Buddha, His Life, And Why Buddha Purnima is celebrated

Though we follow many rituals, most of us won’t even know as to why Buddha Purnima is celebrated-

Why Buddha Purnima is celebrated to mark the birth of Gautam Buddha, who preached about enlightenment and his death. It is said that all three events mentioned before happened on the same date on the calendar throughout his life. All three It is a gazetted holiday in India and falls on a full moon night in May.

Here are five pointers about Gautam Buddha, his life story, and why he is worshipped :

• Buddhism is one of the largest religions that is inculcated in India and practiced here as also in various parts of the world. It has around 360 million followers all over the world which makes it the fourth largest religion in the world. The most interesting part of this religion is that it does not have any one Holy Book unlike other religions. Instead, there are many ancient scriptures that have been preserved for centuries in several Asian languages. This is because the Buddhists do not believe in a single god or a single ideal figure. It emphasises more on meditation and self-growth.

• During the time of Gautam Buddha’s life, the religions that already existed either vowed to eat too much or indulge in excess, or to fast and not indulge at all. Buddha realised that none of these practices were healthy for a human being and therefore started his own religion of meditation, preaching and inward as well as outward enlightenment.

• At a young age, Gautama Buddha was named Siddhartha. Siddhartha, after leaving his princely responsibilities and his wife and child, vowed to sit under a fig tree and meditate until he defeated the God of Desire, Mara and achieve enlightenment. That is when he became awakened and was called Buddha.

• Buddha lived in Nepal from the 6th to the 4th century BC. He was not a saintly figure from the very beginning. He was born a prince and even had a wife – Yashodhara, and child – Rahul. Buddha left his palace to look for Gurus who could teach him the art of meditation and the art of acquiring enlightenment.

• Buddha walked miles and miles through different climates to spread his learnings and teach meditation. He also vowed to practice moderation in everything he did. He fasted everyday and was very lean, but he is depicted as chubby because it is a sign of prosperity and good health in the East. This is a unique, or rather, unknown fact about Gautama Buddha.

This is why Buddha is a famous figure for spiritual people and otherwise and the reason why Buddha Purnima is celebrated. Spirituality and religion might be a controversial topic for the new generation, but it is definitely needed in today’s stressful times. We recommend you to try practicing Buddhism once. You never know, it might help you!

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