Spirit of Community

Spirit of Community

Introduction

Defining the level of spirit of a community is a big challenge. Human beings have always required someone from time to time in order to direct them towards the correct path with a boost in courage (Stokley, 2002). Many such leaders have passed through this realm of Earth for millions of years; however only few have left a mark of their presence imprinted upon mankind's history. Some of these leaders spent their life to ensure that their people lived in peace in harmony with the understanding of unity's power. One such leader who totally twisted his fate's arm and gave a new direction to the world's beings was the unforgettable Siddharta Gautama Buddha.

Discussion

Powerful Encounters

About 2500 years ago, Gautama Buddha was born in the place now known as Nepal. Being the son of a famous Hindu King Suddhodana, he held the title of being a member of the royal family. The child was named Siddharta Buddha, where Siddharta meant “An achiever of aim” and Buddha means “To Wake Up” (Darity, 2008). He was living happily as a married man; when in the age of twenty nine, he went out of his palace to visit his kingdom.

Despite his father's efforts to keep his son safe from ever meeting the sick and suffering people of the nation, Buddha succeeded in meeting an old man who communicated to him about how every human has to grow old and face to afterlife. This concept of death and physical decay struck Buddha's mind so hard that he decided to find a solution to old age & death. For doing so, he left his palace, his wife, children and all his luxuries related to the royal life to live the life of an ascetic.

Religious Escalation

After leaving his kingdom, Buddha went to several places where he practiced his ascetic life and mastered meditation. Despite offerings from multiple rulers to become a Prince for that city, he rejected all these attractions and kept following his selected path of righteousness. Six years after leaving the palace, he decided to meditate and concentrate under the shade of an ancient tree until he received enlightenment (Low, 2010). His biography mentions that with the passage of the night, Buddha finally achieved the unachievable. He was believed to have gotten out of the cycle of suffering associated with the continuous cycle of reincarnation.

Teachings

After achieving enlightenment, Buddha spent several more weeks around the tree to increase his wisdom. Buddha's teachings seem very similar to the philosophies of Hinduism; however, he made severe changes to the Hindu way of life. For instance, he did not embrace the caste system followed in Hinduism that differentiates between human beings without logical reasons (Darity, 2008). In order to lead his followers towards the path of peace and self fulfillment, Buddha introduced the concept of Four Noble Truths around which all his teachings were themed. As stated by Lewis (2010), the four noble truths are:

The first noble truth insisted on the reality of suffering associated with human ...