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Buddha Shakyamuni was a real
person who gathered wisdom and who came to a set of conclusions
about how we could lead happier lives - he did not purport to
justify or excuse human behaviour - he simply suggested ways
of dealing with it.
Buddhism was founded
in India by Buddha, who was born as a prince, Prince Siddhartha.
He grew up surrounded by the material comforts of a Royal Court,
but always found something amiss in his life, a deep vacuum in
his heart. Legend has it that his father , the King, suspected
this deep sense of questioning in his son and tried to distract
him with all sorts of luxuries and pleasures. He tried to prevent
him coming into contact with the harsh realities of life, such
as pain, suffering and death. |
"The metaphor of light is
a common image in all the major religious traditions. In the
Buddhist context, light is particularly associated with wisdom
and knowledge; darkness is associated with ignorance and a state
of mis-knowledge."
- Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama |
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t is not always understood that Buddhism offers, not
a set of manufactured rules and beliefs to live by, but rather
an explanation of how we generally choose to live our lives based
on Buddha's acute and intense observation and analysis. It then
offers mechanisms for dealing with our attendant grief, pain
and suffering.