Buddhism

Buddhism is a "non-theoretical philosophical and religious doctrine" belonging to the dharmic family and, according to vedism, of the nástika type. Derived from Brahmanism, Buddhism was founded in India in the sixth century BC. C. by Buddha Gautama and has been evolving until acquiring the great diversity of schools and practices. Among them, the most representative are Mahayana Buddhism, Zen Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism.

HISTORY OF BUDDHISM:

Buddhism begins with the story of Siddhartha Gautama and later also known as Śākyamuni or Tathāgata. It is known that it came from the second Hindu caste, the kṣatriya, composed of warriors and nobles. Nevertheless, some scholars like Andreu Bareau affirm that it is not possible to know exactly if he was a prince or a nobleman.

The life and teachings of Gautama were transmitted orally to the first written compilation of Buddhism, called the CanonPāḷi, where the events of his life appear scattered. But there will not be a complete biographical compilation until centuries later, the most recognized being that of the Hindu master and scholar Aśvaghoṣa who lived in the first century of Our Era

The stories about the life of Siddhārtha are mixed with myth, legend and symbolism. Beyond their simple biographical interest, these histories are seen as a guide for the life of their followers, in which the different key episodes are metaphors of the processes of crisis and spiritual search of the human being. In addition to the compilation of his life as Siddhārtha, there are also accounts of his previous lives called jatakas. In these stories Buddha appears as a bodhisattva; Someone who crosses obstacles through several lives on the road to Nirvana.

According to tradition, The Four Encounters were one of the first contemplations of Siddhārtha. In spite of the precautions of his father, he managed to leave the palace four times in which he saw for the first time in his life an old man, a sick man, a corpse and finally an ascetic, realities that he did not know personally.

At age 29, after contemplating the four encounters, he decided to start a personal search to investigate the problem of suffering. This decision is called The Great Renunciation. He joined the numerous and heterogeneous Hindu movement of the sramanas ('mendicant religious vagabonds'), renouncing all their property, inheritance and social position, to follow religious and ascetical practices.

Siddhartha, after nearly starving because of a strict asceticism, realized that the moderation between the extremes of mortification and indulgence towards the sensory experience, managed to increase his energies, his lucidity, and his meditation. With this find, which he called Middle Path, he ate something and sat under a Bodhi tree, a sacred species in India, with the promise not to rise until he found the solution to suffering and to be a Buddha. This happened in the town of Bodhgaya, near Benares, which is now a sacred site of Buddhist pilgrimage.

Siddhartha went through different stages of meditation. In the first part of the night he gained knowledge of his previous existences (pubbe nivasanussati ñana), during the second part of the night he reached the knowledge of seeing beings die and reborn according to the nature of their actions (cutupapata ñana) and during The latter part of the night purified his mind (asavakkhaya ñana) and had a direct understanding of the Four Noble Truths (cattari ariya-saccani).

As a last proof Mara (the tendency to evil in samsaric beings, sometimes interpreted as demon), who made a series of temptations. However, Siddhartha did not fall into these temptations, thus succeeding in being free from clinging to the passions but without repression of them (destroying the chains of samsara).

In the end, he knew that he had achieved a definitive state of "no return" to what is called Nirvaņa, which means "cessation (of suffering)" but which can not be clearly described in language. At that moment he said "there is what should be done". After achieving enlightenment, he devoted his life to propagating his teachings in northern India.

The awakening of Gautama is the historical starting point of Buddhism, and part of the teaching that attaining Nirvana is possible; All human beings have the potential to achieve a cessation of suffering and to understand the nature of the Bodhi.