The Buddha was a teacher. He spent much of his life living under and teaching the Dharma. If you have taught before, you will know that when you teach a subject you cannot relate all the information about it. Something is usually left out. So the question arises: what did the Buddha leave out? Fortunately, [...]
Archive for the ‘Schumann’ Category
A Handful of Leaves
Posted in Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on August 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Thank You for Nourishing the Sangha…
Posted in Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on July 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The Buddha was a wandering mendicant monk – a bhikkhu, as called in the Theravadan tradition. He did not own anything, except for a few provisions such as an alms bowl, robes, a needle, a razor, a belt, and a water filter. He spent his time wandering, practicing, teaching the Dhamma, and growing the Sangha [...]
Hajime Nakamura and Gotama Buddha
Posted in Bhikkhu Nānamoli, Life of Buddha, Nakamura, Pāli Canon, Schumann on June 2, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The last set of books I will be looking at, for now, on the life of the Buddha is Hajime Nakamura’s two volume Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts. This set of books is much broader in scope than Bhikkhu Nānamoli’s The Life of the Buddha and H. W. Schumann’s The [...]
Living with the Buddha in the World
Posted in Life of Buddha, Schumann on May 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Imagine the Buddha was alive here and now. What would you do? How would you act? Would you practice more sincerely? Would you pilgrimage to see the Blessed One? How would you even know the Buddha was here? Would it be enough to simply claim to be a Buddha? Most likely not, I suppose, in [...]
Taking up the Homeless Life (…unless you are in the Army)
Posted in Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on May 24, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The Buddha seems to have had friendly relations with the kings of his time. Growing up the son of a rāja (head governor or president of a republic), the young Siddhattha must have spent numerous hours with his father learning the ways of governance and diplomacy. Also, it seems that holy people were highly respected. [...]
Taking up the Homeless Life (…unless you are Sick)
Posted in Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on May 21, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The Buddha and the Sangha had a doctor by the name of ‘Jīvaka Komārabhacca’. Having cured King Bimbisāra of a fistula, Jīvaka was thereby appointed to a number of royal posts, one of which included official physician for the Sangha. More than just a doctor to the Buddha and the Sangha, he also played an [...]
Taking up the Homeless Life (…with Parental Permission)
Posted in Bhikkhu Nānamoli, Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on May 19, 2010 | 5 Comments »
The Vinaya Pitaka contains the rules and codes of conduct for bhikkhunis and bhikkhus, such as codes about eating and sexual practices while living the homeless life. The Buddha laid out these codes in response to situations that would arise (and so the Vinaya contains many stories of the context in which a rule was [...]
Schumann on the Birth of the Buddha
Posted in Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on April 13, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Following the theme of the Buddha’s birth, I will briefly present Schumann’s reconstruction of the events from The Historical Buddha. The source of his reconstruction is the Nidānakathā, the introductory narrative to the book of Jātakas. Māyā, the Buddha’s mother, set out for the home of her parents in Devadaha in order to have her [...]
Mahāpajāpatī and the Order of Nuns
Posted in Life of Buddha, Order of Nuns, Pāli Canon, Schumann on March 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
After the death of Suddhodana, the Buddha’s father, the Buddha returned to Kapilavatthu. At this time, Mahāpajāpatī, the Buddha’s stepmother, approached him with a question that was found to be unwelcome and irksome. Mahāpajāpatī asked if women too could take up the homeless life and follow the Dharma proclaimed by the Enlightened One. The Buddha [...]
Before Turning the Wheel came Upaka
Posted in Decision to Teach, Life of Buddha, Pāli Canon, Schumann on March 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
After his enlightenment, the Buddha sat under the bodhi tree for seven days. He may also have spent longer amounts of time in nearby locations, although Schumann doubts this was so. What is clear, according to scripture, is that the Buddha did not immediately set out to teach. He doubted whether he could convey the [...]
