The Life Story Of Prince Siddhartha Gautama English Literature Essay

✅ Paper Type: Free Essay	✅ Subject: English Literature
✅ Wordcount: 4294 words	✅ Published: 1st Jan 2015

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Around 2.500 years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in a city that was called as Kapilavatthum, which is the foothills of the Himalaya, India. Prince Siddhartha father is the Rajah of the Sakya, named King Suddhodana and his mother was a queen named is Maha Maya. They have Indian warrior background. In this story Prince Suddhartha Gautama is the main character and the story shows how the Prince went on the path to be the Buddha.

Buddha, 2,500 years ago lived in India and that time prince Siddhartha was a boy, his teachings known as Buddhism and liked to contemplate to shown how he become tolerant. Wisely and happily has teaches and learned by him to make sure how to lived with others.

The Birth of Prince Siddhartha

In Himalaya India, King Suddhodana which is Prince Suddhartha father and his mother queen named Maha Maya were both polite and concerned to treat their folks.

One day, wise men described that queen is going to give birth to a prince. The queen dreamt of the fours devas and she was carried to a lake, and rest on a soft bed. An elephant carrying a lotus flower were rounding her for three times and vanished into her on a full moon night.

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The queen had left the castle to go back her own parent’s home when she is ready to give abirth for the prince suddhartha. On the way to home, a Queen Maha Maya have a rest in the garden called Lumbini Garden and that time she suddenly was standing up and holding on the tree and gave birth to a little and healthy baby prince Siddhartha.

While the queen Maha Maya returned to the castle with her baby prince and King Suddhohana was happy and celebrated the birth of the baby with his whole country citizens. By the way the delivery took place on the fifth month of Vesakha, on a full moon day in 623 BC and we are called that is Wesak day or Buddha Day.

The Naming Ceremony

Numerous numbers of the philosophers were invited to the palace for the Naming Ceremony; five days after the prince arise. The trace on the child’s body has been observed. Seven of the philosophers placed up two fingers and deduced the prince would either become a Great King or a Buddha. Kondama, the youngest philosopher, placed up only one finger and deduced the price would become a Buddha. The philosophers then called the prince, “Siddhartha”, means “wish-fulfilled.”

The Queen Maha Maya rested in peace, after seven days of the prince arise. The prince was then raised up by Pajapati Gotami, Queen Maha Maya younger sister, who was also married to King Suddhodana.

The Childhood of the Prince

From childhood to adult, prince was adored by all to be friendly and unselfish. One day prince Siddhartha had a fun at garden and saw a bird bring a worm that had been tuned up by the farmers plough. The animal caught by others as a food to let him felt a scene was ruined. Prince Siddhartha concentrated some enjoyable memory and seated under a rose apple tree.

Again, prince saw a swan had hurt by Devadatta’s arrow and warm-hearted prince put a holy hand to save the life of the swan. Educated in arts and sciences and mastered the art of war and the royal sports by young Siddhartha especially he is prince in the country.

THE LIFE STORY OF PRINCE SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA – THE BUDDHA

The Birth of Prince Siddhartha

In Himalaya India, King Suddhodana which is Prince Suddhartha father and his mother queen named Maha Maya were both polite and concerned to treat their folks.

The Naming Ceremony

The Queen Maha Maya rested in peace, after seven days of the prince arise. The prince was then raised up by Pajapati Gotami, Queen Maha Maya younger sister, who was also married to King Suddhodana.

The Childhood of the Prince

Searching for Teacher

Siddhartha found in the Ganges River divine teachers Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. Then he will be there with them to learn and study. After that, he understood what they taught, but he can’t learn how to end suffering. He said to himself, “I must find the truth on my own”.

Six Years of Hardship

Siddhartha with his five friends arrive at a jungle of Uruvela. In this jungle, several holy men were living in and torturing themselves with extreme poverty. They believe that through the physical pain can learn how to end suffering. For example, some slept on a bed of nails. Some stood on their head. They all ate so little they were just skin and bones.

So, Siddhartha found a silent spot on the banks of a nearby river. He chose to accept the most difficult training and he ate only one grain of wheat and one sesame seed in a day. In other time, he was eat nothing at all until there was only a layer of thin skin covering his bones. Birds made nests in his matted hair and layers of dust covered his dried-up figure. Siddhartha sat totally still, not even sweeping away insects.

The Song of the Lute

One evening when Siddhartha was meditating, a group of young girls saw him as they were on their way home. They began playing lutes, a musical instrument, and singing. While he was looking at them perform, he thought to himself if the strings of the lute are too loose, there will be no sound. If the strings are too tight, it will break apart. When the strings are not too tight neither too lose, the music comes out beautifully. In this case, he noticed that he couldn’t find the way to truth living a life of wealth or having a weak body. Thus he ended his ways of self-toturing.

Later he went to the river to bath, since he had not eaten and his body was very fragile. He collapsed and fell. A young village girl named Sujata who lived nearby, saw what had happened quickly get a bowl of rice and milk for him. After having his meal, He instantaneously felt stronger and carried on with his meditation. Siddhartha’s five companions were revolted when they saw him eating, thinking that he had given up. In the end, they abandoned him.

The Sun of Enlightenment Shines

Siddhartha recalled meditating under the rose-apple tree when he was a child. “I shall meditate as I did before. Perhaps that is the way to become enlightened. From that day onwards, he began to eat daily.

Still seeking a way to understand the meaning of life, Siddhartha set out for Bodh Gaya. Near a grove, he sat down underneath a huge Bodhi tree. Then, he decided he won’t to leave the tree even if his flesh and blood dried up, leaving only his skin and bones. He sat there for forty nine days. He was strong-minded to discover the foundation of all pain and suffering in the world. Mara, the evil one, tried to scare him into giving up his journey. For instance, he hoped to lure Siddhartha into having selfish thoughts by sending visions of his very beautiful daughters. But the Buddha’s goodness protected him from such attacks.

Siddhartha saw and learned that the cause of suffering of others is due to greediness, selfishness and stupidity of human beings. If only the people could get rid of these negative emotions, they will be cheerful.

During a full-moon night in May, Siddhartha went into deep meditation. As the daybreak star appeared in the eastern sky, he became an enlightened one, a Buddha. He was thirty five years old.

When the Buddha stood up at last, he stared at the tree in gratitude, to thank it for having given him a roof over his head. From then on, the tree was known as the Bodhi tree, the tree of Enlightenment.

The Four Noble Truths

The 1st Noble Truth of the actuality of Dukkha as part of conditioned presence. Dukkha is a multi-faceted word. Its literal meaning is “that which is hard to bear”. It can mean excruciation, stress, torment, irritancy, affliction or unsatisfactoriness. Each of the English words is either too strong or too weak in their meaning to be a universally successful translation. Dukkha can be gross or very mysterious. From extreme physical and mental discomfort and torment to subtle inner collision and existential disease.

The 2nd Noble Truth that Dukkha has a causal arising. This cause is defined as rapacious and clinging or hatred. On one hand it is trying to control anything and everything by gripping onto or trying to pin them down. On the other hand it is control by pushing away or pushing down and running away or flinching away from things. This is the process of identification through which we try to make internal and external things and understandings into “me and mine” or wholly ‘”other” than Me. This flies in the look of the three marks of existence – Anicca, Dukkha. Anatta – Impermanence. Tension or tribulation and no-self. Because all conditioned existence is impermanent it gives rise to Dukkha, and this means that in conditioned existence there is no fixed and permanent Self. There is nothing to grip onto and also in realism, nothing or no ‘one’ to do the grasping! We grab onto or try to push away ever changing dynamic processes. These tries to control, limit us to little descriptions of who we are.

The 3rd Noble Truth of the end of Dukkha, which is Nirvana or Nibbana. Beyond clutching and control and conditional existence is Nirvana. “The mind like fire unbound.” The awareness of Nirvana is supreme Bodhi or Awakening. It is waking up to the true nature of actuality. It is waking up to our true nature. Buddha Nature. The Pali Canon of Theravada, the foundational Buddhist teachings, says little about Nirvana, using terms like the Unconditioned the Deathless, and the Unborn. Mahayana teachings speak more about the qualities of Nirvana and use terms like, True Nature, Original Mind, Infinite light and Infinite life. Beyond expanse and time. Nirvana defies definition.

Nirvana literally means “unbound’ as in “Mind like fire unbound”. This beautiful image is of a fire burning by itself. Just the flame, not something burning and giving off a flame. Picture a fire burning on a wick or twig; it seems to be floating around or just above the thing burning. The fire seems to be independent of the thing burning but it clings to the stick and is bound to it. This has often been misunderstood to mean the fire is extinguished or blown out while sense of the fire is being unbound. This is completely opposite to the meaning of the symbol. The fire “burns” and gives light but is no longer bound to any flammable material. The fire is not blown out – the clinging and the clung to is quenched. The fire of our true nature, which is awakening, burns self-sufficiently. Ultimately Nirvana is beyond conception and logical understanding. Full understanding only comes through direct experience of this “state’ which is beyond the boundaries and explanations of space and time.

The 4th Noble Truth of the Path that leads to Awakening. The path is an inconsistency. It is a conditioned thing that is said to help you to the unconditioned. Awakening is not “made” by anything: it is not a creation of anything including the Buddha’s teachings. Awakening, your true nature is already always present. We are just not awake to this realism. Clinging to restraints and trying to manipulate the ceaseless flow of phenomena and procedure obscures our true nature.

The path is a progression to help you remove or move beyond the conditioned responses that obstruct your true nature. In this sense the Path is ultimately about unlearning rather than learning – another inconsistency. We learn so we can unlearn and uncover. The Buddha called his teaching a Raft. To cross a raging river we may need to build a raft. We single-mindedly and with great vigour make our way across while building. Once across we don’t need to cart the raft around with us. In other words don’t cling to anything including the teachings. However, make sure you use them before you let them go. It’s of no use knowing everything about the raft and not getting on. The teachings are tools not doctrine. The teachings are Upaya, which means skilful means or practical method. It is fingers pointing at the moon – don’t confuse the finger for the moon.

There are eight paths which are known as the Eight-Fold Path.

1. * Samma-Ditthi – Complete or Perfect Vision, also translated as right view or understanding. Vision of the nature of reality and the path of transformation.

2. Samma-Sankappa – Perfected Emotion or Aspiration, also translated as right thought or attitude. Releasing emotional intelligence in your life and acting from love and compassion. An informed heart and feeling mind that are free to practice letting go.

3. Samma-Vaca – Perfected or whole Speech. Also called right speech. Clear, truthful, uplifting and non-harmful communication.

4. Samma-Kammanta – Integral Action. Also called right action. An ethical foundation for life based on the principle of non-exploitation of oneself and others. The five precepts.

5. Samma-Ajiva – Proper Livelihood. Also called right livelihood. This is a livelihood based on correct action the ethical principal of non-exploitation. The basis of an Ideal society.

6. Samma-Vayama – Complete or Full Effort, Energy or Vitality. Also called right effort or diligence. Consciously directing our life energy to the transformative path of creative and healing action that fosters wholeness. Conscious evolution.

7. Samma-Sati – Complete or Thorough Awareness. Also called “right mindfulness”. Developing awareness, “if you hold yourself dear watch yourself well”. Levels of Awareness and mindfulness – of things, oneself, feelings, thought, people and Reality.

8. Samma-Samadhi – Full, Integral or Holistic Samadhi. This is often translated as concentration, meditation, absorption or one-pointedness of mind. None of these translations is adequate. Samadhi literally means to be fixed, absorbed in or established at one point, thus the first level of meaning is concentration when the mind is fixed on a single object. The second level of meaning goes further and represents the establishment, not just of the mind, but also of the whole being in various levels or modes of consciousness and awareness. This is Samadhi in the sense of enlightenment or Buddhahood.

* The word Samma means ‘proper’, ‘whole’, ‘thorough’, ‘integral’, ‘complete’, and ‘perfect’ – related to English ‘summit’ – It does not automatically mean ‘right’, as opposed to ‘wrong’. However it is often translated as “right” which can send a less than precise message. For instance the opposite of ‘Right Awareness’ is not certainly ‘Wrong Awareness’. It may simply be incomplete. Use of the word ‘right’ may make for a neat or reliable list of qualities in translations. The down side is that it can give the impression that the Path is a narrow and moralistic approach to the spiritual life.

The Spread of Buddhism

During the third era of BCE, Buddhism was spread by Ashoka(BCE 270 – BCE 232), the third which is the most authoritative Mauryan dynasty, who created the first pan-Indian empire. Ashoka felt heartache due to the amount of lives that loss during the war. Therefore, he decided to follow the path of Buddhism. Hence, he began to apply the Buddhist principles in the government of his own kingdom. Soon he named the new code of conduct ‘Dhamma’. In order to notify everyone about his new partial opinion and rule of philosophy, he got ordinance impressed on stone pillars and placed them all over his kingdom, which are existing even today.

Besides helping in spreading the belief within India, Ashoka also spreading the belief outside of India as well. The main reason for the spread of Buddhism into Southeast Asia was the support of the emperor Ashoka himself. He send team of minister to all over the Indian sub-continent, i.e. to Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Previous Burma), and other next-door areas, so as to send the message of Buddhism. The missionaries that Ashoka send to the other countries were well agreed by them. The alterations took place easily when the impact and the personal supremacy Ashoka exercised.

The spread of Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Ashoka’s son, Mahindra, who journeyed to Sri Lanka along with four other monks and a novice, supervised the most successful missions. The king of Sri Lanka converted to Buddhism just that the task turned out so successful, and Mahindra then oversaw the translation of the Theravada canon (written in the Pali language) into Sinhala, the Sri Lankan script. He also assisted in locating a monastery named Mahavihara, which became the main supporter of the Theravadin orthodoxy in Sri Lanka for over 1,000 years.

The spread of Buddhism in China

China noted contact with Buddhism with the arrival of a Buddhist scholar, Bodhi Dharma, who journeyed from India to China along with other monks in 475 CE. Bodhi Dharma offered the knowledge of the Buddha to the Chinese, who were persuaded by the teachings. Buddhism and Chinese Taoism mixed one with another and so created in the Ch’an school of Buddhism in China.

A monk named An Shih-kao, which became the capital of the Han dynasty, began converting Indian Buddhist texts into Chinese in Lo-yang in the Central Asian kingdom of Kusha, in 148 BC. During the next three decades, An Shih-kao and a number of other monks (mostly from Central Asia) translated about thirty Buddhist texts.

The spread of Buddhism in Japan and Korea

In the centuries that followed, Buddhism increased its own identity, and from China, Buddhism spread further towards Korea and Japan. As per Nihonshoki in 552 CE, the Korean state of Paekche sent Buddhist texts and illustrations to Japan. This is to influence the Japanese emperor to become an ally in its war with the neighbouring state of Silla. In the early stages, Japanese liking towards Buddhism was mostly related to the magical powers of Buddha and Buddhist monks. When the emperor Yomei (CE 585 – CE 587) utilized Buddhism, the Japanese began to travel to China in order to learn or find out more from the Buddhist teachers there, and a number of indigenous Buddhist schools developed in Japan.

Yomei’s son, Prince Shotoku (CE 574 – CE 622) propagated Buddhism. He built a variety of Buddhist temples and also sent a number of Japanese monks to travel to China for further studies on Buddhism. Besides these, he also wrote commentaries on three Buddhist texts. Certainly, soon he was viewed in Japan as an living form of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.