Buddha

The founder of Buddhism and an advocate of non-violence

Some take him as god, some take him as a Guru and others take him as an enlightened man. To everyone, he is the founder of Buddhism – a religion that advocates non-violence, modesty in lifestyle and sacrifice of worldly luxuries and has spread across China, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and many other countries.

Buddha was an ordinary man before he got enlightened and started preaching his doctrines. According to history books he was born heir to the throne of a small principality of Tilaurakot - now in Southern Nepal - ruled by the Shakya dynasty about 2600 years ago. Siddhartha Gautam, as he was called then, was engrossed in the luxuries enjoyed by the royals of those days within the four walls of his palace. He was married early and also had a son.

According to myths, one day he got very curious about what goes on outside the confinements of his palace and decided to take a walk outside the palace. What he saw on the roads of the small town of Lumbini not only changed his life but also gave birth to a completely new religion with a large population following.

What would not catch attention of an ordinary man bothered Siddhartha Gautam a lot. The hardships bore by a stooping old man, a poor derelict asking for alms for a meal, a sick and ailing person and a dead body. He was not aware of these realities of life. Triggered by the quest for the meaning of life he decided to go on a long meditation.

One dark evening, he renounced the luxuries of his palaces and headed out in search of enlightenment. When he reached a place called Gaya, he found a giant poplar tree - called Bodhi Brikshay these days - and decided that that would be the ideal place for him to meditate.

He meditated there for a long time and finally got enlightened after which he was called 'Buddha' (The meaning Buddha is an enlightened man). He realized that life is uncertain and full of hardships and that there is life after death for which people should be good in his present life. It is of course beyond the scope of my knowledge to explain his doctrines. But the essence was to promote humanitarian values like non-violence and a sacrifice of the materialistic luxuries.

One of his self-explanatory verse ‘Life is uncertain, be good. Death is certain, do good.’ Says a lot about his doctrines.

After the enlightenment he started preaching his doctrines to people. Initially he was alone, but soon there was a team of loyal disciples following him and helping him preach his doctrines to more people.

Buddha spent the rest of his life preaching and practicing these doctrines along with his followers. After his death, his followers took over the task of preaching his doctrines. Buddhism believes in reincarnation. So, followers of Buddhism don’t take ‘death’ as a normal man would do, but as a transition of the soul from one body to another. So, according to that belief Buddha did not die but got merged with the cosmic force.

Over the years, these preaching gave birth to a new religion called Buddhism. People from various cultures and locations started following Buddhism. The religion evolved based on the following ethnic group and different sects within Buddhism developed. Today, Buddhism is probably the third largest religion in terms of population. Buddha is worshiped in various stupas, monasteries and shrines as god.

In fact, the number of idols and statues of Buddha supersedes the number of statues or idols of any single god or person in the world. Ironically Buddha himself was against making and worshipping statues.