Did Buddha read books on how to become enlightened, or did it just happen?
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Good question, but a tough one to answer.\n\nThe short, short answer is it just happened. \n\nThe longer more elaborate answer is that Siddhartha Gautama, then man who became the historic Buddha, spent years studying with many Religious masters including Brahmin hermits and ascetic monks. It is recorded that he surpassed his teachers in his learning and skills, yet he didn’t find what he was searching for...An end to suffering. Gautama attempted to find enlightenment through complete deprivation of worldly goods, including food, and became a complete ascetic.  However, he still found no answer to his questions. So, after discarding asceticism and concentrating on meditation, Gautama discovered what we today call the Middle Way; a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and Asceticism. Then, sitting under a pipal tree (a type of fig tree) he vowed not to arise until he had found the truth he had been searching for. Some time later, under the tree, now called the Bodhi tree, Siddhartha Gautama experienced enlightenment and became "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One", the Buddha! (Sammasambuddha)\n\nBecause of the time period, he would not have had "books" but he did spend a great deal of time studying. However, these studies did not teach him about enlightenment, and he was not looking to be 'enlightened' so to speak. In fact, you could say that his 'lessons' before he achieved enlightenment, taught him what NOT to do. He was just looking for simple answers.  It just to happened that the answer was enlightenment. \n\nI hope this helped.
191013
I have my suspicions about him, just because he was also behind a blanket at night and no one was allowed to get near him at night.  So I think he probably ate and drank then.  However, even so, his meditating all the daylight hours is impressive.  But I believe it takes more than just meditation to be truly enlightened.  I mean, if he is deceiving people about meditating at night and he's not, then I don't see how he could get far in his meditating.  But who really knows the truth.
983050
Hello there. Funny you mention this because, as a boy, the first truly inspiring text I read was the Tao Te Ching. I still find myself reading it, at least in part, once a week. This text is so simple yet profound it put me on a path to seek out even more esoteric knowledge. I have also studied the writings of Confucius, the Vedic texts  of India, Buddhism,  Zen, Shinto, Suffic Islam, etc. All in all, the Tao really opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of things. I can read about Quantum Mechanics and sub-atomic physics and find the spiritual parallels within the science. I wish more westerners could be exposed to this. My email is viewable in profile.
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Every time you see something, ask yourself if you really need it. The best way to be enlightened is to be happy with what you have and, at the end of your life, be able to look back and be satisfied with the contribution you made to the world.
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Buddhism generally explain the cause of our existence , and how to end the rebirth cycle . The main core teaching of The Lord Buddha is the Four Noble Truth and the Noble Eight Fold Path . These teachings or Dharma preach by The Buddha teaches us on how to end our suffering by practicing Morality ( Sila ) , Samadhi ( Concentration ) and Panna ( Wisdom )\n\nFrom the Dharma that The Lord Buddha have preached to us , the cause of Suffering ( our existence ) is due to Tanha ( attachment ).  Literally , Tanha means thirst which covers all the senses of greed , lust , desire, cravings , and likes .\n\nWhen there is Tanha , there will be suffering . For example , people who are very greedy and love their money so much that they do not want to be apart . This is the attachment and when they loss their money , they feel very sad which is clearly a suffering to them . Or when one loss a love one , this is also a suffering because they are very attached to the decease .\n\nAs summary : Suffering is the cause of Attachment . Attachment is the cause of Wrong View . Wrong view is the cause of Ignorant . So , By learning and practicing the Dharma , one is expected to eliminate Ignorant ( Moha / Avijja in Pali Language ) which eventually , eliminates sufferings in the end . \n\nIt may be very hard to understand Budhhism here because you may not understand what i say here . However , what i have written here is only a very general idea on what Buddhism is since there are those who have already told you who the Buddha is .\n\nIf you are interested in knowing more about Buddhism , you can always attend to the nearest Buddhist temple or other Buddhist website. There is no regulation such as if you enter a Buddhist Temple , you must be a Buddhist . Every people ( from other religion or all walks of life )is allowed to come , investigate , question and study the Dharma ( teachings of the Buddha ) without the need to convert to Buddhism if he / she has no intention to do so .\n\nHowever , for those who wish to create havoc by questioning every thing about the teaching of the Buddha in which his / her objective is not towards the understanding of the religion but more to condemning the religion , i urge them all to be more understanding and stop their action as many people will be irritated or hurt by their words.\n\nSadhu , May all be well and happy ..
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Not sure what you mean, but Siddhartha (Buddha) was raised in the Hindu faith. A lot of the concepts of Hinduism have thus found their way into Buddhism.
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i have heard from some ppl that during that period , he have travel through Tibet to India to study meditation and Buddhism ..\n\ni mean , its not impossible since Buddhism is earlier than Christianity
792402
That is, in fact, the whole purpose of life: to realize our true nature (enlightenment).  Realizing this is becoming the Buddha.  This is the same exact experience in all religions and no religion: christianity has it with Meister Eckhart and St John of the Cross, Sufism has it with Rumi, etc.
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Its a bit long...but here it is.\n\n\n1) Right View\n\nRight view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truths. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions. \n\n2. Right Intention\n\nWhile right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion. \n\n3. Right Speech\n\nRight speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.\n4. Right Action\n\nThe second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts. \n\n5. Right Livelihood\n\nRight livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occup
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you are being silly - it's fat\n\neveryone likes fat buddha.  person who said "no buddha", you are wrong.  it's fat buddha.  i know he is supposed to have "attained enlightenment" and all, but even the enlightened buddha must still accrue wisdom over time, at some rate, however small.  And it is the older buddha who is fat.  (He didn't let himself go, it's just that he decided that everything should be in moderation. He thus became moderately fat)  (the "superfat" buddha is a creation of Americanized Chinese restaurants.)
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I was in ther prescence of a person whom I suspect to have been very close to enlightenment.  She always was kind and wise.  She did not criticise others and seemed to be deeply genuinely happy.  Life did not seem to have the ability to shake her at all.  She was like a rock...others came to her for guidance or help or sometimes just to be in her prescence.\n\nShe probably didn't even have the word enlightenement in her vocabulary, she definitely would not claim to have been.\n\nShe just...was =)
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Yes... I have read the book... and I still have it on my "favorite books" library shell... I also have the little cards in the box of Course of Miracles Sayings... It was very important in my spiritual development years ago... I feel that you "find" or are sent special books to help you in your personal spiritual development.  They become steps in your spiritual knowledge to progress up to a higher spiritual level... That book played an important role in my spiritual development 30 years ago... and I have gone on to other books that have been important to me also.\nThere is some good stuff in that book...  Good Luck!
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Lin-chi lived roughly from 810 to 866 A.D., in the Tang dynasty; this book was collated by his disciples soon after his death. He stands in the Ch'an (Japanese Zen) school of Mahayana Buddhism. This school emphasised immediate enlightenment over doctrinal concerns. The teaching goes something like this. \n\nThe prime concern of Buddhism is to free the mind from clinging to the world. The root of this clinging is distinguishing sense experience into good and bad, desirable and undesirable. Such dualistic thinking needs to be transcended. Ultimate reality is wholistic, without distinctions. However, if there are no distinctions in ultimate reality, then the immediate world and our everyday life itself is part of this ultimate reality (for to distinguish it from this reality would itself be dualistic thinking). Put another way, the Buddha nature is not esoteric and other-worldly, but permeates everything. So our own Buddha nature or (in more Taoist terms) our True Human-ness is not something to be sought for, but something that already exists in us. We must be brought to realise this, but trying to realise this takes us further from this realisation. Instead, the realisation (enlightenment) must be immediate, unmediated, unreflected-upon. (I must apologise for this clumsy exposition. Both Watson and Watts explain this much more clearly)\n\nThus Lin-chi's teaching is concerned with exhorting his students to realise their immanent Buddhahood.
148323
It comes from buddism
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ok i'm going to take a wild guess that this refers to the words of the Buddha one time when he was staying in the Jeta Grove in the town of Sravasti.\n\nto take another leap i'd say his brother anada would be the actual author.\n\ni'll keep a watch on this page to see what develoes.  the problem is your translation does not fit normal sanskrit rules.  residing in the wisdom of ekottara?\n\ni believe the buddha spoke of ekottara at sravasti, shouldn't that mean it is in dharmmapada?\n\n>>Edit>> on the other hand after a day to think about it,  maybe it was Patanjali, the Yoga Sutras, which almost makes more sense.
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No, Einstien knew about Buddhism however.
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Have you ever heard of Buddha?