Buddha Jayanti or also known as Buddha Purnima is the most sacred
festivals of Buddhist. Buddha Purnima (Buddha Birthday) is celebrated in
remembrance Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. This
day is the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. It falls on the full moon
of the fourth lunar month (month of Vaisakh) i.e. April or May. This day
commemorates three important events of Buddha's life
- His birth in 623 BC.
- His enlightment i.e. attainment of supreme wisdom, in 588 BC.
- His attainment of Nirvana i.e. the complete extinction of his self at the age of 80.
This day is a thrice blessed day. Lord Buddha is considered the ninth
avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu (Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of
Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). Gautam Buddha "lived and died in about the
fifth century before the Christian era". Buddha means "enlightened one"
- someone who is completely free from all faults and mental
obstructions.
Gautama Buddha was not a god and the philosophy of Buddhism does not
entail any theistic world-view. The teachings of the Buddha are solely
to liberate human beings from the misery and sufferings of life.
According to the Buddhism, sorrow and desire are the main cause of all
the evil and suffering of this world. Lord Buddha advocated the
Eightfold Path consisting of precepts like right conduct, right motive,
right speech, right effort, right resolve, right livelihood, right
attention and right meditation to gain mastery over suffering. It is
only after following this path one can reach the ultimate aim of
Nirvana. Nirvana is the transcendental state of complete liberation.
Gautama Buddha lived and taught in northern Inda in the 6th Century B.C.
Buddha travelled far and wide teaching hundreds of followers. Even after death his disciples continued to spread his teachings.
Rich and poor alike were attracted by the simplicity of Buddha's
teaching and his emphasis on complete equality of all, a notion
antithetical to the existing Hindu caste system. The Mauryan Emperor
Ashoka espoused the Buddhist religion in the 3rd century B.C. and helped
in spreading it far and wide. Sarnath and Bodhgaya are two of the most
important pilgrimage centres for the Buddhists.
Though Buddhism originated in India and the religion has gained
tremendous popularity throughout the Far East in Asia, there are very
few practising Buddhists in the country. The number of Buddhists in the
world ranges "from less than two hundred million, to more than five
hundred million, with the lower number closer to reality."
From,
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/buddha-purnima/
