AMNH Hall of Asian Peoples: Southeast Asia
THE STORY OF THE BUDDHA
According to popular tradition, Siddhartha the Buddha to be, was born about 563 BC, the son of the Sakya king Suddhodana and his wife Maya. Maya dreamed that a white elephant entered her right side; Siddhartha was later born from Maya's right side. At Siddhartha's birth it was prophesied that he would be a Cakravartin (Ruler of the World), or a great spiritual leader. Siddhartha's birthplace was Kapilavastu. Until the age of twenty-nine he lived as a young Indian prince surrounded by great riches and beautiful gardens. Then for the first time he saw old age, sickness and death and began to ponder the state of the world. An account of what followed is shown in the adjacent illustrations (1-8).
1. Siddhartha lives the life of a prince at Kapilivastu, the son of a miraculous conception.
2. Siddhartha comes into contact with sickness for the first time.
3. The young prince deserts the palace at Kapilavastu and sets out to search for Meaning in the world.
4. He joins a group of ascetics and attempts by fasting to discover Truth.
5. After much wandering he sits beneath the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya resolving not to leave until he obtains an answer to his quest. There, after many temptations, the Way is discovered.
6. At Sarnath near the Holy City of Benares he preaches the Way of the Eight-Fold Path.
7. For many years the Buddha, the Enlightened One, wandered over India preaching to a growing following and performing miraculous deeds, such as calming an angry elephant.
The bronze and stone pieces above are forms of the Buddha, made according to local styles principally identified in Southeast Asian art history.
THE WAY
According to ancient Indian belief all living things are part of a chain of causation which moves the individual from one life to the next according to an immutable law (karma). One's particular life at any given time depends chiefly on how well one has lived in a previous time; whether, for example, the individual had been essentially good or bad. This chain of causation is sometimes depicted as a wheel.
Buddhist doctrine also provides a way of escaping the cycle of causation. The Buddhist way is based upon the Four Noble Truths:
1) All living things subject to the laws of causation undergo different degrees of suffering. No one can escape the effect of one's own emotions, desires and ambitions. Thus, the first Noble Truth is that suffering exists.
2) The second Noble Truth is that suffering is caused by self-centered desire.
3) The third Noble Truth is that suffering can be made to cease.
4)The fourth Noble Truth is that suffering can be made to cease by following the Eightfold Path.
To understand the meaning of the Eightfold Path, one must realize that in the whole spectrum of human emotion, desire and ambition, those who go to extremes suffer the most. In consequence the Eightfold Path instructs man to live with moderation and to avoid extremes. The Eightfold Path consists of:
Right views
Right resolve
Right speech
Right action
Right work
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
All of these precepts stress that emphasis on self is not right. In other words, an awareness of others and of the lawas of nature makes possible a reasonable life. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path make up the Dharma, or Buddhist law. If one follows that law, in the end the chain of causation can be overcome, and a state of non-suffering, or Nirvana, could be achieved.
AMNH Hall of Asian Peoples: Southeast Asia
THE STORY OF THE BUDDHA
According to popular tradition, Siddhartha the Buddha to be, was born about 563 BC, the son of the Sakya king Suddhodana and his wife Maya. Maya dreamed that a white elephant entered her right side; Siddhartha was later born from Maya's right side. At Siddhartha's birth it was prophesied that he would be a Cakravartin (Ruler of the World), or a great spiritual leader. Siddhartha's birthplace was Kapilavastu. Until the age of twenty-nine he lived as a young Indian prince surrounded by great riches and beautiful gardens. Then for the first time he saw old age, sickness and death and began to ponder the state of the world. An account of what followed is shown in the adjacent illustrations (1-8).
1. Siddhartha lives the life of a prince at Kapilivastu, the son of a miraculous conception.
2. Siddhartha comes into contact with sickness for the first time.
3. The young prince deserts the palace at Kapilavastu and sets out to search for Meaning in the world.
4. He joins a group of ascetics and attempts by fasting to discover Truth.
5. After much wandering he sits beneath the Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya resolving not to leave until he obtains an answer to his quest. There, after many temptations, the Way is discovered.
6. At Sarnath near the Holy City of Benares he preaches the Way of the Eight-Fold Path.
7. For many years the Buddha, the Enlightened One, wandered over India preaching to a growing following and performing miraculous deeds, such as calming an angry elephant.
The bronze and stone pieces above are forms of the Buddha, made according to local styles principally identified in Southeast Asian art history.
THE WAY
According to ancient Indian belief all living things are part of a chain of causation which moves the individual from one life to the next according to an immutable law (karma). One's particular life at any given time depends chiefly on how well one has lived in a previous time; whether, for example, the individual had been essentially good or bad. This chain of causation is sometimes depicted as a wheel.
Buddhist doctrine also provides a way of escaping the cycle of causation. The Buddhist way is based upon the Four Noble Truths:
1) All living things subject to the laws of causation undergo different degrees of suffering. No one can escape the effect of one's own emotions, desires and ambitions. Thus, the first Noble Truth is that suffering exists.
2) The second Noble Truth is that suffering is caused by self-centered desire.
3) The third Noble Truth is that suffering can be made to cease.
4)The fourth Noble Truth is that suffering can be made to cease by following the Eightfold Path.
To understand the meaning of the Eightfold Path, one must realize that in the whole spectrum of human emotion, desire and ambition, those who go to extremes suffer the most. In consequence the Eightfold Path instructs man to live with moderation and to avoid extremes. The Eightfold Path consists of:
Right views
Right resolve
Right speech
Right action
Right work
Right effort
Right mindfulness
Right concentration
All of these precepts stress that emphasis on self is not right. In other words, an awareness of others and of the lawas of nature makes possible a reasonable life. The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path make up the Dharma, or Buddhist law. If one follows that law, in the end the chain of causation can be overcome, and a state of non-suffering, or Nirvana, could be achieved.