(Pali; Devanagari: सङ्खार) or (Sanskrit; Devanagari: संस्कार) is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'. In the first (passive) sense, refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions. In the second (active) sense of the word, refers to that faculty of the mind/brain apparatus (sankhara-khandha) that puts together those formations. English translations for in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').

Conditioned things

In the first (passive) sense can refer to any compound form in the universe whether a tree, a cloud, a human being, a thought or a molecule. All these are . The Buddha taught that all such things are impermanent, arising and passing away, subject to change, and that understanding the significance of this reality is wisdom. is often used in this first sense to describe the psychological conditioning (particularly the habit patterns of the unconscious mind) that gives any individual human being his or her unique character and make-up at any given time.

The last words of the Buddha were (English and Pali):

'Disciples, this I declare to you: All conditioned things are subject to disintegration - strive on untiringly for your liberation.' (Mahāparinibbāna Sutta)

Sankhara-khandha:The builder of lives

In the second (active) sense, (or ) refers to the form-creating faculty of mind, often described as "volitional" or "intentional." States the Buddha:

'And why do you call them 'fabrications'? Because they fabricate fabricated things, thus they are called 'fabrications.' What do they fabricate as a fabricated thing? For the sake of form-ness, they fabricate form as a fabricated thing. For the sake of feeling-ness, they fabricate feeling as a fabricated thing. For the sake of perception-hood... For the sake of fabrication-hood... For the sake of consciousness-hood, they fabricate consciousness as a fabricated thing. Because they fabricate fabricated things, they are called fabrications.'

In the doctrine of conditioned arising or dependent origination (), is understood to be that which propels human (and other sentient) beings along the process of becoming (bhava) by means of actions of body and speech (kamma). The Buddha stated that all volitional constructs are conditioned by ignorance (avijja) of the reality (sacca) behind appearance. It is this ignorance that ultimately causes human suffering (dukkha). The calming of all such fabrications () is synonymous with Enlightenment (bodhi), the achieving of arahantship.

As ignorance conditions volitional formations, these formations in turn condition consciousness (viññāna). The Buddha elaborated:

'What one intends, what one arranges, and what one obsesses about: This is a support for the stationing of consciousness. There being a support, there is a landing [or: an establishing] of consciousness. When that consciousness lands and grows, there is the production of renewed becoming in the future. When there is the production of renewed becoming in the future, there is future birth, aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering & stress.'

Tradition relates that after the Buddha's complete enlightenment he uttered the following words (English and Pali):

'Seeking but not finding the housebuilder, I have traveled through the round of countless births.How painful is birth over and over again.Oh housebuilder! You have now been caught!You shall not build a house again.Your rafters have been broken. Your ridgepole demolished.The unconditioned consciousness has been attained.And every kind of craving has been destroyed.'(Dhammapāda, verses 153,154)

Aneka jāti sandha vissam anibhissam Gahakaraka gavesanto dukkhajāti punappunam Gahakaraka ditthosi puna geham nakahasi Sabba te phasuka bagga gahakutam visamkhatam Visamkhāragatam cittam tanhanam khayamajjhaga.

The 'housebuilder' to which the Buddha refers is just this mental faculty of sankhāra-khandha whose products, the volitional formations, are conditioned by ignorance.

Theravāda abhidhamma

The Theravāda Abhidhamma delineates fifty saṅkhāras:

Seven universal mental factors common to all; ethically variable mental factors common to all consciousnesses (sabbacittasādhāraṇa cetasikas)

* Contact (phassa)

* Feeling (vedanā)

* Perception (saññā)

* Volition (cetanā)

* One-pointedness (ekaggatā)

* life faculty (jīvitindriya)

* Attention (manasikāra)

Six occasional or particular mental factors; ethically variable mental factors found only in certain consciousnesses (pakiṇṇaka cetasikas)

* Application of thought (vitakka)

* Examining (vicāra)

* Decision (adhimokkha)

* Energy (viriya)

* Rapture (pīti)

* Desire (to act) (chanda)

Fourteen unwholesome mental factors (akusala cetasikas)

* Four universal unwholesome mental facrors (akusalasādhāraṇa):

** Delusion (moha)

** Lack of shame (ahirika)

** Disregard for consequence (anottappa)

** Restlessness (uddhacca)

* Three mental factors of the greed-group (lobha):

** Greed (lobha)

** Wrong view (diṭṭhi)

** Conceit (māna)

* Four mental factors of the hatred-group (dosa)

** Hatred (dosa)

** Envy (issā)

** Miserliness (macchariya)

** Regret (kukkucca)

* Other unwholesome mental factors

** Sloth (thīna)

** Torpor (middha)

** Doubt (vicikicchā)

Twenty-five beautiful mental factors (sobhana cetasikas)

* Nineteen universal beautiful mental factors (sobhanasādhāraṇa):

** Faith (saddhā)

** Mindfulness (sati)

** Shame at doing evil (hiri)

** Regard for consequence (ottappa)

** Lack of greed (alobha)

** Lack of hatred (adosa)

** Balance, neutrality of mind (tatramajjhattatā)

** Tranquillity of mental body (kāyapassaddhi)

** Tranquillity of consciousness (cittapassaddhi)

** Lightness of mental body (kāyalahutā)

** Lightness of consciousness (cittalahutā)

** Softness/malleability of mental body (kāyamudutā)

** Softness/malleability of consciousness (cittamudutā)

** Readiness/wieldiness of mental body (kāyakammaññatā)

** Readiness/wieldiness of consciousness (cittakammaññatā)

** Proficiency of mental body (kāyapāguññatā)

** Proficiency of consciousness (cittapāguññatā)

** Straightness/rectitude of mental body (kāyujukatā)

** Straightness/rectitude of consciousness (cittujukatā)

* Three Abstinences (virati):

** Right speech (sammāvācā)

** Right action (sammākammanta)

** Right livelihood (sammā-ājīva)

* Two Illimitables (appamañña):

** Compassion (karuṇā)

** Sympathetic joy (muditā)

* One Faculty of wisdom (paññindriya):

** Wisdom (paññā)

Sarvāstivāda abhidharma

The Sarvāstivāda abhidharma system inherited by Mahāyāna schools features fifty one saṃskāras:

Five universal mental factors (sarvatraga) common to all:

* Contact (sparśa)

* Feeling (vedanā)

* Perception (saṃjñā)

* Volition (cetanā)

* Attention (manaskāraḥ)

Five determining mental factors (viṣayaniyata):

* Desire (to act) (chanda)

* Decision (adhimokṣa)

* Mindfulness (smṛti)

* Wisdom (prajñā)

* concentration (samādhi)

Eleven virtuous (kuśala) mental factors

* Faith (sraddhā)

* Shame at doing evil (hrī)

* Regard for consequence (apatrāpya)

* Lack of greed (alobha)

* Lack of hatred (adveṣa)

* Nonbewilderment (amoha)

* Effort (vīrya)

* Pliancy (praśrabdhi)

* Conscientiousness (apramāda)

* Equanimity (upekṣa)

* Nonharmfulness (avihiṃsā)

Six root mental defilements (mūlakleśa):

*Desire (raga)

*Anger (pratigha)

* Conceit (māna)

* Ignorance (avidyā)

* Doubt (vichikitsā)

* Wrong view (dṛiṣṭi)

Twenty secondary defilement (upakleśa):

*Wrath (krodha)

*Resentment (upanāha)

*Concealment (mrakṣa)

*Spite (pradāsa)

*Jealousy (īrṣyā)

*Deceit (matsarya)

*Dishonesty (śāṭhya)

*Self-importance (mada)

*Harmfulness (vihiṃsā)

*Nonshame (ahrikya)

*Disregard of consequence (anapatrāpya)

Four changeable mental factors (aniyata):

*Contrition (kaukṛitya)

*Sleep (middha)

*Examination (vitarka)

*Analysis (vicharā)

Nibbana

The Buddha emphasized the need to pacify or appease dispositions rather than eliminate them completely.

Kalupahana states that "the elimination of dispositions is epistemological suicide," as dispositions determine our perspectives. The development of one's personality in the direction of perfection or imperfection rests with one's dispositions.

When preliminary nibbana with substrate occurs (that is, nibbana of a living being), constructive consciousness, that is, the house-builder, is completely destroyed and no new formations will be constructed. However, sankharas in the sense of constructed consciousness, which exists as a 'karmically-resultant-consciousness' (vipāka viññāna), continue to exist. Each liberated individual produces no new karma, but preserves a particular individual personality which is the result of the traces of his or her karmic heritage. The very fact that there is a psycho-physical substrate during the remainder of an arahant's lifetime shows the continuing effect of karma.

See also

Paticca-samuppada

Sanskara

Skandha

Notes

Sources

Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.

Piyadassi Thera (trans.) (1999). Girimananda Sutta: Discourse to Girimananda Thera (AN 10.60). Retrieved 2007-11-18 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.060.piya.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1995). Cetana Sutta: Intention (SN 12.38). Retrieved 2007-11-16 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.038.than.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997a). Avijja Sutta: Ignorance (SN 45.1). Retrieved 2007-11-16 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.001.than.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997b). Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising (SN 12.2). Retrieved 2007-11-16 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.002.than.html.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2001). Khajjaniya Sutta: Chewed Up (SN 22.79). Retrieved 2007-11-18 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.079.than.html.

Category:Buddhism in India Category:Buddhist terms Category:Pāli words and phrases Category:Sanskrit words and phrases

Name	Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha
Caption	A statue of the Buddha from Sarnath, 4th century CE
Birth date	c. 563 BCE or 623 BCE
Death date	c. 483 BCE or 543 BCE (aged 80)
Birth place	Lumbini, today in Nepal
Death place	Kushinagar, today in India
Known for	Founder of Buddhism
Predecessor	Kassapa Buddha
Successor	Maitreya Buddha
Ethnicity	Shakya
Father	Śuddhodana
Mother	Maya

Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: ; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from ancient India who founded Buddhism. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." The time of his birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. Based on archeological evidences and inscriptions, Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal which is a UNESCO world heritage site. He later taught primarily throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.

Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni ("Sage of the Śākyas"), is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

He is also regarded as a god or prophet in other world religions or denominations, including Hinduism, Ahmadiyya Islam and the Bahá'í faith.

Biography

Traditional biographies

The primary sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are in a variety of different and sometimes conflicting traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda sect is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE.

From canonical sources, the Jātaka tales, Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14), and the Acchariyaabbhuta Sutta (MN 123) include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātaka tales retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Acchariyaabbhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma." Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.

Conception and birth

. This is a holy shrine also for Hindus, who believe Buddha is the 9th of 10 Dashavataras of Vishnu]] , Bihar, India. Pāla period.]] Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern day Nepal and raised in the small kingdom or principality of Kapilavastu, ruins of which are under the present day Piprahwa between the Kapilvastu district and Siddharthnagar district divided today by the Nepalese and Indian borders. According to the most traditional biography, the Buddha's father was King Suddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime; Gautama was the family name. His mother, Queen Maha Maya (Māyādevī) and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great holy man. By traditional account, this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man.

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Solar Dynasty of (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. At the time, many small city-states existed in Ancient India, called Janapadas. Republics and chiefdoms with diffused political power and limited social stratification, were not uncommon amongst them, and were referred to as gana-sanghas. The Buddha's community does not seem to have had a caste system. It was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic. The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the Shramana type Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.

Early life and marriage

Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering.

When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rahula. Siddhartha is then said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.

Departure and ascetic life

, 8th century.]]

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome ageing, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

Accompanied by Channa and aboard his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Having been recognised by the men of King Bimbisara, Bimbisara offered him the throne after hearing of Siddhartha's quest. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practise, and moved on to become a student of Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

Enlightenment

. Sanskrit manuscript. Nālandā, Bihar, India. Pāla period.]]

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative jhana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One." ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One.") He is often referred to in Buddhism as Shakyamuni Buddha, or "The Awakened One of the Shakya Clan."

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths," Mettanando and von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning. The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scrptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own liberation with diligence." His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the and , the coronation of Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Aśoka is 116 years after the death of Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 543 BCE, because the reign of Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates.

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Mahamoggallana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.

Physical characteristics

.]]

An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive."(D,I:115).

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A,I:181)

A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an Arahant, was so obsessed by Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.

Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's (D,I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").

Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.

Teachings

Some scholars believe that some portions of the Pali Canon and the Āgamas contain the actual substance of the historical teachings (and possibly even the words) of the Buddha. This is not the case for the later Mahāyāna sūtras. The scriptural works of Early Buddhism precede the Mahayana works chronologically, and are treated by many Western scholars as the main credible source for information regarding the actual historical teachings of Gautama Buddha. However, some scholars do not think that the texts report on historical events.

Some of the fundamentals of the teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha are:

The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this.

The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.

Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details.

Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things that come to be have an end.

Dukkha (Sanskrit: ): That nothing which comes to be is ultimately satisfying.

Anattā (Sanskrit: anātman): That nothing in the realm of experience can really be said to be "I" or "mine".

Nibbāna (Sanskrit: Nirvāna): It is possible for sentient beings to realize a dimension of awareness which is totally unconstructed and peaceful, and end all suffering due to the mind's interaction with the conditioned world.

However, in some Mahayana schools, these points have come to be regarded as more or less subsidiary. There is disagreement amongst various schools of Buddhism over more complex aspects of what the Buddha is believed to have taught, and also over some of the disciplinary rules for monks.

According to tradition, the Buddha emphasized ethics and correct understanding. He questioned everyday notions of divinity and salvation. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the divine; distant gods are subjected to karma themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is only a guide and teacher for beings who must tread the path of (Pāli: Nibbāna) themselves to attain the spiritual awakening called bodhi and understand reality. The Buddhist system of insight and meditation practice is not claimed to have been divinely revealed, but to spring from an understanding of the true nature of the mind, which must be discovered by treading the path guided by the Buddha's teachings.

Sambuddhatva jayanthi

Sambuddhatva jayanthi(also known as Sambuddha jayanthi) is a religious festival in relation with the Wesak full moon poya day. In buddhist world it is celebrated in several theravada countries including Sri Lanka, India and in buddhist communities of other countries.

Other religions

of god Vishnu in a traditional Hindu representation.]]

Gautama Buddha is also described as a god or prophet in other religions. Some Hindu texts say that the Buddha was an avatar of the god Vishnu, who came to Earth to delude beings away from the Vedic religion.

The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyyas and a Manifestation of God in the Bahá'í faith. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu. The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches integrated the Buddha into their faith through St. Josaphat.

Depiction in arts and media

, a map related to the Mandelbrot set, is named so because of its similarities to classical depictions of Gautama Buddha, seated in a meditation pose with a forehead mark (tikka) and traditional topknot (ushnisha).]]

Little Buddha, a film by Bernardo Bertolucci

Prem Sanyas, a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai.

The Light of Asia, a book by Edwin Arnold

See also

Bodh Gaya

Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu

Buddha as viewed in other religions

Buddhahood

History of Buddhism

Iconography of the Buddha

List of the 28 Buddhas

Maitreya Buddha (Future Buddha)

Zen

References

;Notes

;References

Further reading

External links

A sketch of the Buddha's Life

Critical Resources: Buddha and Buddhism

What Was The Buddha Like? by Ven S. Dhammika

Category:483 BC deaths Category:563 BC births Category:Buddhas Category:Buddhist philosophers Category:Consequentialists Category:Early Buddhism Category:Founders of religions Category:Hindu philosophers Category:History of Bihar Category:Indian philosophers Category:Journey to the West characters Category:Monomyths Category:Ascetics