LORD BUDDHA (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – History)

Context: Recently, as millions of devotees in Thailand paid obeisance to the sacred relics of Lord Buddha and his disciples Arahant Sariputta and Arahant Maha Moggallana in Bangkok, the Prime Minister of India hailed the ideals of Lord Buddha.

Lord Buddha

• About: Lord Buddha (Siddhartha Gautam) was born into the royal family of the Sakya clan, ruling from Kapilvastu, Lumbini, in the Terai plains of southern Nepal.

oAt the age of 29, Gautama left home, renouncing his life of riches to embrace extreme self-discipline as an ascetic.

• Attainment of Enlightenment: After 49 consecutive days of meditation, Gautama attained Bodhi (enlightenment) under a pipal tree at Bodhgaya, a village in Bihar.
• Dharma Chakra Pravartana: Buddha delivered his first sermon in the village of Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, on Asadha Purnima, an event known as Dharma Chakra Pravartana (turning of the wheel of law).
• Five Precepts: Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication.
• Eightfold Path in Buddhism: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
• Significance of Guru Poornima: The day of Buddha's first sermon is observed as Guru Poornima by both Buddhists and Hindus, marking reverence to their Gurus.
• Major Teachings of Lord Buddha:

oThree Marks of Existence: Impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and non-self (anatta) are the characteristics of all phenomena that one should understand and accept.

oThe Four Noble Truths: These truths revolve around the nature of suffering, its cause (ignorance, attachment, and aversion), its cessation, and the path to its cessation.