Buddha is considered as a 9th avatar when we look at the incarnations from the perspective of Lord Krishna and not Lord Vishnu. When ancient texts speak about the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the 9th avatar is Lord Krishna whereas when the texts speak about 10 incarnations keeping Lord Krishna in mind, the 9th avatar is considered as Gautam Buddha.
Buddha can be easily described as the pioneer of promoting peace and calmness in the world. He is the leader of popularizing non-violence amongst human beings. He is the compassionate teacher who preached the world regarding the path of ahimsa and helped each being to attain a peaceful life and after-life.
The story of Buddha is as spiritual as it can get. Gautam Buddha is often known as the awakened one. Let us understand a little what led him to become who he was. King Siddhartha was married and had kids. One day when he was roaming in his kingdom, he encountered a sick man, an old man, a corpse and someone with a disability. This scenario disturbed him deeply. He learned and realised that sickness, pain and death are parts of life that no one can take away from you.
As Gautam Buddha was born in a royal family in Lumbini (Present Day – Nepal), he was oblivious of these concepts such as sickness and pain. When he saw it with his own eyes, it helped him to widen his vision and look at the problems faced by people. He decided that he wanted to give up his royalty, status, wealth, power. He had encountered a monk which gave him the indication of giving up his royal & luxurious life and became a holy man.
He tried to find all kinds of answers to take away the suffering and pain from life but the more research he did, the more he realised that it was indeed inevitable. One fine day when he was sitting under a bodhi tree, meditating peacefully, he had the vision and enlightenment that changed his and many people’s lives. He dwelled carefully on his life experiences and discovered the truth. This is his journey of becoming a buddha.
Buddha set out on his journey soon after his enlightenment to teach the world of his learnings and principles. The people who follow his teachings are said to follow the Buddhism religion or Buddhism way of life. Buddhist are considered to have skipped the circle of life and death and have gone away from the concept of karma.
Gautam Buddha has given the world Panchsheela (Five Precepts), four noble truths and an eightfold path towards nirvana. The five precepts focus on teachings like no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying and no intoxications. The four noble truths take a person towards understanding the suffering and how to rid oneself from it. What is suffering? Causes of suffering, end of suffering and path of ending the suffering! It also takes us to the next important lesson which is the eightfold path towards nirvana. It talks about having the right view, right thought, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
It is not just that Gautam Buddha is considered to be the greatest teacher and spiritual leader in the world. His teachings are sensible and help one choose a righteous path in their life.
Click here to read about Balarama – Another Eighth Avatar Of Lord Vishnu.
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