Siddhartha Gautam Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama (also known as the Buddha "the woke up one") was your head and founder of any sect of wanderer ascetics (Sramanas), one of many sects which existed at that time all over India. This sect came to be known as Sangha, to distinguish it from other similar communities. The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama are considered the key of Buddhism: after his death, the city this individual founded slowly evolved into a religious-like movement which was finally established as a state religion in India by the time of Emperor Ashoka, during the 3rd century BCE.

Siddhartha is a Sanskrit personal name which means "He Who Achieves His Goal". The name is best known in English language as the title of the novel by Hermann Hesse, in which the key character (who actually is not the Buddha) is named Siddhartha. The Sanskrit family name Gautama means "descendants of Gotama". Gotama is the name of several figures in old India, together with a poet of the Machine Veda and also Aksapada Gautama (or Gotama), a famous Indian logician. Pali literature normally refers to Siddhartha Gautama as Gotama Buddha.

Traditionally, the so this means of the word Buddha is understood as a person who has awakened from the deep sleep of ignorance. In Indian traditions, the expression was already used before, during, and after the life of Siddhartha by many strict communities, but it became most strongly linked to the Buddhist tradition.

HISTORIC CONTEXT

At the time when Siddhartha Gautama resided, Northern India was consisting of numerous and small independent states competing for resources. This was an occasion when the traditional spiritual order in India was being challenged by a number of new philosophical and religious schools that have been not in line with the orthodox Indian strict views. The Vedic idea, theology and metaphysics, along with its growing complexness of rituals and sacrificial fees, was being asked. Materialistic schools were jogging wild in India, shorting the reputation and power of the priestly school, leading to a non permanent strict anarchy which contributed to the development of new religions. By the time Siddhartha Gautama was delivered, the intellectual decay of the old Brahmanic orthodoxy had begotten a strong skepticism and moral cleaner that was filled by new religious and philosophical views.

Siddhartha's ideas have some similarities with the work of Kapila, an Native american sage who lived probably about two centuries previously. Both were focused on providing humanity with a pain relief from suffering. They removed the remedies proposed by the Vedic rites, especially the sacrifices; they considered these rites to be cruel because of their strong connection with the slaughter of living creatures. Both of them assumed that knowledge and deep breathing were the actual means of salvation. Also, they both strived to attain a situation of human flawlessness and the approach was purely agnostic. Nevertheless , the parallels go no more. Kapila organized his views in a system of philosophy that has not a hint of empathy for mankind generally. The Buddha, on the other hand, delivered his meaning with a living, all-embracing sympathy and a deep concern for the poor and the oppressed. This individual preached in favour of the equality of men (which was largely overlooked in the Indian culture during his time) and opposed inequalities and violations of the caste system.