Buddha's contributions to the world of philosophy
Buddhism, a religion that is practiced by most Indian communities, is named after Gautama Buddha. He was a religious teacher, and his work began in the north of India. The dates for his birth and death have been subject to discussion as they are not certain. Different researchers have indicated different dates, but they all range at around the mid BCE. Information that concerns and illustrates the life of Buddha is mainly contained in his writings and texts. The Buddha had monks who were his followers, and during his life he spent time with the monks conversing and reviewing his knowledge on spirituality. His monks were very loyal, and after the Buddha's death they thrived to conserve and maintain his teachings and made accounts of his life and his death and his general lifestyle. Each monk was given a portion of the research work to establish it in his own wordings, and this was a successful ordeal. To do this the monks used legends and tales that could be easily remembered as compared to complex theories and myths (Karen 2001).
After the monks the teachings of Buddha have been preached and told over geographical areas, but at that time they were often told verbally. It is after a long period of time after Buddha's death that his teachings were preserved in written forms. To come up with the written forms the monks had to edit and include some of their own understanding of teachings, and they also expressed their praises about Buddha. These edited pieces of material were then incorporated into one. Due to the Indian tendency of not preferring content to chronologies, written documents about the Buddha were mainly focused on values and beliefs and not on dates of the occurrences. This could be the reason as to why the dates of birth and death of the Buddha are not well known. In the content of the documents was the history of the Indian culture and includes the Buddha's earliest experience that was of significance to the Indians (Heinz 1996).
Birth of Gautama
After the monks the teachings of Buddha have been preached and told over geographical areas, but at that time they were often told verbally. It is after a long period of time after Buddha's death that his teachings were preserved in written forms. To come up with the written forms the monks had to edit and include some of their own understanding of teachings, and they also expressed their praises about Buddha. These edited pieces of material were then incorporated into one. Due to the Indian tendency of not preferring content to chronologies, written documents about the Buddha were mainly focused on values and beliefs and not on dates of the occurrences. This could be the reason as to why the dates of birth and death of the Buddha are not well known. In the content of the documents was the history of the Indian culture and includes the Buddha's earliest experience that was of significance to the Indians (Heinz 1996).
Birth of Gautama
Cited: rmstrong Karen, (2001), Buddha, New York: Penguin Books. Bechert, Heinz, (1996) When Did the Buddha Live? The Controversy on the Dating of the Historical Buddha. Delhi: Sri Satguru. Lopez (1995), Buddhism in Practice, Princeton University Press. Michael Carrithers, (1986) The Buddha, Found in Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press. Romila Thapar, (2002), The Penguin History of Early India: From Origins to AD 1300, Penguin Books, page 146. Sathe, Shriram, (1987) Dates of the Buddha. Bharatiya Itihasa Sankalana Samiti, Hyderabad. Sue Hamilton, (1996), Identity and Experience, LUZAC Oriental.