Contents
He comprehended the secret of human suffering and teaches how to get rid of them. His answer – a middle way between hedonism and self-torture – still amazes us with thoughtful accuracy.
Prince Siddhartha Gautama lived in those fabulous times, about which legend will tell us more than history. The beautiful wife gave birth to Lord Kapilavastu in northern India, a wonderful boy. The sages found magical signs on the body of the newborn and predicted a great future for him. But the father did not want greatness for his son, but ordinary happiness. He protected him from worries and worries in a luxurious palace. However, secret anxiety did not leave the prince. Three times he leaves the palace and sees in front of him first a lame old man, then a poor man tormented by a fever, and finally a funeral procession. The lesson is clear: how can one enjoy life when old age, sickness and death await all of us. But not all is lost. Leaving the palace for the fourth time, Siddhartha meets a beggar hermit, whose face radiates with unearthly joy. Here is the path to salvation. At night, the prince flees the palace, cuts off his long curls, and becomes a wandering ascetic. However, six years of torture of the flesh did not give him spiritual joy, a reflection of which he saw on the face of the beggar. And then he realized that you need to look for a middle path between the two extremes – hedonism and self-torture. After washing himself and eating rice, he sits under a fig tree and goes into deep meditation, vowing that he will not leave the place until he achieves spiritual awakening. So Siddhartha Gautama becomes a Buddha (awakened). This state turned out to be so blissful that he was tempted to stay in it forever, but compassion for people won, and the Buddha went to preach. Now Buddhism is a world religion; it not only conquered the East, but also captivated the West. What is close to modern man in the distant teaching? Civilization offers us ever new benefits, but not answers to eternal questions; they torment us no less than the ancient prince who lived in a golden cage.
His dates
- 563 BC e.: born in northern India.
- 528 BC e.: Awakened.
- 528–483 BC e.: preached the doctrine.
- 483 BC e.: left the world.
Keys to Understanding
Do not indulge desires: they are fruitless
There are two truths about suffering and the origin of suffering. The main cause of suffering is the irrepressibility of human desires. However, these desires do not lead to happiness. They are either unfulfillable, and this brings sadness, or they are fulfilled, and then we are convinced of the ephemeral nature of our happiness, and the fear of loss deprives it of its meaning. But we continue to desire again and again, and it is this insatiable thirst that pushes us from one string of suffering to another.
Don’t deviate from the right path
There is an exit. There are two more truths – about the cessation of suffering and about the path that leads to this. Suffering will end when a person gets rid of eternal thirst, but for this the right path must be chosen. It starts with correct knowledge, but knowing is not enough – you have to be convinced that you know. Conviction must be translated into right speech – not to lie, not to talk in vain – and into right action. Don’t steal, don’t harm anyone, don’t debauch. This will lead to a truly Buddhist way of life, which is crowned with three stages of mental work: the effort of thought, attention and concentration. It is they who introduce into deep meditation, which decisively changes the consciousness of a person and leads him to awakening.
“BE YOURSELF LIGHTS”.
Take Action, Don’t Think
The Buddha did not like idle talk. If you are hit by an arrow, you will not speculate about who fired it, he repeated, but will immediately try to extract it. He has been compared to a doctor for a reason. In dealing with human suffering, the Buddha made a diagnosis and prescribed a remedy. Further depends on the will and discipline of the patient.
About it
- Ashwaghosha “Life of the Buddha” Fiction, 1990.
- Edward Conze “Buddhism: essence and development” Science, 2003.
- “Life of the Buddha”, non-fiction film, BBC, 2003.