Lecture 4

Question 1

what does buddha mean

Answer 1

“the awakened one” or ‘to awaken’

Question 2

when did the buddha live

Answer 2

623-543 BCE or 566-486 BCE or 484-404 BCE (diff branches have different calculations)
for sure lived to be 80 tears old

Question 3

what are the sources for buddha’s life

Answer 3

The Pāli Canon
The Mahāvastu (the great story)
The Lalitavistara (Graceful Description)
The Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha
The Nidānakathā (Introductory Tale)

Question 4

explain The Pāli Canon.

Answer 4

Certain sūtras provide biographical details, such as the Discourse of the Great Decease (Mahāparinirvā􏰂a Sūtra) which recounts the last few months of the Buddha’s life and confirms he was eighty years old when he died.

Question 5

explain • The Mahāvastu (Great Story),

Answer 5

first century C.E. (anonymous)

Question 6

explain • The Lalitavistara (Graceful Description),

Answer 6

first century C.E. (anonymous)

Question 7

explain • The Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha,

Answer 7

an epic poem in twenty-eight chapters composed in the second century C.E. by Aśvaghoṣa

Question 8

explain • The Nidānakathā (Introductory Tale),

Answer 8

second or third century C.E. This text forms the introduction to the Jātaka, a collection of popular stories about the Buddha’s previous lives.

Question 9

who was buddha’s father

Answer 9

Suddhudana, a king and very powerful/wealthy

Question 10

who was the buddha’s mother

Answer 10

queen maya (aka mahamaya) died a week after he was born

Question 11

who was prajapati

Answer 11

aunt/stepmother… took role of his mother after her death

Question 12

what was buddha’s given name

Answer 12

Siddhartha Gautama

Question 13

what does Siddhartha mean

Answer 13

siddha; accomplish, artha; goals

Question 14

what else was siddartha known as

Answer 14

sakyamuni (sage of the sakyas)

Question 15

where did most of siddartha’s activities take place

Answer 15

N.E india (a little present day nepal)

Question 16

what was maya’s dream

Answer 16

had a dream the night she conceived
white elephant entered her side (elephants used in battle and only wealthy had them but this isnt a charging elephant… it was associated with purity!)

Question 17

how was the pregnancy for Maya

Answer 17

easy, very easy
at end of pregnancy she went back to parents to give birth there, on the way she went into about and stopped the transport, walked into the trees, tree branch come down and she grabs onto it, stands and the baby comes out of her side, painlessly
different gods came to witness the birth

Question 18

what did siddartha Gautama do right after birth

Answer 18

takes 7 steps, every place he steps a lotus grows, makes an announcement; this is the last birth and he is born for the welfare of all human beings
seems to go back to being a normal baby after that

Question 19

how did maya die

Answer 19

7 days after birth,

said that she was so happy she passed away but maybe the birth from her side took a toll on her….

Question 20

explain the prophecy of the sage

Answer 20

the fathers is so happy bout having a son, invites people to come visit the baby
an old sage who has been living in solitary comes into town to see the baby, cries when sees the baby… father panics but sage reassures him that he will fulfill the king’s goals for him or will fulfill the welfare of the world! Just crying bc he is at the end of his life and wont be able to see all that suddartha can become

Question 21

does the king life the sage’s prophesy? what steps does he take to steer siddartha int he direction he wants

Answer 21

wants to prevent siddartha from becoming a religious figure so tries to control everything in his son’s world! if son was never confronted with suffering then will never know the ills of the world and wont want to help
king surrounds son with women, abundance, everything he could ever want for

Question 22

did siddartha get married

Answer 22

yes

Question 23

how does siddartha come across suffering

Answer 23

decided he needs to leave the palace to see what is outside, wants to see nature beyond the walls, king says okay but takes measures to ensure he wont see anything bad
but unseen forces conspire! siddartha come across 4 sights

Question 24

what are the 4 sights siddartha sees on his trip outside the palace

Answer 24

old age
sickness
death
renunciation and practice

Question 25

what happens when siddartha sees the 4 sights

Answer 25

he is confused and shocked, asks friend what is happening and friend explains that everything goes through this!

Question 26

explain how siddartha renounces and leaves the palace

Answer 26

announces his intentions, king tries to send him the best musicians and people around to get him happy again but nothing relieves him of his sadness
when everyone falls asleep, they are depicted in a very ugly manner and it horrifies him even more
wife of siddartha had just given birth to they first child (a son)
siddartha leave the night of the birth

Question 27

why is it not seen as bad that siddartha leaves his son the night he is born

Answer 27

having a son is said to be the best thing that could occur, bu siddartha willingly giving him up, this isa great act of selflessness

Question 28

describes what happens when siddartha leave the palace

Answer 28

renunciation– leave on a horse and gets his friend, rides as far away as possible
removes his beautiful jewelry and robes and cuts his hair
a diety flies by and catches the hair just before it falls to the floor
siddartha goes off to find his path

Question 29

explain what siddartha did to try and find his right path

Answer 29

spends lots of time trying out spiritual and religion practices but he is always the best (meditator, etc in the room), he would learn so quickly and raise past the level of his teacher. teachers wanted him to stay and teach with them but he wanted answers nt to just be at their level… he wasn’t satisfied

he then went through ascetic practices

Question 30

explain ascetic practices

Answer 30

most extreme, siddartha meets a group of ascetics where they do the extreme such as a grain of rice a day and they do this for years as a form of extreme renunciation