Article GLOBAL PEACE: to NURTURE a HEALTHY MIND & SHAKYAMUNI the BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS Dr
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Article GLOBAL PEACE: TO NURTURE A HEALTHY MIND & SHAKYAMUNI THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS Dr. Kapil Dev Upadhyaya Introduction thanked his teacher but this was not his final goal so he took to the road. Realize that the body is impermanent like a clay vessel Know that phenomena are without inherent existence, Siddhartha reached to Master Uddaka, a highly like mirages respected meditation teacher and started practicing Having destroyed the poisonous weapons of under his guidance. In just two weeks Siddhartha attachment— realized the SAMADHI called “neither perception nor Attractive like flowers — non-perception” (The path to liberation is to transcend You will pass beyond even the sights of death — all perceptions). Siddhartha attained the highest level BUDDHA1 that Master Uddaka had, but he knew it was not the key to liberation from birth and death, and he took to the The word Buddha means ‘ the Enlightened One ‘ . The road again. teaching of Buddha is ‘Dharma’ and the spiritual community who follow the teaching of Buddha is Siddhartha realized that there were no other teachers ‘Sangha’. The Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are known as like Alara kalama and Master Uddaka at that time to The Three Jewels or the Triple Gem. teach him, and so he had to seek the key to liberation on his own. He started practicing self-mortification in Brief life history of Shakyamuni Siddhartha: order to attain to liberation, as a result his body became Before Enlightenment terribly wasted - it was little more than loose flesh Queen Mahamaya gave birth to a radiant son in the hanging on protruding bones. In the process, he realized garden of Lumbini in the 6th century B.C and we are all that the peace and comfort of the body were directly so fortunate to be here in his birth place. King related to the peace and comfort of the mind. To abuse Suddhodana’s joy was boundless and he named the the body was to abuse the mind. He resolved to stop prince “Siddhartha” means the one who accomplishes self-mortification practice and regained his health. his aim. Queen Mahamaya died on the 8th day of delivery and her sister Mahaprajapati (Gotami), the new Siddhartha sat under a Pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) on the queen cared for Siddhartha, as if he were her own son. flat stone, using the Kusha grass (considered auspicious) Siddhartha married Yasodhara, the royal wedding was as a mat. Silently he vowed “This body may not, I may an occasion of great joy and celebration for the entire disintegrate into the dust, but until I find the answer, I kingdom.. After a few months Yasodhara gave birth to a will not rise”. Siddhartha discovered that at the root, it is male child, Siddhartha lifted the infant in his arms, and our emotions that lead to suffering. Directly or indirectly said” I will name the child Rahula” all emotions are born from selfishness in the sense that 2 One night at the age of twenty-nine Siddhartha left his they involve clinging to the self. wife, his infant son, his home, his family, his extraordinary royal wealth and his safe, secure and Siddhartha realized that there is no independent entity luxurious life and began the life of a wandering monk. that qualifies as the “self” to be found anywhere either He was in search of the cause of suffering and the end of inside or outside the body. He understood that suffering. He wanted to know the mystery of life and everything we see, hear, feel, imagine, and know to exist 2 death. He wanted to know the truth. is simply emptiness. Beginning of Spiritual Practice and Enlightenment: Siddhartha gained enlightenment at the age of 35, and Siddhartha started practicing under his first spiritual became the Buddha. Enlightenment is called the great teacher Master Alara Kalama near the city of Vesali. death, everything of the past dies, so here the Buddha is Master Alara spoke to Siddhartha “My teaching is not a born. He continued teaching until the age of 80. “The mere theory. Knowledge is gained from direct Buddha lived probably between 560 and 480 B.C. Modern Scholars generally place the death of Buddha at experience and direct attainment, not from mental 3 arguments”. Siddhartha progressed in meditation very 483 B.C.” fast and attained the state of “ Realm of no materiality”. Master Alara seeing Siddhartha’s fast progress said to Brief History of the Buddha’s life and Teachings after him “ Monk, you are profoundly gifted, you have Enlightenment: attained the highest level I can teach”. Siddhartha The word Buddha simply means one who has awakened, one who is enlightened, one who knows, one who is 16 SAARC Psychiatric Federation International Conference, Lumbini, 2014 Article aware, and as a consequence of that has fully developed Important Teachings of Buddha: his full potential….This would naturally call forth the 1. Four Noble Truths question awakened to what? The simple answer would 2. Noble Eight-Fold Path be awakened to his true nature and thus by implication, 3. Five Skandas awakened to the true nature of all beings and the true 4. Twelve Nidanas nature of the cosmos, awakened to the condition of all 5. Prajnaparamita Sutras especially Diamond Sutra and beings [especially humans but not exclusively humans]4 Heart Sutra Thich Nhat Hanh a Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master The Buddha after his enlightenment, when he decided describes the Buddha’s Enlightenment beautifully as to teach, his first thought was to teach his teachers who follows” Gautama felt as though a prison which had had helped him in his early days. But he came to know confined him for thousands of lifetime had broken open. that they were already dead. Then he decided to teach Ignorance had been the jail keeper. Because of his five friends / followers who had left him afterwards. ignorance, his mind has been obscured, just like the These five ascetics were then living in a place called Deer moon and stars hidden by the storm clouds. Clouded by Park Saranath near Benares. It is believed that the endless waves of deluded thoughts, the mind had falsely Buddha taught them Four Noble Truths and Noble Eight- divided reality into subject and object, self and others, Fold Path following which they all gained enlightenment. existence and nonexistence, birth and death, and from This first teaching of the Buddha is known as First these discriminations arose wrong views — the prisons Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma ( Dharmachakra- of feelings, cravings, graspings, and becoming. The Pravartana) suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death only made the prison walls thicker. The only thing to do was to Four Noble Truths: seize the jail keeper and see his true face. The jail keeper was ignorance. And the means to overcome ignorance • The Truths of Suffering ( Dukkha) were the Noble Eight fold path. Once the jail keeper was • The Origin of Suffering ( Samudaya ) gone, the jail would disappear and never be rebuilt • The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering ( Nirodha) again.5 • The Truth of the Way leading to the Cessation of Sufferings A typical non-Buddhist question often raised “ Is Buddha a God, or prophet of God, or a deity, or an incarnation “Here suffering means mental suffering. Physical etc? When asked by the Brahmin Drona, a contemporary suffering will be there. Even the Buddha suffered with of the Buddha, whether he was a deity of one form or injuries and back pain” . On one occasion Buddha said” the other or a man, he explicitly answered that he was My body is just like an old, broken-down cart which has not any kind of deity nor was he a man. So the Brahmin been repaired many times……….But my mind is as asked him again “ Then what are you, what should we vigorous as ever…….My intellectual and spiritual vigor is know you as?” The Buddha replied “ I am a Buddha, undiminished, despite the enfeebled state of my body.7 know me as a Buddha”.4 The First Noble Truth: Dukkha (Suffering): It is often Buddha gained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya ( interpreted by people that life according to Buddhism is Bihar,India). When he found the key to liberation, he nothing but suffering and pain, so it is pessimistic. But thought “I have found a path that is profound, peaceful, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. The non-extreme, clear, wish-fulfilling, and nectar like. But if Buddhism does not deny happiness of family life, I attempt to express it, if I try to teach, there is no one happiness of sense pleasure etc. but they are all capable of hearing, listening, or understanding. included in the first noble truth “Dukkha”. Birth, aging, Therefore I will remain in this peaceful state - it is illness, loss, grieving and disappointment are all Dukkha. believed that lord Brahma Sahampati appeared before Separation from loved ones, contact with disliked ones him, knowing Buddha’s plan, and requested him to and not getting what one wants are also suffering or preach out of compassion for all living beings, to make Dukkha.The Buddha says that all kinds of happiness or known the truth he had discovered. pleasure ultimately lead to suffering, because they are impermanent. According to Buddhism, whatever is His teachings may be divided into two basic types: Sutras impermanent is Dukkha. We can have all sorts of and Tantras. Traditionally, the sutras are held to be pleasures, all sorts of achievement but eventually we discourses the Buddha spoke openly in his lifetime. still feel within ourselves dissatisfied – this is called Tantra as an esoteric tradition originated primarily Dukkha.