The Death Of Siddhartha Gautama

Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha or just simply the Buddha was born in what is now known as Nepal sometime between c. 563 BCE and c. 480 BCE into the caste system with his caste being the Kshatriya, the caste of royalty or the military elite. He was born to Śuddhodana, a head chief of the Shakya tribe, and Maya, a princess. Siddhartha’s father held a naming ceremony for a five day old Siddhartha where eight Brahmin priests predicted that Siddhartha would either be a great holy man or a great king. The prophecy was correct as Siddhartha Gautama has had one of the largest impacts on Asian culture by creating the fourth most popular religion in the world that is still active 2,500 years later.

The significance of the Buddhist teachings has impacted the everyday lives of Buddhist adherents as it provides a set of guidance, in which the goal of individuals is to improve themselves through effort and ultimately reach Nirvana, enlightenment. Through the Four Noble truths; The existence of Dukkha (Suffering),

Meditation is very difficult to describe and can only truly be explained once experienced. It is the practice of mental concentration leading ultimately through a sequence of stages to the final goal of spiritual freedom, nirvana. The purpose of Buddhist meditation is to free ourselves from the delusion and thereby put an end to both ignorance and craving. The Buddhists describe the culminating trance-like state as transient; final Nirvana requires the insight of wisdom. The exercises that are meant to develop wisdom involve meditation on the true nature of reality or the conditioned and unconditioned elements that make up all phenomena. The goal of meditation is to develop a concept in the mind.

There have been many teachers in one’s lifetime, some more important than others. These teachers and instructors affect different people in different ways, and lessons are learned that are important to prepare for real life situations. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, a young Brahmin named Siddhartha is not content with his current spiritual self. Siddhartha is directed to spiritual enlightenment and Nirvana because of his guidance and teaching from Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.

experience. The enlightenment is the moment of understanding Om and gaining unity with it. This cannot be

Enlightenment is defined as the understanding and knowledge with the lack of hope and pain. The idea of enlightenment can be found I different situations that can be connected through the spiritual awakening of one’s self. Siddhartha and the little boy from The Ocean at the End of the Lane are worlds apart in age, creed, culture and historical era, they are similar in that they are both on a journey of spiritual awakening.

As I looked to my right and left, I noticed the veterans of meditating could easily be spotted by their perfect posture and quiet, content, stiffness. To see each person in their own position was amusing. Most had their legs in front of themselves, crossed and slightly below their hips. Their gaze was typically a few feet in front of their eyes. Some had their eyes closed and some were simply staring. One woman to my right was sitting with her arms resting on her bent legs, a unique approach. Her old age and heavy weight prevented her from sitting any other way. Another middle aged man was sitting on his heels with a tiny wooden bench under him. Each person, based upon their size and flexibility, found their own position to stay in.

The aspiration of all sentient beings is to reach enlightenment; to realize their Buddha-nature and ascend to Buddhahood. The path and method to reach enlightenment, however, differs depending on the perspective from which one views Buddhism. Dogen, in his teachings on Zen Buddhism, promotes the practice of zazen to reach enlightenment. Shinran and the Pure Land sect are devoted to Amida Buddha, who they believe will bring them to the Pure Land, and enlightenment. The ways espoused by Dogen and Shinran are similar in some aspects, but differing enough in others to warrant the separate sects of Buddhism in Japan. For the purposes of this examination, the two sects can be summarized by how they look at reaching enlightenment: Zen Buddhism focuses inwardly, while Pure Land focuses outwardly. By examining their own words on how one is to reach enlightenment, the similarities and differences in their methods can be seen, allowing a better understanding of the teachings of their respective sects.

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion on earth and is composed of three major traditions today; Theravada, Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism (“Lecture 5”). The founder of Buddhism, known as Buddha, was a royal prince named Siddhartha Guatama from Northern India. Siddhartha’s father kept him closely confined inside of a large palace, with the intention of preventing him from taking up a religious life, so that he too would one day become a great king. However, one day while Siddhartha was outside of the palace, he observed four sights that would change his destiny forever. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the four sights experienced by Siddhartha Guatama, their significance and examine why they led him to seek religious

In meditation the Buddhist trains the mind to better understand oneself. By constant practice and meditation the more wisdom is gained. As wisdom is gained obstacles preventing enlightenment vanish to the point that the Buddhist can enter a trance like state or altered state of consciousness.

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

The life of Siddhartha Gautama has captivated millions of people around the world. Millions of humans practice and try to live a life free of possessions and free of distractions from the materialistic plane of existence we call society. In essence, a popular belief about life becomes mainstream and therefore a new religion is created. I would argue that Buddhism is merely a way of approaching life from an uncharacteristic perspective. Therefore, I am suggesting that the Buddha created a philosophy and deserves a place among the great fathers of human thought such as Aristotle, Plato, and many others. Where Buddhism differentiates from the three major religions of the world, is the amazing techniques that Buddhists pursue every day to optimize their inner thinking within. The philosophies of Buddhism and new research in the scientific community surrounding techniques done by its followers, has created a growing interest in the way of life, especially in western culture. Going along, we will explore what makes this so.

“Meditation is a means of transforming the mind” (The Buddhist Centre 2015). Buddhists practice and teach meditation to help enhance the concentration, clarity, positivity, and find a calming sense of the mind (The Buddhist Centre 2015). Buddhists believe that we have full control and power over our minds meaning that we have the power to change how we think and feel during situations through meditation. (ReligionFacts 2015). Buddhist’s believe dedicated meditation can encourage people to have a clearer, more positive, and peaceful world view. Buddhist’s believe people can alter negative perceptions of themselves and turn it into something positive through meditation/ (The Buddhist Centre 2015).

About 2,500 years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama renounced his empire in search of happiness or panacea for sorrow (dukkha) Gautama, after an extensive research throughout his empire and meditating on the collected data under a banyan tree,discovered that aspiration or want (kama) was at the root of sorrow (dukkha) laid down four noble truths to eliminate sorrow, and became the Buddha, the enlightened. Truths “Sanskriti, Mana. "The Four Noble." (1998).”

From the lavish beginnings in a wealthy kingdom nestled within the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, Siddhartha Gautama’s transformation into the Buddha and the start of Buddhism was based off of and due to confronting constant human suffering in everyday life. Abandoning his regal life in pursuit of spiritual insight, Siddhartha sought to understand the problem of human suffering and propose remedies, if any, to such a condition. Verses, lectures, and sutras transcribed in scriptures by Buddha’s followers offer an other worldly perspective to endure the hardships and how to conduct oneself harmoniously in society especially with the concept of Inner Peace. The truth goal of Buddhism is to attain peace within oneself, detaching oneself from worldly suffering, attaining enlightenment, and eventually reaching a state of escaping the cycle of suffering, the state of Nirvana. Even though there are many sects of the Buddhist faith, this essay focuses on the shared peace practices and beliefs Buddhism promotes, especially the concept of inner peace through reflection. Buddhism is known widely as a religion of peace and non-violence, though there are outlying examples contrary to the point such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and etc., the concept of achieving inner peace and living harmoniously no matter what views one has can promote a positive society.