How did Siddhartha get to be named Buddha? How did his followers lead their lives?
Siddharta as Buddha:
(i) Siddhartha as the Buddha was named at birth, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan.
(ii) He had a sheltered upbringing within the palace, insulated from the harsh realities of life.
(iii) One day he persuaded his charioteer to take him into the city.His journey into the world outside was traumatic. He was deeply anguished when he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse.
(iv) He realized in that moment that the decay and destruction of the human body was inevitable. He left the palace and set out in search of his own truth, he meditated for several days and finally attained enlightenment .
After this he came to be known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. For the rest of his life, he taught dhamma or the path of righteous living.
Folowers of the Buddha:
(i) Monks, disciples of the Buddha, lived simply, possessing only the essential requisites for survivals, such as one bowl to receive food once a day from the laity.
(ii) They lived on alms, they were known as bhikkhus.
(iii) Initially, only men were allowed into the sangha, but later women also admitted. Many women who entered the sangha, an organisation of monks, became teachers of dhamma and went on to become theirs, or respected women who had attained liberation.
(iv) The Buddha’s followers came from many social groups like kings, wealthy men and gahapatis , and also humbler folk, workers, slaves and craftspeople Once within the sangha , all were regarded as equal, having shed their earlier social identities on becoming bhikkhus and bhikkunis.
