President,
Canadian Buddhist Council, Toronto.
Birth
of the Human Enlightenment:
Our
compassionate Minds are Buddha lands. Throughout His life, Lord
Buddha has major contributions in promoting and encouraging
racial harmony for world peace. May is the Buddha Month in the
Asian heritage Month of Canada. World Buddhists wish “May all
beings be happy.” Buddha land is the supreme land in the world.
Every human mind is the Buddha land. Let the Buddha born into
our every breathing in and out as well as deep down of hearts
and minds. The Buddha taught us that the triumph over prejudice
and ignorance is a triumph for us all. Greed, delusion and
hatred are enemies of mankind. Your are invited to take part in
the Most Auspicious Buddha Jayanti programs that celebrate the
legacy of Lord Buddha in (Bangladesh, China, Combodia, India,
Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Laos, Japanese, Sri Lanka, Singapore,
Tibetan, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.) several Buddhist Temples at
home and abroad.
All over the
Buddhist world Buddhists and peace loving people will most
respectfully pays homage to the Buddha who gives us the Path of
Enlightenment who removed racism and established human rights
with great wisdom and compassion in the world. Perhaps the best
known date on the Buddhist calendar, familiar to even
non-Buddhists, is the thrice sacred day of “Vesak” or Buddha
Purnima. Vesakh is the name of a month in the ancient calendar
and it usually falls in (May 19, 2008), though sometimes it may
commence in the later part of April or extend to the early part
of June. In some countries it is also known simply as Buddha Day
commemorate three great events : the Birth, Supreme
Enlightenment and the Great Passing Away of Gautama the Buddha.
On this day all Buddhists are expected to reaffirm their faith
in the Buddha Dharma and to lead a noble religious life. It is a
day for meditation, and radiating loving kindness.
Birth
of a Noble Prince
Buddha Purnima or Vesak holds special significance for the
millions of Buddhists who comprise a third of the world’s total
population. In thousands of temples across the world from Tokyo
in the East to San Francisco in the west, Buddhists willy pay
homage to an Indian Prince who renounced the pleasures of a
royal household to bring peace and happiness to mankind. The
Buddha, or The Buddha or the Supremely Enlightened One was born
in 623 B.C. on a Boisakhi Full –Moon day. The young Prince was
named Siddhartha or “the one who has brought about all good.”
The parents, King Sudhodana and Queen Devi Mahamayaa, ruled a
Sakya kingdom called Kapilavastu in Nepal.
A
Prince of Superior Intelligence
Siddhartha Gautama was provided with all the worldly comforts
that could be provided in a royal palace. His parents shielded
him from the harsh realities of the outside world. He excelled
in sports and showed superior intelligence but he not satisfied
with such fleeting pleasures. He was married with beautiful
princess Yasodhara and later they had a son named as “Prince
Rahula.”
One day, when he was outside the place gates he sighted an old
man bent with age, a sick man and a corpse. The young Prince was
horrified when he learnt that the human body which was so well
cared for in youth could be subjected to the ravages of age,
disease and death. He started to contemplate deeply and
determined to seek a remedy for such sufferings.
The Prince also saw an ascetic, dressed in simple clothes but
glowing with the inner peace of one who given up his worldly
passions. Hew was deeply impressed by the sense of happiness and
calm that the ascetic radiated.
Upon his return to the palace, the young Siddhartha, then aged
29 years, decided that he would give up all the riches and power
that he was heir to and seek answers to the questions that
troubled him. What was the cause of human suffering? What was
the path of happiness?
He went to
many teachers but wise as they were, their wisdom was limited.
They could not help him to gain the Enlightenment that he was
searching for. So he decided to seek the path on his own. The
struggle for realization of the truth took him six years. One of
the first lessons he learned was to seek the Middle Path,
that not to go to extremes. He felt that we should not
indulge too much in worldly pleasures nor subject ourselves to
extreme austerities. In order to to calm the mind to gain
purification one must moderate in all aspects.
Buddha’s Enlightenment
Finally, on
the 35th Anniversary of his birth, again on the full
moon day of Vesak, and seated under the Bodhi tree in Buddha
Gaya the ascetic prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, the Fully
Enlightened One. For the next forty five years the Buddha
traveled around Northern India preaching his message of
universal loving kindness for all beings and the realization of
the nature of existence with the Four Noble Truths (1.
sufferings of life 2, causes of sufferings : Desires 3. Removal
of sufferings is Nirvana, 4.The Noble Eightfold Path (1.
Psychology & Philosophy relating to Right understanding of life,
2. Right Thought, 3.Right Speech, 4.Right Action,5.Right
Livlihood,6.Right Effort 7.Right Mindfulness& 8.Right
Concentration) and prayer for promoting racial harmony.
The
Buddha’s Great Passing Away
As with all other great religious teachers the Buddha found
opposition to His teaching. But many saw the truth of His
teaching and followed Him, learning how to lead a proper
religious life to free themselves from the pains of existence.
Finally, after forty-five years, lying under wo beautiful sala
trees, before a large assembly of monks and laities, the Buddha
passed away at Kusinara in India. This passing is also known as
Mahaparibibbana or the attainment of ultimate peace and bliss.
This great event also occurred on the full moon day of Vesak.
The Buddhist Era begins from the Mahapainibbana –Great Passing
of the Buddha.
Buddhism in Our daily life
It
seems female sexuality is the most deep-rooted cause of man’s
negative attitudes to women. What was the position of women of
the human family during the time of Buddha is the main theme of
discussion of this essay. But the Buddha declared, “None should
feel sorrow at the birth of a daughter. If a daughter is
sufficiently intelligent, moral minded and dutiful to parents
then she can have the power to be more respectful than son.”
The Buddha declared that women are capable of realizing
Sainthood (in Theravada Buddhism). Concerning a woman’s future
Buddhahood, Gotama Buddha declared in the Srimaladevi Simhanada
Sutra, “Later for 20,000 immeasurable periods of time, queen
Srimaladevi will become the Buddha named universal light
(Samanta prabha)
according to the Mahayana Buddhism’s the Buddhist Feminine
Ideal.
Married life:
In married life, sex is important but it must be kept in its
proper place. Married life becomes truly a blessing rather than
a curse when there is no misunderstanding between husband and
wife. In the discourse (Sigalovada Sutra) of the Buddha there
are references of duties of husband to wife, i.e. “By showing
respect to wife, not be littling her, showing deep love, giving
wealth and ornament.” For the adult it is natural to love one
person of the opposite sex. The lay Buddhist will recognize that
there nothing sinful and shameful in sex. At the same
time he or she will be aware that sexual desire, like any other
form of desire, must be regulated and controlled to avoid harm
oneself and to others. Sex is a natural and biological force to
be used wisely if one finds it impossible to do with out it.
The
Buddha’s injunction to ordinary (lay disciple) people can be
viewed as being both negative and positive – the do’s and
don’ts. This means development of what is positive and wholesome
to replace, and then to eliminate what is negative and
unwholesomeness. The ethical foundation for the lay form of
Buddhism came from the many sermons of the Buddha, wherein there
was expounded a system of values based on the practical
principle of doing unto others what would wish others do unto
you.
Adolescence is a period of stress and strain:
In this
stage parents should be capable of guiding their children and
helping them to adjust to the changes taking place in their
bodies and their lives. Buddhist parents should recognize the
need for family limitation to ensure the best for children.
Buddhist young boys and girl should be enrolled in the Buddhist
Sunday school. Buddha’s teaching or Dhamma (dharma), is intended
to guides us.
Sexuality and Enlightenment:
When
people manage their sexual relationship wisely and intelligently
and take full responsibility for their actions, then harmony
will prevail in our society. Even in the married life is a means
for encountering all possible human experiences by living
through and working through the two poles of life. As we read in
our text (Good Sex, pp. 121) “Sex is a natural biological
process, not a seat for sensual attachment.”
Male
person becomes supremely enlightened Buddha as Gautama Buddha.
But women and men could be enlightened in following the
teachings of the Buddha’s great teaching of Dharma. Buddha
taught how to conquer the sexual happiness and enter into the
joy of non-attachment of wisdom and compassion.
Conclusion:
However, It was only when Buddha’s disciple Venerable Ananda
asked the Buddha whether Buddha’s refusal was because women were
not capable of achieving spiritual enlightenment that the Buddha
made it clear that men & women had equal spiritual potential,
and allowed the women to be ordained on condition they accepted
the Eight exceptional rules. The order of nuns was introduced
from India to China, Tibet, Korea, Japan and other countries.
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