May 6, 2012 is celebrated as Buddha Jayanti or Buddha Purnima
Great Beings have taken birth on earth to teach us lessons of patience, love, nonviolence, peace and the path to God. Those who were born with extraordinary power are called Avatars. These Avatars taught mankind to live life in the right manner, the truths of life and the ways to go within and reach the truth of Light of which we are made up of. To go within oneself, one has to meditate. And when we say the word meditation, a few names and images flash in our minds: Lord Shiva in deep meditation in the snowy peaks of Himalayas amidst the howling icy winds; Lord Vishnu in eternal meditation lying on the Anant Shesh Nag in the Ocean of Milk, Lord Kapil in meditation for many thousands of years and Buddha, with His face serene, glowing with the Light and Peace within Him. Buddha is considered to be the ninth Avatar of Vishnu and he achieved great heights in His Life .His life was so peaceful and blissful that wherever He was present, people experienced the same peace and bliss and were transformed and started following His teachings.
The first Purnima of the first Hindu month of Chaitra or Chitra is also called Buddha Purnima. It falls in the month of April/May. This is a blessed day for the followers of Buddha and meditation as it commemorates three important events of His life: It was on this day that He took birth on earth; on this day, many years later on, He achieved Nirvana and it was on this day that He also left His body. During His stay on earth, He taught people that anger, attachment and ignorance were the root causes of suffering and pain in the world and when one followed the eightfold path -right conduct, right motive, right speech, right effort, right resolve, right livelihood, right attention and right meditation , one gained mastery over suffering. When we follow the eightfold path, we will ultimately attain Nirvana. Nirvana is the transcendental state of complete liberation. From his experiences, Buddha knew that austerities can make a man hard and withdrawn and indulgence can make him soft and indifferent. So He taught the Middle Path which is a balanced way of love and compassion. His teachings were simple and easy to follow and his followers experienced peace and balance in their daily lives. Though Buddha lived and taught in North India, His teachings spread throughout India, to SriLanka, Tibet, China and Japan and to other countries.
The life of Siddharth Gautam Buddha is that of a man who lived in heights of pleasures and luxuries and who woke up after seeing the pains of sickness, old age and death. At His birth, it was predicted that He would become a great monarch or a great ascetic. His father did not want Him to be an ascetic. He wanted His son to be a normal being and hence he protected Him from anything which would make Him an introvert and start seeking the truth within Himself. Prince Siddharth lived a life of luxury and enjoyed the pleasures of delicious foods, wine and women. His father ensured that His son was always sunk deep in pleasures of senses. But fate had other things in store for Siddharth. He came face to face with the realities of pain, suffering and death and realised that He too would have to undergo them despite the great wealth of His father and His luxurious lifestyle. This made Him go within himself and seek the truth. He sought the advice of the court priest and court Guru and one night slipped away from His home in search of the truth which would liberate Him from the worldly pains and sorrows.
Buddha was born in 623 BC and He attained Nirvana in 588 BC. He travelled all over north India teaching and helping others and gave up His body at the age of 80. The truths He taught then are as applicable today as they were in those days. Buddha stands for finding truth in meditation. When He walked past, all those who were in the area received Shaktipat and went into meditation. He had reached such an exalted state. We are followers of same path of meditation – Kundalini Maha Yoga. Let us renew our pledge to dedicate time and effort to do japa and meditate on a regular and disciplined basis and follow the teachings of our Guru. Let us be loyal and dedicated to our Guru so that we receive Guru Kripa and reach the same state of liberation or Nirvana that Buddha reached.
