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Buddha (563?-483? B.C.) is the title given to the founder of Buddhism, one of the world's great religions. It means Enlightened or Awakened One. The Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama. Another of his titles is Shakyamuni, which means "the wise man of the Shakya clan."
Scholars agree that Siddhartha Gautama lived in northern India over 2,000 years ago, but there is still some debate about his exact birth and death dates. Most scholars think he lived from about 563 to 483 B.C. However, some scholars claim he lived from about 448 to 368 B.C. Buddhists believe that there were at least six other Buddhas before Gautama. Buddhists believe there is another one to come, whose name will be Maitreya. Birth and early life. Buddhists believe in rebirth, and many tales are told about Gautama's previous births. There are over 500 of these jataka tales. The tales describe how, through human and animal forms, Gautama attained the moral perfections needed for a final birth. These moral perfections are qualities such as generosity, patience, and loving kindness. The stories are part of the folklore of India. The accounts of Gautama's last birth are set in the upper Ganges Valley of northern India, in the foothills of the Himalaya. Siddhartha Gautama was born near the town of Kapilavastu, in what is now Nepal. Gautama was from the warrior caste in Indian society. His father was Suddhodhana, a local ruler and prince of the Shakya people. His mother's name was Maya. She is often referred to as Mahamaya, or Great Maya. As the stories go, Maya dreamed that a white elephant entered her womb when Gautama was conceived. White elephants are very rare, so Buddhists take this as a sign of the child's future greatness. When the time came for her child to be born, Maya was on her way to her parent's home. She stopped near Kapilavastu in a grove of trees called the Lumbini grove. This site now attracts many Buddhist pilgrims. The story describes how Gautama was born, without pain, from Maya's side. This may have been a way of describing an early Caesarian section, or an emphasis on the miraculous. Maya died quite soon afterward and the future Buddha was brought up by his aunt, Prajapati. At the traditional naming ceremony of the new child, one of the court astrologers, or wise men, predicted that the baby would become either a great world ruler or a great religious teacher. The astrologer said that if Gautama became a religious teacher, it would be as a result of seeing great suffering. Gautama's father tried to prevent his son from seeing suffering. He kept the child within the royal palace and its park. When Gautama reached marrying age, about 20, he won an archery competition and the right to marry a princess called Yasodhara. They had a son, Rahula, and lived a pleasant life within the royal palace. continued.... next page >> |
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