"While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell" --- Hurricane, Desire, 1976 Photo of a Buddha Statue in a collage at the back cover of "Desire". "You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammed" --- Precious Angel, Slow Train Coming, 1979 Siddhartha Gautama (Gotama) was born in 563 BC into the royal family of Kapilavastu (northern India). After living for 29 years amidst the wealth and luxury of his royal family he left his palace in search of "truth". After years of wandering with sages, studying, and meditation he attained "Bodhi" (enlightenment) in a place which is now known as Bodhgaya (eastern India). Buddha ("the enlightened one") started preaching his "Dhamma" (Dharma=religion) of truth, peace and non-violence ("Dhammachakkapabattana"). He spent rest of his life spreading the Dhamma throughout northern and central India. Buddhism was greeted by all sorts of people, from the down-trodden to the kings and wealthy merchants. After his death ("Mahaparinibbana") in 483 BC his disciples carried his words of truth to distant lands. In the next several centuries Buddhism spread through the South Asia, South-east Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan and Central-Asia (modern-day Afghanistan). Theravada (Heenayana) and Mahayana are the two major schools of Buddhism. For more facts on Buddha and Buddhism: BuddhaNet Ethics of Buddha and Buddhism Allen Ginsberg and Buddhism: Allen the Buddhist Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 11:09:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Siddhartha GhoshTo: webmaster@expectingrain.com