Thee Fish Bowl

Sakyamuni Buddha

He was born in the garden of Lumbini under a Sal tree, when his mother Queen Mahamaya Devi, was on the way home from his parents. The Queen died a week after his birth. As a prince, he was named Siddhartha Gautama.

He lived from 566-486 BC. His teachings were transmitted orally and they were only committed to writing on ola leaves, Sri Lanka in the middle of the first century BC. The Buddha taught for a period of forty five years. They consisted of three baskets or divisions called Pitaka, which are the speeches, monastic regulations, and the Abhidhamma. In all they consisted of 84 000 chapters, about 5,000 of them are discourses (Sutta). It has been estimated by experts that if all major points of the three baskets were listed in book form, this set of books is equivalent to 360 volumes of our encyclopedia on average today.

If a person wants to become a Buddhist initiation ceremony is not necessary. It is not necessary for baptism. If a person understands the teachings of Buddha, is convinced that its teaching is the right way, and does his best to follow. Then he is Buddhist.

The four sacred places of Buddhism are: Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath and Kusinara. Lumbini is now in Nepal, was the birthplace of Buddha Sakyamuni. Bodhgaya, Sarnath and Kusinara are in India. Bodhgaya is the place where Sakyamuni was enlightened after he moved from one place to practice meditation in India for seven years. At Deer Park Varanasi, Sarnath, near, he completed his first lesson (rotation of the wheel of Dharma) for the five ascetics with these words: Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta (Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path), and Anattalakkhana Sutta (Soulless). Kusinara was his last place of Nibbana. The Buddha said that the Buddhists who personally visit these four places would travel to the upper state.

He was born as an average person. It was a good sign because it means that you and I can also become a Buddha. You do not need to be the most intelligent of the nation as the top 0.000001% of the population to be able to understand the Dharma of becoming a Buddha. If he was very intelligent, he would have attained Nibbana soon, because as a child (aged 7) was sitting beneath a tree Apple Rose (Bodhi Tree, Botanical name: Ficus religiosa) watching his father run the Opening Ceremony for the year till the festival, he crossed his legs and then the meditation and was believed to have reached different levels of Jhanas. He could have continued and successfully practiced harder and achieve Buddhahood without spending six years later he did. It has been said that the child sitting under the tree, the tree-shaded remained protect, even if the position of the sun on the sky had changed. So you see, the devas protect good people.

As a young prince, the turning point in his life was when he was a frog being swallowed by a snake, and then a hawk swooped down and carried both the snake and the frog away .

How an all-powerful creator to allow his creatures to prey on others, and live in constant fear? All creatures either hunt or are hunted by others. herbivorous animals are also victims of other animals, including humans.

During one of his outings, Prince Siddhartha met a hermit, dressed in yellow rope, holding a bowl in hand, looking very calm and perfect. The prince stopped and asked the tank Channa, with curiosity: "Who is this man? I really like to know. "

It is secluded and approached the prince said: "Prince, I am a holy man, a recluse. See the world full of miseries, I left wandering in search of truth and peace. "

The solitary and was immediately retired out of sight.

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