Buddha: Encyclopedia - Buddha

Buddha

Buddha (Sanskrit, Pali, others: literally Awakened One, from the root: √budh, "to awaken") is a title used in Buddhism for anyone who has discovered their enlightenment (bodhi), although it is commonly used to refer to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical founder of Buddhism.

Generally, Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama—who lived from about 623 BC to 543 BC, and attained bodhi around 588 BC—to have been the first or the last Buddha. From the standpoint of classical Buddhist doctrine, a Buddha is anyone who rediscovers the Dharma and achieves enlightenment, having amassed sufficient positive karma to do so. There have existed many such beings in the course of cosmic time. Hence, Gautama Buddha (known by the religious name Shakyamuni) is one member of a spiritual lineage of Supreme Buddhas going back to the dim past and forward into the distant future. His immediate predecessor was Dipankara Buddha, and his successor will be named Maitreya.

Buddhism recognises three types of Buddha, of which the simple term Buddha is normally reserved for the first type, that of Samyaksam-buddha (Pali: Samma-Sambuddha). The attainment of Nirvana is exactly the same, but a Samyaksam-buddha expresses more qualities and capacities than the other two.

The historical Buddha seems to have presented himself not as a god or savior, but as a teacher capable of guiding sentient beings out of samsara. Nevertheless, many forms of Buddhism do recognize savior-type figures. The technical differences between Buddhas, bodhisattvas, dharmapalas (protector deities), yidams ("tutelery deities"), and "gods" (Sanskrit deva, Tibetan lha) often blur in practical devotion. Nonetheless, all are seen within the mainstream Buddhist context as being empty of inherent existence, a quality no theistic religion would ascribe to its "god". Certain teachings of the Buddha in a number of Mahayana sutras, however, vigorously oppose the idea that even the Buddha (in his ultimate Dharmakaya mode) is not truly and eternally Real (see "Eternal Buddha" section below): according to this less widespread doctrine, only the realm of samsara has no enduring essence, whereas to assert the same of the Buddha is to commit a grave offence and to stray dangerously from the path of authentic Dharma (see Nirvana Sutra).

Dharma Desi (the "Second Buddha," Bodhidharma in Sanskrit, Daruma Daishi in Japanese, Hindu Duty in English, and Ta Mo in Chinese) was an Enlightened Hindu prince from India who engaged in the re-teaching, reaffirmation, and revival of Ancient Hindu philosophy in China, which was originally spread to China by another Indian Hindu Spiritual Leader, Siddhartha, otherwise known as the “First Buddha,” who is recorded as living from 553 B.C. - 483 B.C., and who, like Bodhidharma, began his life as a prince in ancient India.

The First Buddha's teachings had an enormous effect on the Second Buddha. Those teachings included the Way, which is a method to end suffering through the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths are: (1) life is full of pain and suffering; (2) suffering is caused by greed; (3) suffering can be ended if greed is ended; and (4) To end greed, people must follow eight basic principles, called the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path is a set of instructions on the proper way to live. Suffering would cease entirely if all people: (1) try to know truth; (2) resist evil; (3) refrain from hurting others; (4) respect life, property, and morality; (5) work without hurting others; (6) free the mind from evil thoughts; (7) stay in control of one's feelings and thoughts; and (8) focus and sharpen the mind through meditation, i.e., practicing appropriate forms of concentration. It was this last instruction that Bodhidharma, the Second Buddha, discovered that people had the most difficulty with.

The "First Buddha," Siddhartha, spread spiritual and meditative Buddhism from India to China to form the first Shaolin Temples.

The "Second Buddha," Bodhidharma, also known as "Prince Sardilli," "Dharma Desi" in Sanskrit, or "Daruma Daishi" in Japanese, reaffirmed the First Buddha's teachings, but who also reinforced those teachings with Martial Arts and regimented physical conditioning to strengthen the mental stamina required for spiritual release, from the earthly and material world.

The Second Buddha, Bodhidharma, began his life in Southern India in the Sardilli royal family in 482 A.D., almost 1,000 years after the First Buddha. In the midst of his education and training to continue in his father's footsteps as King, Bodhidharma encountered the Buddha's original teachings. He immediately saw the truth in Lord Buddha's words and decided to give up his esteemed position as a prince and inheritance to study with the famous Hindu teacher Prajnatara. Young Prince Sardilli rapidly progressed in his Hindu studies, and in time, Prajnatara sent him to China, in order to better teach the inhabitants of China the lessons and rigorous discipline required for a perfect meditative state leading to spiritual release from the earthly and materialistic world.

Upon arrival in a different part of China, the Emperor Wu Ti, a devout Buddhist himself, requested an audience with Bodhidharma. During their initial meeting, Wu Ti asked Bodhidharma what merit he had achieved for all of his good deeds. Bodhidharma was unable to convince Wu Ti of the value of the teachings he had brought from India. Bodhidharma then set out for Loyang, crossed the Tse River, and climbed Bear's Ear Mountain in the Sung Mountain range wherein another Shaolin Temple, originally founded by the First Buddha, was located. He meditated there in a small cave for nine years.

Bodhidharma, in true Maha or "great" spirit, was moved to pity when he saw the terrible physical condition of the monks of the Shaolin Temple. It seemed to him that they were unable to fully grasp the enormous mental and abstract discipline necessary to achieve Nirvana, or the ultimate release destination derived from meditation. The monks had practiced long-term meditation retreats, which made them spiritually stronger, but physically weak and unable to finish their meditative journeys. He also noted that this meditation method caused sleepiness among the monks. Therefore Dharma informed the monks that he would teach their bodies and subsequently their minds the Buddha's dharma, or “duty" through a two-part program of meditation accompanied by excruciatingly difficult physical training. Hence, his appellation of “Bodhidharma.”

Unfortunately, the Chinese Buddhists could not maintain the abstract discipline that this difficult meditation required, and so Prince Sardilli taught them incredibly rigorous physical training, in order to teach them the necessary discipline required for the true Hindu meditative journey leading to "Moksha," or release from earthly bondage, otherwise known as "Nirvana." It was Bodhidharma's theory that, after the physical body was pushed beyond its limits, the mind would begin to take over, and help the body carry through with the physical exertions required for the training. Bodhidharma further postulated that, once this level of mental strength was achieved, the mind would forever be altered, and its capacity for focus and concentration would be fortified. He was correct in his theory, and the Shaolin monks became incredibly strong mentally, and their focus in meditation became unparalleled.

Their minds became harder and more disciplined after these regimented actions.

Bodhidharma had arrived in China after a brutal trek over Tibet's Himalayan Mountains, surviving both extreme elements and treacherous bandits, and he believed that his tutelage was being rewarded with results.

There are statues of the Guardians at the Shaolin Monastery who were trained by Bodhidharma to deflect the negative advances by bandits and hostile Chinese warlords, who sought to disrupt the monks achievement of Moksha, or Release.

Bodhidharma created an exercise program for the monks which involved physical techniques that were efficient, strengthened the body, and eventually, could be used practically in self-defense. When Bodhidharma instituted these practices, his primary concern was to make the monks physically strong enough to withstand both their isolated lifestyle and the demanding training that meditation required. It turned out that the techniques served a dual purpose as a very efficient fighting system, which evolved into a martial arts style given the Chinese name, "Kung Fu." Martial arts training helped the monks defend themselves against invading warlords and bandits. Bodhidharma taught that martial arts should be used for self-defense, and never to hurt or injure needlessly. In fact, it is one of the oldest Bodhidharma axioms that "one who engages in combat has already lost the battle."

Thereafter, Bodhidharma, who was himself a member of the Indian Kshatriya warrior class and a master of staff fighting, developed a system of 18 dynamic tension exercises. These movements found their way into print in 550 A.D. as the Yi Gin Ching, or Changing Muscle/Tendon Classic. We know this system today as the Lohan (Priest-Scholar) 18 Hand Movements, the basis of Chinese Temple Boxing and the Shaolin Arts.

Ancient Sanskrit text located in India and China record that Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan in Hunan Province in 526 A.D. The first Shaolin Temple of Songshan was built in 377 A.D. for Pan Jaco, "The First Buddha", almost 1,000 years after the First Buddha's death, by the order of Emperor Wei on the Shao Shik Peak of Sonn Mountain in Teng Fon Hsien, Hunan Province. The Temple was for religious training and meditation only. Martial arts training did not begin until the arrival of Bodhidharma in 526 A.D. Sadly, Bodhidharma, died in 539 A.D. at the Shaolin Temple at age 57.

Bodhidharma was an extraordinary spiritual being who remains an example and an inspiration to meditative and martial arts practitioners today. He is the source of many miraculous stories of ferocity and dedication to the Way. One such legend states that Bodhidharma became frustrated once while meditating because he had fallen asleep. He was so upset that he cut off his eyelids to prevent this interruption in meditation from ever happening again. This is a reminder of the true dedication and devotion necessary in meditation practice. Today, the "Bodhidharma doll" is used as a symbol of this type of dedication in Japan and other parts of the world. When someone has a task they wish to complete, they purchase a red Bodhidharma doll that comes without pupils painted on the eyes. At the outset of the task one pupil is colored in, and upon completion, the other pupil is painted. The dolls and the evolution of martial arts and meditation, are a continuous reminder of Bodhidharma's impact on Buddhism and subsequent regimentation of the martial arts.

The awakened bliss of Nirvana, according to Buddhism, is available to all beings—although orthodoxy holds that one must first be born as a human being. Emphasizing this universal availability, Buddhism refers to many Buddhas and also to many bodhisattvas - beings committed to Enlightenment, who vow to

• (from the Nikaya view) postpone their own Nirvana in order to assist others on the path, or
• (from the Mahayana view) secure Awakening/Nirvana for themselves first and thereafter continue to liberate all other beings from suffering for all time.

Buddha - Eternal Buddha

The idea of an everlasting Buddha is a notion popularly associated with the Mahayana scripture, the Lotus Sutra. That sutra has the Buddha indicate that he became Awakened countless, immeasurable, inconceivable myriads of trillions of aeons ("kalpas") ago and that his lifetime is "forever existing and immortal". From the human perspective, it seems as though the Buddha has always existed. The sutra itself, however, does not directly employ the phrase "eternal Buddha"; yet similar notions are found in other Mahayana scriptures, notably the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which presents the Buddha as the ultimately real, eternal ("nitya"/ "sasvata"), unchanging, blissful, pure Self (Atman) who, as the Dharmakaya, knows of no beginning or end. The All-Creating King Tantra additionally contains a panentheistic vision of Samantabhadra Buddha as the eternal, primordial Buddha, the Awakened Mind of bodhi, who declares: "From the primordial, I am the Buddhas of the three times [i.e. past, present and future]." The notion of an eternal Buddha perhaps finds resonance with the earlier idea of eternal Dharma/Nirvana, of which the Buddha is said to be an embodiment.

The doctrine of an eternal Buddha is not, however, a feature of Theravada Buddhism. The Elders' School of Buddhism, which claims to preserve the original teachings of the Buddha from the first great recital (the second led the way to the division into Theravada and Mahayana), places great value on the Master's words that 'none is eternal', and believes that even the life of an enlightened one does indeed have an end.

Also appearing in Theravada is the notion of anatta as one of the 'trilakshana'(the three characteristics of reality): this embodies the idea that there is no definite, fixed, unchanging entity constituting a "person" that passes from one life to the next; Theravadin interpretation (along with that of most other Buddhist schools) of "anatta" also denies the existence of a fixed, unchanging, everenduring personal soul. The concept in place of the soul is the 'Bhava' ("becoming"), which is an ongoing flow of karmically projected energies that derive from, and give rise to, volitional thoughts and emotion.

Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, regards such teaching as incomplete and offers the complementary doctrine of a pure Selfhood (the eternal yet unsubstantial hypostasis of the Buddha) which no longer generates karma and which subsists eternally in the realm of Nirvana, from which sphere help to suffering worldly beings can be sent forth in the forms of various transitory physical Buddhas ("nirmanakayas"). While the bodies of these corporeal Buddhas are subject to disease, decline and death - like all impermanent things - the salvational Tathagata or Dharmakaya behind them is forever free from impairment, impermanence or mortality. It is this transcendent yet immanent Dharmakaya-Buddha which is taught in certain major Mahayana sutras to be immutable and eternal and is intimately linked with Dharma itself. According to the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, worldly beings fail to see this eternality of the Buddha and his Truth (Dharma). The Buddha comments there: "I say that those who do not know that the Tathagata [Buddha] is eternal are the foremost of the congenitally blind." This view, it should be noted, is foreign to mainstream Theravada Buddhism.

Buddha - 32 Marks of the Buddha

1. He places his foot evenly on the floor
2. The soles of his feet are imprinted with wheels
3. He has projecting heels
4. He has long fingers and toes
5. He has soft and tender hands and feet
6. He has webbed hands and feet
7. He has arched feet
8. He has legs like an antelope
9. When he stands upright his hands reach down to his knees
10. His male organ is covered with a sheath
11. His complexion has a golden sheen
12. His skin is so smooth that no dust clings to it
13. Each hair on his skin grows from a single pore
14. The hair on his skin is blue-black, curly and turns at the end to the right
15. His limbs are straight like those of a god
16. There are seven convex surfaces on his body - four behind his limbs, two behind his shoulders and one behind his trunk
17. His torso is like that of a lion
18. The furrow between his shoulders is absent
19. His body is perfectly proportioned - the span of his arms is the same as his height
20. His neck and shoulders are evenly proportioned
21. His taste is exceptionally sensitive
22. His jaws are like those of a lion's
23. He has forty teeth
24. His teeth are even
25. There are no gaps in his teeth
26. His teeth are white and shining
27. He has a long tongue
28. He has a divine voice
29. He has deep blue eyes
30. He has eyelashes like those of an ox
31. He has soft white hair growing between his eyebrows
32. His head is shaped like a turban the two, are excellently smooth

Buddha - Names of the Buddhas

In most Theravada countries, it is the custom for Buddhists to hold elaborate festivals to honor 28 Buddhas. In the Chronicle of the Buddhas (the Buddhavamsa), mention is made of only 24 Buddhas having arisen before Gautama Buddha.

The following are the names of 28 Buddhas:

1. Tanhankara, 2. Medhankara, 3. Saranankara, 4. Dipankara, 5. Kondnna, 6. Managala, 7. Sumana, 8. Revata, 9. Sobhita, 10. Anomadassi, 11. Paduma, 12. Narada, 13. Padumuttara, 14. Sumedha, 15. Sujata, 16. Piyadassi, 17. Atthadassi, 18. Dhammadassi, 19. Siddhatta, 20. Tissa, 21. Phussa, 22. Vipassi, 23. Sikhi, 24. Vessabhu, 25. Kakusandha, 26. Konagamana, 27. Kassapa, 28. Gautama

Buddha - Sources

• The Threefold Lotus Sutra (Kosei Publishing, Tokyo 1975), tr. by B. Kato, Y. Tamura, and K. Miyasaka, revised by W. Soothill, W. Schiffer, and P. Del Campana
• The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Nirvana Publications, London, 1999-2000), tr. by K. Yamamoto, ed. and revised by Dr. Tony Page
• The Sovereign All-Creating Mind: The Motherly Buddha (Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi 1992), tr. by E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay
• Buddha - The Compassionate Teacher (2002), by K.M.M.Swe

See also

• Trikaya
• List of founders of major religions
• Buddha Statues of Bamiyan
• List of Buddha claimants
• Buddha-nature
• Tathagatagarbha
• Atman (Buddhism)
• God in Buddhism

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Buddha", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki