Buddhism

Buddha Maitreya is the Buddha of the future, also known as the Laughing Buddha, is the one to follow up the historical Buddha Sakyamuni. He waits in the Tusita heaven for the moment he is to appear on earth as the Buddha of the fifth world cycle. At present he is considered as one of the dhyani-Bodhisattvas, the creators of the universe. In the future he will be like Sakyamuni, a mortal manusi Buddha who lives on earth for a while in order to teach mankind the doctrine. Maitreya, 'the loving one', is widely worshipped in the Himalayan regions.  

Future History: Shakyamuni Buddha predicted that due to the inevitable degeneration of the times, his own teachings would last just five thousand years before disappearing from this world. People will grow more and more immoral and their lifespan will gradually decrease, as will their health, stature and fortune. While such delusions as miserliness, hatred and jealousy gain strength, the world will go through prolonged periods of famine, disease and continuous warfare until it eventually resembles a vast battlefield of graveyard. Thereupon Maitreya will appear, not in his fully evolved buddha form, but as a person of regal bearing, very handsome and taller than those around him. On seeing this unusual being, people will be filled with wonder and faith, and will ask how he came to have such an attractive appearance. Maitreya will reply that this is due to his practice of patience, avoiding giving harm to others, and if others will also abide in love and tolerance, they could become similar to him.

Maitreya's appearance will mark a great turning point in the fortunes of this world. As more and more beings follow his example, their store of merit, and consequently their lifespan, will increase. Eventually people will live in health for such a long time that the sufferings of old age and death will scarcely be known. At that time, their observance of morality will grow lax as people become more and more involved in the pleasures of their existence. With this laxity will come another gradual shortening and degeneration of their lifespan until eventually beings once again will become suitable ripe to take sincere interest in the spiritual path. When the human lifespan as increased again to many thousands of years, and when the planet will be entirely dominated by a benevolent wheel-turning sovereign (Chakravartin) named Shankha, it is at this time that Maitreya Buddha will descend from the Tushita buddha field (devaloka) where he now resides, to appear in this world as the fifth founding Buddha of this world age. Maitreya will be born the son of a Brahmin priest, and will renounce the world and attain enlightenment in a single day, not requiring six long years. The world in this time will be politically neutralised, and therefore the warrior class and its martial virtues will be obsolete. Thus he will be born among the intellectuals, the priests, and his teaching will bring the gentler emotions to the fore...

Introduction

In the sixth century before the Christian era, religion was forgotten in India. The lofty teachings of the Vedas were thrown into the background. There was much priestcraft everywhere. The insincere priests traded on religion. They duped the people in a variety of ways and amassed wealth for themselves. They were quite irreligious. In the name of religion, people followed in the footsteps of the cruel priests and performed meaningless rituals. They killed innocent dumb animals and did various sacrifices. The country was in dire need of a reformer of Buddha's type. At such a critical period, when there were cruelty, degeneration and unrighteousness everywhere, reformer Buddha was born to put down priestcraft and animal sacrifices, to save the people and disseminate the message of equality, unity and cosmic love everywhere.

Birth

Buddha's father was Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas. Buddha's mother was named Maya. Buddha was born in B.C. 560 and died at the age of eighty in B.C. 480. The place of his birth was a grove known as Lumbini, near the city of Kapilavastu, at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan ranges within Nepal. This small city Kapilavastu stood on the bank of the little river Rohini, some hundred miles north-east of the city of Varnasi. As the time drew nigh for Buddha to enter the world, the gods themselves prepared the way before him with celestial portents and signs. Flowers bloomed and gentle rains fell, although out of season; heavenly music was heard, delicious scents filled the air. The body of the child bore at birth the thirty-two auspicious marks (Mahavyanjana) which indicated his future greatness, besides secondary marks (Anuvyanjana) in large numbers. Maya died seven days after her son's birth. The child was brought up by Maya's sister Mahaprajapati, who became its foster-mother.

A Brief History Of Bhuddism

^ (up) [The Temple of tooth. Kandy, Sri lanka.  (the sacred temple that holds the tooth of the lord Buddha).

Siddhatha Gotama (Wesak April/May) 565 BC - 486 BC

• The Buddha was born in a time of prolific philosophical and religious ideas occuring in India along the Ganges River. He was a contemporary of Nigantha Nataputta, founder of the Jain faith.
• Born into the Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors) caste, the Buddha "was considered a heretic of the worst kind" by the orthodox religious teachers of his days.
• The Buddha spoke of no self, no soul, no creator God. ??Early Buddhism did not accept any metaphysical principle or any empirically unverifiable entity". He taught the Middle Path: conditioned origination (causality) - neither eternalism nor annihilation. He rejected extreme ascetic and hedonistic lifestyles as detrimental to spiritual life. A gradual training and practice leads to the final stages of freedom.
• The spiritual progress was described as: starting as an average "normal" human being - 'one who follows the stream' (anusotagami)

1. to 'stream entrant' (sotapanna)
2. to 'once-returner' (sakadagami)
3. to 'never (non) -returner' (anagami)
4. to 'crossed-over' (parangata = Arahant)

• The Buddha's teachings:
• Are devoid of authority, rituals, speculation, tradition, the supernatural. The Buddha rejected divination, soothsaying, forecasting and magical incantations as roadblocks to liberation.
• Emphaisized intense Self-Effort to understand the Law of Nature ( the Dhamma or Dharma).
• Are Empirical, Scientific, Pragmatic, Therapeutic, Psychological, Democratic
• The Buddha's teaching focused on solving human misery, not on the other living forms.

© FWBO.org

The first question Buddhists get asked when they meet non-Buddhists is, as likely as not, What is nirvana? Certainly, when I was a Buddhist monk travelling about India, I used to find on trains that no sooner had I taken my seat than someone would come up to me (for in India people are by no means bashful when it comes to striking up conversation) and say, You seem to be a Buddhist monk. Please tell me — what is nirvana?Indeed, it is a very appropriate question to ask. The question is, after all, addressing the whole point of being a Buddhist. You may see Buddhists engaged in all sorts of different activities, but they all have the same overall purpose in view. You may see shaven-headed Japanese monks in their long black robes sitting in disciplined rows, meditating hour after hour in the silence and tranquillity of a Zen monastery.

You may see ordinary Tibetans going in the early morning up the steps of the temples, carrying their flowers and their candles and their bundles of incense sticks, kneeling down and making their offerings, chanting verses of praise to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and then going about their daily business. You may see Sri Lankan monks poring over palm-leaf manuscripts, the pages brown with age. You may see layfolk in the Theravadin countries of South-east Asia giving alms to the monks when they come round with their black begging-bowls. You may see western Buddhists working together in Right Livelihood businesses. When you see unfolded this whole vast panorama of Buddhist activities, the question that arises is: Why? What is the reason for it all? What is the moving spirit, the great impulse behind all this activity? What are all these people trying to do? What are they trying to achieve through their meditation, their worshipping, their study, their alms-giving, their work, and so on? If you asked this of any of these people, you would probably receive the traditional answer: We’re doing this for the sake of the attainment of nirvana, liberation, Enlightenment. But what then is this nirvana?...