The general principle of pratītyasamutpāda (that everything is interdependent) is complementary to the concept of emptiness (sunyata), the ideal state for a Buddhist (achieved through meditation and reflection).
Buddhism
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Siddhartha Gautama
commonly known as the Buddha (meaning “the awakened one”).
lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.
recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering through eliminating ignorance by way of understanding and seeing dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and eliminating craving, and thus attain the highest happiness, nirvāņa (nirvana).
pratītyasamutpāda
The general principle of pratītyasamutpāda (that everything is interdependent) is complementary to the concept of emptiness (sunyata), the ideal state for a Buddhist (achieved through meditation and reflection).
Emptiness refers to the realization that all things are interconnected. Any sense of separation is an illusion.
The word, Nirvana (Nirvāṇa) literally means “blown out” (as in a candle) and refers, in the Buddhist context, to the imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion, and delusion have been finally extinguished.
The bodhi tree
The Bodhi Tree was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya, under which Siddhartha Gautama is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi.
In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
The bodhi tree
The Mahabodhi Tree at the Sri Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya
Ashvaghosha
Aśvaghoṣa was an Indian philosopher-poet, born in Saketa in northern India to a Brahmin family. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa.
a wandering ascetic who was able to defeat all-comers in debate.
The last instructions of the Buddha
“you must be your own lamps, be your own refuges. Take refuge in nothing outside yourselves. Hold firm to the truth as a lamp and a refuge, and do not look for refuge to anything besides yourself.”
