed into the motivation of one’s behavior.
Right intention. One must be firmly convinced of one's decision to follow the Eightfold Path of the Buddha, which leads to nirvana and liberation. And begin to cultivate metta in yourself - friendliness, benevolence, loving kindness and kindness towards all living things.
Correct speech. Refusal of foul language and lies, slander and stupidity, obscenity and meanness, idle talk and strife.
Correct behavior. Do not kill, do not steal, do not be promiscuous, do not get drunk, do not lie, do not commit any other atrocities. This is the path to social, contemplative, karmic and psychological harmony.
The right way of life. We must give up everything that can cause suffering to any living beings. Choose the appropriate type of activity - earn money in accordance with Buddhist values. Give up luxury, wealth and excesses. This will get rid of envy and other passions.
The right effort. The desire to realize oneself and learn to distinguish between dharmas, joy, peace and tranquility, and concentrate on achieving the truth.
Right mindfulness. Be able to be aware of your own body, mind, sensations. Try to learn to see yourself as an accumulation of physical and mental states, to distinguish the “ego”, to destroy it.
Correct concentration. Entering into deep meditation or dhyana. Helps to achieve extreme contemplation and liberation.

And that's it in a nutshell. The name of Buddha is primarily associated with these concepts. And, by the way, they also formed the basis of the Zen school.

On the spread of the teaching

From the moment Siddhartha realized who the Buddha was, they began to know. He set about spreading knowledge. The first students were traders - Bhallika and Tapussa. Gautama gave them several hairs from his head, which, according to legend, are kept in a 98-meter gilded stupa in Yangon (Shwedagon Pagoda).

Then the Buddha's story takes shape in such a way that he goes to Varanasi (a city for Hindus that means the same thing as the Vatican for Catholics). Siddhartha wanted to tell his former teachers about his achievements, but it turned out that they had already died.

Then he headed to the suburb of Sarnath, where he held his first sermon, in which he told his fellow asceticists about the Eightfold Path and the Four Truths. Everyone who listened to him soon became an arhat.

Over the next 45 years, the name of Buddha became increasingly recognizable. He traveled throughout India, teaching the Teaching to everyone, no matter who they were - be it cannibals, warriors, or cleaners. Gautama was also accompanied by the sangha, his community.

His father, Shuddhodana, found out about all this. The king sent as many as 10 delegations to fetch his son and bring him back to Kapilavastu. But in ordinary life, Buddha was a prince. Everything has long since become the past. Delegations came to Siddhartha, and eventually 9 out of 10 joined his sangha, becoming arhats. The tenth Buddha accepted and agreed to go to Kapilavastu. He went there on foot, preaching the Dharma along the way.

Returning to Kapilavastu, Gautama learned of the impending death of his father. He came to him and told him about the Dharma. Just before his death, Shuddhodana became an arhat.

After this he returned to Rajagaha. Maha Prajapati, who raised him, asked to be accepted into the sangha, but Gautama refused. However, the woman did not accept this and went after him along with several noble girls of the Koliya and Shakya clans. As a result, the Buddha nobly accepted them, seeing that their capacity for enlightenment was on par with men.

Death

The years of Buddha's life were eventful. When he turned 80, he said that he would soon achieve Parinirvana, the final stage of immortality, and free his earthly body. Before entering this state, he asked his disciples if they had any questions. There weren't any. Then he said his last words: “All composite things are short-lived. Strive for your own liberation with special diligence.”

When he died, he was cremated according to the rules of the rite for the Universal Ruler. The remains were divided into 8 parts and placed at the base of stupas, specially erected for this purpose. It is believed that some monuments have survived to this day. Dalada Maligawa Temple, for example, which houses the tooth of the great sage.

In ordinary life, Buddha was simply a man of status. And having gone through a difficult path, he became the one who was able to achieve the highest state of spiritual perfection and impart knowledge into the minds of thousands of people. It is he who is the founder of the most ancient world teaching, which has indescribable significance. It is not surprising that the celebration of Buddha's birthday is a large-scale and high-profile holiday, celebrated in all East Asian countries (except Japan), and in some it is official. The date changes annually, but always falls in April or May.

Geography of Buddhism…………………………………………………………….1

The Birth of Buddhism……………………………………………………………...1

Biography of Buddha……………………………………………………………...2

Mythological biography of Buddha………………………….3

Basic principles and features of Buddhism as a religion…………….4

List of references…………………………………8

Geography of Buddhism

Buddhism is the oldest of the world's religions, which received its name from the name, or rather from the honorary title, of its founder Buddha, which means “Enlightened One”. Buddha Shakyamuni (a sage from the Shakya tribe) lived in India in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e. Other world religions - Christianity and Islam - appeared later (five and twelve centuries later, respectively).

If we try to imagine this religion from a bird’s eye view, we will see a motley patchwork of trends, schools, sects, subsects, religious parties and organizations.

Buddhism has absorbed many diverse traditions of the peoples of those countries that fell into its sphere of influence, and also determined the way of life and thoughts of millions of people in these countries. Most adherents of Buddhism now live in South, Southeast, Central and East Asia: Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Cambodia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand and Laos. In Russia, Buddhism is traditionally practiced by Buryats, Kalmyks and Tuvans.

Buddhism was and remains a religion that takes different forms depending on where it spreads. Chinese Buddhism is a religion that speaks to believers in the language of Chinese culture and national ideas about the most important values of life. Japanese Buddhism is a synthesis of Buddhist ideas, Shinto mythology, Japanese culture, etc.

Birth of Buddhism

Buddhists themselves count down the existence of their religion from the death of the Buddha, but among them there is no consensus about the years of his life. According to the tradition of the oldest Buddhist school, Theravada, Buddha lived from 624 to 544 BC. e. According to the scientific version, the life of the founder of Buddhism is from 566 to 486 BC. e. Some areas of Buddhism adhere to later dates: 488-368. BC e. The birthplace of Buddhism is India (more precisely, the Ganges Valley). Society Ancient India was divided into varnas (classes): brahmans (the highest class of spiritual mentors and priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaishyas (merchants) and sudras (serving all other classes). Buddhism for the first time addressed a person not as a representative of any class, clan, tribe or a certain gender, but as an individual (unlike the followers of Brahmanism, the Buddha believed that women, on an equal basis with men, are capable of achieving the highest spiritual perfection). For Buddhism, only personal merit was important in a person. Thus, the word “brahman” is used by Buddha to call any noble and wise person, regardless of his origin.

Biography of Buddha

The biography of Buddha reflects the fate of a real person framed by myths and legends, which over time almost completely pushed aside the historical figure of the founder of Buddhism. More than 25 centuries ago, in one of the small states in northeast India, a son, Siddhartha, was born to King Shuddhodana and his wife Maya. His family name was Gautama. The prince lived in luxury, without worries, eventually started a family and, probably, would have succeeded his father on the throne if fate had not decreed otherwise.

Having learned that there are diseases, old age and death in the world, the prince decided to save people from suffering and went in search of a recipe for universal happiness. In the area of Gaya (it is still called Bodh Gaya) he achieved Enlightenment, and the path to the salvation of humanity was revealed to him. This happened when Siddhartha was 35 years old. In the city of Benares, he delivered his first sermon and, as Buddhists say, “turned the wheel of Dharma” (as the teachings of the Buddha are sometimes called). He traveled with sermons in cities and villages, he had disciples and followers who were going to listen to the instructions of the Teacher, whom they began to call Buddha. At the age of 80, Buddha died. But even after the death of the Teacher, the disciples continued to preach his teaching throughout India. They created monastic communities where this teaching was preserved and developed. These are the facts of the real biography of Buddha - the man who became the founder of a new religion.

Mythological biography of Buddha

Mythological biography is much more complex. According to legends, the future Buddha was reborn a total of 550 times (83 times as a saint, 58 as a king, 24 as a monk, 18 as a monkey, 13 as a merchant, 12 as a chicken, 8 as a goose, 6 as an elephant; in addition, as a fish, rat, carpenter, blacksmith, frog, hare, etc.). This was until the gods decided that the time had come for him, born in the guise of a man, to save the world, mired in the darkness of ignorance. The birth of Buddha into a kshatriya family was his last birth. That is why he was called Siddhartha (He who has achieved the goal). The boy was born with thirty-two signs of a “great man” (golden skin, a wheel sign on the foot, wide heels, a light circle of hair between the eyebrows, long fingers, long earlobes, etc.). A wandering ascetic astrologer predicted that a great future awaited him in one of two spheres: either he would become a powerful ruler, capable of establishing righteous order on earth, or he would be a great hermit. Mother Maya did not take part in raising Siddhartha - she died (and according to some legends, she retired to heaven so as not to die from admiring her son) shortly after his birth. The boy was raised by his aunt. The prince grew up in an atmosphere of luxury and prosperity. The father did everything possible to prevent the prediction from coming true: he surrounded his son with wonderful things, beautiful and carefree people, and created an atmosphere of eternal celebration so that he would never know about the sorrows of this world. Siddhartha grew up, got married at the age of 16, and had a son, Rahula. But the father's efforts were in vain. With the help of his servant, the prince managed to secretly escape from the palace three times. For the first time he met a sick person and realized that beauty is not eternal and there are ailments in the world that disfigure a person. The second time he saw the old man and realized that youth is not eternal. For the third time he watched a funeral procession, which showed him the fragility of human life.

Siddhartha decided to look for a way out of the trap of illness - old age - death. According to some versions, he also met a hermit, which led him to think about the possibility of overcoming the suffering of this world by leading a solitary and contemplative lifestyle. When the prince decided on the great renunciation, he was 29 years old. After six years of ascetic practice and another unsuccessful attempt to achieve higher insight through fasting, he was convinced that the path of self-torture would not lead to the truth. Then, having regained his strength, he found a secluded place on the river bank, sat down under a tree (which from that time on was called the Bodhi tree, i.e., the “tree of Enlightenment”) and plunged into contemplation. Before Siddhartha's inner gaze, his own past lives, the past, future and present lives of all living beings passed, and then the highest truth - Dharma - was revealed. From that moment on, he became the Buddha - the Enlightened One, or the Awakened One - and decided to teach the Dharma to all people who seek truth, regardless of their origin, class, language, gender, age, character, temperament and mental abilities.

Buddha spent 45 years spreading his teachings in India. According to Buddhist sources, he won followers from all walks of life. Shortly before his death, the Buddha told his beloved disciple Ananda that he could have extended his life by a whole century, and then Ananda bitterly regretted that he had not thought to ask him about this. The cause of Buddha's death was a meal with the poor blacksmith Chunda, during which Buddha, knowing that the poor man was going to treat his guests to stale meat, asked to give all the meat to him. Buddha died in the town of Kushinagara, and his body was traditionally cremated, and the ashes were divided among eight followers, six of whom represented different communities. His ashes were buried at eight different places, and subsequently memorial tombstones - stupas - were erected over these burials. According to legend, one of the students pulled out a Buddha tooth from the funeral pyre, which became the main relic of Buddhists. Now it is located in a temple in the city of Kandy on the island of Sri Lanka.

The message about Buddhism summarized in this article will tell you a lot useful information about one of the most influential religions in the world.

Report on Buddhism

The main object of worship and the founder of Buddhism is Prince Gautama Siddhartha. He lived in 563 - 483 BC. e. That's why this religion one of the oldest in the world.

According to legend, when Gautama turned 35, he achieved enlightenment and changed his life, as well as the lives of those people who followed him. They called him Buddha, which from Sanskrit means awakened, enlightened. He spread his sermons for 40 years and Siddhartha died at the age of 80. It is noteworthy that Siddhartha did not leave behind any written work.

How is God interpreted in Buddhism?

Sects that have separated from Buddhism revere Buddha as God. But the majority of followers see Siddhartha as a mentor, founder and educator. They are confident that enlightenment can only be achieved with the help of infinite Universal energy. Therefore, we can draw the following conclusion: the world of Buddhism does not recognize the existence of a creator god, omnipotent and omniscient. According to their beliefs, every person is part of a deity. Buddhists do not have a permanent God, because every enlightened person is capable of achieving the great title of “Buddha”. This understanding of God is what distinguishes Buddhism from other Western religions.

What is the essence of Buddhism?

The main desire of Buddhists is to purify the clouded state of mind that distorts reality. This state includes feelings of fear, anger, selfishness, ignorance, laziness, greed, envy, irritation, and so on.

Religion develops beneficial and pure qualities of consciousness: compassion, generosity, wisdom, kindness, gratitude, hard work. They help you gradually clear and understand your mind. When it becomes bright and strong, irritation and anxiety, leading to depression and adversity, decrease.

In general, Buddhism is a religion of more than a philosophical nature. Its doctrine contains 4 basic truths:

about the origin and causes of suffering
about the nature of suffering
about ways to end suffering
about ending suffering and eliminating its sources

All of them ultimately lead to the destruction of pain and suffering. The achieved state of the human soul allows one to plunge into transcendental meditation, achieving enlightenment and wisdom.

Ethics and Morality of Buddhism

Buddhist ethics and morality are based on the principles of not committing moderation and harm. In a person, religion educates and develops a sense of concentration, morality and wisdom. Meditation allows you to understand the workings of the mind and the cause-and-effect relationships between spiritual, bodily and psychological processes. Each level of the teachings of Buddhism is aimed at the comprehensive development of the human personality - mind, speech and body.

We hope that the report on Buddhism helped us learn a lot of useful information about this world religion. And you can leave your message about the religion of Buddhism using the comment form below.

Gautama Buddha, whose original name was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, was the founder of Buddhism, one of the world's greatest religions.

Siddhartha was the son of a king who ruled in the city of Kapilavastu, located in northern India on the border with Nepal. Siddhartha, who came from the royal family of Gautama of the Shakya tribe, was presumably born in 563 BC. in the city of Lumbini, located within the modern borders of Nepal. At sixteen, he married his cousin, who was the same age as him.

Prince Siddhartha grew up in a luxurious royal palace, but he did not strive for material comfort. He felt deep dissatisfaction with his life. He saw that most of the people around were poor and constantly suffered from want. Even those who were rich were often disillusioned and unhappy, and everyone around them was susceptible to disease and eventually died. And, naturally, Siddhartha began to think that there must be something more to life than temporary pleasures, which are too fleeting in the face of suffering and death.

When he turned 29 years old, shortly after the birth of his first son, Siddhartha decided that he should end the life he was living and devote himself entirely to the search for truth. He left the palace, leaving behind his wife, his newborn son, and all his earthly treasures, and became a wanderer without a penny in his pocket. For some time he studied with some famous saints of that time, but, having mastered all the intricacies of their science, he realized that it was not a panacea for solving the problems that life itself poses to man.

At that time, it was widely believed that excessive asceticism was the path to true wisdom. Therefore, Gautama tried to become an ascetic and subjected himself to starvation and mortification for several years. In the end, however, he realized that by torturing his body, he was only clouding his brain and that it did not bring him one step closer to true wisdom. Therefore, he began to eat normally again and ended his asceticism.

Leading a solitary life, he tried to solve the problems of human existence. Finally, one evening, as he sat under a giant fig tree, all the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit into one. Siddhartha spent the whole night in deep thought, and when morning came, he realized that he had found the key to solving problems and that he had become a “Buddha”, i.e. "an enlightened man."

At this time he was 35 years old. For the remaining 45 years of his life he traveled throughout northern India preaching his new philosophy to everyone who wanted to listen to him. When he died, which happened in 483 BC, he had thousands of converts. Although his words were not written down on paper, his disciples were able to remember much of his teaching, and it was passed down to subsequent generations orally.

The Buddha's main teaching can be summed up in what Buddhists call the "Four Noble Truths": first, human life is by nature an unhappy life; second, the cause of an unhappy life is human selfishness and desires; third - the egoism of an individual person and his desires can be done away with; the final stage, when all desires and aspirations are reduced to nothing, is called “nirvana” (literally “attenuation”, “extinction”); The fourth truth is the method by which one can get rid of egoism and desires, called the “Path of Eight Paths”: right beliefs, right thinking, right speech, right action, right lifestyle, right effort, right attitude towards duties, right meditation. It might be added that Buddhism is a religion open to all, regardless of race, and that, unlike Hinduism, it does not recognize the division of castes.

For some time after Gautama's death, the new religion spread slowly. In the 3rd century BC. the great Indian ruler Ashoka was initiated into Buddhism. His support ensured the rapid spread of the influence of Buddhism and its dogmas in India as well as in neighboring countries. Buddhism spread south to Ceylon and east to Burma. From there it spread throughout Southeast Asia, Malaysia and what is today Indonesia. Buddhism also spread to the north, directly into Tibet, and to the northwest - into Afghanistan and Central Asia. It became most widespread in China, and then spread to Korea and Japan.

In India itself, the new faith began to decline after 500 BC. and completely disappeared after 1200 AD. In China and Japan, on the contrary, Buddhism remained as the main religion.

For many centuries it has remained the main religion in Tibet and Southeast Asian countries.

The Buddha's teachings did not find written expression for several centuries after his death, and it is not difficult to understand that his movement split into different currents. The two main branches of Buddhism are the Theravada branch, dominant in South Asia and considered by most Western scholars to be closest to the original teachings of the Buddha, and the Mahayana branch, widespread in Tibet, China and northern Asia.

Buddha, as the founder of one of the main religions of the world, certainly claims one of the first places on our list. But since there are only about 200 million Buddhists in the world compared to 500 million Muslims and a billion Christians, it is quite clear that Buddha influenced fewer people than Jesus or Mohammed. However, the difference in numbers can be misleading. One of the reasons why Buddhism gradually died out in India is that Hinduism absorbed many of its ideas and principles. In China, similarly, a large number of people who do not call themselves Buddhists are heavily influenced by Buddhist philosophy.

Buddhism contains much more pacifist ideas than Christianity or Islam. A focus on nonviolence plays a significant role in political history Buddhist countries.

It is often said that if Christ were to return to earth, he would be shocked by many of the things that happened in his name, and he would be horrified by the bloody struggle between the various religious sects whose members call themselves his followers. The Buddha would also no doubt be amazed at how many different doctrines present themselves as Buddhist. Despite the fact that there are many schools of Buddhism and significant differences between them, there is nothing in Buddhist history that even remotely resembles the bloody religious wars that were fought in Christian Europe. In this respect, at least, the teachings of the Buddha had a much greater impact on his followers than the Christian teachings.

Buddha and Confucius had approximately equal influence on world development. Both of them lived at about the same time and the number of their adherents does not differ much from one another.

I tend to rate Buddha higher than Confucius for two reasons. The first of them is that the arrival of communism in China, as it seems to me, significantly weakened the influence of Confucius. And the second reason: the fact that Confucianism did not become widespread outside China indicates how closely the ideas of Confucius were intertwined with ideas that previously existed in China. On the other hand, Buddhist teaching is in no way a repetition of previous Indian philosophy, and Buddhism has spread far beyond the borders of India due to the originality of the concept of Gautama Buddha and the great attractive power of his philosophy.

Greetings, dear readers.

From this article you will learn about an extraordinary man - Siddhartha Gautama, who was able to enter a state of spiritual enlightenment. Here is information about how the activities of a mere mortal, albeit of royal blood, led him to a truth incomprehensible to others.

It is generally accepted that the Buddha was in our world from approximately 563 to 483 BC. A spiritual leader who had a significant impact on human civilization was born in a small country. His homeland was located in the Himalayan foothills. Now this is the territory of southern Nepal.

early years

The boy received the name Siddhartha and bore the surname Gautama. According to one version, his father was an influential monarch. There is also an assumption that the parent of the future Enlightened One headed the council of elders.

The ancient texts, which briefly describe the life story of the Buddha, speak of various miracles. The unusual events that accompanied the birth of the child attracted the attention of one of the sages. The respected man examined the newborn, saw signs of future greatness on his body and bowed to the boy.

The guy grew up in very comfortable conditions. This is not surprising, since we were talking about a prince. His father gave him the opportunity to live alternately in three palaces, each of which was built for a specific season. The young man invited his friends there and enjoyed life in their company.

When Siddharth turned 16 years old, he married his cousin. With a magnificent one he lived in. Researchers believe that then the prince comprehended the art of war and learned to govern the state.

Thoughts on liberation and ways to realize desires

Over time, the future Teacher began to think about the meaning of existence. In the process of thinking about the problems that people Everyday life They don’t pay attention, he began to withdraw into himself. It got to the point that he renounced social life, and his mother had to experience incredible suffering because of this.

In front of his shocked relatives and wife, the young man cut off his hair and beard, put on yellow clothes and left the palace. Moreover, this happened on the day his son was born.

In search of illumination by lordship, the future Buddha set out on a journey. His path lay in Magadha, located in northern India. There lived the same seekers of the meaning of life, like himself. The prince managed to find two outstanding gurus there - Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta.

The masters gave him lessons, and soon their ward was very successful in this matter. However, he did not stop there, because he was not closer to his main goal. The road to absolute enlightenment, liberation from all suffering and sensory existence has not yet ended.

Considering that he had taken everything he could from the teachers, the student parted with them. He decided to lead an ascetic life and adhered to extremely strict rules for six years: he ate very little, was exposed to the scorching sun during the day, and stood the test of cold at night.

In this way (the person seeking enlightenment) tried to achieve perfect liberation. His body was like a skeleton, and he was actually on the verge of death. Finally, the martyr realized that enlightenment could not be achieved through self-torture, and went to his goal in a different way - he threw aside asceticism and plunged headlong into the process of constant contemplation and deep study.

Making a wish come true

There was no longer talk of self-destruction; it was necessary to find a “middle path.” During the search for a new path, the mentor lost five associates who believed in him. After their teacher began to eat again, they became disappointed and left him.

Left alone, the Bodhisattva was able to go towards his goal without being distracted by anything. He managed to find a secluded area on the banks of the Neranjara River, which seemed an ideal place to immerse himself in thoughts.

There grew a sacred Ashwattha tree (a type of Indian fig tree), under which there was a place for a straw mattress. Thirsting for enlightenment, Siddhartha sat on it, cross-legged, and before that he made a vow to himself to remain there until the bitter end.

The day passed, the evening ended, the night began. The Bodhisattva remained motionless, in a state of continuous meditation. At the very height of the night, he began to experience extraordinary visions, in particular, the processes of people leaving for another world and being reborn in a different capacity.
By the end of the darkness, he fully realized the truth of existence, thereby turning into a Buddha. He met the dawn as a self-awakened one who had achieved immortality in this life.

Buddha was in no hurry to leave the wonderful place, because he needed some time to realize the result. Several weeks passed before he decided to leave there. He faced a difficult choice:

continue to remain alone, enjoying the long-awaited feeling of liberation;