4. iographical fragments in canonical texts
Written in Sanskrit or Pali (maybe only preserved in
Chinese or Tibetan)
Discourse on the Noble Quest (Ariyapariyesana-sutta)
Departure from home, early meditative endeavors,
decision to preach
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
Last 3 months of the Buddha’s life, his death, and funeral
and division of his relics
4
5. Biographies’
Written in Sanskrit or Pali
Incomplete
“The Great Story” (Mahāvastu) – from birth t0 enlightenment
“The Acts of the Buddha” (Buddhacarita) - @ 1st century CE
Complete
“The Detailed narrative of the Play (of the Buddha)” (Lalitavistara) @ 4th century CE
ate Biographies
Written outside of India – SE Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet and East Asia
Often written in a local vernacular (Sinhalese, Burmese,
Japanese, etc.)
5
6. arliest Buddhist art (2nd century BCE – 1st century CE)
– no images of the Buddha as the Buddha
Sanchi (3rd century BCE-1st century CE)
Bharhut (100-80 BCE)
contain jātakas (previous lives of the Buddha)
Scenes of worship at pilgrimage sites
he Buddha Image – 2nd century BCE to 7th century CE
Gandharan art for most of my examples (1st-4th centuries)
Also Mathura and Sarnath
6
7. B
uddha
Examples:
The Historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, later Śākyamuni
Dipaṃkara
Achieve Awakening through own efforts (caveats), teach
“Fully and Completely Awakened One” (samyak-sambuddha / sammā-sambuddha)
a
rhat / śrāvaka-buddha / sāvaka-buddha
“Accomplished One (or “Hearer”)
“One Who Awakened as a Disciple”; need the Dharma of a Buddha
Ex. The Buddha’s immediate disciples, Sariputra, Maudgalyana, Ananda
p
ratyeka-buddha/ pacceka-buddha
“Solitary Buddha”
Achieves Enlightenment through own efforts but do not teach
Possibly an attempt to integrate other religious figures or traditions into Buddhism
7
8. 1
.3 Ānanda Recounts the Birth of the Buddha (possibly 4th
century BCE; Acchariya-abhūta-sutta “The Discourse on the
Wonderful and Marvelous”
1
.4 Signs of Suffering (Pali Anguttara Nikāya)
1
.5 The Great Departure: Two Versions
A. Pali Jātaka
B. The Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya “Section on Splitting the Saṇgha”
1
.6 Awakening Achieved “Section on Splitting the Saṇgha”
The Practice of Austerities
8
9. ūtra (P. Sutta) – the main type of scripture, claiming
authenticity as the Word of the Buddha: the part of
the Canon that contains the Buddha’s discourses or
teachings
inaya – the part of the Buddhist Canon that deals
with ordination and the religious life
9
10. ) Existence In Tushita Heaven
) Descent From Tushita Heaven
) Entry Into His Mother’s Womb
) Birth As A Prince
) Proficiency In The Worldly Arts (And Skills)
10
11. ) Departure From Home - His Renunciation
) Practice Of Austerities
) Defeat Of Mara
0) Enlightenment
1) Turning The Wheel Of Dharma
11
13. umbini – Birthplace
odhgaya – Site of His Enlightenment
arnath – Site of First Teaching
ushinagar – Death, Cremation, and Division of His
Relics
13
40. s a young prince, Siddhartha was taken
into the fields to witness a plowing
contest. He observed men sweating and
exerting themselves as well as birds
swooping down from the sky devouring
insects. He soon became overwhelmed
by these events, as they reflected the
misery of human life and the inevitability
of death. He left the contest and
wandered until he found a wood apple
tree. He sat beneath this tree and
entered into a meditative trance (1st
dhyana). This event was a precursor to
his subsequent meditation under the
bodhi tree.
44. 1
.3 Ānanda Recounts the Birth of the Buddha (possibly 4th
century BCE; Acchariya-abhūta-sutta “The Discourse on the
Wonderful and Marvelous”
1
.4 Signs of Suffering (Pali Anguttara Nikāya)
1
.5 The Great Departure: Two Versions
A. Pali Jātaka
B. The Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya “Section on Splitting the
Saṇgha”
.6 Awakening Achieved “Section on Splitting the Saṇgha”
1
44
62. ame lit. means “death” or “maker of death”
mbodies lust, greed, false views, delusion and illusion;
most importantly tṛṣṇā (lit. ‘thirst’)
ctive antagonist of the Buddha and his followers
ries to get the Bodhisattva to become a good Brahmin
ater accounts send armies and daughters to frighten
and tempt the Buddha
62
92. aya or Mayadevi – the Buddha’s mother
huddhodhana – King and the Buddha’s father
arvarthasiddha, “One Who Accomplishes All His
Goals,” shortened to Siddhartha – the Buddha’s given
name
ashodhara – the Buddha’s wife
92
ahula – lit. means “fetter, bond, or leash” the Buddha’s
Editor's Notes
Importance of the Dates of the Buddha
1st three exemplify the sufferings of samsara
During Siddhartha's early childhood one incident is worthy of mention because it provided him, during this lifetime, with his first taste of spiritual insight. One day, while his father was participating in a state plowing festival, Siddhartha was taken along to witness the ceremony. He was placed under the shade of the Jambu tree whereupon he soon fell into a deep spiritual trance. It was then that he entered into his first stage of spiritual knowledge. When his nurses came to take him away, they found that the shadows of the other trees had moved, but that of the Jambu tree remained still for the purpose of shading the youth.
life in Siddhartha's palace, events just prior to Great Departure
Date 2nd - 3rd century Location Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjunasagar, Nagarjunakonda
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to practice going altogether without food.' Then devas came to me and said, 'Dear sir, please don't practice going altogether without food. If you go altogether without food, we'll infuse divine nourishment in through your pores, and you will survive on that.' I thought, 'If I were to claim to be completely fasting while these devas are infusing divine nourishment in through my pores, I would be lying.' So I dismissed them, saying, 'Enough.'
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to take only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.' So I took only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup. My body became extremely emaciated. Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems... My backside became like a camel's hoof... My spine stood out like a string of beads... My ribs jutted out like the jutting rafters of an old, run-down barn... The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well... My scalp shriveled & withered like a green bitter gourd, shriveled & withered in the heat & the wind... The skin of my belly became so stuck to my spine that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine, I grabbed hold of the skin of my belly as well... If I urinated or defecated, I fell over on my face right there... Simply from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair — rotted at its roots — fell from my body as I rubbed, simply from eating so little.
"People on seeing me would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is black. Other people would say, 'Gotama the contemplative isn't black, he's brown.' Others would say, 'Gotama the contemplative is neither black nor brown, he's golden-skinned. So much had the clear, bright color of my skin deteriorated, simply from eating so little.
Mahasaccaka Sutta
Begin in Bodhgaya at the most sacred of all Buddhist sites, the Mahabodhi Temple, which rises next to the very spot Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha more than 2500 years ago.
Buddha Sheltered by the Serpent Date 12th C. A.D Location Cambodia
sculpture showing Indra and Brahma requesting Sakyamuni Buddha to teach Indra and Brahma entreating the Buddha to teach Date late 1st - 3rd century Location Afghanistan Paitava
Ramabhar Stupa (or Rambhar Stupa, Adhana Stupa), in Kushinara (Kushinagar), Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built over a portion of the Buddha's ashes, by the ancient Malla people (the Malla tribe). It is erected on the spot where the Buddha was cremated.
