Who is the Buddha?

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Siddhartha Gautama, who was revered by his disciples (Buddhists) as the Buddha, or the "Awakened One". It describes the history of Buddhism as a distinct religious tradition and the life of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The paper focuses on the narrative of Buddha's life, his wanderings and his Buddhist followers.

From the Paper:

"After his mother died Siddhartha was nursed and raised by his mother's sister, who was the second cohort of his father, the King Suddhodana. They lived in the capital Kapilavatthu. His father, the King surrounded his son with luxury and pleasures out of fear that the young prince would abandon his royal place and position and he would not have a successor. He lived the life of privilege in accordance to his father's position, with servants. Historically, "we do not know anything about his physical stature or facial appearance. We know little about his personality with absolute certainty" (Olson, 2005, p.22). Many narrators of the Buddha narrative have attributed Siddhartha with great physical beauty and strength, as well as cleverness and intellect. In due time Siddhartha married a woman named Yasodhara and had a son named Rahula with her."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Schober, J. (1997).Trajectories in Buddhist Sacred Philosophy. In J. Schober (Ed.), Sacred biography in the Buddhist Tradition of South and Southeast Asia (1-15). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Schumann, H.W. (1989) The Historical Buddha. London: Arkana
• Saddhatissa, H. (1998) Before He Was Buddha: The Life of Siddhartha. Berkeley: Seastone
• Olson, C. (2005). The Different Paths of Buddhism: A Narrative-Historical Introduction. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
• Kohn, S. C. (1994). The Awakened One: Life of the Buddha. Boston: Shambhala

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