MMW 11 Chapter Notes - Chapter pg 69-76: Maurya Empire, Gautama Buddha, Four Noble Truths

• School: UCSD
• Department: Making of the Modern World
• Course: MMW 11
• Professor: Page Dubois

Document Summary

Son of the chief of a small state and a member of the warrior class. Traveled through ganges valley for 12 years until he found enlightenment and became a completed soul. Accepted brahmanic doctrines of karma and rebirth, but took it in another direction. Asserted all human beings, animals, plants, and even inanimate objects all have living souls enmeshed in matter. Souls have finite dimensions and float or sink depending on the amount to matter within it. Soul need to escape the matter weighing it down and rise to the top of the universe. Sought to pursue such liberation and avoid evil thoughts and actions. Even went towards starvation to avoid destroying plants. Impossible to do farm work so instead traded. Some conservative priests practice nudity since clothing can be seen as a form of attachment. Lay jains can pursue jain teachings by practicing nonviolence and not eating meat.