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Sunita Kapur
Sunīta was a highly accomplished disciple of the Buddha. He was born in a family of untouchables whose job was of sweeping around the temple area. According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu's translation of the Theragāthā account, Sunīta laments: :"People found me disgusting, :despised me, disparaged me. :Lowering my heart, :I showed reverence to many." Sunīta continues, describing his meeting with the Buddha and ordination: :The compassionate Teacher, :sympathetic to all the world, said: ::"Come monk." :That was my formal Acceptance. Sunīta practiced arduously and eventually became an Arhant. His status was acknowledged by the gods Brahmā Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp ... and Śakra: :Then, as night was ending :& the sun returning, :Indra & Brahmā came to pay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic ( sa, śramaṇa). After leading a life of begging, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes meditation and instruction in Buddhist ethics such as right effort, mindfulness, and '' jhana''. He di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Untouchable (India)
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of ''Panchama''. Dalits now profess various religious beliefs, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam. Scheduled Castes is the official term for Dalits as per the Constitution of India. History The term ''Dalit'' is a self-applied concept for those called the "untouchables" and others that were outside of the traditional Hindu caste hierarchy. Economist and reformer B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) said that untouchability came into Indian society around 400 CE, due to the struggle for supremacy between Buddhism and Brahmanism (an ancient term for Brahmanical Hinduism). Some Hindu priests befriended untouchables and were demoted to low-caste ranks. Eknath, another excommunicated Brah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theragatha
The ''Theragatha'' (''Verses of the Elder Monks'') is a Buddhist text, a collection of short poems in Pali attributed to members of the early Buddhist sangha. It is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, the collection of minor books in the Sutta Pitaka. A similar text, the Therigatha, contains verses attributed to early Buddhist nuns. Etymology ''Theragatha'' is a Pali word, constructed from the words ''thera'' (elder, masculine) and ''gāthā'' (verse). Overview The Theragatha consists of 264 poems, organized into 21 chapters. Chapters are based on the number of verses in the poem, but beyond chapter 16 the chapter headings are only a rough guide. Various figures for the number of total verses in the collection are given- the oral tradition claimed 1360, 1294 are mentioned in summaries within the text, but a plain count of the verses gives a number of 1279. This may be because different versions of the Theragatha were combined to produce the current version of the te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arhant
In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated from the endless cycle of rebirth. Mahayana Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions. A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda, and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas.Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. ''Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra''. 2008. p. 44Warder, A.K. ''Indian Buddhism' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmā (Buddhism)
is a leading god ( deva) and heavenly king in Buddhism. He is considered as a protector of teachings (''dharmapala''), and he is never depicted in early Buddhist texts as a creator god. In Buddhist tradition, it was the deity Brahma Sahampati who appeared before the Buddha and invited him to teach, once the Buddha attained enlightenment. Brahma and lords over the heavenly realm of rebirth called the ''Brahmaloka,'' one of the highest realms in Buddhist cosmology. Brahma is generally represented in Buddhist culture as a god with four faces and four arms, and variants of him are found in Mahayana Buddhist cultures. Origins and nomenclature The origins of Brahma in Buddhism and other Indian religions are uncertain, in part because several related words such as one for metaphysical Ultimate Reality (Brahman), and priest (Brahmin) are found in the Vedic literature. According to KN Jayatilleke, the Rigveda expresses skepticism about major deities such as Indra; whether he even ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śakra (Buddhism)
Śakra (Sanskrit: शक्र Śakra; Pali: सक्क Sakka) is the ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven according to Buddhist cosmology. He is also referred to by the title "Śakra, Lord of the Devas" (Sanskrit: '; Pali: '). The name Śakra ("powerful") as an epithet of Indra is found in several verses of the Rigveda. In East Asian cultural traditions, Śakra is known as ''Dìshìtiān'' (帝釋天) or ''Shìtí Huányīn'' (釋提桓因) in Chinese, as ''Taishakuten'' (帝釈天) in Japanese, as ''Jeseokcheon'' (제석천) in Korean, and as ''Đế Thích Thiên'' (帝釋天) or ''Thích Đề Hoàn Nhân'' (釋提桓因) in Vietnamese. In Chinese Buddhism, Śakra is sometimes identified with the Taoist Jade Emperor (Yùhuáng Dàdì 玉皇大帝, often simplified to Yùhuáng 玉皇); both share a birthday on the ninth day of the first lunar month of the Chinese calendar (usually in February). The Trāyastriṃśa heaven in which Śakra rules is located on the top o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arhats
In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated from the endless cycle of rebirth. Mahayana Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood. The understanding of the concept has changed over the centuries, and varies between different schools of Buddhism and different regions. A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda, and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas.Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. ''Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra''. 2008. p. 44Warder, A.K. ''Indian Buddhism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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