What
Buddhists Believe
Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera
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Historical
Evidence of the Buddha
The Buddha is the greatest conqueror
the world has ever seen. His Teaching illuminates the way for mankind to
cross from a world of darkness, hatred and suffering to a new world of
light, love and happiness.
Gautama
the Buddha was not a mythical figure but an actual, historical personality
who introduced the religion known today as Buddhism. Evidence to prove the
existence of this great religious Teacher are to be found in the following
facts:
The testimonies of those
who knew Him personally. These testimonies were recorded in the
rock-inscriptions, pillars and pagodas made in His honour. These
testimonies and monuments to His memory were created by kings and others
who were near enough to His time to be able to verify the story of His
life.
The discovery of places
and the remains of buildings that were mentioned in the narrative of His
time.
The Sangha, the holy order
which He founded, has had an unbroken existence to the present day. The
Sangha possessed the facts of His life and Teachings which have been
transmitted from generation to generation in various parts of the world.
The fact that in the very
year of His death, and at various times subsequently, conventions and
councils of the Sangha were held for the verification of the actual
Teachings of the Founder. These verified Teachings have been passed on
from teacher to pupil from His time to the present day.
After His passing away,
His body was cremated and the bodily relics were divided among eight
kingdoms in India. Each king built a pagoda to contain his portion of the
relics. The portion given to King Ajatasatthu was enshrined by him in a
pagoda at Rajagriha. Less than two centuries later, Emperor Asoka took the
relics and distributed them throughout his empire. The inscriptions
enshrined in this and other pagodas confirmed that those were the relics
of Gautama the Buddha.
'The Mahavansa', the best
and authentic ancient history known to us gives detailed particulars of
life as well as details of the life of Emperor Asoka and all other
sovereigns related to Buddhist history. Indian history has also given a
prominent place to the Buddha's life, activities, Buddhist traditions and
customs.
The records which we can
find in the Buddhist countries where people received Buddhism a few
hundred years after the Buddha's passing away such as Sri Lanka, Burma,
China, Tibet, Nepal, Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia
and Laos show unbroken historical, cultural, religious, literary and
traditional evidence that there was religious Teacher in India known as
Gautama the Buddha.
The Tripitaka, an unbroken
record of His 45 years of Teaching is more than sufficient to prove that
the Buddha really lived in the world.
The accuracy and
authenticity of the Buddhist texts is supported by the fact that they
provide information for historians to write Indian history during the 5th
and 6th century B.C. The texts, which represent the earliest
reliable written records in India, provide a profound insight into the
socio-economic, cultural and political environment and conditions during
the Buddha's lifetime as well as into the lives of His contemporaries,
such as King Bimbisara.
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Source: Buddhist
Study and Practice Group, http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/
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Layout: Chan Duc - Nguyen Thao
Update : 01-11-2002
