Buddhism

Source: Discovery

BIRTHPLACE OF LORD BUDDHA

Lumbini in southern Nepal is the birthplace of lord Buddha, born in 543bc as the Sakya prince, Siddhartha Gautama. It is situated 21 km (13 miles) west of the modern town of Bhairahawa (also known as Siddharthanagar) and is set in 13 sq. km (5sq. miles) of landscaped gardens.

An important place of pilgrimage for Hindus as well as Buddhists, Lumbini was ''lost'' for centuries. In the 4th century ad the Chinese monk, fa-hsien (fa xian), traveled to India in search of Buddhist manuscripts and returned with vived descriptions of the remains he found at Lumbini. Already it was in ruins and had been overgrown by the jungle; fa-Hsien wrote: ''on the road people have to guard against elephants and lions. ''

Only in 1895 did archaeologists unearth the inscribed pillar, erected to commemorate the visit of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 249 BC (see page 28). Since 1970 the sacred site has been protected by the Lumbini development trust. Excavations have been made and pottery, figurines and coins found among the ancient brick foundations. a series of monasteries, stupas and pavilions have been built in national styles by various Buddhist nations in recent years, alongside a museum, library and garden complex.

the massive Ashoka pillar marks the place of Buddha's birth and the Mayadevi temple contains a panel depicting the miraculous event. The myth tells how Buddha was conceived by entering his mother's womb in the form of a white elephant. When the time came his mother, Mayadevi, leaning on a fig tree, gave birth to prince Siddartha from her right side. She placed the newborn child in a lotus flower, but he stood and walked seven steps in each of the four directions, announcing his great destiny. After seven days Mayadevi died.

The original temple was built by emperor Ashoka and reconstructed in the 5th century ad in the shikhara style. The present building dates from the 19th century and is sheltered by an ancient pipal tree. Adjacent is the sacred pond in which prince Siddhartha was bathed after his birth. Mayadevi is also greatly revered by Hindus.

The story of the Buddha is known to all his followers. He lived a life of luxury, marrying a princess, fathering a child and enjoying his privileged youth. Only as an adult did he venture beyond the walls of the palace where he encountered a poor man, a sick man and a dead man. he was so disturbed by this suffering that he abandoned his comfortable life to become an ascetic.

Tilaurakot, the ancient capital of Kapilavastu, is 27 km (17 miles) west of Lumbini. in al lovely mango grove, excavations have revealed the brick remains of the eastern and western gates of the palace complex in which prince Siddhartha lived with his father, king Suddhodhana. The museum in the village contains pieces dating between the 4th century BC and the 4th century ad near tilaurakot are the damage Ashoka pillars of Niglihawa and Kotihaw.

TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA

Brahmanism was the dominant faith in the Indian subcontinent at the time of the emergence of Buddhism in the 6th century BC. The new religion's founder, a Sakya prince named new religion's founder, a Sakya prince named Siddhartha Gautama, was born about 54 BC (the actual date is dispute) near present -day Lumbini in Nepal's western Terai. At the age of 29, he convinced his charioteer to take him outside the palace grounds where he lived a life of protected luxury. There, the sight of an old man, a crippled man and a corpse persuaded him to abandon his family and his lavish lifestyle for that of a wandering ascetic.

for more than five years, Gautama roamed from place to place, nearly dying of self-deprivation as he sought a solution to the suffering he saw. He finally abandoned his asceticism, and while meditating under a pipal tree near Benares (now Varanasi) in India, oblivious to all distractions and temptations, he became enlightened.

Now known as the Buddha, the ''enlightened one'', Gautama preached a doctrine based on the ''four Nobel truths'' and eightfold path''. We suffer, he said, because of our attachment to people and material objects in a world where nothing is permanent. We can rid ourselves of desire, and do away with suffering, by living our lives with attention to right views, right intent, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right Meditation.

The ''self'', said the Buddha, is only an illusion trapped in the endless cycle of Samsara, or rebirth, and created by karma, the chain of cause and effect. By following the Buddhist doctrine, the dharma, he said, one can put an end to the effects of karma, thereby escaping Samsara and achieving nirvana, which is essentially extinction of ''self''.

Gautama preached his doctrine for 45 years after his enlightenment, finally dying at the age of 80 and transcending to nirvana. Nepalis claim he visited the Katmandu valley with his disciple, ananda, during his ministry.

in the centuries following the Buddha's life, many doctrinal disputes arose, leading to various schisms in the philosophy. Most important was the break between the Theravada or Hinayana school, which adhered more closely to the original teachings and today predominates in southeast Asia and Sri-lanka, and the Mahayana school, which spread north and east from India.

it was Mahayana Buddhism which took hold in Nepal. One of the central beliefs of all Mahayanists is that one can achieve nirvana by following the example of bodhisattvas, or ''Buddha-to-be''. These enlightened beings have, in the course of many lifetimes, acquired the knowledge and virtues necessary to attain nirvana, but have indefinitely delayed their transcendence to help other mortals reach a similar state of perfection.

the Buddhist emperor Ashoka, of India's Mauryan dynasty, is believed to have made a pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace near Lumbini in the 3rd Century BC. He or his missionaries may have introduced some basic teachings while building stupas in the Katmandu valley. Nearly 1000 years late, in the 7th century ad, a Tibetan king, Songtsen gampo, invaded the valley and carried back a Nepalese princess, Bhrikuti, as his wife. Both the Nepalese lady (later incarnated and revered as the green Tara) and the king's Chinese consort, princess Wencheng (who became the white Tara), were Buddhists, persuaded Songtsen gampo to convert to Buddhism.

Middle ground

Lord Buddha preached that one must follow the middle way, thereby rejecting all extremes of pleasure and pain.

TIBETAN BUDDHISM

Since that time, the form of Buddhism, which evolved in Tibet, has exerted a significant influence on Buddhist belief in Nepal. Altered in part by the indigenous Tibetan bon religion, it has taken on a unique form in the world of Buddhism. The shamanistic bon faith, elements of which still exist in Tibet and some remote corners of Nepal, has certain affinities with Buddhism. Bonpos (followers of bon) claim their religion was carried from the west, possibly Kashmir, by their founder, Shen-rab, who in common with the Buddha, endured hardship and meditated to achieve his spiritual knowledge. in medieval times, interchange between bon and Buddhism led to a mutual adoption of sections of each other's pantheon under different names and guises.

The leading figure of Tibetan Buddhism-its pope, as it were- is the Dalai Lama. Every Dalai Lama is regarded as the reincarnation of his predecessor. Upon the death of a dalai lama, a party of elder monks goes on a pilgrimage among Tibetan people to discover where their leader was reborn immediately following his physical death. The correct child is determined by his recognition of possessions from his previous life.

Tibetans believe that there are at any one time, several hundred more Tulkus, people identified in similar fashion as reincarnations of other important religious figures. These people generally go on to become leading monks themselves.

There are four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the most important of which is the Telugpa (yello hats). Although himself a Gelugpa, the Dalai Lama preaches free access to all teachings, including the Kagyupa (red hats), Nyingmapa (ancients) and Sakyapa (people of the earth). Each group has made important contributions to the Tibetan Buddhist doctrine.

Tibetan Buddhism stresses the interrelatedness of all things. Universal cosmic forces and the energies of the individual human being are one and the same, and through meditation one can learn to apply one's knowledge of these energies. This can even involve an altered state of consciousness: skilled Tibetan monks are said to be able to levitate, to travel across land at the speed of the wind and to perform other actions which westerners tend to relegate to the realms of fantasy or the occult.

Learning proper meditation, under the guidance of a personal teacher, is the first step toward understanding the doctrine of interdependence. The most important tools of meditation are mantra (sacred sound) and Mandala (sacred diagram). In mantra meditation, chanting of and concentration on certain syllables is believed to intensify the spiritual power of those indoctrinated to the meaning. Mandala meditation requires one to visualize certain circular images to assist in orienting the self to the universe.

Another important aspect of Tibetan Buddhism is the perception of death. Accounts of pre-death and post-death experience are an integral part of Tibet's religious archives. Because mental and emotional states are believed to affect one's afterlife and rebirth, the dying person-accompanied by family, friends and lams-meditates through the period of transition from life to death, making it easier for his spirit, or consciousness, to give up its residence in the body.

Leader in exile

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was chosen at the age of two in 1959, he currently resides in Dharamsala in northern India.

Wheels and Flags

The mantra Om Mani Padre Hum (''hail to the jewel in the lotus'') is written on prayer wheels to aid meditation. Prayer flags offer thoughts to the wind.

The Tantric cults

Nepal's religions, whether Hindu, Buddhist or otherwise, are strongly influenced by the practices of Tantrism, a legacy of the Indian subcontinent's medieval culture. While the Islamic conquest, the British Raj and modern secularism have largely eliminated Tantrism else where, it has lived on in Nepal.

Tantra is a Sanskrit word, referring to the basic warp of threads in weaving. Literally, Tantrism reiterates the Buddhist philosophy of the interwoven ness of all things and actions. but Tantrism, with its roots in the Vedas and the Upanishads, Pre-Buddhist Brahmanistic verse, is more than that. in its medieval growth, it expanded the realm of Hindu gods and rites, and added a new element to the speculative philosophy and yogic practices of the time. Within Buddhism, it created a major trend called Vajrayana, the ''path of the thunderbolt'', which reached its greatest importance in Nepal.

The Vajra, known as the Dorje in Tibetan Buddhism, is the ritual object for Tantric Buddhist monks, a scepter, at each end of which are five digits curved in a global shape, said to represent the infinite in three dimensions. It is the symbol of the absolute, a male instrument. Its female counterpart is a bell (Ghanta). The prolific Tantric gods are represented in numerous human and animal forms, often with multiple arms, legs and heads as symbols of the omnipresence and omnipotence of the divine. Many of these deities have a terrifying appearance, such as forbidding Bhairav, bloodthirsty kali or Shiva, who in Tantrism is both the creator and destroyer. Their appearance is said to reflect man's when confronted with unknown forces.

Opposed to contemplative meditation, Tantrism substituted concrete action and direct experience, but it soon evolved into more esoteric practices, often of a sexual nature, purportedly to go beyond one's own limitations and to reach a divine bliss. Shaktism is one such cult, praising the Shakti, the female counterpart of a god. Some ritual Tantric texts proclaim: ''wine, flesh, fish, women and sexual congress: these are the five-fold boons that remove all sin.''

At a higher level, Tantrism is an attempt to Synthesis spiritualism and materialism. Practitioners seek to expand their mental faculties by mastering the forces of nature and achieving peace of mind. In the sexual act is seen wisdom, tranquility and bliss, along with the mystery inherent in human union.

The image depicting sexual union is called yab-yum, not unlike the Chinese yin- yang, a symbol of oneness in polarity. Around Katmandu valley yab-yum and other erotica are carved in wooden relief on the struts of temples. Their significance depends less on what they show than on who looks at them.