RE: Why?
ORIGINAL: songstress
So what sex was the 'original' Buddha? I have heard Buddha referred to as 'he', but never as an androgynous being.
I heard he was an Indian prince who learnt of the suffering of the poor.
ORIGINAL: Energylz
statue of Buddha supposed to show him/her with boobs, but most of those on sale make Buddha mistakenly appear to be male?I'm gonna have to go off and have a look now.... 😮
any excuse to surf the web for pictures of breasts, eh? [8D]
RE: Why?
ORIGINAL: songstress
So what sex was the 'original' Buddha? I have heard Buddha referred to as 'he', but never as an androgynous being.
I'm only guessing, assuming that Buddha was a real person at some point, but it could have been a female who renounced all female qualities to take on a more neutral appearance, or it could have been a male who renounced all male qualities to do the same.
My knowledge of Buddhism is very small as I'm too busy learning loads of other stuff atm. It's the other half that's been doing all the reading on it.
ORIGINAL: DarrenFollowsThePath
ORIGINAL: songstress
So what sex was the 'original' Buddha? I have heard Buddha referred to as 'he', but never as an androgynous being.I heard he was an Indian prince who learnt of the suffering of the poor.
I'll have a word with the other half again and get back to you all.....
ORIGINAL: Energylz
statue of Buddha supposed to show him/her with boobs, but most of those on sale make Buddha mistakenly appear to be male?
I'm gonna have to go off and have a look now.... 😮any excuse to surf the web for pictures of breasts, eh? [8D]
Oh yeah, that'd go down well in the office. Suppose that's one way to get out of working quickly. [&:]
Love and Reiki Hugs
RE: Why?
ORIGINAL: DarrenFollowsThePath
any excuse to surf the web for pictures of breasts, eh? [8D]
LOL, yep, that's Giles, it seems.
Seriously, Buddhism derives from the semi-historical life of Gautama Buddha aka Siddhartha. He was definitely male! But I'm not a Budhist either, so no expert. Later on in Buddhism, or rather in its branches as there is not 'one' Buddhism, various supposed deities have also been called 'buddhas'. But the original was Siddhartha, a prince and father.
RE: Why?
ok, I've checked with 'her in the know' and you're right, the original Buddha was a prince as you describe above (the story is quite interesting from what I've been reading in the book). The prince was made by his father to marry a beautiful woman in order to try and keep him in the palace, as he had already stated his intention that he wanted to go out into the forest to seek enlightenment. He put no value on material things and, even after being married, was further guided to go to the forest to seek enlightenment. His father tried to stop him by providing many beautiful women etc. but this did nothing for him. Eventually he used his magic powers to cause all the gaurds to fall asleep, allowing him to escape from the palace. He then went to the forest where he cut off his hair and offered it to the Gods, and then he removed his princly clothing and offered that to the Gods. The Gods gave him the orange coloured robes that he donned to become a monk... and that was the start of things to come. 🙂
So although the original Buddha was male, apparently the correct representation for Buddha is as an Androgynous being. I think this is because of how he denounced material happiness, i.e. being male or female was not important in following a true spiritual life and reaching enlightenment. Also I think it could relate to how there have been more than one Buddha and the gender did not matter; although I don't know if there have been any female buddha's, I'll have to go off and check up on that now, if I get the chance....
Love and Reiki Hugs
RE: Why?
ORIGINAL: Energylz
His father tried to stop him by providing many beautiful women etc. but this did nothing for him.
Some young men have all the luck on their spiritual path, huh? 😉 I don't recall that in my early questings!
To me a key element to the story is that Siddhartha had only ever lived in the palace. His father protected his vision, awareness, and consciousness from any of the imperfections and unpleasantness of the outside world. On his first trip outside, it was then that he saw for the first time people ill and deformed, aged, dying. He had not known of the existence of these conditions before then. It shocked and saddend him. And so began his inner longing to find a solution to these great problems of life.
Actually a second key element in the story is that he attempted over years to find enlightenment through very severe austerities, and was on the verge of death from them when he realised the need for the "middle way" - that a strong body is not a hinderance but a help to the Path.
Oh, and a third element to it is that upon finding enlightenment and inner bliss, he was tempted, a bit like Jesus' temptations in the wilderness, to remain forever in that nirvana. But he refused, and returned to 'normal' life and consciousness in order to show others the way to what he had found.
V