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The historical Buddha

The historical Buddha. Did he exist? Does it matter?. The historical Buddha. Why did it become fashionable to doubt the existence of Jesus and the Buddha? What have archaeologists found to suggest that the Buddha really existed? Why might Buddhist’s be ambivalent about the historical Buddha?

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The historical Buddha

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  1. The historical Buddha Did he exist? Does it matter?

  2. The historical Buddha • Why did it become fashionable to doubt the existence of Jesus and the Buddha? • What have archaeologists found to suggest that the Buddha really existed? • Why might Buddhist’s be ambivalent about the historical Buddha? • Why is Gautama’s point of view that the “Dharma will be your guide” an important one? • What experience does the authority from which the Buddha speaks hinge on?

  3. The historical Buddha • Could the Buddha be irrelevant even to Theravada Buddhists? • Why do some Buddhists schools perform acts of devotion and worship? • Do Buddhist teachings stand by themselves?

  4. Mahayana Buddhology • Once a historical event has taken place, many of the precise details gradually fade in the minds of those who were present, and speculation arises in the minds of those who did not witness the event. • The life of the Buddha is no exception

  5. Mahayana Buddhology • The issue of the Buddha as a superman was one cause of the schism in the Buddhist community, which gave rise to the Mahasanghikas school. • They produced a huge biography of the Buddha in which the founder appears as a classic hero with supernatural powers.

  6. Mahayana Buddhology • In later works produced by other Buddhist schools, the Buddha is even more than a super hero and his life story as Gautama is portrayed simply as a play in which the cosmic principle Buddha manifests himself in order to show all beings the way out of samsaric experience.

  7. Mahayana Buddhology • In some other later works, The Buddha becomes a transcendent being, described as a cloud risen above the world which envelops the earth. His earthly life as Gautama, including his nirvana, is seen as an illusion projected onto the earth.

  8. Mahayana Buddhology • All Buddhist schools speak in places of more than one Buddha. Gautama was simply the one for the age we are studying (kalpa or aeon of time) and there have been and will be others. • The Trikaya or three Body Doctrine was developed in the 3rd – 4th centuries C.E. and part of the philosophy holds the belief that there are many worlds, each with a Buddha!

  9. The Three Body Doctrine or TRIKAYA • Dharmakaya • Sambhogakaya • Nirmanakaya

  10. Mahayana Buddhology • The function of the Buddha’s in this Mahayana philosophy is three fold:- • 1.To teach the Bodhisattvas • 2.To be Lords of Paradise – Pure Land Buddhism in China • 3.To father earthly Buddha’s.

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