Let us, first of all, know who the Buddha was. Today the Buddha has been idolized. That means people built temples and carved out his idols. The Buddha was against idol-worshipping or in Nepali Murti puja. Here now the purpose of this write up as the title suggests is to describe the relevance of Buddhism in Nepal today.
The Buddha means the awakened one in its English meaning was born in Lumbini in Nepal and history chronicles this. Let us not go into details about his life and history. We are mainly concerned about his philosophy and teachings. The Buddha is popular for his principles of Non-Violence. When the Buddha was teaching Hinduism was based on castes or Barna in those days. The Buddha taught there was no caste. All humans are equal.
The Buddha taught the following:
The Four Noble Truths:
- There is Suffering.
- Cause of Suffering
- End of Suffering
- Path to end Suffering
THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH
- Right View.
- Right thought.
- Right Speech.
- Right, Conduct.
- Right Livelihood.
- Right Effort.
- Right Mindfulness.
- Right Concentration
Yes, the Buddha is very relevant even in this age of science and technology. The teachings of the Buddha are different from the rest of other religions that it is based on peace and peaceful living and treating all beings equally. Even those who go against religions and even do not believe God also follow the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha’s teachings are very simple and can accommodate all regardless of castes, creeds, colors, and nationalities. That is why the Buddha’s teachings have gone across geographical borders to China, Japan, Mongolia, Korea and Vietnam. But it is sad that we do not spread the Buddha’s teaching in this world but keep on adding buildings, temples and making idols which the Buddha himself spoke against.
