Buddha Shakyamuni's Life Story

Author: Wu Hengshan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Buddhism is the only religion in history that has truly been empirically proven. It views kindness and compassion as promoting health and believes that hatred cannot be stopped by hatred. — Friedrich Nietzsche (Germany)
The faith of Buddhism is intellectual rather than mystical, inclusive rather than exclusive, and engaged with the world rather than escapist. Among those who have shed a brilliant light on history, Buddhism stands out. For centuries from the Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, men of high moral character and profound knowledge flocked to embrace Buddhism. Humans need religion because it is a philosophy of life; humans need faith because it is a compass for human existence. Where do we come from, and where are we going? What brings us here, and what takes us away. This is the eternal mystery that haunts the human mind. Buddhism is one of the great attempts to unravel this knot. The core of Buddhism is enlightenment, self-awareness and awareness of others, and the elimination of (: troubles and suffering). Enlightenment is achieved through Prajna wisdom, which is the supreme path to cut through ignorance. Therefore, Buddhism not only requires precepts and meditation, but also demands wisdom. Precepts, meditation, and wisdom are the indispensable methods for practicing Buddhism. To understand what Buddhism is, one must know its founder, Siddhartha Gautama; to understand its teachings and the spirit of its community, one must understand the life, actions, and experiences of the founding Buddha. This book presents the life of the Buddha and his teachings from a fresh and objective perspective, elaborates on the spirit of Buddhism, the true personality of the Buddha, and briefly introduces the social background of India at the time of the Buddha's birth, as well as the establishment of the monastic community and its conflicts and dilemmas.