| |
| Home » History of Religions in India » Buddhism |
| |
History of Buddhism in India |
|
|
Buddhism is one of the modern and more widely known religions in India. Named after the founder of Buddhism, Gautam Buddha the history of Buddhism can be traced back to the late 5th century or 6th century BC though there are differences of opinion regarding the exact date. Dealing with the history of Buddhism, one comes across a number of events and developments that paved the way for an extraordinary change in the life of Gautam Buddha and led to the emergence of a new and substantially different way of living and religion in the form of Buddhism.
|
Gauatam Buddha was born as a prince in a Kshatriya royal kingdom at Kapilvastu in Nepal. Buddha grew as a normal prince of those times with all luxuries as expected of heir to a royal family. Married at an early age of 16, he later on came across events like watching a sick man, sufferings of an aged person and death of an individual which made him look into life differently.
Gautam Buddha till then was not aware of the sufferings of life. Came across such developments made him lose interest in the materialism and turned his soul towards searching for the realities of life. It is said that one night Buddha who was known as Siddhartha left the palace without informing his father or wife and moved out of the royal life and luxuries in search of realities of life. Initially, Buddha practiced meditation under the guidance of two hermit teachers.
Gradually, Buddha moved into practicing asceticism and meditation. He discovered what later on came to be known as the Middle Way. The Middle Way is regarded as a path of moderation that is away from the harsh self indulgence and self mortification. While his disciples who were following and meditating along with him, left unconvinced about his path. It is believed that a girl named Sujata offered him milk believing him to be a spirit that had granted and fulfilled her wish.
Sitting under a papal tree and meditating, known as Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, Buddha vowed to not arise from his mediation without finding the truth. At the age of 35, and after a full 49 days meditation Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment, thus becoming “Buddha” or the “Awakened One.” It followed with Buddha sending two merchants Tapussa and Bhallika to promote the spread of a new religion called Buddhism.
The next 45 years of his life, Gautam Buddha traveled through a whole lot of places around India and spread the principles of his new religion called Buddhism. From nobles and royals, to common masses, Buddha preached the principles of Buddhism. Very soon, the religion assumed a considerable degree of popularity on account of the simple principles and stress on the practical aspects of life. So much so that the religion became popular among the kings and a healthy debate on its principles and their relevance followed. Buddhism after the death of Buddha came across controversies and division between two sects Hinyana and Mahayana followed. However, the religion continued to attract popularity and became one of the rare religions from India that became universally popular in countries across Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka and many others.
|
|
