Shakyamuni Buddha

All Buddhist schools share the same foundation: they originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Historical Buddha, also known as Shakyamuni Buddha.

Siddhartha was born as a prince, the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya, who lived about three thousand years ago in the region of Magadha.

At the time of his birth, a famous prophet warned his father, the king of the Shakya clan, that if the child were allowed to witness the hardships and suffering of the world, he would follow a path of seeking and trials until becoming a spiritual leader. To prevent this outcome, King Suddhodana tried to shield his son, raising him surrounded only by beauty and wealth.

However, at the age of 29, in a famous episode, Siddhartha left the palace and for the first time encountered an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. These experiences led him to question whether there was something that could transcend such suffering.

Moved by compassion for humanity, Siddhartha abandoned his life of luxury in the palace and sought answers to his questions through ascetic practices. He forced himself to eat very little and to meditate intensely. He hoped in this way to eliminate suffering. But from his own experience, he concluded that self-mortification confuses the mind rather than benefiting it.

He then realized that the path to liberation lay neither in the extremes of luxury nor in asceticism, but in a balance between them. From this comes the expression “Middle Way”, one of the pillars of Buddhism.

At the age of 35, after seven days and nights of meditation under a fig tree, he perceived the flow of his past lives and understood that attachment was the source of his suffering. On increasingly subtle levels, his mind became fully awakened, perfectly enlightened. No longer just a prince, he was now a Buddha, The Awakened One.

His first teaching after enlightenment is known as the Four Noble Truths, which serve as guiding principles for all Buddhist traditions:

• All life is suffering. Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering, being united with what we dislike is suffering, separation from what we love is suffering, not getting what we want is suffering.
• Suffering is caused by human desires, cravings, and attachments. If there is suffering, there are causes for it — the law of cause and effect.
• Suffering can be brought to an end. This happens when desire ceases; when causes cease, suffering also ceases.
• One can be liberated from suffering by following the Eightfold Path — the eight steps taught by the Buddha to end suffering — which can be summarized as not harming beings, working for the benefit of beings, and mastering one’s own mind.

The Buddha taught that he did not invent the truth, but awakened to it. Therefore, anyone can also attain the same state of enlightenment and wisdom that he reached. Being a Buddhist does not mean believing in or worshiping his image, but rather dedicating oneself to the truth he discovered — the Laws of Nature.

The Historical Buddha is a physical and temporary manifestation of the Primordial Buddha. Thus, he was born with the noble mission of teaching us how to attain enlightenment, even in “human” form, going through the same worldly obstacles and showing us how to unite with the Primordial Buddha.

Because he is transient, it is not appropriate to make his image the object of worship. For this reason, in Primordial Buddhism temples, there are no statues of the Buddha — unlike in many other Buddhist temples. The Historical Buddha is a model to be followed, but we cannot venerate something temporary, subject to change. The Buddha himself discouraged this form of devotion.

The only way to unite with the Primordial Buddha is to cultivate him in his spiritual form, the Gohonzon (Sacred Image). Every time we recite the Odaimoku (NAMUMYOUHOURENGUEKYOU), we draw closer to the Primordial Buddha and receive the virtue of his enlightenment.