Tag: Buddha

Buddham Saranam Gacchami
I go to the Buddha for refuge ||OM||

Dhammam Saranam Gacchami
I go to the Dhamma for refuge ||OM||

Sangham Saranam Gacchami
I go to the Sangha for refuge. ||OM|| 

The supreme intellect within you which leads you with discrimination of right and wrong.

Celebrating Buddha Poornima…….

Buddha’s Begging Bowl has specifics like the lotus inscription on its body, the pink colour from the typical sandstone used to build it, the highly polished exterior typical of the Mauryan times and remnants of the black polish that gave it a greenish-black look. History has it that Kanishka carried the bowl to Kandahar during the time of the Fifth Buddhist Council. Thereafter, it was taken to Kabul and preserved after Afghanistan won its independence.

“What makes the bowl more unique is that it has four to five lines inscribed in Persian on its body, which is perhaps the reason why the bowl escaped the Taliban rage. The epigraphist has been entrusted with the responsibility of deciphering these lines that will hold the key to the history of the bowl," 

According to Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) experts these inscriptions were a later addition probably during 1000 AD and perhaps mentions the fact that the bowl was used by Buddha as his bhikshapatra. ASI has conducted a lot of research based on literary archival material available here and has found that the ‘bowl’ is not small and is of Buddha’s time.

The solid stone hemisphere is about 5.7 feet in diameter and its rim is 18cm thick. It is thicker in the middle and at the base. It has no cracks or abrasions, except for a palm-size area that has flaked away near the rim. The base is a delicately chiselled lotus attesting its Buddhist past. And inscribed in beautiful large calligraphic script along the rim of the bowl are six rows of Islamic writing. These could either lead to the bowl’s Buddhist antiquity or to Quranic verses reflecting its Islamic continuum and its status through the ages as an object of special religious interest. Traces of similar calligraphic script are visible on the inside of the bowl. At 350-400kg, the bowl is far too heavy to lift, ASI documents say.

Does anybody know that most of the tallest statues of the world belong to Buddha  Anyway, Buddha didn’t want himself to b made a divine figure… but his followers made him.

Hinduism at the time of Buddha was an open source platform where everyone was free to do anything… Buddha summarized diff floating ideas under a simplified framework of Eight Noble Paths (Ashtangik maarg) which were: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Diff dharmkik philosophies never had violent conflicts like monotheistic religions. Buddhism flourished under the open architecture of Hinduism along with Jainism & other philosophies not only in India but entire Asia until Islam came into existence. Considered as one of the Avatars of Vishnu, Buddha finds acceptance among monotheists as well. The Hindu-Buddhist philosphies constructively contributed to the local ideas about life, spirituality, philosophy and rationality in all parts of Asia leading to a creation of a grand homogenous peacefully co-creating spiritual architecture of Asia which we call Dharma. 

Greatest things about Dharma is that that nobody forces it upon others and has not been done in history so far.. rather people accepted it joyfully. And by accepting it, they didn’t have to cede their existing ways of life. Humanity is blessed to have a person like Buddha.

Darbha Grass or Kusha Grass is scientifically known as Desmostachya bipinnata, commonly known in English by the names Halfa grass, Big cordgrass, and Salt reed-grass, is an Old World perennial grass, long known and used in human history.

In Ayurveda, Darbha grass is also used as a medicine to treat dysentery and menorrhagia, and as used as a diuretic (to promote free flow of urine).
Since Vedic age, Darbha grass is treated as sacred plant and according to early Buddhist accounts, it was the material used by Buddha for his meditation seat when he attained enlightenment under Bodhi tree.
This grass was mentioned in the Rig Veda for use in sacred ceremonies and also to prepare a seat for priests and the gods.
Darbha or Kusha grass is specifically recommended by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as part of the ideal seat for meditation.
It is believed to block energy generated during meditation from being dischared through our body (mostly through legs and toes) into ground.

Darbha grass ringIn recent medical research, Darbha or Kusha grass has been observed to block X-Ray radiation.
Darbha is used by hindus as mat, ring on right hand ring finger while chanting vedic mantras, performing homam and all religious rituals.
For ceremonies related to death only Single leafed Darbha is used; for Auspicious and daily routine a ring made of two leaves is used; for inauspicious but not death related functions, (like Amavasya Tharpanam, Pithru Pooja etc) a three leaf Dharbham ring (Pavitram) is used and for the prayers in a temple, a Four-leaf Darbha ring is used.
Darbha has the highest value in conducting the phonetic vibrations through its tip.
Priests in India dip this tip in water and sprinkle allover the house or temple to purify the place.
During Fire-ritual (Homa), darbha is placed on all four sides of fire to help block all negative radiations.
During eclipses, darbha are placed on vessels containing water and food, so that negative effect of rays from eclipse does not spoil them.

Darbha is not cultivated everywhere but it grows naturally in selective places and is available in northeast and west tropical, and northern Africa ; and countries in the Middle East, and temperate and tropical Asia

For religious purposes, it is not cut or plucked on everyday, but only on Krishna Paksha Padyami (Next day after FullMoon day).