Buddha’s Path to Enlightenment

I earlier told you how Price Siddartha understood reality – that all of us get old, sick, and eventually die.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha came to realize that he could not be happy living as he had been.

He had discovered suffering, and wanted more than anything to discover how one might overcome suffering.

After kissing his sleeping wife and newborn son Rahula goodbye, he snuck out of the palace with his squire Chandara and his favorite horse Kanthaka. He gave away his rich clothing, cut his long hair, and gave the horse to Chandara and told him to return to the palace. He studied for a while with two famous gurus of the day, but found their practices lacking.

Gautama studied under various teachers and followed their practices until he mastered them all. His first teacher was Alara Kalama who taught a form of meditation leading to an exalted form of absorption called "state of no-thingness", a state without moral or cognitive dimension. Gautama saw this was not going to solve suffering, and continued his search.

The next teacher was Udraka Ramaputra who taught him meditative absorption leading to “the state of neither perception nor non-perception”. Again, Gautama realized this was not the state he was looking for.

Next, he tried extreme ascetic practices at Uruvilva, with five other ascetics who turned into his followers. In the end, Gautama nearly died of starvation.

After about six years of searching, he realized that just wearing down his body did not generate new insights, but rather leads to weakness and self-destruction. When he decided to give up extreme asceticism, his students left him.

He then sat down in a place now called Budhdhagaya under a Bo-tree and decided not to get up anymore until he discovered the truth. Just a short time later, he became a fully enlightened Buddha.

This means that he actualized all positive potentials of a sentient being and rid himself of all negative qualities. With this, he realized the true nature of existence and suffering (emptiness), and how suffering can be ended.

After he became the Enlightened One, he preached the sermon of the Middle Path, which shows the way to a balanced and harmonious life.

Lord Buddha’s Life as Prince Siddhartha

I earlier brought to you details on the birth of Lord Buddha, who was named Siddhartha.

King Shuddodana – the Father of Prince Siddartha, eager that his son should become a king like himself, was determined to shield the child from anything that might result in him taking up the religious life.

And so Siddhartha was kept in one or another of their three palaces, and was prevented from experiencing much of what ordinary folk might consider quite commonplace.

He was not permitted to see the elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had dedicated themselves to spiritual practices. Only beauty and health surrounded Siddhartha.

Siddhartha grew up to be a strong and handsome young man. As a prince of the warrior caste, he trained in the arts of war.

When it came time for him to marry, he won the hand of a beautiful princess of a neighboring kingdom by besting all competitors at a variety of sports. Yashodhara was her name, and they married when both were 16 years old.

As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew increasing restless and curious about the world beyond the palace walls.

He finally demanded that he be permitted to see his people and his lands.

The king carefully arranged that Siddhartha should still not see the kind of suffering that he feared would lead him to a religious life, and decried that only young and healthy people should greet the prince.

As he was lead through Kapilavatthu, the capital, he chanced to see a couple of old men who had accidentally wandered near the parade route.

Amazed and confused, he chased after them to find out what they were. Then he came across some people who were severely ill. And finally, he came across a funeral ceremony by the side of a river, and for the first time in his life saw death.

He asked his friend and squire Chandaka the meaning of all these things, and Chandaka informed him of the simple truths that Siddhartha should have known all along: That all of us get old, sick, and eventually die.

Siddhartha also saw an ascetic, a monk who had renounced all the pleasures of the flesh. The peaceful look on the monks face would stay with Siddhartha for a long time to come.

Later, he would say this about that time: When ignorant people see someone who is dead, they are disgusted and horrified, even thought they too will be dead some day. I thought to myself: I don’t want to be like the ignorant people. After than, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with life anymore.

Tomorrow I will bring to you details on how Prince Siddhartha left the Palace seeking an end to the suffering of mankind and how he attained enlightenment eventually becoming the greatest savior of humanity.

2600th Sri Sambuddathwa Jayanthi - Birth of Lord Buddha

There was a small country in what is now southern Nepal that was ruled by a clan called the Shakyas. The head of this clan, and the king of this country, was named Shuddodana, and his wife was Mahamaya Devi. Mahamaya was expecting her first born. She had had a strange dream in which a baby elephant had blessed her with his trunk, which was understood to be a very auspicious sign to say the least.

As was the custom of the day, when the time came near for Queen Mahamaya to have her child, she traveled to her father's kingdom for the birth.

But during the long journey, her birth pains began.

In the small town of Lumbini, she asked her maids to assist her to a nearby grove of trees for privacy.

One large tree lowered a branch to her to serve as a support for her delivery.

They say the birth was nearly painless, and a gentle rain fell on the mother and the child to cleanse them.

It is said that the child was born fully awake, he could speak, and told his mother he had come to free all mankind from suffering.

He could stand, and he walked a short distance in each of the four directions. Lotus blossoms rose in his footsteps.

They named him Siddhartha, which means "he who has attained his goals." Sadly, Mahamaya Devi died only seven days after the birth. After that Siddhartha was raised by his mother’s kind sister, Mahaprajapati.

King Shuddodana consulted Asita, a well-known sooth-teller, concerning the future of his son. Asita proclaimed that he would be one of two things: He could become a great king, even an emperor. Or he could become a great savior of humanity.

Tomorrow we will focus on Lord Buddha’s Life as Prince Siddartha.

Osama is dead - but it does not mark the End of Terror in the world

Osama Bin Laden – a brutal extremist Islamist Terror Chief who was hunted by US forces after the September 11^th attack was eventually shot dead in Pakistan on the 1^st of May. It is important to note that just like Prabakaran, Osama had also boasted saying that he will never let his enemies get hold of his body. But eventually both these ruthless, heartless terror chiefs had to say good bye to life and probably make their way to down to hell.

Osama Bin Laden formed the Al Qaeda in 1988 and declared war on the US in 1998. In the process he has taken away the lives of close to 10,000 innocent people which also includes the slap on the face of the US when he brought down the heart of the world economy – the Twin towers in US. The death toll in that attack alone stands over 3000.

Osama is dead - that makes 2 less daemons on earth, but is it all over?

However, Southeast Asian terror networks appear to believe the killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces in Pakistan is the equivalent of a bloody nose, rather than a body blow, to their jihadist cause.

Southeast Asia jihadist movements such as Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines have cooperated with and been inspired by Al-Qaeda, but their aims and means are independent.

Aqil Siradj, chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, the moderate Nahd-latul Ulama, which claims 60 million members, said Osama's demise "won't automatically eradicate radicalism from the earth".

The region's best-known Al-Qaeda-linked groups, Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf, have murdered hundreds of people across Southeast Asia since well before the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

While congratulating US President Barack Obama and the CIA Chief for the master plan to kill Osama Bin Laden, we should also remember that the War on Terror is not over.

Japan Quake Shortens Earth Days - What could happen?

The massive 9.0 earthquake and Giant Tsunami in Japan has not only taken away the lives of over 5,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people but the earthquake has even shortened the length of Earth days and shifted its axis.

NASA has now stated that the Japan earthquake the fifth largest since 1900 has affected Earth's rotation.

The Japanese earthquake should have caused Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds.

The calculations also show the Japan quake should have shifted the position of Earth's figure axis by about 17 centimeters.

Adding to Japan’s problems the Fukushima – Daiichi and Fukushima – Daiini Nuclear plants have reported several explosions increasing Radiation levels within a radius of 30 Km’s.

Japan, USA and several other countries are trying their very best at the moment to prevent a large scale Nuclear disaster. But the lesson to be learnt is if a major earthquake occurs near a Nuclear plant and it explodes it could easily wipe out an entire continent or several countries.

There are some views expressed by people that the North and South axis of the earth may shift some day, and with these sort of incidents where the earths rotation time is changing I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens.

But looking at the Nuclear disaster it seems as if humans will be harmed and probably destroyed by the great technologies such as nuclear technology invented by man himself.

Valentines Day - A Day for expensive gifts or Priceless Love?

Romance is an ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people. 'Love' has been one of the most thought about and talked about emotions. And, some of us fall short when it comes to understanding love. It is also one of the most complicated of all emotions known to man.

Valentines Day is a day that is most waited for by so many people especially by the youth, who are eager to express their love and affection towards their loved one, in the most unexpected means to bring a smile on the face of the one they love. I don’t want to sound a jerk by coming up with something absurd like “Valentines day is just another day” or “what is there to celebrate on valentines day”. But the point is, are we celebrating Valentines Day properly?

It would be useful to have a look at the history of valentines day. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Love is pure and pure love is priceless, and to be honest it is very hard to find. In life we may come across of people who have made immense sacrifices on behalf of love or their loved one and also some who show no respect towards their loved one after giving him or her thousands of promises. Lovers who love each other enormously, cannot be blamed for not paying much attention towards
Valentines day, because their Love is at its pinnacle. But yes, having a separate day dedicated for love is important specially when love is new and is indeed a brand new experience.

Well this is a time period where simply the song "Love is in the Air" comes to my mind. But not to forget that this is also a time where Marketers and traders take undue advantage of the opportunity, on the pretext of being the friend of Lovers during the season. We all try to get our loved one something precious, but we should be careful not to get caught in certain traps laid by big market
players.

Make this a day to say sorry to the one you love and take in to mind never to hurt him/her ever again. Also forget any problems you had, and make a promise to each other to never hurt each other again, but to love with lots of care and affection. Cherish the moments on this Valentines day, and make it a beginning to a journey with your loved one till the end of your life.

Look in the eyes of your loved one and say "I Love You" and mean it from the very bottom of your heart. That would be more precious and memorable than an expensive flashy gift.

2012 is happening? Take it serious at least now

18 dead in Sri Lanka – 200,000 affected in Australia -24 dead in Brazil

A sudden change in weather patterns around the world has taken the lives of several people, affected the lives of millions of people and has caused tremendous damage.

As of late several natural disasters have killed thousands of people, and the “2012 factor” which is that the world might experience a large scale natural disaster in the year 2012 seems to be showing some signs of credibility.

We in Sri Lanka are already experiencing one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, and by now 18 people have lost their live here. Around 1 million people in our country are displaced and are housed in camps.

2 weeks ago over 50 people were killed in India due to cold weather specially in Delhi, Haryan, Punjab and Kashmir. These temperatures (minus 23) were record breaking temperatures which have never been experienced in India.

With all these happening around us who thought that a dry country like Australia would be hit by floods. Up to 20,000 homes are now at risk in Brisbane, as deadly floodwater hit Australia's third-largest city. Central Brisbane is a ghost town, with electricity cut and thousands of people fleeing the rising waters. The death toll from the flash floods in Queensland is 12 so far, with dozens of others reported missing.

Elsewhere in the world at least 24 people have died as heavy rains continue to batter parts of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

It is extremely disturbing to see such dramatic changes in weather patterns causing chaos around the world. Although 2012 may not see the end of the world, it is going to see the end of at least a part of it.