LORD
BUDDHA
The Buddha is a Sanskrit word which
means ‘the enlightened one.’ For our purpose, it is the title given to
Siddhartha whose family name was Gautama. He was born a prince in Lumbini (modern Nepal) and is believed to have lived
from c.563 B.C. to 483 B.C.
Siddhartha belonged to the noble
family of the Kshatriya (warrior) clan. He is therefore also called Sakyamuni which
means the sage of Sakya clan.
His father wished that he should
succeed him as a ruler but, according to a tradition, it was predicted by
astrologers and sages that he would become either a universal ruler or a
universal teacher.
To ward off the realization of this prediction,
the father took great pains to keep his son away from all misery and any omens that would
persuade him to become a teacher.
Siddhartha spent his youth in great
luxury, married Yashodhara at age 16, and fathered a son named Rahula.
However, when he was 29, he went for
a ride in the royal park and saw four signs ---an aged man, a sick man, a
corpse, and a wandering religious mendicant --- that decided the course of his
remaining life.
In the first three signs, he had noticed
the presence of suffering in the world, and in the fourth one the way to escape from it. He therefore resolved to adopt the fourth one.
Enlightenment was attained by Siddhartha at
age 35 under a pipal tree in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, and to deliver his first sermon titled
“Setting In Motion The Wheel Of Law “to his five former companions , he
travelled to Sarnath, where he talked about “Four Noble Truths.” The truth of
suffering; the cause of suffering by which he meant the abandonment of desire;
the end of suffering which can come by renunciation; and the path to the end of
suffering known as The Eight Fold Path which consisting of:
1.
Right
View. 2. Right Intention. 3. Right Speech. 4. Right Action. 5. Right
Livelihood. 6. Right Effort. 7. Right
Mindfulness i.e developing awareness of the body, feelings, thoughts, and
phenomena. 8. Right Concentration comprising developed mental focus and meditation
to support the other seven parts of the Eightfold Path.
To conclude, here is one of his famous quotes:
“We are shaped by our thoughts;
We become what we
think.
When the mind is pure,
Joy follows like a shadow
That never leaves.
******
G. R. Kanwal
1st May 2026 (Budh Purnima Day).
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