The Buddha's father King Suddhodana

(Buddha’s Stories) The story of King Suddhodana, the Buddha’s father

Men are dumb, Dad - I know. I❤️U.

It's easy to love mom, but what about dad? What has the Men's Movement done for males in this patriarchy? (There are feminist men?) In the U.S., whether or not to celebrate "Father's Day" nationwide is a matter of debate. In 1908, Grace Golden Clayton proposed a day to honor men who had died in a U.S. mining accident. It was rejected then.

But in 1909, Sonora Louise Smart Dodd, who along with her five brothers had been raised by a single father, attended "Mother's Day" in a church.

Men's empowerment hike on Father's Day

She then convinced the Spokane Ministerial Association to celebrate Father's Day nationwide [7]. In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on Nov. 19th in honor of men and boys [8]: Father's Day

In the Pāli canon, there are only two discourses (sutras) that explicitly reference Suddhodana, the Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14) and in the verse prologue of the Nālaka Sutta (Sn 3.11). In each of these discourses, Suddhodana is represented simply as the Buddha's father and as a Sakyan ruler.

Father for a Buddha

Good father had a bad Buddha who abandoned his newborn son?

(Buddha's Wisdom) The Buddha's son: the forgotten story of Rahula: Why did the Buddha abandon his newborn son, leaving him on welfare in flat in the winter with no schooling or support?

Afghan chieftain Indo-Scythia, Gandhara

Who is Prince Siddhattha's father, the Gandharan (Afghan territorial chieftain?*) King Suddhodana? In Theravada Buddhism (a major branch) — Suddhodana is recorded in the ancient Pali canon.

He was a Saka, Sakka, Shakya, Scythian, Sakiyan raja ("king," "leader," "head," "royal") in Kapilavatthu, the father of Prince Siddhattha Gotama, who became the historical Buddha.

He was the son of Sihahanu and Kaccana. His brothers were Dhotodana, Sakkodana, Sukkodana, and Amitodana, and his sisters were Amita and Pamita.

Maya was his chief consort. After her death, her sister Pajapati was elevated to that position (Mhv.ii.15f.; Dpv.iii.45; J.i.15, etc.)

Asita's visit to Suddhodana

When soothsayers predicted that his son Siddhattha had two destinies awaiting him, either that of a universal monarch (cakkavatti, chakravartin) if he stayed in the world or a universal teacher (Buddhahood) if he renounced it, he exerted his utmost effort to provide the prince with all kinds of sensual luxuries and hedonistic pleasures to hold him to the household life.

It is said (e.g., J.i.54) that when Asita, who was his father's [Brahmin] chaplain and teacher, visited King Suddhodana to see the newborn prince, he paid homage to the infant by allowing his feet to rest on his head. Suddhodana was filled with wonder and also worshipped the child.

I wish for you to be a noble warrior, my son.

Seven years later, at the annual Ploughing Festival ceremony, Suddhodana saw that the shadow of the jambu tree under which the child had been placed in the shade when he spontaneously went into meditative absorption (jhana, samadhi) did not move even as the sun traveled overhead. Then the child, seated cross-legged without moving, levitated in the air. So he again worshipped him (J.i.57f).

Life in the luxurious house of Saka

Twenty-nine years later, when in spite of all his father's efforts, Prince Siddhattha renounced and left behind the household life and took to practicing austerities in the East, Suddhodana sent a messenger/private investigator to find his son and see what he was up to.

The investigator returned with news that his son had died, owing to the severity of his penances (tapas). But Suddhodana refused to believe it, saying that his son would never die without achieving his spiritual goal (J.i.67).

When this was afterwards related to the Buddha, he taught the Maha Dhammapala Jataka, showing that in the past, too, Suddhodana had refused to believe that his son could have died even when he was shown the heap of his bones.

I failed as a father. My son left.

Seven years after that, when news reached Suddhodana that his son had reached enlightenment, he sent a messenger to Veluvana in Rajagaha ("Bamboo Grove" in Rajgir, where King Bimbisara reigned) with many others to invite the Buddha to return home and visit the seasonal capital of Kapilavatthu.

But when the messenger and his companions heard the Buddha teach, they renounced worldly life, entered the Monastic Order, and forgot their mission. This happened nine more times with different messengers.

On the tenth occasion, King Suddhodana sent Kaludayi (Sanskrit Kālodāyin) who had advance permission to join the Sangha on the express condition that he give the king's invitation to the Buddha.

The Buddha's family from Gandhara (not Nepal)

Kaludayi kept his promise, the Buddha consented, and seven years after having left home to embark on a massive spiritual quest, he returned home to visit Kapilavatthu [Kabul, Bamiyan, Mes Aynak, ancient Gandhara now modern Afghanistan, "Saka Land," the maha-janapada of the Shakya Clan in Central Asia?], staying in Nigrodharama. There, in reference to a rain shower that fell, he taught the Vessantara Jataka.

• The Buddha returns home to Kapilavatthu (Wisdom Library)

Life of the Buddha (Archaeological Museum of India, Sarnath, Gallery 1)

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The next day, when King Suddhodana remonstrated his royal (noble, warrior) son, the Buddha, because he was seen "begging" (going on almsround) on the streets of Kapilavatthu, the Buddha told him that surviving on offerings was the custom of all buddhas. Hearing this, King Suddhodana became a stream enterer (sotapanna, the first stage of enlightenment).

Son, at 16, you shall marry the beautiful Bimba.

He then offered to feed his new teacher the Buddha, inviting him to visit the palace, where he entertained him. At the end of the meal offering, the Buddha further taught the king, who became a once returner (sakadagami, J.i.90; cf. DhA.iii.164f).

• This was when the Buddha was reunited with Princess Bimba (Yasodhara) and his 7-year-old son Rahula, both of whom were "saved" in that they were inspired to renounce their worldly lives in the palace and take up the path-of-practice the Buddha taught as wandering ascetics. In no long time, they both became enlightened. Many Saka/Shakya/Scythian relatives were inspired to follow suit, join the Sangha (spiritual community), and make an end of all suffering.

The king then became a nonreturner (anagami, the third of four stages of awakening) after hearing the Maha Dhammapala Jataka (DhA.i.99; J.iv.55).

Suddhodana was the Bodhisatta or Buddha-to-be’s father in numerous previous births, but he is mentioned as such by name in only a few birth (jātaka) tales, namely:

1. Kaṭṭhahāri Jātaka
2. Alīnacitta Jātaka
3. Susīma Jātaka
4. Bandhanāgāra Jātaka
5. Kosambiya Jātaka
6. Mahādhammapāla Jātaka
7. Dasaratha Jātaka
8. Hatthipāla Jātaka
9. Umaṅga Jātaka
10. Vessantara Jātaka.

• *Where is the real Kapilavatthu (Sanskrit Kapilavastu)? There were three seasonal capitals (with three palaces, one for each season) of the Sakas, Shakyas, Indo-Scythians of Gandhara, which we speculate were Kabul, Bamiyan, and Mes Aynak. Was Suddhodana really a "king" as we understand the term? A janapada is the "foothold of a family clan," in the case the Sakas. More likely he was a tribal leader as of the Pashtun's loya jirga. While the Pashtuns may be new to the area of Bamiyan, the tradition of leadership "councils" seems to be longstanding.
• SuttaVinaya.com: Appreciation of Parents' Love
• Nakula's dad the householder Nakula's mom the householder
• Buddhism for All - (Discussion & Learning) | Blessing #11 from the Mangala Sutta
• G. P. Malalasekera, Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, via WisdomLib.org, edited, clarified, and expanded by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Inside Afghanistan in 2025 (video)

Inside Afghanistan in 2025 (the world's most dangerous country)

(Matt and Julia) Summer, 2025: AFGHANISTAN, Central Asia. Afghanistan, a country we have all heard of for all the wrong reasons.

For the first time in over 40 years, formerly Buddhist Afghanistan is at peace (particularly in holy Bamiyan). However, under Taliban rule, it remains highly controversial, with human rights, especially of women, being eroded every day.

We decided to solo travel to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in 2025 to try understand what life is really like inside a country we all hear so much about on the news but often understand so little of. #Afghanistan

(Matt and Julia) An American and other Westerners in Central Asia

Afghanistan is a nation with a rich culture, history, and heritage. It is a proud country that has defeated every empire that passed through its land, from the Brits (English) to the Soviets (Russians), to the Yanks (Americans) [and soon the Chinese]. But what is life really like right now?

Join us as we travel solo overland from Pakistan, towards Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and try to understand more about this flawed and often misunderstood sovereign state. Welcome to Afghanistan and daily life under Taliban control.

Crossing Badlands of rural Afghanistan (hostile) - Westerner drops into Kabul with camera

► We use Holafly E-sim's when travelling. Get a unique discount with the code MATTANDJULIA - holafly.sjv.io/yqRMAy ► Learn Russian with us: mattandjulia.co.uk/shop ► Our Travel Guides: mattandjulia.co.uk/shop ► Join us on a Group Tour: humankindexpeditions.com ► Support channel: mattandjulia ► Follow on Instagram: matt.and.julia.

Contact: ► For sponsorship opportunities: sponsorships@mattandjulia.co.uk ► For any other business enquires: business@mattandjulia.co.uk #kabul #travelvlog #travel #middleeast #life. How this content was made: Auto-dubbed audio tracks for some languages were automatically generated. Learn more.

• Matt and Julia, June 20, 2025; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Greco-Buddhism in Hellenistic Far East

BOOK: Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East

Dr. Olga Kubica, University of Wroclaw

Author Dr. Olga Kubica has 4.4 out of 5 stars with four ratings. This book provides the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary view of the relationship between the Greeks and Buddhist communities in ancient Bactria and Northwest India [Scythian Gandhara, now Afghanistan and Pakistan], from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Indo-Greek kingdom circa 10 AD.

Greco-Buddhist Relations...

The main thesis is the assumption that, despite the presence of mutual relationships and interactions between the Greeks and Buddhist inhabitants of the Hellenistic Far East, the phenomenon known conventionally as "Greco-Buddhism" never truly occurred.

The individual chapters of this book provide an analysis of the main sources for Greco-Buddhist relations, mainly textual, but also archeological [excavated sites] and numismatic [coinage].

• Greco-Buddhist art
• Buddhism in Central Asia
• Greco-Buddhist monasticism
• Indo-Greek Kingdom
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Pakistan
• The historical Buddha had golden skin and blue eyes? (Yes)
• The Questions of the King Milinda (Greek King Menander I)
• Oldest "Buddhism" in world: Gandhāran Buddhist texts

(Sam Taylor) Is this really Afghanistan? Bluest lake in world: Band-e Amir

Who are the Hazara people?

The methods of philological and historical research are used in combination with postcolonial approaches to the study of the Greeks in India, drawing from sociological research on ethnicity and intercultural relations.

It is a rich source of information for anyone interested in Greco-Buddhist relations and is a great starting point for further research in this area.

This volume (1st edition) is a valuable resource for students and scholars working on the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms, both classicists and those working on early Indian history, as well as those working on cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world. More

• VIDEO: Dave Mani travels through old Afghanistan
• VIDEO: Dark Reality of visiting Kabul, Afghanistan
• Escape with Emily and Danny; Samantha Taylor, female traveler through Afghanistan; Dr. Olga Kubica; Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mountain discovery on Silk Road (video)

Uncovering a lost mountain metropolis

(nature video) Oct. 23, 2024: An isolated plateau in the highlands of southeastern Uzbekistan in Central Asia looks like an expanse of rolling hills. But look closer and a shard of pottery or the stony remnant of an ancient wall might hint at an archeological secret hidden for hundreds of years. Now a team of archeologists have used drone-mounted LiDAR to virtually peel back the layers of sediment and vegetation. Revealing two ancient cities, much larger than previously imagined, built 2,000 meters above sea level. The finding of these urban centers, called Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, at such high altitudes, may mean that highland areas may have played a more important role in medieval trade than previously thought.

• Read the paper: nature.com/articles/s4158...
• Buddhism in Uzbekistan, Central Asia
• Buddhism in Central Asia

This is a big deal with amazing art found (© Marc Dozier/Getty Images/Popular Mechanics).

Asia (the East) connected with the Roman Empire (the West) for centuries through the Silk Road

A mountaintop discovery is changing everything we knew about the Silk Road

• A new LiDAR survey of previously discovered Silk Road sites reveals a more sprawling urban history than first imagined.
• An aerial survey of the Tashbulak and Tugunbulak sites in Uzbekistan, Central Adia, uncovered more than 300 medieval archeological features, suggesting a robust urban community.
• The Silk Road or Route — which existed from 114 B.C. to 1450 A.D. — was a vital and expansive trade route that connected the Eastern and Western worlds.

A new survey of two archeological sites along the Silk Road has unveiled a stunning new discovery that rewrites our understanding of the famed Eurasian (Europe-Asia) trade route that spanned continents and centuries.

Monk meditates on Silk Road (en.unesco.org)

As reported in Newsweek, a new aerial survey of Tashbulak and Tugunbulak — two archeological sites roughly three miles apart in the Uzbekistan mountains — utilized LiDAR (a remote sensing technology that uses laser pulses to penetrate obstacles and create 3D images of a landscape) to reveal more than 300 medieval archeological features.

• [Buddhism in Central Asia was prevalent along the Silk Road. Its history there is closely related to the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism during the first millennium of the common era. It has been argued that the spread of Indian culture and religions, especially Buddhism, as far as Sogdia, corresponded to the rule of the Kidarites over the regions from Sogdia to Gandhara [4]. Islam invaded and displaced Buddhism. Uzbekistan [5] and Kazakhstan [6] have the most Buddhists, largely practiced by their Koryo-saram minority, although the former has the lowest percentage of Buddhists. Due to historical Tibetan, Mongol, and Manchurian influence, Kyrgyzstan [7] has the highest percentage of Buddhists in Central Asia. More]

Empires of the Silk Road (C. I. Beckwith)

The two sites, which were discovered in 2011 and 2015, are located 6,562 to 7,218 feet above sea level. At that elevation, the land was unlikely to have supported large-scale urban development at the time, given the difficulties posed to construction and agriculture.

But this new survey — the results of which were published in Nature — indicates that that’s exactly what occurred at Tashbulak and Tugunbulak.

“The LiDAR results indicate that the scale of urbanization in this area was much more expansive than previously known,” Brown University researcher Zachary Silvia told Newsweek.

Silvia, while not involved directly in the study, has published a News & Views article for Nature about the results and singled out the significance of this revelation

 “This is the first — and probably only — ancient or medieval city located at this elevation in Central Asia, which forces us to reconsider what we know about urbanization in the area.”

Among the structures discovered by the study’s LiDAR flights were “watchtowers connected with walls along a ridgeline, evidence of terracing, and a central fortress surrounded by walls made of stone and mud brick.”

The Silk Road (Valerie Hansen)

But while this survey revealed what structures were once present at Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, there are still more questions to be answered.

“Typically, remote sensing techniques are one tool within the broader tool kit of the archaeologist,” Silvia noted to Newsweek. “The next step for the team would be to confirm their findings through geophysics — techniques that ‘see’ below the surface — and targeted excavations that can confirm whether or not this is indeed such an extensive settlement. I am optimistic that this is precisely what the team will find in the coming years.” Source

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• Michael Natale, Popular Mechanics via MSN, Oct. 29, 2024; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Treasure: Silk Road Buddhist burial mound

Buddhist monks sit, admiring a great Buddhist stupa in Sanchi, India (robertharding.com)

A discovery of artifacts, recovered from a 2,000-year-old burial mound, shows off a little-known society’s sophistication and deep connections to the Silk Road (Jordi Salas/Getty Images)

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Afghan burial mound carved from solid rock

A discovery of artifacts [reported today, June 6, 2024, on MSN from Popular Mechanics based on Live Science, May 30, 2024], recovered from a 2,000-year-old burial mound (Buddhist stupa), shows off a little-known society’s sophistication and deep connections to the Silk Road (extending into Kucha and onward to China).

The Kangju people lived in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan) for nearly a millennium, but experts know very little about them.

World famous Buddhist stupa, Sanchi, India

A new discovery of artifacts, recovered from a 2,000-year-old [Buddhist] burial mound (stupa), shows off this little-known society’s sophistication and its deep connections to the ancient Silk Road (not "road" but trade route between East and West).

Featuring a brass mirror from China and a Roman-style brooch, this treasure trove reveals the intimate evidence of the world’s first major attempt at globalization.

• [This was by no means the first attempt at globalization because many times in the past, the world was united, connected, and following a global culture, religion, leader known as a world monarch or chakravartin, according to the ancient Vedas and other sources].

Buddhist stupas (burial mounds) are based on ancient North and Central Asian custom.

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Tummulus of Bougon, neolithic kurgan, barrow

For around 800 years (from the 4th century BCE to the 4th century CE), a people group known as the Kangju flourished in what is now southern Kazakhstan.

Despite this relatively long reign in Central Asia, the unknowns of this ancient society far outweigh the knowns.

• The Buddha was from this general area, ancient Indo-Scythia, Gandhara, Central Asia, now the Stans (Sakastan), which includes the massive area known as Kazakhstan, made infamous by Borat (Sascha Cohen).

Buddhist stupa, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia

Experts know, for example, that the people had Indo-European origins, spoke an Eastern Iranian [Aryan] language, and likely practiced a semi-nomadic [Scythian] way of life — a common choice among people groups in Central Asian and the Eurasian steppe.

Everything else has been slowly pieced together from pottery and other artifacts left behind for someone to eventually find.

Now, a new treasure trove of artifacts (livescience.com) has been discovered in 2,000-year-old burial mounds in the ancient Kangju region.

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Kyrgyzstan (The Great Patron of Buddhism)

These items include jewelry, arrowheads, and a large bronze mirror — all of which speak to the Kangju’s sophistication.

Kazakhstan lies at the heart of what would’ve been the ancient Silk Road, and the items reflect the impact of this ancient-world globalization. The mirror, for example, has been traced to the craftsmen of China’s Han Dynasty, which reigned from 206 BCE to 220 CE. Similar mirrors have been found among the discarded detritus of other civilizations along the ancient Silk Road, likely meaning that the woman buried with the mirror was someone of considerable wealth or importance.

Afghan Takht-e Rostam (Gandhara)

However, China wasn’t the Kangju’s only trading partner. The ancient people likely also traded with the Roman Empire and the Kushan Empire, another Central Asian power to the south.

To uncover these items, a team of experts from Ozbekali Zhanibekov University — located in the city of Shymkent along the border with [formerly Buddhist] Uzbekistan — and local government archaeologists traveled to three burial mounds in the oblast (administrative region) of Turkistan.

As is often the case when exploring ancient [Buddhist] ruins, two of the mounds had already been plundered, likely during medieval times. But the third mound still had ancient wonders lying in wait.

An ancient stupa in formerly Buddhist now Islamic Swat Valley of Pakistan (NW India)

Central Asian Buddhist pyramid (yantra, mandala, square stupa, Gandhara (Newsweek, AA1jFN5l)

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• [See Bones of the Buddha, a documentary that shows the many Buddhist treasures discovered under a burial mound and removed to England, where they sit under a bed of a young man who inherited them from his relative, who discovered them. They were not placed in a museum as priceless treasures because the site they were found did not agree with the popular conception of which current country the Buddha's relics were buried. In fact, according to the ancient texts, the relics were partitioned and buried in eight places, one of them off-planet in a world of devas (ETs). The Buddha was not from Nepal, but that is what we are taught, so sometimes India and Nepal debate where he was raised and where his remains must have been placed. He was raised in ancient Gandhara (modern Bamiyan, Afghanistan, according to Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal, but it is known that he was raised in three seasonal capitals, all simply called "Kapilavastu," which Wisdom Quarterly proposes included modern Kabul (the strategic modern capital of Afghanistan) and Mes Aynak (the world's largest unexcavated Buddhist monastic complex and rare earth goldmine).]

Stupas may be ancient features in the Southwest

According to a press release translated from the Kazakh language, experts also found other items — including ornate earrings, a belt buckle, and a Roman brooch — that once again emphasized the mound’s advantageous position along the Silk Road.

The leader of this archeological expedition, Ozbekali Zhanibekov University’s Prof. Aleksandr Podushkin, said that the Yangju were actually comprised of many different people, including the Asian Sarmatians, the Xiongnu, the Kangyu, and the subsequent Saki [Sakai, Saka, Shakya, Shakyian, the Buddha's group] (who were, possibly, the famous Scythians).

Prof. Podushkin has published some 90 articles related the peoples of southern Kazakhstan, and some of his previous work (silkroadfoundation.org) involved analyzing the religious beliefs of the Kangju from artifacts gathered from Ugam Valley, which is also located in the Turkistan region.

Now, these relics will travel to the capital city of Astana and be housed in the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As experts like Prof. Podushkin continue to find these hidden treasures, over time, the largely blurry image of this people group of Central Asia should slowly begin to come into focus. More: Archaeologists found stunning treasure buried by a mysterious forgotten tribe

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• Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics (via msn.com, June 6, 2024) [Archaeology]; edited and expanded by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, June 6, 2024