Buddha Gautama Buddha

 

Buddha Gautama Buddha

Anyone who believes in Buddhism knows that Gautama Buddha is the Buddha. The Buddha was born in the border area of present-day Nepal and India. He became a monk at the age of 29. He later accepted disciples and preached in North India, established a sangha and promoted Buddhism. Buddhism and Hinduism both developed in Indian culture, so of course they are not unrelated. For example, the six paths of reincarnation in Buddhism are derived from the concept of Brahmanism. When Hinduism was weak, it also absorbed many Buddhist concepts to strengthen itself.

Crow Betty said to Agudemba: From a certain perspective, Buddhism is a reaction to Hinduism. Many believers do not know that Gautama Buddha was against the Hindu god Vishnu. Never would I have imagined that Buddha is actually one of the most influential incarnations of Vishnu.

Crow Betty told Agudumba:

The Bhagavad Purana, which is widely circulated and well-known in India, records in detail the ten incarnations of Vishnu and the stories of his 24 descents. Among them, Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, is the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. Therefore, when the Buddha came to the world, Brahma, Sakyamuni and other gods led the gods to come to bathe the Buddha.

Vishnu is one of the three main gods of Hinduism, the orthodox and handsome main god. He is the savior in Hinduism, and Vaishnavism is also a salvation religion in a sense. Whenever the world is in crisis, Vishnu will come down to save the world. Each time he descends to earth, he creates an incarnation in a way similar to "reincarnation."

In terms of religious organizations, incarnation is also a way for the Vaishnavite sect to attract believers. Whenever there are heroes, great kings, religious leaders or even some kind of spiritual events in the mortal world, the Vaishnavism priests will jump out and start flipping through the books. Pointing to a piece of Sanskrit that no one could understand, he said: Let me just say, this great man is actually the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the Lord God, and he came specifically to save the world. The most powerful case is that recent Hindu mythology describes Buddha as the incarnation of Vishnu, and thus incorporates Buddhism.

Agudumba asked:

Why did Vishnu come to the world as Buddha? Since he is an omnipotent god who can destroy demons and monsters with a snap of his finger, why does he have to work so hard to come to the human world?

crow betty says:

The absorptive power of Hinduism is reflected in the Puranas, which created pantheons that brought together numerous deities that were originally the focus of independent worship. The inclusion of Buddha in the avatar of Vishnu is often cited as an example of the syncretic nature of Hinduism. Here's the thing: the Puranas' depiction of the Buddha is anything but flattering, and there was a lot of negative talk about Buddhists in the early days, describing them as evil, tainted, and a symbol to be avoided. Even dreaming about them is unlucky. Therefore, although Buddha is considered an avatar of Vishnu, he is never worshiped in a Vishnu temple.

Viewing Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu is a strategy to subordinate Buddhism to Hinduism. This method is also used by Buddhists. Buddhist texts tell the story of Theravada Vajra, where Hruka, the incarnation of Vajrapani, became angry with Shiva Mahabhara and crushed him under his left foot, destroying him. He then resurrected Shiva and his consorts as Uma Maheshwara, gave them a new name, Bhairava-Bhairavi, and accepted them into Buddhism as his followers. Religious conflict is also reflected in the many images of angry Buddhist Tantric deities trampling Hindu gods and vice versa.

Crow Betty continued:

Early Buddhism valued reality, denied the divine creation of the world, and advocated the origin of the four surnames. The Buddha's practice of "interpretation of the world" was deeply popular and was a substantial blow to the early Brahmanical beliefs, which were dominated by Aryans.

After the birth of Hinduism, it encountered strong challenges from Buddhism. The challenge to Buddhism came from the time of Ashoka. After Ashoka unified India for the first time, in order to consolidate his power and contain the Aryan powerful, he vigorously supported Buddhism against traditional Hinduism.

Just like Indians are divided into three, six or nine grades, cattle in India are also divided into three, six or nine grades. King Ashoka advocated the idea of "equality for all living beings".

From King Asoka's perspective, in order to establish a unified kingdom and be the king of all people, it is necessary to support the Indian natives to fight against the old aristocratic group, so the explanation that Gautama Buddha is an Indian native is more reasonable.

In the 6th century BC, Sakyamuni founded Buddhism. He opposed Brahman supremacy, denied the authority of Veda, and put forward a series of new theories from the perspective of experience and psychology, such as the theory of dependent origination and the four truths. These theories were refreshing and innovative in an era when the Vedic revelations were believed in and sacrifices to the Almighty were prevalent.

Regardless of whether Gautama Buddha was an Aryan or not, the followers of Buddhism are the lower class people of India. Buddhism is an authentic native religion of India, and its idea of "equality of all living beings" is a natural weapon to suppress the caste hierarchy. On the other hand, Sakyamuni grew up in an Indian environment and received an Indian upbringing. Therefore, his ideas could not have arisen out of thin air without inheritance, nor could they have been influenced by Brahmanism.

In the 6th century BC, Buddhism, as a new religion, first emerged in the Kingdom of Magadha, where Brahmanism was relatively weak. Because Buddhism opposes caste discrimination and promotes the idea of equality, it is very popular among lower castes. Therefore, it has developed rapidly and attracted a large number of Brahmans to convert to Buddhism. During the Mauryan Dynasty (324 BC to 187 BC), with the strong support and promotion of King Ashoka, Buddhism ushered in its development climax. Not only did it become a major religion in India, it also began to spread overseas. King Asoka personally sent his son Mahada to the Island of Ceylon (today's Sri Lanka) to spread Buddhism and succeeded, establishing a Buddhist temple there. Since then, Buddhism has gradually spread to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China, Japan, North Korea, and Vietnam, and developed into a world religion.

The rise and rapid development of Buddhism had a huge impact on Brahmanism at that time, and also had a profound impact on it.

Crow Betty sighed:

It's just that Ashoka's career did not last, because soon after Ashoka's death, India was divided. Buddhism, which symbolizes India's native sect, gradually declined in the game with Hinduism founded by the Aryans, and was eventually submerged in the dust of history. The Nalando Temple where Tang Sanzang studied for Buddhist scriptures eventually fell.

The process of the decline of Buddhism implies the suppression of the conquered lands by the conquerors, that is, the suppression of the indigenous culture and ideology of India by the Aryans. The competition between Buddhism and Hinduism is equivalent to the competition between local religions and religions created by outsiders. The fall of Buddhism means that the Indian natives have given up on the idea of "equality" and their spirits have been completely conquered. Looking at the history of world religions, among the larger religions, only Buddhism has been extinguished in its homeland.

Crow Betty sang "Prayer to the Buddha":

 

According to Hindu teachings,

The world has a cyclical pattern,

Follow birth, abiding and passing away.

 

But the world is rotten,

and begins to be destined to be reborn,

Its demise should be hastened.

 

The Buddha appeared at the right time,

accelerator in the cycle chain,

This is how the world changes.

 

There should be no hierarchy between humans and animals;

All things are born equal,

Pray for the Buddha to show his power.