Showing posts with label Shakya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shakya. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
The Buddha's father King Suddhodana
| Men are dumb, Dad - I know. I❤️U. |
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 |
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.
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 |
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 |
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. |
| Life in the luxurious house of Saka |
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. |
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.
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, staying in Nigrodharama. There, in reference to a rain shower that fell, he taught the Vessantara Jataka.
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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. |
- 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:
- *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
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Sunday, May 10, 2026
The Buddha's Mothers' Day (5/10)
| Prince Siddhartha's [Central Asian/Scythian/Saka] mother, Maha Maya Devi, depicted in India |
| A "mother" is much more than one gives birth, she nurtures: Mother Maha Pajapati Gotami |
| Queen Maya as a sal tree spirit |
Which all? There is, of course, the Buddha's biological birth mother, Maha Maya Devi (Queen Maya, literally "Great Illusion"). She was reborn on earth, gave birth to the Bodhisatta (the Buddha-to-be), and passed away seven days later.
| Madonna Pajapati and child |
- Honor My Mother Gotami (bhikkhuni.net)
- Mahapajapati's going forth in the Madhyamaka-Agama (Ven. Analayo)
- The non-historicity of the Eight Additional Nuns' Rules as revealed in the Bhikkhuni Vinaya (Ayya Tathaaloka)
- Non-historicity of the Eight Garudhammas (Ayya Tathaaloka)
- Articles (Alliance for Bhikkhunis)
- Doubtful history of the Eight Garudhammas
Most Buddhists interested in history or genealogy will know this much, as much as it may come as a surprise to others. But there was a third very important mother figure in the Buddha's life. The texts call her Nakulamata the Gahapatani, mata meaning "mother").
| This may seem like a strange depiction of baby Siddhartha, but it is how he looks on the casket of his funerary ashes: |
| Detail of Afghan Bimaran casket (Charles Masson) |
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| Queen Maya had a marvelous dream. |
| Ancient carving of Buddha’s mother Maya found |
Ananda became confused because the Buddha did not correct them. He warmly greeted them like a son. They lamented that he had been away so long, leaving them alone, but at least now he was back. Ananda's consternation grew. "What do they mean in calling you 'son,' venerable sir? Surely, your mother is in Kapilavatthu, the Land of the Sakas [Shakyas, Indo-Scythians]."
Then the Buddha explained that for 500 ("many") lives, these two had been his parents, and indeed this woman many, many times through many rebirths had been his mother.
Nakulamata appears on a list of the Buddha's eminent lay females. The story goes that a father and mother (husband and wife) were householders in Sumsumaragiri in the Bhagga country. When the Buddha visited their village, staying in Bhesakala Forest Grove, they went to see him. They immediately fell at his feet, calling him "son" and asking why he had been away so long. It is said that they had been the Bodhisatta's parents for 500 previous births and his close relatives for many more. The Buddha taught them, and they became stream enterers (the first stage of enlightenment). The Buddha visited their village again when they were old. They entertained him, telling him of their devotion to one another in this life and many previous lives, asking for instruction on the sort of karma that would keep them together in the afterlife (many future rebirths). The Buddha referred to this in the assembly of the monastic community, declaring them the most intimate companions among his disciples. More: Nakulapita Gahapati and Nakulamata GahapataniPossible to marry, be intimate, remain happy? - Eight qualities of women, Nakulamata (AN 8:48)
- "Marriage" (Guide To Buddhism A To Z)
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The Awakened One came back home and taught them, and they became awakened. Therefore, the Buddha offered the greatest thing any son or daughter could do for a mother or father: dhamma-dana.
| Gold container of the Buddha's relics |
- The Gift of the Dharma — the giving of enlightening teachings, known as dhamma-dāna — according to the Buddha, surpasses all other gifts. This type of giving, sharing, generosity includes those who elucidate the Buddha’s teachings, such as monastics who recite sutras from the Tripitaka or preach sermons or explain them, teachers of meditation, unqualified persons who at least encourage others to keep precepts, or helping support teachers of Dharma and meditation. The most common form of giving is material support, charity, donations, gifts of food, money, robes, shelter, and medicine [41]. More
- Treasury of the Buddha's Discourses: Appreciation of parents' love
- Buddhist attitude towards parents in Theravada Buddhism (drarisworld)
| La vie de Bouddha (montagne de marbre, Danang): Sujata (milkmaid) and Punna offer dana |
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Other "mothers" in Buddhism
| Earth Witnessing Mudra (c. 850) |
It's not hard to get woo-woo. It's easy. Behold: Y'know, come to think of it, Siddhartha had another mother who saved him, Mother Nature (Bhumi, Tierra, Gaia, Urth, Mat Zemlya). One day, the wandering ascetic was striving and struggling under the bodhi tree. Mara didn't worry, didn't bother to step in. But then Siddhartha remembered that at age 7, at the Ploughing Festival of the Scythians/Sakas, he spontaneously entered meditative absorption (jhana) from past life practice. The wandering ascetic realized that this was the way to awakening, to enlightenment, and faulted himself for fearing pleasure (piti), realizing that the bliss that results from absorption is blameless and supersensual.
He determined to take up samadhi (practice of the four material absorptions), which his first yoga teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, had taught him six years earlier. Mara took notice. He began to intervene as an obstacle. He took on the form of an ogre (yakkha, rakshasa), chief of an entire army of ghouls and monsters to chase him off his meditation seat at the base of that tree. Mara challenged the ascetic: "What gives you the right to sit there on my spot? Get out of here!" Rather than fearing or fleeing, ascetic Siddhartha made a mudra (hand gesture), pointing at his Earth Mother (earth witnessing mudra).
- Kisa Gotami: The mother who could not let go: After losing her only child, she became desperate, unhinged, and asked if anyone could help her. Her sorrow was so great she went crazy until a man out of kindness pointed her to the Buddha, the Master Physician, to bring her child back to life. He would have medicine, she was assured, and he did.
- Ven. Patacara, foremost exponent of the Vinaya: A harrowing and unbelievable story of childbirth, motherhood, and loss has been attributed to her in some ancient Buddhist texts and in others has been attributed to Kisa Gotami.
| Kisa Gotami: I failed as a mother! My baby's dead! - Let's make a cure. Get mustard seed... - I can do that! I'll be right back! - from a house not touched by death. - OK, that should be no problem. |
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| Siddhartha, Sujata, and Punna at offering |
| Ascetic Siddhartha as emaciated as a spirit |
- Sujata (Sujātā, Nandabala) was a farmer's wife, who offered dana in the form of food (kheer, a milk-rice pudding) for the wandering ascetic Siddhartha under a big old tree, ending his six years of asceticism. Sujata's servant/attendant, Punna, had gone to clean up around the tree ahead of the offering when she spotted Siddhartha under the tree and mistook him for a dryad in the flesh. His emaciated appearance did not look human, but rather he seemed as withered as bark.
Wrongly believing him to be tree-spirit who had granted Sujata's wish to get pregnant, Punna ran to get Sujata, who came with the offering. That gift (dana) gave him enough strength to cultivate his path-of-practice, the Middle Way that avoids extremes of sensual indulgence and extreme asceticism, develop the absorptions (jhana) that temporarily purify the heart/mind and give rise to supernormal perception, and attain enlightenment (bodhi) by systematic practice of Dependent Origination, after which he became known as the Buddha, the "Awakened One" [1, 2, 3]. Why was Sujata so fortunate as to generate such incredible merit? It is said that in a previous life, she had met Padumuttara Buddha, who made a certain predicting that one day she would be the first lay disciple of a future buddha [4]. Now it had come to pass because by going for guidance (sarana) to him, she preceded even the man on the road as the Buddha went to find the Group of Five at Isipatana and teach them. MoreHad this mother not stepped in to nurture him?
Mother of the household: Rahulamata
| Cousin, wife, confidante Bimba nurtures Sid |
| Prajñāpāramitā Devī, Cambodia |
Seven mothers of the Buddha?
| Prajñāpāramitā Devī, Berkeley |
| Ambapali bests the conceited Licchavis |
| Mothers so love their children that when they become novices (samaneras), they feed them. |
Mother Sutra: We've all been mothers?
(Mata Sutta, SN 15.14-19 PTS: S ii 189 CDB i 659)
| Statue of mother and children (Genoa) |
"It is difficult to ever find a being who has not already been your mother at some time in the past or pother...
- a being who has not already been your father...
- your brother...
- your sister...
- your son...
- your daughter at some time in the past or other.
| My beautiful Black mom |
"Long have beings thus experienced suffering, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling cemeteries — long enough to become disenchanted with all formation (composite fabricated things), long enough to become dispassionate, long enough to find release." More
- Mata Sutta: "Mother Discourse" (Ven. Thanissaro translation)
- Women in Buddhism (Wikipedia)
- Conceived and compiled by Dhr. Seven with the help of Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Amber Larson, and Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Friday, May 1, 2026
How did Buddhism reach China?
(Natasha Yehenara) How did Buddhism reach China? Buddhism in China, Greco-Buddhism, the Buddha (Scythian Prince Siddhartha Gautama) was from Gandhara (Central Asia), modern Afghanistan (likely Buddhas of Bamiyan, Mes Aynak, and Kabul as one of the three seasonal capitals all collectively referred to as Kapilavastu). See Dr. Ranajit Pal: Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander #academia #Buddhism #historyfacts #Gandhara #GrecoBuddhism #ChineseCulture
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The unique DNA of Persian Iranians (Aryans)
- The historical Buddha's connection to Aryan Iran explained by Dr. Ranajit Pal in Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander: The Buddha's mothers (Queen Maya and the world's first Buddhist nun Ven. Pajapati Gotami) were from the area of Sistan Balochestan in Iran: Sistan and Baluchestan province
Monday, April 13, 2026
Iran/Persia at the time of the Buddha
- Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander (by Dr. Ranajit Pal) brings out the real history of India, the real location of Kapilavastu (the Buddha's hometown in ancient Gandhara/modern Afghanistan, not Nepal), shedding light on the real motives of Alexander the Great, Darius the Great, and Cyrus the Great's Gedrosian campaign, an enlightening historical study.
Truth hurts: (Earth to Rosita) The former Shah of Iran on Jews (1976)
- Who were the Sakas (Scythians, Shakyians)? The Scythians or Scyths, also known as the Pontic Scythians [1, 2] were an ancient Eastern Iranic (Aryan) equestrian nomadic people (the Indo-Sakas, the Indo-Scythian Kingdom, near Maha Bharata, the future Empire of Greater India, being the Buddha's extended family) who migrated east to Bihar and later, during the 9th to 8th centuries BC from, Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia, where they remained until the 3rd century BC....
- Massagetae (Saka)
- Nanda Empire
- Iran's Zoroastrian Nowruz dedicated to Ahura Mazda
Iran at the time of Trump-Epstein
Jewish Lex Wexner (Jeffrey Epstein's main funder) buying up Ohio
(The Jimmy Dore Show) Whitney Webb (Unlimited Hangout)
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Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Dagestan fighters; Buddhist Kalmykia
Southernmost republic of Russia | Makhachkala, abandoned villages, sand dune, mountains, Khabib's
TIMECODES
- 0:00 Welcome to Dagestan!
- 1:36 Local cuisine and payment for breaking the dishes
- 3:30 Dagestan - hidden gem of the Caucasus
- 4:17 Makhachkala's beaches
- 6:50 Crazy drivers
- 9:40 Natural beauty of the Sulak Canyon
- 11:02 Khabib's Restaurant
- 12:56 Russian Machu Picchu - abandoned village Gamsutl in the mountains
- 18:09 Sarykum strange sand dune near the capital
- 19:19 Why do Dagestanis love their region?
Russia's only Buddhist republic in Europe
Kalmykia has many groups: Kalmykia is the only indigenously Buddhist part of Europe (Buddhism in Kalmykia)
Lhasa's Emissary (J. Snelling) - Bactrian camels of Bactria
- Buddhism in Central Asia (The Stans)
- Buddhism in Russia
- Buddhism in Russia: The Story of Agvan Dorzhiev: Lhasa's Emissary to the Tsar (John Snelling)
- Where is Dagestan? Steppe nomad mountain people
- Sasanian Empire (Sassanid)
- Caspian Sea
- History Leaks; Eli from Russia; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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