Buddhism has an extraordinary place in China's religious system. Historically, many dynasties have enshrined Buddhism as the "state religion". For many people, their first understanding of Buddhism often comes from the image of the Buddha in the popular TV series "Journey to the West" in the summer.
In "Journey to the West", we see the Buddha's Pudu sentient beings, whether they are the Buddha or Guanyin Bodhisattva, they all have equal compassion for all beings in the world.
There is a famous saying in Buddhism: "One flower is one world, one leaf is one Bodhi", and this sentence allows us to understand the meaning beyond the mundane. However, many people do not know much about the image of the Buddha, and even when they see his image for the first time, they can't help but feel funny. The pimple bag on the Buddha's head makes people wonder, what is this?
Some people think it's hair, others think it's natural, but in fact, the "bag" on the Buddha's head is not something that ordinary people can have. This bag represents the achievements of the Buddha's practice, and it is also a symbol of awe of the gods and Buddhas.
Monks who practice in Buddhist temples are often referred to as monks, and they preach the Dharma and dispel the doubts of sentient beings. But why are most monks bald?
This is because Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, began to spread the Dharma after his enlightenment, attracting many followers.
In Buddhism, the world is generally regarded as nothing, and all suffering is considered to be abandoned. And hair is also regarded as the bond of red dust, symbolizing what we often call "three thousand troubles".
The goal of cultivation is to abandon the distractions of the world, so that we can pursue the so-called happiness and reach the other side of the practice.
As a result, hair is seen as a secular entanglement, and Shakyamuni personally shaved the hair of his first five ** when he taught the Dharma, symbolizing that they became his own personal lineage**.
As a result, Buddhism developed the tradition of shaving hair. Only when one can truly abandon all material constraints from the outside world and attain enlightenment of self-cultivation can one truly understand the essence of Buddhism.
Nowadays, Buddhism also follows the ritual of shaving hair when it passes on the Dharma and collects it. This symbolizes the acceptance of the other person into the empty door, which has been a practice since ancient times. As the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni's experience is also intriguing. Legend has it that Shakyamuni had a dream when his mother was pregnant and saw a white elephant enter her womb.
Therefore, after Shakyamuni became a Buddha, his mount was the white elephant, which later became the lotus seat.
He was born in the kingdom of Kapila in northern India, where his father was the king of the country, belonged to the high caste of India, and his mother was also of noble birth, but died seven days after Shakyamuni was born.
Shakyamuni showed an extraordinary temperament from an early age, was pampered, became the crown prince of the country, and received a Brahmin education.
He began to feel the suffering of the world, but he could not find a way out of it. He became more and more contemplative, and finally resolutely left the palace and embarked on the path of cultivation.
Shakyamuni showed the qualities of having a heart for the world and a firm will. In the process of his practice, he visited the famous teachers of the time and searched for a path.
Under Aloro's guidance, he began to lead a spiritual life. Although the concept of Buddhism had not yet been fully formed at that time, he had already begun to dabble in concepts such as "nothing" and "Zen". On the path of spiritual practice, Shakyamuni has always pursued his faith. His persistence eventually led to the rise of Buddhism.
The Buddha, that is, Shakyamuni, is also known as the Buddha. In Buddhism, the word "nyorai" means true truth, which refers to the actual experience of time and personal efforts that ultimately achieve cause and effect and reach the state of Buddhahood. Conveying the concept of Truthfulness to the world through the true identity of Nyorai helps to relieve people's worldly troubles.
For example, "harmony" and "coming" can be understood as the meaning of nirvana and liberation, and it can also be interpreted as "experiencing the righteousness of birth and death as it is, so that coming is relative to coming." This view embodies the dialectical thinking of Buddhism and the yearning for nirvana, as well as the belief of Buddhist believers in reincarnation.
In Buddhism, we often see the image of the Buddha, usually sitting cross-legged on a golden lotus flower with a small bag on top of his head. Some people think that it is the hair of the Buddha, but in fact, it is not the hair of the Buddha, but a manifestation of the Buddha called "flesh bun".
The bun is a type of Buddha in Buddhism and one of the thirty-two types of Buddha appearances. To put it simply, it represents an image of the Buddha, so the small bag on the top of the head is not the hair of the Buddha, but his Buddha appearance. "Bun ......The parietal bone is raised and naturally forms a bun", which is a natural growth phenomenon, and not every enlightened Buddha will have a bun.
In Buddhist scriptures, it is recorded that only the great Buddha would have a bun on the top. The word "adult" here does not refer to an adult as we understand it in modern times, but to a person with extraordinary achievements and abilities, even beyond the average Buddha. The bun is rounded and rotates to the right.
According to the Sutra of the Treasure Maiden, the reason why you were able to obtain the Buddha image of the flesh bun was because you made offerings to ancient sages and elders and then obtained it through practice.
This also involves the "karmic causes" mentioned above, which are the karma of the nuras themselves. He has accumulated merit in his practice, guided sentient beings through suffering, and shown boundless mind, which is why he has this beautiful appearance.
It can be said that this Buddha represents the ability of the Buddha to maintain his respect for the ancient sages and his tolerance for all beings in the world after going through many difficulties. He had a big heart, defying hardships and dangers, spreading the Dharma in the world, saving many suffering sentient beings, and creating the good causes for eternity, so that he could have this appearance.
Therefore, his flesh and body are also extremely valuable. So, what difficulties did you experience in your practice?
When he was Shakyamuni, he decided to go to the snow-capped mountains to attain enlightenment, and five dervishes wanted to go with him. Mention of ascetics, who often have their own unique way of practice.
The idea of the ascetics is that there is a limit to the suffering in the world, and that if they suffer a little more, others will be able to alleviate a little bit of suffering. In China's **, Qinghai and other places, there are still ascetics. Speaking of which, Shakyamuni took five ascetics to start his practice, but he has been living a wandering life.
After six years of enlightenment, his body became very weak, but he was still deeply confused and did not know how to free himself from suffering.
It wasn't until he was rescued later that he realized that there was no complete relief from suffering. In that year, Shakyamuni officially realized his own path, which is to "live with oneself" and use his own practice to save all sentient beings.
Legend has it that Shakyamuni once witnessed an eagle about to kill a pigeon, but the eagle was as skinny as wood.
Seeing this, Shakyamuni had no choice but to take the pigeon into his arms. Seeing this, the eagle angrily rebuked: "You can save the pigeon, but do you want to watch me starve to death?" ”
Shakyamuni asked, "What do you want to eat?" The eagle replied that he wanted meat, so Shakyamuni cut off a piece of meat from his arm and fed it to the eagle.
But the Eagles were not satisfied, and instead kept asking for more. Shakyamuni did not hesitate to continue cutting off the pieces of flesh until his body was almost cut off, and the eagle was still not satisfied.
Shakyamuni asked the eagle, "Do you regret it now?" Without hesitation, he replied, "I have no regrets." In order to convince the eagle of his sincerity, Shakyamuni vowed that if he was sincere, his physical body would be intact.
As soon as the words fell, the wounds on Shakyamuni's body immediately healed, the muscles grew back, and the eagle was deeply moved, it turned out that he was testing Shakyamuni's sincerity.
While practicing under the Bodhi tree, Shakyamuni made a vow that if he did not attain enlightenment on the right path, he would never get up.
During that time, in order to prevent Shakyamuni's liberation, the Demon King sent a beautiful witch to ** him. However, Shakyamuni was unimpressed by these **. Later, the Demon King sent ** to threaten him, but these ** couldn't get close to his body.
After many stages of asceticism and demon subjugation, Shakyamuni finally attained the Buddhahood when he was 30 years old. He proposed that all living beings are Buddhas, and that everyone has the potential to become a Buddha.
Then, Shakyamuni spread the Dharma and founded Buddhism. His experience shows us why he was able to achieve the Likeness. Every difficult experience was condensed in his flesh.
Therefore, some people say that such a bun is feared by gods and demons. This is not only because we can see Shakyamuni's broad understanding of the Dharma, but also because we can see the sincerity of his heart. This sincerity terrifies all evil thoughts.
Although Buddhism originated in India, in China, it blended Chinese culture to form a unique path of development.
During the time of Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, two Tianzhu monks from the Dayue clan were invited to Luoyang to spread Buddhism. They rode on a white horse and carried all the sutras and statues. Therefore, in order to commemorate their arrival, Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty built the White Horse Temple in Luoyang.
Buddhism soon took deep roots in China. This was due to the emperor's love and support for Buddhism at that time. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the common people were living in poverty, and Buddhist teachings, such as liberation from the sea of suffering, reincarnation and cause and effect, deeply penetrated into people's hearts. As the saying goes, "If you don't go to the place of suffering, you don't believe in gods and Buddhas", and this belief brings spiritual comfort to people.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism flourished and many temples were built. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism reached its peak, whether it was Jianzhen's eastward crossing or Taizong's dispatch of "Tang monks" to the west to learn scriptures, all of which showed the court's strong support for Buddhism. Xuanzang's journey to the west to learn scriptures created a new era of Chinese Buddhism and formed a unique Chinese Buddhist style.
During the Ming Dynasty, Buddhism gradually declined, and at the same time, Taoism became dominant. However, during the Qing Dynasty, Buddhism was revitalized due to the emperor's preference for Buddhism. To this day, ordinary people still have a sense of reverence for Buddhism, and the ideas of Buddhism continue to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and continue to grow and develop on the land of China. List of high-quality authors