“Don’t know – A Tribute to Zen Master Wu Bong” – Materials
What is Buddha?
Question: How can one be Buddha and not be Buddha? Zen Master Wu Bong: What is Buddha? Q: I have no idea. ZMWB: That’s correct. That’s Buddha.
Here’s a short description of the meaning of the word “Buddha” and of the life of Siddharta taken in excerpts from Wikipedia, following which you can find links to the original sources of the first ancient biographies, as well as to a selection of movies, books and videos about the life of Siddharta Gautama, finally some links to Buddhistic forums. A small overview, starting from where, more than 2.500 years ago, all began.
A Lord Buddha is a very holy person in Buddhism. The word Buddha means “enlightened one” in Sanskrit. Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama. He was the man who started Buddhism. Sometimes people call him “the Buddha”. Other times, people call any person a Buddha if they have found enlightenment. If a person has not found enlightenment yet, but is very close to reaching it, then he is called Bodhisattva.
In early Buddhism Buddha meant only Siddhartha Gautama. Later an idea began that there could be many Buddhas: some in the past, some maybe in the present and some in the future.
Since Buddhism tradition thinks Buddha is an ideal person, tradition reached a notion of 36 ideal features of Buddhas. Some of those features are represented on statues of Buddhas. Some other features, like the feature of their foot, are difficult to be represented on a statue.
Buddhists believe that the Buddha was enlightened, which means that he knew all about how to live a peaceful life and how to not to suffer in an afterlife. They think he never got depressed, frustrated, upset or confused. He is said to have never argued with other people, but just said what was true and useful, out of compassion.
There are ideas which are said to lead someone to enlightenment. They are called the Dharma, meaning the way or the truth. Anyone can become a Buddha, it is said, but it is very hard. Age and gender do not matter. Buddhists believe there have been many Buddhas who were alone, called pacceka-buddhas. They reached enlightenment on their own, but they did not teach others. The first Buddha was afraid to teach people too. Their poor understanding made them hard to teach. But he did teach people, and people followed him.
Buddhahood
Excerpts from Wikipedia, which offers detailed information:
In Buddhism, buddhahood (Sanskrit: बुद्धत्व buddhatva; Pali: बुद्धत्त buddhatta or बुद्धभाव buddhabhāva) is the state of perfect enlightenment (Sanskrit: सम्यक्सम्बोधि samyaksambodhi; Pali: सम्मासम्बोधि sammāsambodhi) attained by a buddha.
There is a broad spectrum of opinion on the universality and method of attainment of Buddhahood, depending on the Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings that a school of Buddhism emphasizes. The level to which this manifestation requires ascetic practices varies from none at all to an absolute requirement, dependent on doctrine. Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal instead of the Arhat.
The Tathagatagarba and Buddha-nature doctrines of Mahayana Buddhist consider Buddhahood to be a universal and innate property of absolute wisdom. This wisdom is revealed in a person’s current lifetime through Buddhist practice, without any specific relinquishment of pleasures or “earthly desires”.
Buddhists do not consider Siddhartha Gautama to have been the only Buddha. The Pali Canon refers to many previous ones, while the Mahayana tradition additionally has many Buddhas of celestial origin. A common Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist belief is that the next Buddha will be one named Maitreya (Pali: Metteyya).
All Buddhist traditions hold that a Buddha is fully awakened and has completely purified his mind of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance. A Buddha is no longer bound by Samsara, and has ended the suffering which unawakened people experience in life.
The Life of Gautama Buddha
Excerpts from Wikipedia, which offers detailed information:
A brief history of the highlights in the life of Siddharta Gautama
Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era in India during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatshatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara. The times of Gautama’s birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha’s death.
At the age of 29 Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father’s efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.
According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn’t work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata.
According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the “Four Noble Truths”, which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that’s free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or “defilements” (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the “end of the world”, in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.
According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) — a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons — immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.
For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha’s language remains unknown, it’s likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha.
Biographical sources
The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā.
Buddhacharita (“Acts of the Buddha”; Buddhacaritam, Devanagari बुद्धचरितम्) is anepic poem in the Sanskrit mahakavya style on the life of Gautama Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa, composed in the early second century CE. Of the poem’s 28 cantos, the first 14 are extant in Sanskrit complete (cantos 15 to 28 are in incomplete form).
In 420, Dharmakṣema made a Chinese translation, and in the 7th or 8th century, a Tibetan version was made which “appears to be much closer to the original Sanskrit than the Chinese”.
You can find the whole text online here, University of Oslo, Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae
The Lalitavistara Sūtra (Sanskrit) is a Buddhist sutra of the Mahayana tradition that tells the story of the Buddha from the time of his descent from the Tushita heaven until his first sermon in the Deer Park near Benares. The title Lalitavistara has been translated as “The Play in Full” or “Extensive Play,” referring to the Mahayana view that the Buddha’s last incarnation was a “display” or “performance” given for the benefit of the beings in this world.
You can find the whole text online here, on the webpage of 84.000, devoted to translate the words of the Buddha.
The Mahāvastu (Sanskrit for “Great Event” or “Great Story”) is a text of the Lokottaravāda school of Early Buddhism. It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (vinaya). Over half of the text is composed of Jātaka and Avadāna tales, accounts of the earlier lives of the Buddha and other bodhisattvas.
You can find the whole English text online here, on Internet Archive, with a scan of the translation of J.J. Jones, Luzac and Company, London, 1949.
Nidānakathā: The Jātakas (Sanskrit जातक) . These are the stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates.
You can find the whole English text online here, on Internet Archive, with a scan of the translation of T.W. Rhys Davids, Routledge and Sons, London, 1942.
Books:
Life of the Buddha (Clay Sanskrit Library), by Ashvaghosha
The Life of the Buddha: According to the Pali Canon, by Bhikkhu Nanamoli
Path of Compassion: Stories from the Buddha’s Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Siddharta, by Hermann Hesse
Movies:
The life of the historical Buddha was shown in many films produced in different regions of the world: Japan, South Korea, India, USA, Sweden, to cite just a few. The following two, at least in the Western Hemisphere, should be the best known:
-Little Buddha, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1993
A highly aesthetically Italian, French and British Hollywood like production with blockbuster actors and actresses. Good show, it’s Bertolucci!
-Prem Sanyas (The Light of Asia) (Die Leuchte Asiens in German), 1925
is a 1925 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai. It was adapted from the book, The Light of Asia (1879) in verse, by Edwin Arnold, based on the life of Prince Gautama Buddha.
Video online sources:
On Youtube you find several documentaries and fictions about the life of Buddha. Here a few.
-The life of Buddha, documentary of BBC, 2007
with re-acting mixed to interviews.
-The Buddha – A Documentary Story Of The Buddha’s Life, 2010, Dave Grubin
From the description:
This documentary by award-winning filmmaker David Grubin and narrated by Richard Gere, tells the story of the Buddha’s life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world’s greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millenia, have depicted the Buddha’s life in art rich in beauty and complexity.
Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Join the conversation and learn more about meditation, the history of Buddhism, and how to incorporate the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and mindfulness into daily life.
The Life of Buddha – The Monkey King.
A play from the Festivais Kadampa 2014, where a monk is telling the story of Buddha.
Forums:
We are also active in forums, where we are interacting with other users collecting inspiration for our project.
English Buddhist Forum
Discussion Forum of the Secular Buddhist Association
A Buddhist discussion forum on Mahayana and Vajrayana
Deutschsprachiges Forum über Buddhismus, German Forum about Buddhism
Treeleaf Zendo is a Zen Buddhist Sangha in the Soto lineage of Masters Eihei Dogen and Gudo Wafu Nishijima. Our teachers are Jundo Cohen and Taigu Turlur. This Zendo is dedicated to students of Zen Buddhist who cannot travel to a Zen Center, or who otherwise wish personal contact with a Zen teacher. By this page, please feel free to ask any question, sit Zazen online with other members, arrange a Sanzen face-to-face meeting with a teacher by video link, join us for live Zazenkai and Sesshin broadcasts, and have access to dozens of talks and writings. We also have “Sit-a-Long” Zazen netcast blog and a “Community Forum” for discussions of this and that.
There is no being ‘distant,’ no ‘near’ or ‘far,’ and all are welcome… We practice ‘just sitting.’
Online Buddhist libraries:
84000 is a global no profit organization to translate the words of the Buddha and make them available to everyone.
http://www.buddhistelibrary.org/
An online source set up to support the study and practice of the Buddha´s Teachings in all Buddhist traditions. Includes e-books that you can download.
http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/
A Buddhist Library by Jason Espada.