Scythian sages: Buddha
Shakyamuni (Sakyamuni) is the
name given to the historical Buddha. In Japan he is known as Shakuson, or more commonly Shaka or Shaka Nyorai, meaning "the Buddha."
Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism.[1] He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of our age.
Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni or Shakyamuni ("sage of the Shakyas"), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers.
Greek scytha = Persian saka = Sanskrit shakya = Japanese shaka.
Some of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha are:
- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that the origin of suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and craving; that attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving and therefore suffering.
- The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
- Dependent origination: that any phenomenon 'exists' only because of the ‘existence' of other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect covering time past, present and future. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anicca), they have no real independent identity (anatta).
- Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama Sutta for details.
- Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things are impermanent.
- Anatta (Sanskrit: anātman): That the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.
- Dukkha (Sanskrit: duḥkha): That all beings suffer from all situations due to unclear mind.
More information:
- Shakyamuni - the historical Buddha
- Lord Buddha - by Sri Swami Sivananda
- About Buddha - aboutbuddha.org
- Gautama Buddha - wikipedia