Book Title: Harmony of All Religions
Author(s): Parmahans Maharaj, Veena Rani Howard
Publisher: USA Santmat Society of North America

Previous | Next

Page 144
________________ I Gautama have attained this state and if you try wholeheartedly you also can attain this state. The Early Teachings of the Buddha After his great enlightenment (nirvana), Siddhartha, now called the Buddha, proceeded to share the path to nirvana with others. He gave his first sermon, “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law,” in Rishi Pattam of Sarnath, near the city of Banaras in northeastern India. In response to this, five men became his disciples. During the remaining 45 years of his life he spread his message to all, from kings to poor alike, by traveling through neighboring states, such as Avadha, and Bihar. Most of his teaching took place in the state of Bihar and Ayodhya. In his first sermon, the Buddha taught: Mendicants should avoid these two extremes: First, avoid sensual pleasures and second, refrain from pain-inflicting austerities. Avoiding these two extremes I have found the Middle Way. This path leads to knowledge and truth. Also this is the bestower of Peace (shanti) Prasenajit, the king of Koshel kingdom, Bimbsara, the king of Magadha, and Ajatshatru accepted this message and became the disciples of Lord Buddha. The Buddha established a community of his mendicant disciples. He gave his congregation of mendicants this three-fold proclamation: “I take refuge in 135

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372