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This is told in relatively realistic terms in the earliest texts, and was soon elaborated into a complex literary mythology. The chief motif of this story, and the most distinctive feature of Buddhist myth, is the Buddha's renunciation: leaving his home and family for a spiritual quest.
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Myth in Buddhism is used at various intellectual levels in order to give symbolic and sometimes quasi-historical expression to religious teachings. Accepted on its own terms, Buddhism is a supernatural religion in the sense that, without a buddha to reveal them, the truths remain unknown. Only after human beings have received the Buddha’s revelation can they proceed apparently by their own efforts. This teaching was explicit in the early schools, in which the revelation was still thought of as historically related to Shakyamuni’s mission in the world. Gradually some Buddhists developed the idea of the Buddha’s continuous revelation and gracious assistance, deriving from his glorified state of time-transcending enlightenment. Thus, the comparatively simple mythology of the great Buddha myth developed into the far more elaborate tradition of Mahayana.
The acceptance of the mythology, whether early or fully developed, has been a crucial factor in the development of Buddhism. Without the rich mythology associated with the Buddha, the religion collapses, and nothing is left but a demythologized, supposedly historical figure in whom it makes little sense to “take refuge.” He becomes a wandering ascetic of ancient India, like many others, and the appeal and growth of his religion has no adequate explanation. It was therefore the extraordinary combination of the historical Shakyamuni and the mythology that became associated with him that set the great religion known as Buddhism on its historical course.
Myth in Buddhism is used at various intellectual levels in order to give symbolic and sometimes quasi-historical expression to religious teachings. Accepted on its own terms, Buddhism is a supernatural religion in the sense that, without a buddha to reveal them, the truths remain unknown. Only after human beings have received the Buddha’s revelation can they proceed apparently by their own efforts. This teaching was explicit in the early schools, in which the revelation was still thought of as historically related to Shakyamuni’s mission in the world. Gradually some Buddhists developed the idea of the Buddha’s continuous revelation and gracious assistance, deriving from his glorified state of time-transcending enlightenment. Thus, the comparatively simple mythology of the great Buddha myth developed into the far more elaborate tradition of Mahayana.
The acceptance of the mythology, whether early or fully developed, has been a crucial factor in the development of Buddhism. Without the rich mythology associated with the Buddha, the religion collapses, and nothing is left but a demythologized, supposedly historical figure in whom it makes little sense to “take refuge.” He becomes a wandering ascetic of ancient India, like many others, and the appeal and growth of his religion has no adequate explanation. It was therefore the extraordinary combination of the historical Shakyamuni and the mythology that became associated with him that set the great religion known as Buddhism on its historical course.
Whereas the Buddhists reject a singular creator deity or divine principle, they often use very similar language as theistic mystical traditions in describing the object of their own meditative practices, the realization of the nature of mind or Buddha nature.
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, [10] leading to freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering.
4 days ago · Buddha, the enlightened teacher and spiritual leader, revolutionized religious thought with his teachings on compassion, mindfulness, and achieving liberation from suffering.
An old, worn orientalist trope is that the Buddha was a ‘sober-minded rationalist' whose teachings were corrupted by the delusions of Asian followers, addicted to magic and mystery.
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Jan 1, 2017 · There is much debate whether Buddhism is inherently mystical or not. The concern being that if mysticism penetrates its teachings, the Buddha’s sacred biography and related practice, how could it be considered mystical.
