Gautam Buddha ,birth - lumbini, enlightenment - bodh gaya
1st sermon - sarnath
death - kusinagara
(click on the picture to enlarge)
1. Kutagarashala: A hut with pointed roof where intellectual debates took place between the Buddhist mendicants
2. Tripitaka (lit. meaning 3 baskets to hold text)
-None of the Buddha’s speeches were written in his lifetime.
-Compiled later @ Vaishali
-Vinaya Pitaka- rules and regulations for those who joined the sangha or monastic order;
-Sutta Pitaka- Buddha’s teachings
-Abhidhamma Pitaka- philosophical matters
3. Initially only men were allowed in the sangha but later women were also allowed. The Buddha’s foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami was the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni.
4.Therigatha : collection of verses composed by the Buddhist nuns, is a part of the Sutta Pitaka.
5. Ashoka erected a pillar @ Lumbini (Buddha's birth place) to mark that he had visited the place.
6.Nirvana refers to the imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion, and delusion have been finally extinguished.
7. The Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine origin. Thus, individual effort was expected to transform social relations.
8. Buddhism does not recognize the existence of god or soul.but believes in cycle of rebirth due to attatchments of karma.like one wave giving rise to another
9. Person should avoid excess of both luxury & austerity, prescribes a middle path.
10. Causes of the decline of Buddhism
-Monks gave up Pali (lang. of the people) & took up Sanskrit
-corrupt practices @ monasteries
-Idol Worship=royal grants=easy/luxurious life of monks=riches also attracted Turkish invaders
-Persecution of Buddhists by brahman, Shaivite rulers.
