Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be

Queen Maya ("Maya" meaning illusion in Sanskrit, also called Mahamaya, meaning Great Maya, or Mayadevi, the Goddess Maya. Tibetan: Gyutrulma) was the mother of the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, to whom she gave birth c. 563 BCE. Maya was the wife of king Suddhodana, the ruler of the Shakya clan of Kshatriya warriors. She was the daughter of King Suddhodhana's uncle, who was also a king of a neighboring subdivision of the same Shakya clan. Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be. Que ...

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Queen Maya and King Suddhodhana did not have children for twenty years into their marriage. One day however, Queen Maya dreamt of a white elephant entering her side, and became pregnant. According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha-to-be was residing as a Bodhisattva in the Tusita heaven, and decided to take the shape of a white elephant to be reborn, for the last time, on Earth. The pregnancy lasted ten lunar months. Following custom, the Queen returned to her own home for the birth. On the way, she stepped down from her palanquin to ...

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Queen Maya, Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be, Queen Maya - Religious parallels, Queen Maya - Greco-Roman mythological parallels

Read more here: » Queen Maya: Encyclopedia II - Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be

Maia is also the name of a Greek goddess, who was also called the "Grandmother of Magic". She was seduced by Zeus, and gave birth to Mercury (the Greek Hermes). The planet Mercury was named for him, and happens to be called Budh in Sanskrit, meaning enlightenment, and radical for the name Buddha, "the enlightened one". ...

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Queen Maya, Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be, Queen Maya - Religious parallels, Queen Maya - Greco-Roman mythological parallels

Read more here: » Queen Maya: Encyclopedia II - Queen Maya - Greco-Roman mythological parallels

The circumstances of the birth of the Buddha are quite reminiscent of the birth of Jesus. Queen Maya was virgin of human conception, and she came to bear the child by the intervention of the Tusita spirit of the Buddha, very much like Jesus was conceived in connection with the visitation of the Holy Ghost to the Virgin Mary. The name Maya may be connected to Maria, the Greek name for Mary. The story of the birth of the Buddha was well known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus. Saint Jerom ...

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Queen Maya, Queen Maya - The birth of the Buddha-to-be, Queen Maya - Religious parallels, Queen Maya - Greco-Roman mythological parallels

Read more here: » Queen Maya: Encyclopedia II - Queen Maya - Religious parallels