Crown Prince Siddhartha Gautham who left his luxurious and privileged life to become the Gautham Buddha, was born to King Suddhodana of Shakya clan and Queen Maha-Maya of Koliya, both belonged to Soorya [Sun] Dynasty that ruled modern day Nepal at 5-4th Century BCE.
As the Crown Prince to the Soorya Dynasty, Siddhartha Gautham was born not only with the luxury of receiving everything on a golden plate, but also with the great expectation that one day he would become a Chakra-Warthi King [a global ruler]. Even though it was the expectation of his father and the kingdom, senior counsels to the King were divided about the destiny of the young Prince. One among them [hermit ascetic Asitha or Kaladevala] was certain that the Prince would become a Buddha not a conqueror.
According to the Theravada Buddhist teachings, Gautham Buddha was the 4th of the 5 Buddhas that is expected to be born in this great aeon [Maha-Badra Kalpa] as well as the 27th of the 28 Buddhas [Atawisi Buddhas] in the most recent times. But most interestingly he was one of the many Buddhas born since the origin of the universe as well as to be born in the incalculable future.
Word Buddha, is derived from Sanskrit word “Buddhi” meaning intelligence. In many Asian religions including Hindunism and Jainism, Buddha is considered to be “a supreme intelligent being” or “the enlightened one” born in time to time [different kalpas = aeons] to understand and educate others about the reality of the world through Nibbhana [the supreme state of mind that is liberated from ignorance and greed].
In Theravada Buddhism, Buddhahood is considered to be the highest of the three stages of supreme mind [thun Bodhi], which achieves Nibbhana.
- Samma Sam-Buddha: the one who achieves Nibbhana on their own and able to educate or guide others to achieve Arhath state through his teachings.
- Prathyekabuddha: the one who achieves Nibbhana on their own but unable to educate or guide others.
- Arhath: the one who achieves Nibbhana through the guidance of a Samma Sam-Buddha or his teachings.
Unlike many other religious leaders, Lord Buddha is described as a human being who demonstrated incomparable qualities of ‘Pragna’ [wisdom], ‘Meththa’ [benevolence], ‘Karuna’ [compassion], ‘Muditha’ [pure joy unadulterated by self-interest] and ‘Upekkha’ [equanimity].
As a modern female with Buddhist upbringing and western education, I consider Lord Buddha as the most intelligent human being with a combined intelligence of all the scientist, researchers and philosophers born in our history including Einstein, Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci and Tsao. But most importantly, Lord Buddha to me is the most influential human being on this earth due to his incomparable qualities of humanity, demonstrated throughout in his life and his teachings.
As modern thinkers influenced by western science, it might be difficult for us to believe and understand some of the concepts of Buddhist teachings. While acknowledging this as the founder of AROGYA PTY LTD, I kindly request you to join us in the journey of learning Buddhism [Dhamma- Vinaya] with an open mind and a heart to achieve our mission to create a healthy and peaceful society.
