Religious
Thinkers
Gautama Buddha
Born
: 563BC
Died : 483BC
Gautama Buddha was born in 563BC in the Lumbini forests in Nepalese Terai. He
was the founder of 'Buddhism'. Buddha's childhood name was Siddhartha and he
was a child with a contemplative bent of mind. At the age of 29, Siddhartha
left his home and all the royal comforts behind in search of peace and truth.
Siddhartha got enlightenment when he was sitting in meditation under a pipal
tree in Gaya. Siddhartha now got transformed into 'Buddha' or 'enlightened'
and the pipal tree under which he got enlightenment became Bodhi tree or Bodhi
Vriksha.
Buddha delivered his first sermon in Sarnath (near Varanasi). Buddha taught
that the root cause of mankind's suffering was desire. People could get rid
of the torment of desires by following the Eightfold path: right belief, right
thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right memory
and right meditation.
Buddha attained Nirvana in Kushinagar (UP) in 483 B.C. After his death, his
teachings spread through Asia. Today, the religion numbers 500 million followers,
many others in the East and West practice Buddhist teachings to achieve self-awareness.
OTHER RELIGIOUS THINKERS
» Gautama
Buddha
» Swami Vivekananda
» Mata Amritanandamayi
» Ramakrishna
Paramahansa
» Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
» Sri Satya Sai Baba
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