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Did the Buddha have a teacher?

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Did Buddha have a teacher?
  ofcourse!
  I think so
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satinandsmoke

PostPosted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:07 pm


I was wondering if Buddhists need teachers or guides to follow the path, did the Buddha have a teacher?

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 12, 2006 1:40 pm


Yes he did have a teacher...everything around him I suppose. Sorry for not giving too much of a deep answer though. Think of it this way, everything and every being can be our teacher. I think this is why it is called being aware...am not sure though. But take my answer with a pinch of salt because I dont want you taking it literally (well in a way it kinda is but thats besides the point).

In another way, I guess he was his own teacher as well (Siddhartha Gautama)..he learned from his mistakes, he learned not to go over to the extremes and from there he started learning from experience so some or many of his teachings I suppose are based on experience.

Shokai


satinandsmoke

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:36 pm


So in order to follow the Buddhist path we don't HAVE to have teachers/guides either??
PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 12:56 pm


satinandsmoke
So in order to follow the Buddhist path we don't HAVE to have teachers/guides either??


Not necessarily, but they help a lot and most people really ought to have one. The kind of person it takes to teach yourself all that like the Buddha did are few and far between.

[M]arquis de LaFayette


Gavriel0

PostPosted: Thu Sep 28, 2006 3:16 pm


He ahd two as an ascetic that taught him 1-7th Jhana, and the last taught him as an 8th, then he went to seek something beyond that by living in the wilderness and not eating. He saw this did not work and sat under the bodhi tree and attained enlightenment.

The Tibetan version differs (for examople, when he sits under the tree, something happened, that lead to his enlightenment not detailed in normal descriptions.), but this is the basics.
PostPosted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:22 pm


only one in a billion has the potential to awaken to self enlightenment, and even then that potential is often drowned out by society.

it is false to assume that even with a lifetime of study under a good teacher that you will awaken to enlightenment. it is possible but not a guarentee.

without a teacher it is not probable to achieve bodhivista much less enlightenment.

sometimes it is fate that you must reincarnate again before you can achieve enlightenment. that does not mean you wont lead a happy life and walk the path though.

Ravenkid9266


Eye_seE

PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 5:37 pm


We can assume that even if he didn't have a teacher he did at least have teachers, as his teachings are rather well grounded in Hindu practice. Which would require an understanding of the Hindu practice.

The main tenets of buddhism were his own personal discoveries. Which no teacher other then the world itself could of tought him.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:43 pm


Who teaches the wind to blow?

Akanishi Makoto
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Yukio-Vil

PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:08 pm


Well, since Siddhartha was a pioneer of sorts, I would think that he had to figure everything out for himself.

Unless of course you consider those from who he learned what was the wrong way to go about finding freedom from suffering his teachers, then I wouldn't think so.
PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:53 pm


Akanishi Makoto
Who teaches the wind to blow?

No one teaches the wind to blow, yet natural laws of the universe make it so.

mazuac

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ElectricLoki

PostPosted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:31 pm


Eye_seE
We can assume that even if he didn't have a teacher he did at least have teachers, as his teachings are rather well grounded in Hindu practice. Which would require an understanding of the Hindu practice.

The main tenets of buddhism were his own personal discoveries. Which no teacher other then the world itself could of tought him.


I agree with Eye_seE. The basic story is that Gautama entered religious practice by way of renunciation and strict ascetic practices as was trendy in the day. He wandered and practiced with fellow ascetics and likely received some form of tutoring from them. However, he found the practices to be nigh worthless and not leading to any form of liberation from suffering. Upon confronting his fellows with his dismay, he was rejected by them so he made a personal vow to meditate under a tree until he became liberated (if I recall correctly, he was said to have "crossed the stream of impermanence" after having been rejected by his peers and becoming dismayed with the few results of his asceticism). From there he was guided by personal force of character, careful observation of his mind, and intuitive discoveries to perfect his practice during the overnight vigil that lead to his Enlightenment. Generally, it is thought that further insight flooded Gautama upon the completion of the enlightenment process since all veils of ignorance and delusion were left behind forever.

That is the strictly Theravadan tale...The Mahayana traditions generally hold that Gautama had been a series of religious individuals for many many lifetimes prior to his birth as a prince of the Shakya clan. From this view he had acquired innumerable generations of practice and good karma that allowed for Gautama to develop the insight and personal qualities required for the fruition of complete Buddhahood. During those past lives he is said to have been a student as well as a teacher of other sages (and encountered at least one previous Buddha).
PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 5:54 am


On the way not far from Gayâ the Buddha was met by Upaka, an ascetic who, struck by the serene appearance of the Master, inquired: "Who is your teacher? Whose teaching do you profess?"

The Buddha replied: "I have no teacher, one like me does not exist in all the world, for I am the Peerless Teacher, the Arahat. I alone am Supremely Enlightened. Quenching all defilements, Nibbâna’s calm have I attained. I go to the city of Kâsi (Benares) to set in motion the Wheel of Dhamma. In a world where blindness reigns, I shall beat the Deathless Drum."

alpha male tayo

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