A: OK. He lived from approximately 563 to 483 BC. He was the eldest son of King Suddhodana. The family to which King Suddhodana of the Sakyas belonged was called the Gotama family, so that his full name was King Suddhodana Gotama; and the name of the chief city in his kingdom where he had his chief palace, was Kapilavatthu. The name of the Buddha's mother was Mahamaya. It was the custom to pay a visit to her own parents before giving birth. And when she was half way between Kapilavatthu and the town of Devadaha, where her father's house was situated, there was a very fine forest garden called Lumbini where the people of both places used to go in the hot weather to enjoy the cool shade of the great Sal trees of which there were many in the grove. There in the Lumbini Grove, under the Sal trees, among the birds and bees and flowers, she brought forth the Buddha.
37. I would like to make a pilgrimage to the Lumbini Grove.
A: Yes. Lumbini is located in the south-central Terai of Nepal, situated in the foothills of the Himalayas. The site (Lumbini Grove) was described as a beautiful garden in the Buddha's time and still retains its legendary charm and beauty. In the words of the famous Chinese pilgrim of the 7th century, Huian Tsang, 'Lumbini -where the Lord was born - is a piece of Heaven on Earth, where one could see the snowy mountains amidst a splendid garden, embedded with stupas and monasteries!' However, the exact location remained uncertain and obscure until 1 December 1886 when a wandering German archaeologist Dr. Alois A. Fuhrer came across a stone pillar and ascertained beyond doubt it was indeed the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Since that day it has become a focal point for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
38. How was the Buddha's childhood? Was he well-raised?
A: Siddhartha's mother died only seven days after the birth. After that Siddhartha was raised by his mother’s kind sister, Mahaprajapati. His father consulted Asita, a well-known sooth-sayer, concerning the future of his son. Asita proclaimed that he would be one of two things: He could become a great king, even an emperor. Or he could become a great sage and savior of humanity. The king, eager that his son should become a king like himself, was determined to shield the child from anything that might result in him taking up the religious life. And so Siddhartha was kept in one or another of their three palaces, and was prevented from experiencing much of what ordinary folk might consider quite commonplace. He was not permitted to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had dedicated themselves to spiritual practices. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha. Prince Siddhattha must have received a royal education, although no details are given about it. As a scion of the warrior race he also received special training in the art of warfare.
39. Why did he forsake the amenities of life as a prince and leave the court?
A: In his early childhood, during a ploughing ceremony, Siddhartha made his first unprecedented spiritual experience, where in the course of meditation he developed the first jhana (=meditative absorption) through concentration. Siddhartha was not satisfied with the mere enjoyment of fleeting pleasures due to his inquiring and contemplative nature. One day, he left the palace for an excursion and there he encountered what so far had been purposely veiled from him:
He saw a decrepit old man, a diseased person, a corpse being cremated, and a sadhu (=holy man, hermit). Siddhartha realised that there is old age, sickness, and death, and that people ultimately had little control over their lives. The fourth sight provided the inspiration that led to a dramatic change in his life. He was now thinking of the one only thing that seemed worth thinking about at all — how old age and sickness and death might be escaped by him and by all men, for ever. In the night of his 29th birthday, Siddhartha gave up his life as a prince and secretly left the court while everyone was asleep. He traveled far and crossed the river Anoma, where he shaved his hair and handed over his princely garments to his groom Channa, with instructions to return them to the palace. The Bodhisattva (=future Buddha), who once lived in luxury, became a penniless and homeless wanderer.
40. What happened to him after leaving home?
A: He led a life of self-mortification and spiritual study, became first a disciple of several then famous Brahman teachers, and later attracted his own disciples.
After a long and exhausting period of searching and self-mortification, he finally became disillusioned with the Indian caste system, Hindu asceticism, and the religious doctrines of his time. He gave up the ascetic life and lost all of his disciples as a result. Nevertheless, he continued his search for truth through the practice of meditation. While meditating under a Bodhi tree in Bodh-Gaya, south of Gaya in the state of Bihar, India, the Bodhisattva experienced the Great Enlightenment, which revealed to him the way of salvation from suffering. He spent seven weeks meditating in the vicinity of the site of the Bodhi tree and attained the status of a fully realised Buddha at the age of 35.
A: Yes. Bodh Gaya or Bodhgaya (Hindi: बोधगया) is a religious place in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place of Gautama Buddha's attainment of Enlightenment. The main monastery of Bodhgaya used to be called the Bodhimanda-vihāra (Pali). Now it is called the Mahabodhi Temple. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Bodhi Tree was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar). Bodhi (Sanskrit: बोधि) is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated as "enlightenment", but frequently (and more accurately) translated as "awakening" or "to know".
42. Where are Kushinagar and Sarnath? Why are these two places important?
A: First things first. Sarnath or Sarnātha is the deer park where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma, and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence. Sarnath is located 13 kilometres north-east of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, India.
After attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya the Buddha went to Sarnath; and it was here that he preached his first discourse in the deer park to set in motion the 'Wheel of the Dharma'. It is one of the most holy sites as in this place the stream of the Buddha's teaching first flowed.
Sarnath is important because it is the place where the Buddha initiated the order of the disciples of the Lord Buddha, the Bhikkhus, as Sangha Ratana as one of the triple gems. It is from Sarnath, the Dhamma began its journey to spread around the world.
43. What is the Triple Gem?
A: The core of Buddhism is made up of the three pillars of the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (monks and nuns). Simply explained, one could say that without the historical Buddha Shakyamuni there would have been no Buddhist Dharma, nor Sangha. Without his teachings, the Buddha would not have made much of a difference, and also the spiritual community would not have existed. Without the Sangha, the tradition would never have been transmitted through the ages. The Buddha would have been 'just' a historical figure and his teachings would have been 'just' books.
By taking refuge in the Triple Gem, one escapes from rebirth in states of suffering. In forsaking such a refuge as this, you have certainly erred. In the past, too, men who foolishly mistook what was no refuge for a real refuge, met disaster.
44. What is meant by "taking refuge"?
A: Buddhists are said to "take refuge" in, or to "go for refuge" to, the Triple Gem (aka the "Three Refuges"). This is often done formally in lay and monastic ordination ceremonies. Often, one who takes refuge will make vows as well, typically vows to adhere to the Five Precepts (pañca-sila).
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