Buddha means enlightened in Sanskrit, ancient sacred language of India. Buddha is a title given to a Buddhist master or to all enlightened people who have attained the spiritual realization of Buddhism.
An example of Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama, who was born around 556 BC. C., in Kapilavastu, capital of a small kingdom near the Himalayas, on the present-day border of Nepal. Son of King Sudodan, Siddhartha was raised to be a guerrilla and would be heir to his father's throne.
Siddhartha studied under the best tutors, practiced sports, martial arts and was endowed with a unique intelligence. His life was full of luxuries and comforts, but when he left the palace and faced poverty, illness and death, he felt restless and sought to understand the suffering of human beings.
The search for the end of suffering
Against his father's wishes, at age 29, Siddhartha decided to leave the palace. His goal was to seek the knowledge that frees man from suffering and gives him serenity. For 6 years Siddhartha traveled around his country looking for spiritual teachers and meditation practices.
He became a disciple of the ascetics, who believed that abstaining from psychological and physical pleasures was the way to find emotional development and balance. Siddhartha practiced asceticism very disciplinedly for 6 years.
Asceticism preached severe fasts, and during one of these periods without food, Siddhartha went to purify himself in a river and fainted. A woman offered him food and his fellow ascetics, seeing Siddhartha eating, believed that he had betrayed their principles and abandoned him.
Siddhartha went alone into a new phase of meditations in search of spiritual elevation. That's when one day, after a bath in the Nairanjana River, Siddhartha sat under a fig tree and meditated deeply. He is believed to have meditated for several days.
See also the meaning of asceticism, mantra and nirvana.
Buddha illustration during meditation.
This meditation led him to enlightenment, to discovering the truth, and it was from then on that he called himself Buddha - the one who awakened from the sleep of ignorance, who became enlightened.
At that time, Buddha was 35 years old and dedicated himself until the end of his life to take his knowledge to other people who, like him, were seeking enlightenment. The teachings that Buddha achieved along this journey were organized into the Four Noble Truths.
See also the meaning of Buddhism and Dharma.
The Four Noble Truths
- The truth of suffering: suffering is an inescapable part of life.
- The truth of the cause of suffering: the origin of suffering is in our mind, in the attachments and desires we have in life.
- The Truth of Extinction of Suffering: suffering can be extinguished if the state of heightened awareness and detachment is attained - nirvana. This evolved state is achieved through meditation.
- The truth of the eight-aspect path to the extinction of suffering: this set of truths is the path that leads to the end of suffering, called the eightfold path. This path is about the search for balance in life, without positive or negative extremisms.
Buddhist Teachings of the Eightfold Path
- Correct understanding: understand life as it is, according to the four noble truths.
- correct thinking: based on correct understanding, it is thinking free from anger, greed and ignorance.
- Correct speech: a speech that is not arrogant, defamatory or bitter.
- Right action: have good eating, exercise, sleep and work habits.
- Right livelihood: not having a job that violates the principles of Buddhism.
- Right effort: effort to become wiser, to evolve spiritually.
- Correct attention: pay attention to the Buddha's teachings and not let the mind pay attention to anger and ignorance.
- Correct concentration: focus on the peace and tranquility provided by Buddhist wisdom and meditation.
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Buddhism
Buddhism is a philosophical and religious doctrine that follows the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. According to Buddhist beliefs, people can get out of the cycle of suffering through the practice of generosity, compassion and detachment, a state of deep enlightenment, which can be reached by meditation.
It originated and spread throughout India for three centuries after the death of Buddha. Buddhism then spread throughout Asia, but lost strength in its home country, where Hinduism prevailed. From the nineteenth century, Buddhism began to gain adherents in Europe.
It is estimated that today there are 376 million people who follow Buddhism in the world, 98% of them on the Asian continent, mainly in Japan, China, Tibet and Thailand. In Brazil, according to the IBGE, there are about 250 thousand people who follow the religion.
know more about Tibetan Buddhism, monastery and Lotus flower.
