Buddhism, a 2600 years old religion, is a spiritual
tradition that specializes on a personal spiritual development and attainment
of insight into true and deep meaning of life. With over 376 millions
followers worldwide, Buddhism is not centered on
the relationship between humanity and god.
The
followers of Buddhism, or the Buddhists as
they are called, seek to reach the state of Nirvana, following the path of The
Buddha,
or the enlightened one, popularly known as Siddhartha Gautam Buddha or Gautam
Buddha who went for the quest of enlightenment around 6th century BC. Though
Buddhists claim they don’t worship any statues or idols, they do claim they
help themselves concentrating on meditation by meditation in front of Buddha Statues.
The Buddhist philosophy preaches that there
is no existence of god. Instead they focus on attaining the true nature of
life. The Buddhists believe that nothing is permanent or fixed and that the
change is inevitable fact of life. The Enlightenment can be achieved through
the practice and development of morality, meditation and wisdom. The belief of
life’s endless journey and also that it is perishable, uncertain and suffering
has been the basic teachings for the Buddhists all over the world. They also
believe that the existence is endless as the individual living soul can
reincarnate over and over again and experience various aspects of life
throughout many lives. On the contrary, life is impermanent because no state
whether it’s good or bad, lasts forever. The chief cause of suffering is the
consequence of the belief that things can last forever.
The Buddhism and its history is the result
of one man’s quest for enlightenment through rigorous practice. His teachings
helped lead the path in the ways of living for the followers of this religion.
So who is this man? Where did he come from? How did he achieve enlightenment
and what made him follow the path of meditation to be enlightened?
The Buddha
The
Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautam, as he was known before he got enlightened, was a
royal prince in modern day Nepal over 2600 years ago. Born and raised in the
life of privilege and luxury, he was kept at bay from the life’s ultimate truth
of suffering, pain and death until the day when he left the palace and
encountered for the first time, an old man, a sick man and a corpse. Upon
learning the truth, the disturbed prince left all his physical belongings, even
his wife and a new born son, to be a monk before adopting the harsh poverty of
Indian asceticism Yet, he got no satisfaction from either of the
paths, therefore choosing “the Middle Path” – a life without luxury but also
without poverty. Then finally, one day, seated beneath a Bodhi tree, the former prince
became deeply absorbed into meditation and reflected on his experience of the
life he has had till then until he became enlightened. By finding the path to
enlightenment, Siddhartha, the prince, was led from the pain of suffering and
rebirth towards the path of enlightenment and became known as the Buddha or
‘awakened one’.
It
is believed that having Buddha
Statues brings
peace of mind, happiness and satisfaction, that is what Buddha
and Buddhism teaches.
If you think you need one, then do visit Buddha Statues Catalog.
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