Who was the Buddha

The Buddha’s Early Life

Summary of his life….

o He was born a prince (Siddartha Guatama)

o He was kept in his palace to protect him.

o He escaped one day and saw sick and dying people.

o He decided to leave to the place to search for answers.

o He sat under a tree and achieved enlightenment.

Little Buddha (6_12) Movie CLIP - Gates to the Kingdom (1993) HD.wmv

Little Buddha (7_12) Movie CLIP - Show Me Death (1993) HD.wmv

There is more that we need to know to fully understand how Siddartha Gautama became enlightened (Buddha).

1. Why do people grow old

2. Why do people get sick

3. Why do people die

It was not an easy process to become enlightened and took many years. Siddartha found a teacher (guru) who would help him to find the answers. Siddartha was particularly concerned to find the answers to the following questions:

He tried a few different teachers. He then joined a group of ascetics. Ascetics are people who deprive themselves of things such as food and shelter and who also use pain as a way of gaining enlightenment. However, the result of all this was unsuccessful and he felt no closer to answering his questions.

It was after being an Ascetic that Siddartha realised that starving and pain are not the way to truth and happiness. This was the basis for the ‘Middle Way’ idea of the eightfold path

This is Siddartha walking away from the ascetics

How to understand Enlightenment

1. Why do people grow old

2. Why do people get sick

3. Why do people die

The Buddha wanted to understand how life worked andThe answer to the three questions below.

Ever been in school and tried to work something out For ages – and not get anywhere?

But suddenly, out of nowhere you just know it! That nice feeling you get? That understanding? That’s Enlightenment!!

It was at this point that he decided that he would meditate and contemplate these important questions. He found a tree and sat under it for many, many days on end.

Temptations of Mara

The night before the Buddha attained enlightenment, Mara, an evil devil type of creature tried to tempt him. Mara did this by sending his three daughters, Tanha (desire), Raga (lust), and Arati (aversion), to seduce him and break his concentration. Buddha was too strong and managed to maintain his concentration.

Is Mara Real?

The Buddha never spoke about God, devils or demons. Therefore it is not generally part of the Buddhist religion to believe in such things.

However, some Buddhists think of the temptations of Mara as literal event. They see Mara as a devil-like creature who tries to tempt us away from enlightenment.

Others think of the story as symbolic, with Mara representing that part of our human nature (condition) which is weak and gives in to temptation.

Either way, Buddhists believe that the Buddha had to resist Mara, in order to become the Buddha.

Activity One

• Read Buddhism by Denise Cush pages 11 – 26

• Produce a Mind Map highlighting the most important aspects of the Buddha’s life.

Question One• ‘I travelled through

the round of countless births’

• What is this quote from the Dhammapada referring to?

1 mark KU

Question Two• Summarise the

main events in the Buddha’s life from the start of his ministry (teaching) to has death.

4 marks KU

Question 3“The story of the temptations of Mara and the Buddha’s enlightenment are obviously false. They didn’t happen so the story is unimportant for Buddhists.”

Do you agree with the above statement? 4 Marks A/E

Peer Assessment • When you are done, swap your answers

with your neighbour.

• Read carefully. Is there anything which could be added to make their answers even better?

• Your teacher will go over the answers too!

Homework

Please complete Homework One for Monday.

This is a summary of the work we have done today.

Have a nice weekend!!!!