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The Biography of Shakyamuni Buddha (Indian Society during the Buddha’s Life)

The Biography of Shakyamuni Buddha -2- Indian Society during the Buddha’s Life

“Indian Society in the Time of the Buddha”

Many people think that those who study Buddhism today are escaping from reality and being passive and world-weary. This is really a misunderstanding of the original meaning of studying Buddhism. The reason why the Buddha became a monk and became a Buddha was, of course, to solve the problem of life and death for himself on the one hand, but on the other hand, it was to relieve the oppressed people. If we know the life and struggle of the savior Shakyamuni Buddha, we will surely understand that he is really a great and compassionate revolutionary.

The targets of his revolution: one is the Indian society with strict hierarchies;

When it comes to revolution, although there are many great revolutionaries in the world, there is a huge gap between those revolutions and the revolutionary spirit of Buddha.

Ordinary revolutionaries, although they flaunt the slogan of serving the people, the people do not get happiness because of this, because their revolution stems from hatred of the enemy, so the revolutionary methods they use are very cruel. Only the Buddha’s revolution was completely inspired by compassion. His revolution was to cover and influence everything with compassion. He did not use violence and carried out a bloodless revolution. This is the real revolution.

Ordinary revolutionaries mostly work from the bottom up. It is because he feels his own lack of freedom and unhappiness that he associates with the unfreedom and unhappiness of others, so he rises up to overthrow unreasonable forces. Only our leader Buddha, his revolution is from top to bottom. He is a prince and lives a prosperous life. It is reasonable for him not to need any revolution, but he sees many people who are oppressed. People, for the sake of justice and justice, he had to get rid of the vanity of the prince, and use the truth that all living beings are equal to stand up for the oppressed poor people.

Ordinary revolutionaries make revolutions outward rather than inward. To put it bluntly, they revolutionize others rather than themselves. Only our leader, the Buddha, knows that everyone has a selfish ego, and has the affliction and ignorance that is the source of life and death. In order to seek true freedom and freedom, he had to revolutionize the five desires, glory, wealth and honor, and give up everything. To live an ordinary life, this is the ultimate revolution.

When talking about the object of the Buddha’s revolution, one must first understand the organization of Indian society at that time, second one must understand the Indian religion and ideology at that time, and the third must understand the horror of selfishness! The religious and ideological circles of India at that time will be explained in the next chapter; the revolution against selfishness will be mentioned everywhere in this biography, and now let’s first describe the organization of Indian society at that time.

It turns out that in Indian society 3,000 years ago, the relationship between the conqueror and the conquered was formed because of the differentiation of occupations and the concept of racial superiority and inferiority. Although they are both conquerors, they are divided into nobles and commoners; the conquered are the recognized low races, and they are the so-called slaves who suffer discrimination and oppression.

The first class of conquerors was the Brahmins, who were the religious followers of ancient India. In order to maintain their own rights and consolidate their lofty status in society, they divided Indian society into four classes, and they ranked themselves first. Their authority and tyranny all rely on the “Code of Manu”, and other classes of races must unconditionally believe in and accept it.

Due to the emergence of this special class in India at that time, the life of the nomadic people was sunk like a boat floating on the turquoise sea. Brahmins bound the people of Wuyin like shackles with humble rituals, sacrifices, and mantras.

The second class is the Kshatriya, which is the royal family that is also respected like the Brahmins. These royal families are similar to the era when the feudal system of our country was divided by heroes.

Since ancient times, kings have been ruled by hereditary families. The land and treasures of the country seem to be the private property of the royal family. Other people seem to be born for their labor, and India is of course no exception.

The third class is the Vaishya, which is the so-called agricultural, industrial and commercial class in our country. They are oppressed by the power of Brahmins and Kshatriyas, and they are not even qualified for general education. How pitiful it is!

The fourth class is Sudra, they are the conquered, they are recognized as slaves and born to this world. Brahmins say that they are the first to be born in the world, and they are the most despicable people. There is such a record in Chapter 8, Section 270 and Section 272 of the “Manu Law Code”, the golden rule of Brahman: “The newborn is the Sudra. If they insult the reincarnated person by their name or surname, they must insert a red-hot iron needle into his mouth; if he does not accept the Brahman’s instructions, the king can Order hot oil to be poured into his ears or mouth.” From here we can see the low status of Sudra and the misery of life!

This is the state of society in India at that time. It is not difficult to imagine the resentment in the hearts of farmers, businessmen and local natives under the domination and suppression of Brahmins and Kshatriyas.

The leader Shakyamuni Buddha was born in such a society with disparity in classes. Although he himself belonged to the royal family of the Kshatriya, he did not want to use the authority of the Kshatriya to rule and oppress the people. On the contrary, he used the truth of compassion and equality to resolutely declare war on the class-heavy society. Regarding this fact, it was proved later when he became enlightened. When he first became enlightened under the bodhi tree, he issued an equal claim that “all living beings on the earth have the wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata”. The declaration of “All the world is brotherhood” and the Buddha’s doctrine of compassion and equality have finally brought light to the Indian people who have been enslaved for thousands of years.

Upali was originally a barber in the Sudra tribe, and was later regarded as one of the top ten disciples among the Buddha’s disciples; Matanga was a lowly woman in the Sudra tribe. She wanted to love Ananda’s beauty. , Under the influence of the Buddha, he immediately attained Arhatship. Because these facts prove that the old class society has to lose the power of the ruler under the doctrine of Buddha’s great compassion and true equality!