What are some things that Buddhists can do in order to reach enlightenment?
Young Siddhartha renounced all worldly things in search of the ultimate truth and enlightenment, going on to get one of the world's greatest religious leaders—Gautama Buddha.
Past Sonia Mehta
After wandering around for days and nights, Gautama found himself near a large peepul tree.
Something about the tree called out to him. He fabricated a resolution. 'I shall sit under this tree and meditate upon my questions. And I shall non move until I take my answers. Even if my skin rots and my trunk decays, I shall not budge till I encounter the light,' he decided.
He sat in the lotus position, closed his eyes and concentrated on his animate. Equally the nighttime passed, he went through many dissimilar feelings.
Did You Know? Sitting cross-legged in meditation, with the eyes shut, is called the lotus position. It has been named then subsequently the Buddha'southward posture.
The Temptation of Mara
(Source: Puffin Books)
First, the evil demon Mara came to him. Mara tried his best to tempt Gautama abroad from his pursuit. He painted pictures of wealth and dazzler. He tried to scare him with awful images of starvation and expiry. Only Gautama remained steadfast, not tempted nor scared. Finally, Mara gave up and went away.
Gautama sat deep in profound meditation. He felt as if he was floating.
Suddenly, he could meet the world as if from far, far away. He saw himself. He saw that he had died many times before and that he had been reborn each time. He saw all his past lives. He saw all the things he had washed in his lives—the skillful as well equally the bad. And finally, he realized something.
The Enlightenment
(Source: Puffin Books)
Gautama realized that people are built-in again when they desire things. Specifically, the bad things they do in their one-time lives cause them to come back to earth in a new life, as if to correct them. Only the people who realize this and complimentary themselves of desire—those who want nothing from life—are finally free from the cycle of birth and death. That'due south when they reach nirvana, the perfect heaven.
Of course, all this was in Gautama'due south listen while his torso sabbatum however, which seemed to glow brilliantly from inside. At that moment, Gautama had go a Buddha. He had seen the light.
Oh Actually? The peepul tree under which Gautama saw the lite is called the Bodhi tree. Information technology withal stands tall in present-day Bihar, in a place chosen Bodhgaya. Buddhists from all over the world continue to visit it as it is one of the nearly holy spots for them.
What Is Nirvana?
Nirvana, according to Buddhism, is the state in which the mind is at complete peace and the soul is merged with the universe. It is reached when a person's desires and suffering all go away and they demand nor want nothing.
The Adjacent 7 Weeks
For the next seven weeks, the Buddha continued to sit in silence, allowing his mind and spirit to empathise what he had just seen.
During the first week, the Buddha was happy and content, feeling true peace for the first fourth dimension.
OH Actually? Even now, it is customary for Buddhists to pay homage to the Bodhi tree that canopied the Buddha, as well every bit the offshoots of the tree.
During the 2d calendar week, he felt a deep gratitude to the peepul tree that had sheltered him every bit he'd sought the light.
During the third week, the Buddha saw the devas. Not certain if they were indeed gods, he congenital a golden bridge in the air and walked across it to the heavens.
During the fourth week, he created a special chamber in which he meditated. His mind and torso became so pure that information technology is said to have radiated brilliant rays in six different colours—blue, orange, red, white, yellow and a combination of these five colours. These colours stood for purity, confidence, wisdom, the lack of desire and holiness. The five colours together stood for all these qualities.
Did You Know? The Buddhist flag is in these six colours.
During the 5th week, three beautiful girls appeared, who tried their all-time to distract the Buddha and lure him away from his thoughts. Their names were Raga, Rati and Tanha. Only no matter how much they tried, the Buddha remained unmoved.
(Source: Puffin Books)
During the 6th week, the Buddha went to meditate at the foot of the Mucalinda tree. It began to pelting and the air was freezing. That's when an enormous king cobra called Mucalinda appeared and coiled himself around the Buddha 7 times. Then he raised his hood and covered the Buddha, keeping him warm and dry.
During the seventh calendar week, two merchants chosen Tapussa and Bhallika appeared. The Buddha, seated under the Rajayatana tree, had been fasting for forty-nine days past then. They brought rice cakes and honey to help him break his fast. When the Buddha explained what he had experienced, they were entranced. They became his start ordinary followers, and the Buddha gave them a strand of hair from his head every bit a token.
Oh Really? The strand of pilus that the Buddha is said to have given Tapussa and Bhallika is enshrined in a Buddhist pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar.
(Excerpted with permission from Junior Lives: Gautama Buddha, authored by Sonia Mehta, published by Puffin Republic of india 2018. MRP: Rs. 150.)
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/parenting/learning/buddha-enlightenment-nirvana-5288593/
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