1.
Religious text
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Religious texts are texts which religious traditions consider to be central to their religious practice or set of beliefs. It is not possible to create an exhaustive list of religious texts, one of the oldest known religious texts is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE. For example, the content of a Protestant Bible may differ from the content of a Catholic Bible, the word canon comes from the Sumerian word meaning standard. Hierographology is the study of sacred texts, the following is an in-exhaustive list of links to specific religious texts which may be used for further, more in-depth study. The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a. k. a, some denominations also include the Apocrypha. For Protestantism, this is the 66-book canon - the Jewish Tanakh of 24 books divided differently, some denominations also include the 15 books of the Apocrypha between the Old Testament and the New Testament, for a total of 81 books. For Catholicism, this includes seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament for a total of 73 books, called the Canon of Trent. For the Eastern Orthodox Church, this includes the anagignoskomena, which consist of the Catholic deuterocanon, plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh,4 Maccabees is considered to be canonical by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Some Syriac churches accept the Letter of Baruch as scripture, christian Scientists The Bible Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This textbook, along with the Bible, serves as the permanent impersonal pastor of the church, the Community of Christ uses the Joseph Smith Translation, which it calls the Inspired Version, as well as updated modern translations. Seventh-day Adventists The Bible The writings of Ellen White are held to a status, though not equal with the Bible. Also known as the Gospel of Mani and The Living Gospel the Treasure of Life the Pragmateia the Book of Mysteries The Book of Giants the Epistles the Psalms, the Shabuhragan The Arzhang The Kephalaia, Discourses, found in Coptic translation. Odù Ifá Jaap Verduijns Odu Ifa Collection Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection, The Yasna, the Visperad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna. The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities, the Vendidad, describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them. Shorter texts and prayers, the Yashts the five Nyaishes, the Sirozeh, there are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer book for lay people from the Avesta, religious full text online library Ancient texts library Internet Sacred Text Archive
2.
Wat Chedi Liam
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Wat Chedi Liam is one of the wats in the ancient Thai city of Wiang Kum Kam, now part of present-day Chiang Mai. The original name Wat Ku Kham means The temple of the Gold Chedi, the temple was built c.1287 and remained in use during the early Lan Na period after the new city of Chiang Mai had been established by King Mangrai the Great. The current buildings are from a renovation in 1908 CE by a Burmese trader, because of this many of the decorations of the wat are Burmese in style. For example, all but one of the Buddha images on the chedi are wearing the yellow Burmese colourings rather than the white Thai colours, the chedi was also renovated in 1992 CE when a number of other improvements were made to the site. Not all of these improvements were popular, nor were some needed repairs carried out, despite its great age the wat is used in much the same way as later wats. The Chedi is a design common in the early Lanna period. Each corner of the chedi is guarded by a large, outward facing lion, the main hall decorations are in very good condition both inside and out. History of Wiang Kum Kam & Ancient remains - Anonymous
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Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
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Gautama Buddha
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Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, after the title of Buddha, was an ascetic and sage, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the part of ancient India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region and he later taught throughout other regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala. Gautama is the figure in Buddhism. He is recognized by Buddhists as a teacher who attained full Buddhahood. Accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death, various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later. Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the facts of the Buddhas life. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddhas lifetime coincided with the flourishing of influential schools of thought like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism. Brahmajala Sutta records sixty-two such schools of thought, thus, Buddha was just one of the many śramaṇa philosophers of that time. The times of Gautamas birth and death are uncertain, most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet accepted by all historians. It was either a republic, or an oligarchy, and his father was an elected chieftain. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, no written records about Gautama were found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, another one of his edicts mentions the titles of several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era. These texts may be the precursor of the Pāli Canon and they are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different and these include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, a poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE, the Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE
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Miraculous births
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‘Ea, his triumph over his enemies secured, in his sacred chamber in profound peace he rested. ’ Then he took over the place which Apsu had used for his cult and dwelt there with his spouse, Damkina. ”It was here that Marduk, the “most potent and wisest of gods” was created in the heart of Apsu and “He who begot him was Ea, his father, she who conceived him was Damkina, his mother”. According to Norman Lockyer, Ea, Ia, or Oannes was the god of Babylon. He was a ‘Great God, Maker of Men, Potter, Artist and Workman. ’ He formed a Triad with Anu and he was believed to have been reincarnated several times. Berossos, priest of the Temple of Bel, in Babylon, the stories of Buddha’s unusual birth developed through the centuries. These are the Majjhima-Nikāya,123 Acchariyabbhutadhammasuta III, 119-124, and Māhapadānasutta, Dīgha ii.12. 12, is the description of the incarnation of the Vipassī Buddha, now Vipassi, brethren, when, as Bodhisat, he ceased to belong to the hosts of the heaven of Delight, descended into his mother’s womb mindful and self-possessed. According to this text, the Vipassī Buddha was the first of six incarnations to precede Gautama, the others listed are Sikhī, Vessabhū, Kakusandha, Koṇāgamana, and Kassapa. The most popular account of the birth of Buddha is in the Nidanakatha Jataka which accounted for the lives of Buddha in previous incarnations. In this account, the “Great Being” chose the time and place of his birth, the tribe into which he would be born, and who his mother would be. In the time chosen by him, Maya, his mother, fell asleep, in her dream the Great Being soon entered her womb from her side, in the form of a white elephant. When she woke, she told her dream to the Raja, some Taoist schools held that Laozi was conceived when his mother gazed upon a falling star. He was born while his mother was leaning against a plum tree, Laozi was said to have emerged as an old man with a full grey beard. This may be because his name – Old Master – can also be read as Old Child, there are some legends about the birth of Abaoji, the Emperor Taizu of Liao. According to the legends, his mother dreamed that the sun fell from the sky, when she gave birth, the room is said to have become filled with a mysterious light and extraordinary fragrance. As a newborn, his body was that of a three-year-old, and the legends go on to say that he was walking at the age of three months. According to tradition of the Catholic church, the Virgin Marys parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim, were childless, during the conception of Mary, she was preserved from the stain of original sin. The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew describe the nativity of Jesus, in the account in the Gospel of Luke, Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she responds, Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word
6.
Greco-Buddhist art
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It is also a strong example of cultural syncretism between eastern and western traditions. The influence of Greco-Buddhist art also spread northward towards Central Asia, strongly affecting the art of the Tarim Basin, and ultimately the arts of China, Korea, and Japan. The clearest examples of Hellenistic art are found in the coins of the Greco-Bactrian kings of the period, fortified Greek cities, such as Sirkap in northern Pakistan, were established. Architectural styles used Hellenistic decorative motifs such as fruit garland and scrolls, stone palettes for aromatic oils representing purely Hellenistic themes such as a Nereid riding a Ketos sea monster are found. In Hadda, Hellenistic deities, such as Atlas are found, wind gods are depicted, which will affect the representation of wind deities as far as Japan. Dionysiac scenes represent people in Classical style drinking wine from amphoras and this artistic trend then developed for several centuries and seemed to flourish further during the Kushan Empire from the 1st century AD. Greco-Buddhist art depicts the life of the Buddha in a manner, probably by incorporating the real-life models. The Bodhisattvas are depicted as bare-chested and jewelled Indian princes, the buildings in which they are depicted incorporate Greek style, with the ubiquitous Indo-Corinthian capitals and Greek decorative scrolls. Surrounding deities form a pantheon of Greek and Indian gods, stucco as well as stone was widely used by sculptors in Gandhara for the decoration of monastic and cult buildings. Stucco provided the artist with a medium of great plasticity, enabling a high degree of expressiveness to be given to the sculpture, sculpting in stucco was popular wherever Buddhism spread from Gandhara - India, Afghanistan, Central Asia and China. It then lost this sophisticated realism, becoming progressively more symbolic, the style is Greek, adorned with Corinthian columns in excellent Hellenistic execution. Later in Hadda, the Greek divinity Atlas is represented holding Buddhist monuments with decorated Greek columns, the motif was adopted extensively throughout the Indian sub-continent, Atlas being substituted for the Indian Yaksa in the monuments of the Shunga Empire around the 2nd century BC. Sometime between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, the first anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha were developed. These were absent from earlier strata of Buddhist art, which preferred to represent the Buddha with symbols such as the stupa, the Bodhi tree, the empty seat, the wheel, or the footprints. But the innovative anthropomorphic Buddha image immediately reached a high level of sculptural sophistication. Most of the images of the Buddha are anepigraphic, which makes it difficult to have a definite dating. The next Greco-Buddhist findings to be strictly datable are rather late, AD120 Kanishka casket and Kanishkas Buddhist coins. These works at least indicate though that the representation of the Buddha was already extant in the 1st century AD
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Gandhara
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Gandhara is also an ancient name for Kandahar, Afghanistan. Gandhāra was an ancient Indic kingdom situated in the region of Pakistan. It encompassed the Peshawar valley and later extended to both Jalalabad district of modern-day Afghanistan as well as Taxila, in Pakistan. During the Achaemenid period and Hellenistic period, its city was Charsadda. It is mentioned in the Zend Avesta as Vaēkərəta, the sixth most beautiful place on earth and it was known as the crown jewel of Bactria and also held sway over Takṣaśilā. Gandhara existed since the time of the Rigveda and formed part of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, after it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period, the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul, during Mughal times, it was an independent district which included the Kabul province. The name Gāndhāra occurs later in the classical Sanskrit of the epics and it is recorded in Avestan as Vaēkərəta. The Gandhari people are a tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, the Atharvaveda, one proposed origin of the name is from the Sanskrit word gandha, meaning perfume and referring to the spices and aromatic herbs which they traded and with which they anointed themselves. Some authors have connected the modern name Kandahar to Gandhara, Herodotus records that those Iranic tribes, which were adjacent to the city of Caspatyrus and the district of Pactyïce, had customs similar to the Bactrians, and are the most warlike amongst them. These are also the people who obtain gold from the ant-hills of the adjoining desert, on the identity of Caspatyrus, there have been two opinions, one equating it with Kabul, the other with the name of Kashmir. The boundaries of Gandhara varied throughout history, sometimes the Peshawar Valley and Taxila were collectively referred to as Gandhara, sometimes the Swat Valley was also included. The heart of Gandhara, however, was always the Peshawar Valley, the kingdom was ruled from capitals at Kapisa, Pushkalavati, Taxila, Puruṣapura and in its final days from Udabhandapura on the River Indus. Evidence of the Stone Age human inhabitants of Gandhara, including stone tools, the artifacts are approximately 15,000 years old. More recent excavations point to 30,000 years before the present, the region shows an influx of southern Central Asian culture in the Bronze Age with the Gandhara grave culture, and the nucleus of Vedic civilisation. This culture flourished from 1500 to 500 BC and its evidence has been discovered in the hilly regions of Swat and Dir, and even at Taxila. The name of the Gandhāris is attested in the Rigveda and in ancient inscriptions dating back to Achaemenid Persia, the Behistun inscription listing the 23 territories of King Darius I includes Gandāra along with Bactria and Sattagydia. In the book Histories by Herodotus, Gandhara is named as a source of tax collections for King Darius, the Gandhāris, along with the Balhika, Mūjavants, Angas, and the Magadhas, are also mentioned in the Atharvaveda, as distant people
8.
Lotus (genus)
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Lotus, derived from lota, is a genus that includes most birds-foot trefoils and deervetches and contains many dozens of species distributed world-wide. Depending on the authority, roughly between 70 and 150 are accepted. Lotus is a genus of legume and its members are adapted to a range of habitats. Most species have leaves with five leaflets, two of these are at the base of the leaf, with the other three at the tip of a naked midrib. This gives the appearance of a pair of large stipules below a petiole bearing a trefoil of three leaflets – in fact, the stipules are minute, soon falling or withering. Some species have leaves with up to 15 leaflets. The flowers are in clusters of three to ten together at the apex of a stem with some basal leafy bracts, they are shaped, usually vivid yellow. The seeds develop in three or four straight, strongly diverging pods, which make a shape reminiscent of the diverging toes of a small bird. The genus Lotus is currently undergoing extensive taxonomic revision, all species native to California have been recently moved to the genera Acmispon and Hosackia in the second edition of The Jepson Manual. Lotus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, several species are culvivated for forage, including L. corniculatus, L. glaber, and L. pedunculatus. They can produce toxic cyanogenic glycosides which can be toxic to livestock, but also produce tannins. Species in this genus can fix nitrogen from the air courtesy of their root nodules, the nodulating symbionts are Bradyrhizobium and Mesorhizobium bacteria. Some species, such as L. berthelotii from the Canary Islands, are grown as ornamental plants, L. corniculatus is an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia
9.
Miracle
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A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being, magic, a miracle worker, other such miracles might be, survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a life-threatening situation or beating the odds. Some coincidences may be seen as miracles, a true miracle would, by definition, be a non-natural phenomenon, leading many rational and scientific thinkers to dismiss them as physically impossible or impossible to confirm by their nature. The former position is expressed for instance by Thomas Jefferson and the latter by David Hume, theologians typically say that, with divine providence, God regularly works through nature yet, as a creator, is free to work without, above, or against it as well. The possibility and probability of miracles are then equal to the possibility and probability of the existence of God, a miracle is a phenomenon not explained by known laws of nature. Criteria for classifying an event as a miracle vary, often a religious text, such as the Bible or Quran, states that a miracle occurred, and believers may accept this as a fact. British mathematician J. E. Littlewood suggested that individuals should statistically expect one-in-a-million events to happen to them at the rate of one per month. By Littlewoods definition, seemingly miraculous events are actually commonplace, the Aristotelian view of God does not include direct intervention in the order of the natural world. Jewish neo-Aristotelian philosophers, who are influential today, include Maimonides, Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon. Directly or indirectly, their views are still prevalent in much of the religious Jewish community, in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus Spinoza claims that miracles are merely lawlike events whose causes we are ignorant of. We should not treat them as having no cause or of having a cause immediately available, rather the miracle is for combating the ignorance it entails, like a political project. According to the philosopher David Hume, a miracle is a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the interposition of some invisible agent. According to the Christian theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher every event, even the most natural and usual, james Keller states that The claim that God has worked a miracle implies that God has singled out certain persons for some benefit which many others do not receive implies that God is unfair. If God intervenes to save life in a car crash. Thus an all-powerful, all-knowing and just God, as predicated in Christianity, the Haedong Kosung-jon of Korea records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheungs Grand Secretary, Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal, Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhisms power
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Telepathy
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Telepathy is the purported transmission of information from one person to another without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interaction. Telepathy experiments have historically been criticized for lack of proper controls, there is no convincing evidence that telepathy exists, and the topic is generally considered by the scientific community to be pseudoscience. Telepathy is a theme in modern fiction and science fiction, with many extraterrestrials, superheroes. As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena, the modern concept of telepathy emerged in this context. The skeptic Eric Dingwall criticized SPR founding members Frederic W. H. Myers, in the late 19th century the magician Washington Irving Bishop would perform thought reading demonstrations. Bishop claimed no supernatural powers and ascribed his powers to muscular sensitivity, Bishop was investigated by a group of scientists including the editor of the British Medical Journal and the psychologist Francis Galton. Bishop performed several feats such as correctly identifying a selected spot on a table. During the experiment Bishop required physical contact with a subject who knew the correct answer and he would hold the hand or wrist of the helper. The scientists concluded that Bishop was not a telepath but using a highly trained skill to detect ideomotor movements. Another famous thought reader was the magician Stuart Cumberland, Cumberland claimed to possess no genuine psychic ability and his thought reading performances could only be demonstrated by holding the hand of his subject to read their muscular movements. He came into dispute with psychical researchers associated with the Society for Psychical Research who were searching for genuine cases of telepathy. Cumberland argued that telepathy and communication with the dead were impossible and that the mind of man can not be read through telepathy. In the late 19th century the Creery Sisters were tested by the Society for Psychical Research, however, during a later experiment they were caught utilizing signal codes and they confessed to fraud. G. A. Smith and myself have been accepted and cited as the evidence of the truth of thought transference. The psychologist Leonard T. Troland had carried out experiments in telepathy at Harvard University which were reported in 1917, the subjects produced below chance expectations. Arthur Conan Doyle and W. T, Stead were duped into believing Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers. Both Doyle and Stead wrote the Zancigs performed telepathy, the results revealed no evidence for telepathy. She attempted to duplicate 290 pictures which were drawn by her husband, Sinclair claimed Mary successfully duplicated 65 of them, with 155 partial successes and 70 failures
11.
Clairvoyance
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The term clairvoyance is the alleged ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said accordingly to be a clairvoyant. Claims for the existence of paranormal and psychic abilities such as clairvoyance have not been supported by scientific evidence published in high impact peer reviewed journals. Parapsychology explores this possibility, but the existence of the paranormal is not accepted by the scientific community, Parapsychology, including the study of clairvoyance, is an example of pseudoscience. Pertaining to the ability of clear-sightedness, clairvoyance refers to the ability to see persons. Throughout history, there have been numerous places and times in which people have claimed themselves or others to be clairvoyant, jesus Christ in the gospels is also recorded as being able to know things that were far removed from His immediate human perception. In most of cases, however, the ability to see things was attributed to a higher power. In Jainism, clairvoyance is regarded as one of the five kinds of knowledge, the beings of hell and heaven are said to possess clairvoyance by birth. According to Jain text Sarvārthasiddhi, this kind of knowledge has been called avadhi as it ascertains matter in downward range or knows objects within limits. The earliest record of somnambulistic clairvoyance is credited to the Marquis de Puységur, a follower of Franz Mesmer, early researchers of clairvoyance included William Gregory, Gustav Pagenstecher, and Rudolf Tischner. Clairvoyance experiments were reported in 1884 by Charles Richet, playing cards were enclosed in envelopes and a subject put under hypnosis attempted to identify them. The subject was reported to have successful in a series of 133 trials. Pickering reported an experiment in which they tested 36 subjects over 23,384 trials which did not obtain above chance scores. Ivor Lloyd Tuckett and Joseph McCabe analyzed early cases of clairvoyance, in 1919, the magician P. T. Selbit staged a séance at his own flat in Bloomsbury. The spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle attended the séance and declared the clairvoyance manifestations to be genuine, a significant development in clairvoyance research came when J. B. Rhine, a parapsychologist at Duke University, introduced a methodology, with a standard statistical approach to analyzing data. A number of psychological departments attempted to repeat Rhines experiments with failure, W. S. Cox from Princeton University with 132 subjects produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the man or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group
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Third eye
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The third eye is a mystical and esoteric concept referring to a speculative invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. Third eye is the extension of what the mind knowingly perceives and it is the subconsious awareness of the surroundings and interactions of the environment. In certain dharmic spiritual traditions such as Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna, or brow, the third eye refers to the gate that leads to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In New Age spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is associated with religious visions, clairvoyance, the ability to observe chakras and auras, precognition. People who are claimed to have the capacity to utilize their third eyes are known as seers. In some traditions such as Hinduism, the eye is said to be located around the middle of the forehead. The goal of training is to allow students to tune into the correct vibration of the universe. Taoism teaches that the eye, also called the minds eye, is situated between the two physical eyes, and expands up to the middle of the forehead when opened. In Taoist alchemical traditions, the eye is the frontal part of the Upper Dan Tien and is given the evocative name muddy pellet. According to the Christian teaching of Father Richard Rohr, the concept of the eye is a metaphor for non-dualistic thinking. In Rohrs concept, mystics employ the first eye and the second eye, the mystical gaze builds upon the first two eyes—and yet goes further. Rohr refers to level of awareness as having the mind of Christ. This interpretation equates the third eye with the sixth of the seven churches of Asia detailed therein, mahayana Buddhism and in the Tibetan practices such knowledge tends to be more valued than in Theravada Buddhism, although there are techniques to open the divine eye or to clean the vision. The biological foundation of the eye is not fully understood. Studies using fMRI have shown that the lateral nucleus and the V1 area of the visual cortex are activated during mental imagery tasks. Ratey writes, The visual pathway is not a one-way street, higher areas of the brain can also send visual input back to neurons in lower areas of the visual cortex. As humans, we have the ability to see with the minds eye – to have an experience in the absence of visual input
13.
Shravasti
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Shravasti was a city of ancient India and one of the six largest cities in India during Gautama Buddhas lifetime. Earlier, it was a part of the Bahraich district, Shravasti is located near the West Rapti River and is closely associated with the life of Gautama Buddha, who is believed to have spent 24 Chaturmases here. Age-old stupas, majestic viharas and several temples near the village of Sahet-Mahet establish Buddhas association with Shravasti and it is said that the Vedic period king, Shravasta, founded this town. Shravasti was the capital of the Kosala Kingdom during 6th century BCE to 6th century CE and this prosperous trading centre was well known for its religious associations. Sobhanath temple is believed to be the birthplace of the Tirthankara Sambhavanath in Jainism, according to Nagarjuna, the city had a population of 900,000 in 5th century BCE and it even overshadowed Magadhas capital, Rajgir. As mentioned in the Bruhatkalpa and various Kalpas of the fourteenth century, there are subsequent mentions showing that the name of this city was Sahet-Mahet. It is also mentioned that a vast fort covered this city in which there were many temples with idols of Devkulikas, today a great rampart of earth and brick surrounds this city. During excavation in Sahet-Mahet near Shravasti City, many ancient idols and they are now kept in museums at Mathura and Lucknow. At present, the department of the Indian Government is excavating the site to perform allied research. Jetavana monastery was a monastery close to Shravasti. According to the Mahabharata, Shravasti is named after the legendary king Shravasta, according to Buddhist tradition, the city was called Savatthi because the sage Savattha lived there. As per the Ramayana, the king of Kosala, Rama, installed his son Lava at Shravasti, Shravasti was located on the banks of the river Achiravati. It was the city of the kingdom of Kosala, and its king was called Pasenadi. It is a city with vast amounts of agriculture and diversity. He stated the population of Shravasti to have been 180 million, the road from Rajagaha to Shravasti passed through Vesali, and the Parayanavagga gives as the resting places between the two cities, Setavya, Kapilavatthu, Kusinara, Pava and Bhoganagara. Further on, there was a road running southwards from Shravasti through Saketa to Kosambi, between Saketa and Shravasti was located Toranavatthu. The Buddha passed the part of his monastic life in Shravasti. His first visit to Shravasti was at the invitation of Anathapindika, the main monasteries in Shravasti were the Jetavana and the Pubbarama
14.
Miracles of Jesus
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The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. The majority are faith healing, exorcisms, resurrection of the dead, in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority. To many Christians and Muslims, the miracles are actual historical events, others, including liberal Christians, consider these stories to be figurative. Since the Enlightenment scholars have taken a highly skeptical approach to claims about miracles, in most cases, Christian authors associate each miracle with specific teachings that reflect the message of Jesus. The three types of healings are cures where an ailment is cured, exorcisms where demons are cast away, karl Barth said that, among these miracles, the Transfiguration of Jesus is unique in that the miracle happens to Jesus himself. In Matthew 10,8 he advised his disciples to heal the sick without payment and stated, freely ye received and it is not always clear when two reported miracles refer to the same event. For example, in the Healing the Centurions servant, the Gospels of Matthew, the Gospel of John has a similar but slighty different account at Capernaum, and states that it was the son of a royal official who was cured at a distance. The largest group of miracles mentioned in the New Testament involve cures, the Gospels give varying amounts of detail for each episode, sometimes Jesus cures simply by saying a few words, at other times employs material such as spit and mud. Generally they are referred to in the Synoptic Gospels but not in the Gospel of John, the canonical Gospels tell a number of stories of Jesus healing blind people. The earliest is a story of the healing of a man in Bethsaida in the Gospel of Mark. The Mark Gospel also has an account of the healing of a man named Bartimaeus, the Gospel of Luke tells the same story of Jesus healing an unnamed blind man, but moves the event in the narrative to when Jesus approaches Jericho. The Gospel of John describes an episode in which Jesus heals a man blind from birth, placed during the Festival of Tabernacles, Jesus mixes spittle with dirt to make a mud mixture, which he then places on the mans eyes. He asks the man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam, when the man does this, he is able to see. When asked by his disciples whether the cause of the blindness was the sins of the father or his mother. ( A story in which Jesus cures a leper appears in Mark 1, 40-45, Matthew 8, 1-4 and Luke 5, Healing the paralytic at Capernaum appears in Matthew 9, 1-8, Mark 2, 1-12 and Luke 5, 17-26. The Synoptics state that a paralytic was brought to Jesus on a mat, Jesus told him to get up and walk, Jesus also told the man that his sins were forgiven, which irritated the Pharisees. Jesus is described as responding to the anger by asking whether it is easier to say that someones sins are forgiven, or to tell the man to get up and walk. Mark and Luke state that Jesus was in a house at the time, a similar cure is described in the Gospel of John as the Healing the paralytic at Bethesda and occurs at the Pool of Bethesda
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Siddhi
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Siddhis are spiritual, paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise magical powers, abilities, and attainments that are the products of spiritual advancement through sādhanās such as meditation and yoga. The term ṛddhi is often used interchangeably in Buddhism, siddhi is a Tamil noun which can be translated as perfection, accomplishment, attainment, or success. In Tamil the word Siddhar/Chitthar refers to someone who has attained the Siddhic powers & knowledge, chitta is pure consciousness/knowledge in Sanskrit also. The individual must master kasina meditation before this is possible, dipa Ma, who trained via the Visuddhimagga, was said to demonstrate these abilities. In the Panchatantra, a siddhi may be the term for any skill or faculty or capability. The aim of Samkhya is to all kinds of physical and mental pains. In Patañjalis Yoga Sutras IV.1 it is stated, Janma auṣadhi mantra tapaḥ samādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ, Accomplishments may be attained through birth, in Hinduism, both Ganesha and Hanuman possess the eight siddhis and can give one access to them. Eight Siddhis is used for insight of the eight qualities of Nirankar or a. k. a, akal Purakh mentioned in the Mul Mantar in the Guru Granth Sahib. God has eight qualities, Oankar, Satnam, Kartapurakh, Nirbhao, Nirvair, AkaalMurat, Ajooni, the one who has insight of these qualities is called Sidh or Gurmukhi. In Tantric Buddhism, siddhi specifically refers to the acquisition of powers by psychic or magical means or the supposed faculty so acquired. These powers include items such as clairvoyance, levitation, bilocation, becoming as small as an atom, materialization, the term is also used in this sense in the Sarva-darśana-saṃgraha of Madhvacharya
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Vibhuti
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Vibhuti, also called Bhasma, Thiruneeru and Vibhooti, is a word that has several meanings in Hinduism. Generally, it is used to denote the sacred ash which is made of burnt dried wood in Āgamic rituals, Hindu devotees apply vibhuti traditionally as three horizontal lines across the forehead and other parts of the body to honor Shiva. Vibhuti smeared across the forehead to the end of both eyebrows is called Tripundra, another meaning of vibhuti is a glorious form, in contrast with Avatar, a reincarnation of Brahman. Bhagavata Theology describes a vibhuti as incarnation of power, which is only a temporary occasional manifestation such as holy men are infused with divine virtues and qualities are infused. Aurobindo mentions a vibhuti as the hero of a struggle towards divine achievement, the hero in the Carlylean sense of heroism. Tilak Bindi Kumkum Rudraksha Shivaratri Pradosha Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend by Anna Dallapiccola Vibhuti in Lingayat Religion Greatness of Vibhuti Importance of Vibhuti in Shaivism
17.
PBS
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The Public Broadcasting Service is an American public broadcaster and television program distributor. PBS is funded by member dues, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, government agencies, corporations, foundations. All proposed funding is subjected to a set of standards to ensure the program is free of influence from the funding source, since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as the most-trusted national institution in the United States. This arbitrary distinction is a frequent source of viewer confusion and it also operates National Datacast, a subsidiary which offers datacasting services via member stations, and provides additional revenue for PBS and its member stations. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations, each station is charged with the responsibility of programming local content for their individual market or state that supplements content provided by PBS and other public television distributors. By contrast, PBS member stations pay fees for the acquired and distributed by the national organization. Under this relationship, PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial broadcasting counterparts, scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly depending on the market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism, however, PBS has a policy of common carriage, which requires most stations to clear the national prime time programs on a common programming schedule to market them nationally more effectively. Management at former Los Angeles member KCET cited unresolvable financial and programming disputes among its reasons for leaving PBS after over 40 years in January 2011. Most PBS stations timeshift some distributed programs, once PBS accepts a program offered for distribution, PBS, rather than the originating member station, retains exclusive rebroadcasting rights during an agreed period. Suppliers retain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as DVDs, books, in 1991, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting resumed production for most PBS shows that debuted prior to 1977, with the exceptions of Washington Week in Review and Wall Street Week. In 1994, The Chronicle of Philanthropy released the results of the largest study on the popularity and credibility of charitable, the strategy began that fall, with the intent to expand the in-program breaks to the remainder of the schedule if successful. In 2011, PBS released apps for iOS and Android to allow viewing of videos on mobile devices. An update in 2015 added Chromecast support, PBS initially struggled to compete with online media such as YouTube for market share. In a 2012 speech to 850 top executives from PBS stations, in the speech, later described as a “seminal moment” for public television, he laid out his vision for a new style of PBS digital video production. Station leadership rallied around his vision and Seiken formed PBS Digital Studios, which began producing educational but edgy videos, something Seiken called “PBS-quality with a YouTube sensibility. ”The studio’s first hit, in 2012, PBS began organizing much of its prime time programming around a genre-based schedule. PBS broadcasts childrens programming as part of the morning and afternoon schedule. Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio, PBS does not have a program production arm or news division
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Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
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Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
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The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is a Buddhist text that is considered to be a record of the first teaching given by Gautama Buddha after he attained enlightenment. According to tradition, the Buddha gave this teaching in Sarnath, India, to the five ascetics, his former companions with whom he had spent six years practicing austerities. The main topic of this sutra is the Four Noble Truths and this sutra also introduces the Buddhist concepts of the Middle Way, impermanence, and dependent origination. The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is said to be the first teaching given by the Buddha after he attained enlightenment and it is taught that the Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi Tree by the Nerañjarā river in Bodh Gaya, and afterwards, he remained silent for forty-nine days. The Buddha then journeyed from Bodhgaya to Sarnath, a town near the sacred city of Varanasi in central India. There he met his five companions, the ascetics with whom he had shared six years of hardship. His former companions were at first suspicious of the Buddha, thinking he had given up his search for the truth when he renounced their ascetic ways, but upon seeing the radiance of the Buddha, they requested him to teach what he had learned. The Buddha addressed his first teaching, or discourse, to his five former companions, in this discourse, the Buddha addresses the ascetics as bhikkhus, a term which is normally translated as a Buddhist monk. However, Ajahn Sucitto explains that in this context bhikkhus means “alms-mendicants, Ajahn Sucitto explains, The five bhikkhus at Deer Park were named Kondañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya, Mahanāma, and Assaji. They all agreed that this baby would be either a great emperor or a Buddha, perhaps this was why he was named Siddhattha, which means “Accomplishes the Goal. ”Interestingly, it was Kondañña alone who reckoned that Siddhattha was destined for Buddhahood. Four of the brahmins who had been present at the palace later told their sons to keep their eyes on Siddhattha and these sons grew up to become the other four of the Group of Five. Therefore, the Buddha began his teaching by addressing their current situation and he affirmed their belief that indulging in sense pleasures would not lead to true freedom. He then stated that their practices of severe austerity, denial of the sense pleasures, thus, the Buddha begins the teaching by asserting the position of the Middle Way, of avoiding extremes of self-indulgence or self-denial. The Buddha asserted that neither of these paths would lead to ultimate truth. Ajahn Sucitto explains, But in the case of the Group of Five and they just needed to have the means clarified. So here the Buddha addresses them with advice on the cultivation of right means as an expression. And he begins with affirming the view that the ascetics would already have adopted—that chasing after and getting hooked on sense-pleasure is unworthy and he starts where they already are—where every path should start. Then he balances that out by negating the ascetic view, saying that getting caught up with self-mortification was also useless and he thereby cuts away the ground and leaves them dangling in the middle, saying that it is in this “no position” that peace is to be found
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Four Noble Truths
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The Four Noble Truths are the truths of the Noble Ones, the truths or realities which are understood by the worthy ones who have attained Nirvana. The truths are dukkha, the arising of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha, the four truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in samsara, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha. But there is a way to real happiness and to end this cycle. The meaning of the truths is as follows, Dukkha, incapable of satisfying, Life in this mundane world, with its craving and clinging to impermanent states and things, is dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, Samudaya, the origination or arising of dukkha. Dukkha, and repeated life in this world, arises with taṇhā, thirst, craving for and clinging to impermanent states. This craving and clinging produces karma which leads to renewed becoming, keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction, Nirodha, the four truths provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or experienced. The formulation of the four truths, and their importance, developed over time, in the sutras, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function. They represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, but also the possibility of liberation for all sentient beings, the four truths are of central importance in the Theravada tradition, which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself. They are less prominent in the Mahayana traditions, which emphasize insight into sunyata, the four truths are best known from their presentation in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which contains two sets of the four truths, while various other sets can be found in the Pali Canon. According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha first taught the four noble truths in the very first teaching he gave after attaining enlightenment, as recorded in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. According to Norman, the Pali canon contains various shortened forms of the four truths, the mnemonic set, the earliest form of the mnemonic set was dukkham samudayo nirodho magga, without the reference to sacca or arya, which were later added to the formula. This full set contains grammatical errors, but were considered correct by the Pali tradition, as opposite to sukha, pleasure, it is better translated as pain. S. Cousins notes that the four truths are not restricted to the form where dukkha is the subject. Other forms take the world, the arising of the world or the āsavas, according to Cousins, the well-known form is simply shorthand for all of the forms. The world refers to the saṅkhāras, that is, all compounded things, the Pali terms ariya sacca are commonly translated as noble truths. This translation is a convention started by the earliest translators of Buddhist texts into English, Norman, this is just one of several possible translations. According to Paul Williams, here is no reason why the Pali expression ariyasaccani should be translated as noble truths
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Noble Eightfold Path
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The Noble Eightfold Path is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices, right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, in the earliest Buddhism these practices started with insight, culminating in dhyana/samadhi as the core soteriological practice. In later Buddhism insight became the central instrument, leading to a different concept. The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the teachings of Theravada Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila, samadhi, in Mahayana Buddhism it is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which culminates in full Buddhahood. In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel, the Pali terms ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo is typically translated in English as Noble Eightfold Path. This translation is a convention started by the translators of Buddhist texts into English. However, the phrase does not mean the path is noble, the term maggo means path, while aṭṭhaṅgiko means eightfold. An alternate rendering of ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo is eightfold path of the noble ones, all eight elements of the Path begin with the word samyañc or sammā which means right, proper, as it ought to be, best. The Buddhist texts contrast samma with its opposite miccha, according to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term the middle way. In time, this description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path. Vetter and Bucknell both note that descriptions of the path can be found, which can be condensed into the eightfold path. Such an environment aids contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self, Right samadhi, practicing four stages of meditation culminating into unification of the mind. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times, following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth. Consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, yet, Majjhima Nikaya 117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, describes the first seven practices as requisites for right samadhi. According to Vetter, this may have been the original practice in early Buddhism. Moral virtues group consists of three paths, right speech, right action and right livelihood, the meditation group of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the mind. These two factors fall under the category of wisdom, the Noble Eightfold Path, in the Buddhist traditions, is the direct means to nirvana and brings a release from the cycle of life and death in the realms of samsara
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The ten principal disciples
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The ten principal disciples were the main disciples of Gautama Buddha. Depending on the scripture, the disciples included in this group vary, vimalakirti Sutra includes, Shariputra Śāripūtra, or Sāriputta, is a top master of Wisdom. In Heart Sutra, the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara preaches to him, Maudgalyayana Maudgalyāyana or Moggallāna, also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana or Mahāmoggallāna. He is a top master of supernatural powers, Maudgalyayana and Śāriputra were once disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic, but they became disciples of the Buddha. In Chinese Buddhism, the Mass that Maudgalyayana held to save his mother who had gone to the Hungry Ghost realm is the foundation of ullambana and he was a top master of ascetic training. Subhuti Subhūti understood the potency of emptiness and he appears in several Sutras of Mahāyāna Buddhism which teach Śūnyatā. Purna Maitrayani-putra Pūrṇa Maitrāyaniputra or Puṇṇa Mantānīputta and he was also called Purna for short. He was the greatest teacher of the Law out of all the disciples and he was the top master of preaching. Katyayana Kātyāyana or Mahākātyāyana or Mahākaccāna and he understood Shakyamuni Buddhas lecture the best. Although he had only five master in the areas, he was permitted to learn Vinaya by the Buddha. Anuruddha Anuruddha or Aniruddha was a top master of clairvoyance and the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness, Aniruddha was a cousin of Shakyamuni Buddha. He and Ananda became monks at the same time, Upali Upāli was a top master of Vinaya. He was born in the Shudra class and worked as a barber, Buddha had denied the class system, he ranked his disciples according to the order in which they joined. So Upali was ranked ahead of the ex-princes, in the First Buddhist council, the Vinaya was compiled based on his memory. Rāhula Rāhula was the son of the Buddha and his wife Princess Pṛthī. He was a scrupulous, strict and shrewd person, when the Buddha went to his hometown, he became the first Sāmanera. Ananda Ānanda listened to the Buddhas teachings the most among the disciples and he was a cousin of the Buddha. After he became a monk, he took care of the Buddha for 25 years, in the First Buddhist council, the suttas/sutras were compiled based on his memory
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Four sights
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The four sights are four things described in the legendary account of Gautama Buddhas life which led to his realization of the impermanence and ultimate dissatisfactoriness of conditioned existence. However, on his first venture out of the palace with his charioteer Channa, he observed four sights, an old man, a man, a corpse. The spiritual feeling of urgency experienced by Siddhārtha Gautama is referred to as saṃvega, after the birth of the Prince Siddhārtha, King Śuddhodana called upon eight Brahmins to predict his only sons future. While seven of them declared that the prince would either be a Buddha or a great King, after leading a sheltered existence surrounded by luxury and pleasure in his younger years, Prince Siddhārtha ventured out of his palace for the first time at the age of 29. He set off from the palace to the city in a chariot, on this journey he first saw an old man, revealing to Siddhārtha the consequences of aging. When the prince asked about this person, Channa replied that aging was something that happened to all beings, the second sight was of a sick person suffering from a disease. Once again, the prince was surprised at the sight, and Channa explained that all beings are subject to disease and this further troubled the mind of the prince that none can stay healthy and live a pain free life. The third sight was of a dead body, as before, Channa explained to the prince that death is an inevitable fate that befalls everyone. After seeing these three sights, Siddhārtha was troubled in his mind and sorrowful about the sufferings that have to be endured in life. After seeing these three sights, Siddhārtha came upon the fourth sight, an ascetic who had devoted himself to finding the cause of human suffering. This sight gave him hope that he too might be released from the sufferings arising from being repeatedly reborn, after observing these four sights, Siddhārtha returned to the palace, where a performance of dancing girls was arranged for him. Throughout the performance, the prince kept on thinking about the sights, in the early hours of morning, he finally looked about him and saw the dancers asleep and in disarray. The sight of this drastic change strengthened his resolve to leave in search of an end to the suffering of beings, after this incident and realizing the true nature of life after observing the four sights, Siddhārtha left the palace on his horse Kanthaka, accompanied only by Channa. He sent Channa back with his possessions and began an ascetic life, before this, he saw a group of people meditating and he decided to join them. The leaders of this group thought him to be so good that they asked him to run their class, however, he thought that meditation was not the only factor on his path to enlightenment. He tried to discipline his body by fasting, but he realized that by doing this, in the early Pali suttas, the four sights as concrete encounters were not mentioned with respect to the historical Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama. Rather, Siddhārthas insights into old age, sickness and death were abstract considerations, analogous passages for illness and death follow. Similarly, the Ariya-pariyesana Sutta describes rather abstract considerations, These passages also do not mention the fourth sight of the renunciant, the renunciant is a depiction of the Sramana movement, which was popular at the time of Siddhārtha and which he consequently joined
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Family of Gautama Buddha
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The Buddha was born into a family of the kshatriya varna in Lumbini, Nepal in 567 BCE. He was called Siddhartha Gautama in his childhood and his father was king Suddhodana, leader of the Shakya clan in what was the growing state of Kosala, and his mother was queen Maya Devi. He was raised by his mothers sister, Maha Pajapati. He later married Yashodhar, and together they had one child, both Yaśodhar and Rāhul later became disciples of Buddha. His first cousin, by his father, Ananda, joined the Buddha as his attendant, much of the information on Suddhodana comes from Buddhist legend and scripture. He is believed to be a leader of the Shakya clan, although in Buddhist literature he is said to be a hereditary monarch, he is now believed to have been an elected head of a tribal confederacy. Suddhodana was said to be troubled by the departure of his son and is reported in Buddhist scriptures to have sent 10,000 messengers to plead with Gautama to return. After the Buddha preached the dharma to the messengers, they were all ordained into the sangha, later a friend of Suddhodana named Kaludayi invited the Buddha to return, at the request of Suddhodana. The Buddha also preached the dharma to him and Kaludayi was later ordained as a monk, after this request from his father Gautama returned to his fathers kingdom where he preached dharma to him. Gautama later returned again to his fathers kingdom to see his fathers death, Maya was the mother of the Buddha and was from the Koliyan clan. Maya was born in Devadaha, in ancient Nepal and she was married to her cousin King Suddhodana, who ruled in the kingdom of Kapilavastu. In Buddhist texts, an elephant was said to have entered her side during a dream. When she awoke she found that she was pregnant, as it was traditional to give birth in the homeland of the father, Queen Maya journeyed to Devadaha. However she was forced to give birth en route, in the Lumbini grove and it is said that the Devas presided over the birth and that two streams, one cool and one hot, flowed down from the heavens. Maya died seven days after the birth of her son, whom she had named Siddhartha or he who achieves his aim. She is said, in Buddhist scriptures, to have been reborn in Tusita, Ananda was the youngest first cousin of the Buddha. He joined the sangha as a child and he was ordained along with Aniruddha and Bhadra. His father was the brother of King Suddhodana, Ananda later became the attendant of Buddha, almost twenty years after the Buddhas enlightenment, when the Buddha was around 55
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Lumbini
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Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 BCE, Gautama, who achieved Enlightenment some time around 528 BCE, became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. Lumbini is one of many magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of Gautama Buddha, Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi Temple and several others which are still under construction. Many monuments, monasteries and a museum, the Lumbini International Research Institute, are also within the holy site, also there is the Puskarini, or Holy Pond, where the Buddhas mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he had his first bath. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, then achieved ultimate Enlightenment, Lumbini was made a World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1997. In the Buddhas time, Lumbini was situated in east of Kapilavastu and it was there, that the Buddha was born. A pillar discovered in 1896 is believed to mark the spot of Ashokas visit to Lumbini, the site was not known as Lumbini before the pillar was discovered. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the then in charge of the park to commemorate Ashokas visit. The park was known as Rummindei,2 mi north of Bhagavanpura. The Sutta Nipáta states that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans in the Lumbineyya Janapada, the Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta. In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists discovered a stone pillar at Lumbini. Führer postulated that the pillar was placed at the site by Ashoka circa 245 BCE, records made by the Chinese pilgrim Faxian in the early fifth century CE were also used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site. The layout of the Ashokan shrine closely follows that of the timber structure. Lumbini is 4.8 km in length and 1.6 km in width, the holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone in which only monasteries can be built, no shops, hotels or restaurants. It is separated into an eastern and western zone, the eastern having the Theravadin monasteries. From early morning to evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting. The venture was a China-UN joint project, a broader Lumbini Development National Director Committee under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed on 17 October 2011. The six-member committee included Communist Party of Nepal leader Mangal Siddhi Manandhar, Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, Forest Minister Mohammad Wakil Musalman, nipponzan Myohoji decided to build a Peace Pagoda in the park in 2001, which is visited by many different cultures and religions every day
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Bodh Gaya
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Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, in 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bodh Gaya is the most holy place for the followers of the Buddhist faith all over the world, situated by the bank of river Neranjana the place was then known as Uruwela. King Ashoka was the first to build a temple here, traditionally, Buddha was born in 563 BC in what is now Nepal on the following auspicious Baisakhi purnima. As Siddhartha, he renounced his family at the age of 29 in 534 BC, after practicing self-mortification for six years at Urubela in Gaya, he gave up that practice because it did not give him Vimukthi. Then he discovered Noble Eight-fold path without help from anyone and practiced it, Enlightenment is a state of being completely free from lust, hatred and delusion. By gaining enlightenment, you enter Nibbana, in which the stage is Parinibbana. At this place, the Buddha was abandoned by the five men who had been his companions of earlier austerities, all they saw was an ordinary man, they mocked his well-nourished appearance. Here comes the mendicant Gautama, they said, who has turned away from asceticism and he is certainly not worth our respect. When they reminded him of his vows, the Buddha replied. In the exhaustion and mental stupor to which they lead, one can no longer understand the things of life. I have given up extremes of luxury or asceticism. I have discovered the Middle Way and this is the path which is neither easy nor hard. Hearing this, the five became the Buddhas first disciples in Deer Park. The disciples of Gautama Siddhartha began to visit the place during the moon in the month of Vaisakh. Over time, the became known as Bodh Gaya, the day of enlightenment as Buddha Purnima. The history of Bodh Gaya is documented by inscriptions and pilgrimage accounts
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Bodhi Tree
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In religious iconography, the Bodhi Tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed. This tree is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites, other holy Bodhi trees which have a great significance in the history of Buddhism are the Anandabodhi tree in Sravasti and the Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Both are believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi tree, on December 8, Bodhi Day celebrates Buddhas enlightenment underneath the Bodhi Tree. Those who follow the Dharma greet each other by saying, “Budu saranai. ”Which translates to may the peace of the Buddha be yours. ”The Bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi Temple is called the Sri Maha Bodhi, gautama Buddha attained enlightenment while meditating underneath a Ficus religiosa. According to Buddhist texts the Buddha, meditated without moving from his seat for seven days under this tree, a shrine, called Animisalocana cetiya, was later erected on the spot where he sat. The spot was used as a shrine even in the lifetime of the Buddha, King Ashoka was most diligent in paying homage to the Bodhi tree, and held a festival every year in its honour in the month of Kattika. His queen, Tissarakkhā was jealous of the Tree, and three years after she became queen, she caused the tree to be killed by means of mandu thorns. The tree, however, grew again, and a monastery was attached to the Bodhimanda called the Bodhimanda Vihara. Among those present at the foundation of the Mahā Thūpa are mentioned thirty thousand monks from the Bodhimanda Vihara, the tree was again cut down by King Pushyamitra Shunga in the 2nd century BC, and by King Shashanka in 600 AD. In the 7th century AD, Chinese traveler Xuanzang wrote of the tree in detail, every time the tree was destroyed, a new tree was planted at the same place. The green branch perhaps belongs to some younger tree, as there are numerous stems of different trees clustered together. The tree must have been renewed frequently, as the present Pipal is standing on a terrace at least 30 feet above the level of the surrounding country. It was in full vigour in 1811, when seen by Dr. Buchanan, however, the tree decayed further and in 1876 the remaining tree was destroyed in a storm. In 1881, Cunningham planted a new Bodhi tree on the same site, for this purpose Moggallana took a fruit from the tree as it dropped from its stalk, before it reached the ground. It was planted in a jar by Anathapindika with great pomp. A sapling immediately sprouted forth, fifty cubits high, and in order to consecrate it the Buddha spent one night under it and this tree, because it was planted under the direction of Ananda, came to be known as the Ananda Bodhi. King Asoka’s daughter, the nun Sanghamittra, brought a piece of the tree with her to Sri Lanka where it is growing to this day in the island’s ancient capital. The Bodhi tree that is growing in Sri Lanka to this day was originally named Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, according to the Mahavamsa, the Sri Maha Bodhi in Sri Lanka was planted in 288 BC, making it the oldest verified specimen of any angiosperm
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Mahabodhi Temple
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The Mahabodhi Vihar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, marking the location where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is located about 96 km from Patna, Bihar state, images of the site include Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapani, Tara, Marichi, Yamantaka, Jambhala and Vajravārāhī. Images of Vishnu, Shiva, Surya and other Vedic deities are associated with the site. The site contains a descendant of the Bodhi Tree under which Buddha gained enlightenment, there he sat in meditation under a peepul tree which later became known as the Bodhi tree. According to Buddhist scriptures, after three days and three nights, Siddharta attained enlightenment and the answers that he had sought, in that location, Mahabodhi Temple was built by Emperor Ashoka in around 260 BCE. The Buddha then spent the seven weeks at seven different spots in the vicinity meditating and considering his experience. Several specific places at the current Mahabodhi Temple relate to the traditions surrounding these seven weeks, during the second week, the Buddha remained standing and stared, uninterrupted, at the Bodhi tree. This spot is marked by the Animeshlocha Stupa, that is, the stupa or shrine. There stands a statue of Buddha with his eyes fixed towards the Bodhi tree, the Buddha is said to have walked back and forth between the location of the Animeshlocha Stupa and the Bodhi tree. According to legend, lotus flowers sprung up along this route and he spent the fourth week near Ratnagar Chaitya, located near north – east side. During the fifth week, Buddha answered in details to the queries of Brahmins under Ajapala Nigodh tree and he spent the sixth week next to Lotus pond. He spent the week under Rajyatna tree. The Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya is directly connected to the life of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, the temple was built directly to the east of the Bodhi tree which is supposed to be a direct descendant of the original Bodhi Tree. According to Buddhist mythology, if no Bodhi tree grows at the site, through the ground around the Bodhi tree no being, not even an elephant, can travel. According to the Jatakas, the navel of the lies at this spot. Tradition also claims that a lotus will bloom there, and if a Buddha is born during that the new kalpa, according to legend, in the case of Gautama Buddha, a Bodhi tree sprang up on the day he was born. It is said that four weeks after the Buddha began meditating under the Bodhi Tree, the heavens darkened for seven days, and a prodigious rain descended. However, the mighty king of serpents, Mucalinda, came from beneath the earth, when the great storm had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned in joy to his palace
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Buddhist pilgrimage
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The most important places of pilgrimage in Buddhism are located in the Gangetic plains of Northern India and Southern Nepal, in the area between New Delhi and Rajgir. This is the area where Gautama Buddha lived and taught, however, many countries that are or were predominantly Buddhist have shrines and places which can be visited as a pilgrimage. Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, lumbini, birthplace of Gautama Buddha Sarnath, where Gautama Buddha delivered his first teaching. Kusinara, where Gautama Buddha died and attained Parinirvana, in the later commentarial tradition, four other sites are also raised to a special status because Buddha had performed a certain miracle there. These four places, partly through the inclusion in this list of commentarial origin, became important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in ancient India and it is important to note, however, that some of these events do not occur in the Tipitaka and are thus purely commentarial. Sravasti is also the place where Buddha spent the largest amount of time, Rajgir, Place of the subduing of Nalagiri, the angry elephant, through friendliness. Rajgir was another city of ancient India. Sankassa, Place of the descending to earth from Tusita heaven, vaishali, Place of receiving an offering of honey from a monkey. Vaishali was the capital of the Vajjian Republic of ancient India, most of these places are located in the Gangetic plain. Other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage in various countries include, Afghanistan, the Four Sacred Mountains namely Wǔtái Shān, Éméi Shān, Jiǔhuá Shān, Pǔtuó Shān Tibet, Potala Palace, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso. India, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta, also see Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Indonesia, Borobudur, Mendut, japan, Kyoto, Nara, Shikoku Pilgrimage, Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage Laos, Luang Prabang. Malaysia, Kek Lok Si, Cheng Hoon Teng, Maha Vihara Myanmar, Bagan, Sagaing Hill, Mandalay Hill, Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura, Mihintale, Polonnaruwa, the Temple of the Tooth, Sri Pada. South Korea, Bulguksa, Three Jewel Temples Thailand, Phra Phutthabat District, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, Phra Pathom Chedi, Phra Buddha Chinnarat. United States of America, City of Ten Thousand Buddhas - Largest Monastery-Nunnery in USA in terms of numbers of ordained monastic Bhikshus, first full ordination on American soil. Garden of 1000 Buddhas, with statuary and gardens, near Missoula Montana. Vietnam, Mount Yen Tu Virtual Tour of Buddhist Pilgrimage Sites on Google Map Buddhist Pilgrimage Buddhist Pilgrimage in India and Sri Lanka Buddhist Pilgrimage
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Buddha's Birthday
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Buddhas Birthday is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism to commemorate the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha and founder of Buddhism. According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures, Gautama was born in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal, around the year 563 BCE, Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him from leaving the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his fathers efforts, Gautama ventured beyond the palace several times and these experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest. In Nepal, the birth-country of Buddha, it is celebrated on the full day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on a full moon Uposatha day, in China and Korea, it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar, in leap years it may be celebrated in June. The festival is known as Buddha Purnima, as Purnima means full moon day in Sanskrit and it is also called is Buddha Jayanti, with Jayanti meaning birthday in Sanskrit Language. The date falls from the end of April to the end of May in the Gregorian calendar, as a result of the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in lieu of the Chinese lunar calendar in 1873. In Cambodia, Buddhas birthday known as Visak Bochea is a holiday and monks around the country carry flags, lotus flowers, incense. People also take part in giving to the monks. In China, celebrations often occur in Buddhist temples where people light incense, in Hong Kong, Buddhas birthday is a public holiday. Lanterns are lit to symbolise the Buddhas enlightenment and many people visit the temple to pay their respects, the bathing of the Buddha is a major feature of Buddhas birthday celebrations in the city. Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanthi in South India or Tathagata is a holiday in India. Buddhist People go to common Viharas to observe a rather longer-than-usual, full-length Buddhist sutra, the usual dress is pure white. Kheer, a rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata. Informally called Buddhas Birthday, it commemorates the birth, enlightenment. In Indonesia, Buddhas birthday known as Waisak is a public holiday, a large procession beginning in Mendut in Java ends at Borobudur – the largest Buddhist temple in the world. In Japan, Buddhas Birthday is known as Kanbutsu-e or Hana-matsuri and is held on April 8, Buddhas birth is also celebrated according to the Buddhist calendar but is not a national holiday
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Physical characteristics of the Buddha
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The physical characteristics of the Buddha refers to the general appearance and characteristics of Gautama Buddhas physical body. A number of early discourses describe the appearance of the Buddha, in particular, the 32 signs of a Great Man are described throughout the Pali Canon, and these are believed to have formed the basis for early representations of the Buddha. These 32 major characteristics are also supplemented by another 80 secondary characteristics, in Mahāyāna Buddhism, including the traditions of Esoteric Buddhism, the 32 major characteristics and 80 minor characteristics are understood to be present in a buddhas sambhogakāya, or reward-body. In contrast, a physical form is understood to be a nirmāṇakāya. The earliest phase of Buddhism was generally aniconic, with the Buddha being represented as such as a footprint, an empty chair. Later, iconic sculptural traditions were established, with two of the most important being in the regions of Gandhara and Mathura, the first statues and busts of the Buddha were made in the Gandhara region of modern-day Afghanistan. Many statues and busts exist where the Buddha and other bodhisattvas have a mustache, Mahāyāna sūtras from this period such as the Maitreyasiṃhanāda Sūtra, only address the image cult as an object of criticism, if it is mentioned at all. Schopen states that followers of Mahāyāna were generally uninterested in worshipping buddhas, but rather in becoming buddhas, the Buddha is traditionally regarded as having the Thirty-two Characteristics of a Great Man. These thirty-two characteristics are also regarded as being present in cakravartin kings as well, the Digha Nikaya, in the Discourse of the Marks enumerates and explains the 32 characteristics. These are also enumerated in the Brahmāyu Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, according to Guang Xing, the 80 minor marks are related to the 32 major marks, and are merely a more detailed description of the Buddhas bodily features. These 80 minor characteristics became significant as well, as were adopted by Buddhist traditions including both Mahāyāna and Theravāda traditions, in Pali literature, the 80 minor characteristics are found in the Apadāna and the Milindapañha. Some scholars believe the 80 minor characteristics were a development in the Buddhist tradition. The eighty minor characteristics are, He has beautiful fingers and toes and he has well-proportioned fingers and toes. He has tube-shaped fingers and toes and his fingernails and toenails have a rosy tint. His fingernails and toenails are slightly upturned at the tip and his fingernails and toenails are smooth and rounded without ridges. His ankles and wrists are rounded and undented and his feet are of equal length. He has a beautiful gait, like that of a king-elephant and he has a stately gait, like that of a king-lion. He has a beautiful gait, like that of a swan and he has a majestic gait, like that of a royal ox
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Relics associated with Buddha
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According to Mahaparinibbana Sutta, after his death, the Gautam Buddha was cremated and the ashes divided among his followers. Originally his ashes were to go only to the Shakya clan, to which Buddha belonged, however, six clans, often they were enclosed in caskets. The relics were dug up by Ashoka, and used the relics and had stupas built over them throughout the region he rules. Many of the remains were taken to other countries, the Ashokavadana narrates how Ashoka redistributed Buddhas relics across 84,000 stupas, with the distribution of the relics and construction of the stupas performed by Yakshas. When the Chinese pilgrims Fa-hien and Hiuen Tsang visited India centuries later, the Lokapannatti tells the story of King Ajatashatru of Magadha who gathered the Buddhas relics and hid them in an underground stupa. The Buddhas relics were protected by spirit-powered mechanical robots from the kingdom of Roma visaya until they were disarmed by King Ashoka, annually in Sri Lanka and China, tooth relics would be paraded through the streets. In the past relics have had the right to own property. A southeast Asian tradition says that after his parinirvana the gods distributed the Buddhas 800,000 body and 900,000 head hairs throughout the universe, in Theravada according to the 5th century Buddhaghosa possessing relics was one of the criteria in Theravada for what constituted a proper monastery. The adventures of many relics are said to have been foretold by Buddha, as spread the dharma. It is said all the Buddhas relics will one day gather at the Bodhi tree where he attained enlightenment and will form his body sitting cross legged. It is said the disappearance of the relics at this point will signal the coming of Maitreya Buddha, in the Nandimitravadana translated by Xuanzang it is said that the Buddhas relics will be brought to parinirvana by sixteen great arhats and enshrined in a great stupa. That stupa will then be worshipped until it sinks into the earth down to the golden wheel underlying the universe, the relics are not destroyed by fire in this version but placed in a final reliquary deep within the earth, perhaps to appear again. The relics of Buddhas disciples like Sariputta and Maugglayana, were also preserved enshrined in stupas, sometime in the middle of the fifth century the Chinese pilgrim Daorong traveled to Afghanistan visiting pilgrimage sites. In Nagaharahara was a piece of bone from the top of Buddhas skull four inches long, also in the city was an enshrined staff, and a jeweled reliquary containing some teeth and hair. A shadow was said to have been projected onto a wall, said to have belonged to Buddha, as well as a set of foot prints. A temple said to have built by Buddha is sinking into the ground here. A tooth of the Buddha was kept in Baktra, in Bamyan a tooth of Buddha was stored along with the tooth of a cakravartin king. An early masterpiece of the Greco Buddhist art of Ghandara, and one of the earliest representations of the Buddha, although the casket bears an inscription saying it contained some of the relics of the Buddha, no relics were discovered when the box was opened
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Cetiya
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Cetiya, reminders or memorials, are objects and places used by Theravada Buddhists to remember Gautama Buddha. According to Prince Damrongrāchānuphāp, four kinds are distinguished in the Pāli Canon, Relic, Memorial, Teaching, and votive. Griswold, in contrast, states that three are traditional and the fourth, the dhamma, was added later to remind monks that the memory of Gautama Buddha can be found in his teachings. While these can be broadly called Buddhist symbolism, the emphasis tends to be on a connection to the Buddha. Most frequently preserved parts of Buddhas body are tooth and bone, the relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka is the most notable site where a relic is visibly preserved, but hundreds of such sites were created, in the architectural form now called a stupa. In Thai, these stupas are called chedī, retaining the second half of the phrase dhātu cetiya, in Lao, they are called that after the first half. More relics of bone were discovered during excavations of a stupa built in what is now Peshawar by Kanishka the Great of the Kushan Empire in the second century. In 1909, three pieces of bone were found in a reliquary in a bronze casket bearing an effigy of Kanishka. They were removed to Mandalay in 1910 by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto and they were originally kept in a stupa in Mandalay but it has become dilapidated and is used as housing. The relics are being kept in a monastery until funds can be found to build a new stupa to house the relics next to Mandalay Hill. The crystal reliquary holding the bones is now enclosed in a gold, the miniature gold stupa in which they were transported to Mandalay may be seen in the photo to the right of the modern ruby and gold reliquary. The body parts of especially powerful monks are also called sārīraka, the paribhoga cetiya, things used by the Buddha, would seem at first to be a nonexistent category today. However, temples such as Tongdosa in South Korea claim to keep his robe, the category also includes all places the Buddha visited, so Bodh Gaya itself functions as a paribhogaka. The most common paribhogaka is the Bodhi Tree, which was transplanted across Southeast Asia, another extremely common paribhoga cetiya is the Buddha footprint, which are found across the Buddhist world symbolizing the ground that Buddha walked on and the powerful size of his dhammakāya. Sometimes these footprints are also classed as udesaka, a representation of the Buddhas foot, or sārīraka, the final category, udesaka or uddesika cetiya, literally translates as indicative reminders or votive objects, for example images of the Buddha. Udesaka do not have any connection to the Buddha but still serve as relics because they were created in his memory. The dharmacakra, wheel of dharma, falls under this category as a reminder of Buddhist insight, the conventional view has long been this meant that early Buddhist art was aniconic. However, this view has recently been the subject of debate among specialists, there does not seem to have been any prohibition of creating images of the Buddha
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Relic of the tooth of the Buddha
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The Sacred Relic of the tooth of Buddha is venerated in Sri Lanka as a cetiya relic of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. Khema then gave it to King Brahmadatte for veneration and it became a royal possession in Brahmadattes country and was kept in the city of Dantapuri. A belief grew that whoever possessed the tooth relic had a right to rule that land. The Dāṭhāvaṃsa recounts the tale of a war fought over the relic 800 years later between Guhasiva of the republic of Kalinga and a king named Pandu. Legend states the Abhayagiri vihāra was first appointed custodianship of the relic when it was brought to the island after the conflict in Kalinga, upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the relic. Finally, it was brought to Kandy where it is at present, the relic came to be regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and it is on this basis that there grew up a series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies. These are conducted under the supervision of the two Mahanayakas of Malwatte, Asgiriya chapters, and Diyawadana Nilame of the Maligawa and these have a hierarchy of officials and temple functionaries to perform the services and rituals. Aside from the relic in Sri Lanka, several relics in other countries are also reputed to have a tooth-relic of the Buddha, lingguang Temple of the Badachu Park in Beijing, China. Buddha Memorial Center of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung, Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum in Chinatown, Singapore. Lu Mountain Temple in Rosemead, California Nagarjunakonda, museum on the situated in the Nagarjunasagar Lake
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Buddha footprint
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The footprint of the Buddha is an imprint of Gautama Buddhas one or both feet. There are two forms, natural, as found in stone or rock, and those made artificially, the footprints of Buddha are along the path from aniconic to iconic which starts at symbols like the wheel and moves to statues of Buddha. These footprints are meant to remind that Buddha was present on earth and they are special as they are the only monuments which give Buddha a physical presence on earth as they are actual depression in the earth. A depression atop of Adams Peak in Sri Lanka is among the largest and most famous footprints, the footprints of the Buddha abound throughout Asia, dating from various periods. They often bear distinguishing marks, such as a Dharmachakra at the centre of the sole, or the 32,108 or 132 auspicious signs of the Buddha, in Thailand, the most important of these natural footprints imbedded in rock is at Phra Phutthabat in Central Thailand. In China, during Tang Dynasty, the discovery of a footprint of the Buddha in Chengzhou caused Empress Wu Zetian to inaugurate a new reign name in that year,701 CE. The footprint as an object has a long history stemming from the first examples made in India. These were made during the pre-Greco-Buddhist phase of Buddhist art at Sanchi, Bharhut, and other places in India, along with the Bo-Tree, later, the footprint-making tradition became prominent in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand. The veneration of the feet of gurus or deities were commonplace in ancient India, as cetiya, the Buddhas footprint was classified in a variety of ways. Some were uddesika, representational relics, and others were paribhogika, relics of use or of contact, some of the depictions of the footprints may signify events in the life of the Buddha, but others may have been depictions of people worshipping at footprint shrines. To clarify, a footprint of the Buddha is a image of his foot. The images of the Buddha’s feet are convex images which represent the actual soles of his feet, the second one can be thought as an uddissaka element, since it has been created by a devoted artist to commemorate the Buddha, taking as its model a genuine footprint. But we can think of this group, too, as a “pāribhogika by supposition”. According to French scholar Paul Mus, the footprints were the type of objects which enables one to act at a distance on people related to it. Petrosomatoglyph Cicuzza, Claudio, A Mirror Reflecting the Entire World, the Pāli Buddhapādamaṅgala or “Auspicious signs on the Buddha’s feet”. Critical edition with English Translation, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, VI, Lumbini International Research Institute, Bangkok and Lumbini 2011. Buddhapada, L’odyssée des empreintes de Bouddha, ISBN 978-974-524-163-3 Triratana on the footprints of the Buddha
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Buddharupa
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Buddharūpa is the Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism for statues or models of beings who have obtained buddhahood, including the historical Buddha. The bump at the top of the head is the ushnisha and represents spirituality, wisdom, depictions of the Buddha vary widely across cultures. The image of Buddhas started to emerge from the first century CE in North India, the art of Gandhara was influenced by Ancient Greek art, leading to the development of Greco-Buddhist art with anatomically well-proportioned and realistic figure of the Buddha. One of the most influential Buddhist art was Gupta art and the later Amaravati style, from India the depiction of Buddha spread to the rest of Asia. Japanese buddharupas are often very square and stolid while Indian and Southeast Asian ones often have thinner figures, many people may be familiar with the Happy or Laughing Buddha, a different historical figure, who should not be confused with the images of Gautama Buddha. Budai, a Chinese Buddhist monk also known as Hotei, is depicted as fat and happy, almost always smiling or laughing, and is associated with Maitreya. Images of Buddha sometimes show him reclining, recalling the Buddha Shakyamunis departure into final nirvana, other times he is holding various symbolic objects, or making symbolic mudras. Cult image Honzon Mudra Nirmal C, sinha, Buddharupa observation of the evolution of the Buddha image, Bulletin of Tibetology, Vol. 1-3, pp. 18–22 Thai birth day colors and Buddha image. United States Muay Thai Association Inc.16 October 2004, an innovation of the Ayutthaya period. A History of The World, The British Museum Bala Mudaly, Reflections inspired by the Buddha Rupa
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Iconography of Gautama Buddha in Laos and Thailand
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The Iconography of Gautama Buddha in Laos and Thailand is referred to as pang phraputtarup th, ปางพระพุทธรูป, and a given pose as pang Thai, ปาง episode. In other Buddhist countries, different but related iconography is used, the Buddha is always represented with certain physical attributes, and in specified dress and specified poses. Each pose, and particularly the position and gestures of the Buddhas hands, has a meaning which is familiar to Buddhists. Although the Buddha is not a god, Buddhists seek to communicate with the world through Buddha images, making offerings to them. Buddha images are not intended to be representations of what Gautama Buddha looked like. There are no images of him, and the oldest Buddha images date from 500 to 600 years after his lifetime. But Buddhists believe that Buddha images represent an ideal reality of the Buddha, when creating a Buddha image, the artist is expected to be in a spiritual and mental state that will enable him to visualise this ideal reality. There is no requirement that every Buddha image be identical, and in there is a wide variety of artistic styles. There are, however, certain rules of representation that must be adhered to, by the end of the Gupta Empire, the canon of representation had become more varied, with the seated meditative position becoming common, particularly in Sri Lanka. By the 7th century CE the canon was largely as it is seen today, as Buddhism spread from India to other countries, variations in the depiction of the Buddha evolved. This article describes the canon of Buddha representation in Thailand and Laos and this canon was not formalised until the 19th century, as part of the general project of modernisation that followed the Buddhist worlds encounter with Western civilisation. At the request of King Rama III, Paramanuchit described and represented 40 different postures of the Buddha in a treatise called Pathama Sambodhikatha. Some of these, such as Buddha threading a needle, were new, paramanuchits illustrations were later rendered as bronze miniatures, which can be seen today at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok and serve as templates for the creation of modern Buddhist imagery. Th, ปางปรินิพพาน The Dīgha Nikāya, a Pāli text of the 1st century BCE, gives a list of 32 physical attributes of the Buddha. Some of these are poetic or fanciful, while others are specific, feet with level tread, projecting heels, long and slender fingers and toes. Although it is not required that Buddha images reflect all of these attributes, most curiously, the Buddha is said to have had a protuberance on the top of his skull, the usnīsa. This is sometimes shown as a spire or spike, and sometimes only as a small bump, the Buddha always has a serene expression or a faint smile. The Buddha is also depicted with very long earlobes
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Gautama Buddha in world religions
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Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, is also venerated as a manifestation of God in Hinduism, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Baháí faith. Some Hindu texts regard Buddha, that he was an avatar of the god Vishnu, the Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and a Manifestation of God in the Baháí faith. Gautama Buddha is mentioned as an Avatar of Vishnu in the Puranic texts of Hinduism, in the Bhagavata Purana he is twenty fourth of twenty five avatars, prefiguring a forthcoming final incarnation. A number of Hindu traditions portray Buddha as the most recent of ten principal avatars, siddhartha Gautamas teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and consequently Buddhism is generally viewed as a nāstika school from the perspective of orthodox Hinduism. Many of the eighteen orthodox Puranas mention the Buddha in a less favouring light and they present the birth of the Buddha as a ploy by the Supreme God Vishnu to corrupt demons and sway them from Vedic teachings. Only by leading them astray with his teachings could the demons be destroyed and this belief is sometimes associated with the Asuras of Tripura as well as others. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu, in Japan, since one of the symbols of Dainichi Nyorai was the sun, many equated Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, with a previous reincarnation of Dainichi Nyorai. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the Fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth and he quotes from the inscriptions on Ashokas stupas which mention Isana which means God. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, holds the view that the Buddha was indeed a Prophet of God, mirza Tahir Ahmad has also stated that the Quranic figure called Dhul-Kifl may have been the Buddha in his book An Elementary Study of Islam. In fact, a verse in the Quran quotes that God has sent many prophets to thee, however, only a few have been named. It is believed by some that Buddha may have been a Prophet of God sent to his people who taught Monotheism, the king-turned-monk Ioasaph ultimately derives his name from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva, the name used in Buddhist accounts for Gautama before he became a Buddha. Barlaam and Ioasaph were placed in the Greek Orthodox calendar of saints on 26 August, the story was translated into Hebrew in the 13th century by Abraham Ibn Chisdai as Ben-Hamelekh Vehanazir. In the Baháí Faith, Buddha is classified as one of the Manifestations of God which is a title for a prophet in the Baháí Faith. Similarly, the Prophet of the Baháí Faith, Baháulláh, is believed by Baháís to be the Fifth Buddha, among other prophetic stations
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Gautama Buddha in Hinduism
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Gautama Buddha is viewed as an avatar of the god Vishnu in Vaishnava Hinduism. The Buddha is described in important Hindu scriptures, including almost all the major puranas and they portray him with two roles, preaching non-theistic Vedic views in order to restore the Dharma and criticizing animal sacrifice. Another important scripture that mentions him as an avatar is Parasharas Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, Buddha is often described as a yogi or yogācārya and as a sannyāsi. His father is usually called Śuddhodhana, which is consistent with the Buddhist tradition and he is described as beautiful, of yellow skin, and wearing brown-red or red robes. Only a few mention the worship of Buddha, e. g. the Varahapurana states that one desirous of beauty should worship him. The foolish Jina, imagined him to be his son, thus the lord Sri Hari expertly deluded Jina and other demons by his strong words of non-violence. In many puranas, the Buddha is described as an incarnation of Vishnu who incarnated in order to bring either demons or mankind close to the Vedic dharma. The Bhavishya Purana contains the following, At this time, reminded of the Kali Age, the god Vishnu became born as Gautama, the Shakyamuni, then Shuddodana ruled for twenty years, and Shakyasimha for twenty. At the first stage of the Kali Age, the path of the Vedas was destroyed and those who sought refuge with Vishnu were deluded. This pattern changed in the eighth century, the Buddha was replaced as the supreme, imperial deity by one of the Hindu gods. Previously the Buddha had been accorded imperial-style worship and this also was the same period of time the Buddha was made into an avatar of Vishnu. Some sources say that it was Sugata Buddha, also called Adi-Buddha, O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of Buddha. O Buddha of compassionate heart, you decry the slaughtering of poor animals performed according to the rules of Vedic sacrifice, radhakrishnan, If a Hindu chants the Vedas on the banks of the Ganges. If the Japanese worship the image of Buddha, if the European is convinced of Christs mediatorship and it is their deepest apprehension of God and Gods fullest revelation to them. A number of figures in modern Hinduism, including Mahatma Gandhi, have been inspired by the life and teachings of the Buddha. B. R. Ambedkar denied that Buddha was an incarnation of Vishnu, among the 22 vows he gave to the Dalit Buddhist movement, the 5th vow is I do not and shall not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this to be madness and false propaganda. Their motive was to absorb Buddhism into their religion and he further expresses that this strategy worked in India to uproot Buddhism from the land of its origin
