What the Buddha taught – The Buddha, whose personal name was Siddhattha, and family name Gotama, lived in North India in the 6th century B.C. His father Suddhodana was the ruler of the kingdom of the Sakyas (in modern Nepal). His mother was queen Maya. According to the custom of the time, he was married quite young, at the age of sixteen. He married a beautiful and devoted young princess named Yasodahara. The young prince lived in his palace with every luxury at his command. However, all of a sudden, confronted with the reality of life and the suffering of mankind, he decided to find the solution. He sought a way out of this universal suffering.
At the age of 29, soon after the birth of his only child, Rahula, he left his kingdom and became an ascetic in search of his solution. For six years the ascetic Gotama wandered about the valley of Ganges. He met famous religious teachers, studied and followed their systems and methods. He submitted himself to rigorous ascetic practices. However, these did not satisfy him. Therefore, he abandoned all traditional religions and methods. He went his own way.
It was thus that one evening, seated under a tree (since then known as the Bodhi- or Bo-tree, the „Tree of Wisdom“), on the bank of the river Neranjara at Bodh-Gaya (in modern Bihar), Gotama attained enlightenment at the age of 35. After this event, he was known as the Buddha, ‚The Enlightened One‘.
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After his Enlightenment, Gotama the Buddha delivered his first sermon to a group of five ascetics, his old colleagues, in the Deer Park at Isipatana (modern Sarnath) near Benares. From that day, for 45 years, he taught all classes of men and women. This included kings and peasants, Brahmins and outcasts, bankers and beggars. He also taught holy men and robbers without distinction. He recognized no differences of caste or social groupings. The Way he preached was open to all men and women ready to understand and follow it. Eventually, at the age of 80, the Buddha passed away at Kusinara (in modern Uttar Pradesh in India).
Today Buddhism is found in Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Tibet, China, Japan, Mongolia, Korea, Laos, Formosa, in some parts of India, Pakistan and Nepal. It is also found in Soviet Union. The Buddhist population of the world is over 500 million.
What the Buddha taught pdf EN – by Walpola Rahula
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What the Buddha taught