REL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Vedas
Document Summary
Today most buddhists are outside of india, across asia. For most of history, meditaion is not a rouine/ daily pracice of most buddhists, not even monks. We have no writen words of siddhartha teaching preserved by followers. As with jesus, biographies are used to teach basic truths of buddhism. Born: lumbini, nepal: time when siddhartha lives varies by ~300 years. Father king , mother queen : siddhartha prince , hindu . Government/ warrior caste: has to study vedas, learn rituals/ duies, law/ war, marry within caste. Virgin birth story: white elephant dream, i am victorious no more rebirths. Raised by aunt (mother"s sister: later his aunt marries his father. Father goes to fortune tellers: predict siddhartha as great king or great spiritual teacher, father wants him to be a great king, to see no pain in the world. Marries cousin at age 16-19 in love.
