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'''Choegon Rinpoche''' ([[name in wylie]])


'''Shakyamuni Buddha''' ([[sangs rgyas sha kya thub pa]]) was a spiritual teacher who was born in [[Lumbini]], a place situated in modern [[Nepal]]. He spent most of his time in Northern [[India]], approximately 563 BCE to 483 BCE, preaching his knowledge. Born as '''Siddhartha Gautama''' ([[Sanskrit]]: "descendant of Gautama whose aims are achieved / who achieves aims effectively") he became "the [[Buddha]]" after embarking on a quest for spiritual meaning. He is universally recognised by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (literally ''[[bodhi|Enlightened One]]'' or ''Awakened One'') of our age. He is also commonly known as '''Shakyamuni''' or '''Śakyamuni''' ("sage of the [[Shakya]] [[clan]]") and as the ''[[Tathagata]]'' ("thus-come-one").
===H.E. Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche's brief biography: ===
The successive reincarnations of Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche are considered to be very important spiritual masters of the Drukpa lineage, a Tibetan Buddhist tradition founded by the first [[Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje]] (1161 - 1211) who was revered as the authentic reincarnation of the great Indian saint [[Naropa]] (1016-1100). The [[first Choegon Rinpoche]] was not only a disciple of the famed omniscient [[Pema Karpo]], the [[fourth Gyalwang Drukpa]], but he was also a kind teacher to him. The first Drukpa Choegon was well-known for his accomplishments in the practice of [[Vajrapani]] and [[Mahakala]].


Gautama is the key figure in [[Buddhism]], and accounts of his life, discourses, and [[monastic]] rules were summarized after his [[death]] and memorized by the [[sangha]].  Passed down by [[oral tradition]], the ''[[Tripitaka]]'' was committed to [[writing]] about four hundred years later.
There are two reincarnations of the [[eighth Choegon Rinpoche]]. The [[ninth Choegon Rinpoche Chokyi Sengye]] took rebirth in a family of a yogi living in [[Kinnaur]], a remote Himalayan town of Northern India. He was recognized by His Holiness the [[sixteenth Karmpa]] and His Eminence the [[eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche]]. His main teachers were His Eminence the [[Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche]] of the Drukpa lineage and His Holiness [[Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche]] of the Nyingma lineage.


==Buddha's life==
Another reincarnation of the [[eighth Choegon Rinpoche]], the [[ninth Choegon Rinpoche Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso]] was recognized by His Holiness the [[fourteenth Dalai Lama]] and His Eminence [[Gar Rinpcohe]].
Few of the details of the Buddha's life can be independently verified, and it is difficult to determine what is history and what is myth. Therefore this article will describe the life of Siddhartha Gautama as told in the earliest available [[Buddhist texts]].


===Conception and birth===
===More details===
<!--[[Image:MayaDream.JPG|thumb|200px|left|[[Queen Maya]]'s white elephant dream. [[Gandhara]], 2-3rd century CE.]] -->
Siddhartha Gautama was born in [[Lumbini]], what is now situated in [[Nepal]], under the [[full moon]] of the sixth [[lunar month]], in the spring. His father was [[Suddhodana]], a King among the [[Kshatriya]] caste. His mother was [[Maya Devi]], one of Suddhodana's wives. The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Buddhist countries as [[Vesak]]. Gautama was born a prince, destined to a life of luxury.


<!--[[Image:SiddhartaBirth.JPG|thumb|200px|The birth of Siddharta, Gandhara, 2-3rd century CE.]]-->
According to legend, before his birth, Gautama had visited his mother during a vision, taking the form of a white elephant. During the birth celebrations, a [[seer]] announced that this baby would either become a great king or a great holy man. His father, King Suddhodana, wishing for Gautama to be a great king, shielded his son from religious teachings or knowledge of human [[suffering]].
<br clear="left" />


===Marriage===
===Primary Teachers===
When the young Prince Siddhartha Gautama was still a baby, an ascetic named Kaladevala went into the heaven of the 33 Gods of the Vedas, and predicted that the young prince would become the Buddha. As the boy reached the age of 16, his father arranged his marriage to [[Yashodhara]], a cousin of the same age. In time, she gave birth to a son, [[Rahula]]. He lived up to the age of 29 as a prince in [[Kapilavastu]], a place situated now in [[Nepal]]. Although his father ensured that Gautama was provided with everything he could want or need, Gautama was constantly troubled and internally dissatisfied.


===The Great Departure===
<!--[[Image:LeavingPalace.JPG|thumb|left|200px|The Great Departure from the Palace, Gandhara, 2-3rd century.]]-->


Inspired by the [[four sights]], Gautama determined to leave his home, his possessions and his family at age 29. He chose to become a [[monk]].
===Primary Lineage===
*The [[Choegon Lineage]]


Abandoning his inheritance, he dedicated his life to learning how to overcome suffering. He pursued the paths of [[Yoga]] and [[meditation|meditated]] with two [[Brahmin]] hermits, and although he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, he was not satisfied with this path.
===Publications===


<!--[[Image:EmaciatedBuddha.JPG|thumb|130px|The Buddha as an ascetic. [[Gandhara]], 2-3rd century CE. [[British Museum]].]]-->
===Internal Links===
Gautama then chose the robes of a [[mendicant]] [[monk]] and headed to north-east [[India]]. He began training in the ascetic life and practicing vigorous techniques of physical and mental austerity. Gautama proved adept at these practices, and was able to surpass his teachers.


However, he found no answer to his questions. Leaving behind his teachers, he and a small group of companions set out to take their austerities even further. Gautama attempted to find enlightenment through complete deprivation of worldly goods, including food, and became a complete ascetic. After nearly starving himself to death (some sources claim that he nearly drowned), Gautama began to reconsider his path. Then he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state which was blissful and refreshing.
===External Links===
*[http://www.drukpachoegon.com main website] has details of the ninth Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche Chokyi Sengye's activities and the monastery in India .


===Enlightenment===
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhist Teachers]]
After discarding asceticism and concentrating on [[meditation]], Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the [[Middle Way]]&mdash;a path of moderation away from the extremes of [[self-indulgence]] and [[self-mortification]]. He accepted a little buttermilk from a passing goatherd, [[Sumedha]]. Then, sitting under a [[pipal]] tree, which is now known as the [[Bodhi tree]], he vowed never to arise until he had found the Truth. At the age of 35, he attained [[Bodhi|Enlightenment]]; by some traditions, this occurred in approximately May, and, by others, December. Gautama was from then on known as "The Perfectly Self-Awakened One", the [[Sammasambuddha]].
[[Category:Drukpa Kagyu Masters]]
 
He stated that he had realized complete Awakening and insight into the nature and cause of human suffering, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. These truths were then catergorised into the [[Four Noble Truths]], and the state of supreme liberation&mdash;possible for any being&mdash;was called [[Nirvana]].
 
According to one of the stories in the [[&#256;y&#257;cana Sutta]] (''Samyutta Nikaya'' VI.1), a scripture found in the [[P&#257;li]] and other [[canon (collection)|canon]]s, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach the ''[[Dharma]]''. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would not be able to see the true ''dhamma'' which was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, a spirit, [[Brahma Sahampati]], interceded and asked that he teach the ''dharma'' to the world, as "there will be those who will understand the ''Dharma''". With his great compassion, the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
 
[[Image:Buddha-Sarnath-sepia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Gautama Buddha preaching at the Deer Park in [[Sarnath]]]]
At the Deer Park near Benares in northern India he set in motion the [[Wheel of Dhamma]] by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought enlightenment. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first [[Sangha]], the company of Buddhist monks.
 
The Buddha emphasized that he was not a [[deity|god]], he was simply enlightened. He stated that there is no intermediary between mankind and the [[divine]]; distant gods are subjected to [[karma]] themselves in decaying heavens; and the Buddha is solely a guide and teacher for the sentient beings who must tread the path of Nirvana themselves to attain [[Bodhi|spiritual awakening]] and see truth and reality as it is. The Buddhist system of insight, thought, and [[meditation]] practice was not revealed divinely, but by the understanding of the true nature of the [[mind]], which could be discovered by anybody.
 
For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha traveled in the Gangetic Plain of central [[India]], teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people&mdash;from nobles to street outcaste sweepers, including many adherents of rival philosophies and religions. The Buddha founded the community of Buddhist monks and that of nuns (the ''[[Sangha]]'') to continue the dispensation after his ''[[Parinibbana]]'' or complete Nibbana, and made thousands of converts. His religion was open to all races and classes and had no [[caste]] structure. On the other hand, Buddhist texts record that he was reluctant to ordain women as nuns: he eventually accepted them on the grounds that their capacity for enlightenment was equal to that of men, but he gave them certain additional rules ([[Vinaya]]) to follow.
 
===The Great Passing===
<!--[[Image:Paranirvana.JPG|thumb|200px|left|The death of the Buddha, or [[parinirvana]], Gandhara 2-3rd century.]]
[[Image:EndAscetism.JPG|thumb|200px|Sharing the relics of the Buddha into eight parts, [[Gandhara]], 2-3rd century.]]-->
At the age of eighty, the Buddha ate his last meal, which, according to different translations, was either a mushroom delicacy or soft pork, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named [[Cunda]]. Falling violently ill, possibly from mesenteric infarction, the Buddha realized that his end was approaching fast. He told his attendant [[Ananda]] to prepare a bed between two Sal trees at Kushinagar, and then finally passed away. The Buddha's final words were, "All composite things pass away. Strive for your own salvation with diligence."
 
The Buddha's body was cremated and the [[relic]]s were placed in monuments or [[stupa]]s, some of which are believed to have survived until the present.
<br clear="left" />
 
==Personality and character==
<!--[[Image:BuddhaHead.JPG|thumb|194px|right|[[Gandhara]] Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, [[Musée Guimet]].]]-->
 
The Buddha as presented in the Buddhist scriptures is notable for such characteristics as:
*A comprehensive education and training in those fields appropriate to a warrior aristocrat, such as martial arts, agricultural management, and [[literature]], and also a deep understanding of the religious and philosophical ideas of his culture.
*Athletic and fit throughout his life, competent in martial arts such as chariot combat, wrestling, and archery, and later easily hiking miles each day and camping in the wilderness. (Images of a fat "Jolly Buddha" or [[Laughing Buddha]] are actually depictions of either [[Maitreya]], The future Buddha, or a 10th century Chinese monk, sometimes called ''[[Hotei]]'',  ''Hoti'', or ''Milefo''.)
*A superb teacher, with a fine grasp of the appropriate [[metaphors]], and tailoring his teachings to the audience at hand.
*Fearless and unworried at all times, whether dealing with religious debators, royalty, or murderous outlaws. He was never past exasperation when monks of his order misrepresented his teachings.
*Temperate in all bodily appetites. He lived a completely celibate life from age 29 until his death. He was indifferent to hunger and environmental conditions.
 
==Physical characteristics==
<!--[[Image:SeatedBuddha.JPG|thumb|200px|Seated Buddha, [[Gandhara]], 1st-2nd century CE, [[Tokyo National Museum]].]]
{{main|Physical characteristics of the Buddha}}-->
 
Buddha is perhaps one of the few sages for whom we have mention of his rather impressive physical characteristics.  He was at least six feet tall and had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the Kings and was asked to join his army as a general.
Although the Buddha was not represented in human form until around the [[1st century CE]] (see [[Buddhist art]]), his physical characteristics are described in one of the central texts of the traditional [[Pali canon]], the [[Digha Nikaya]]. They help define the global aspect of the historical Buddha, his physical appearance is described by Buddha's wife to his son Rahula upon Buddha's return in the scripture of the "Lion of Men":
 
3.
Like the full moon is His face;
He is dear to Gods and men;
He is like an elephant amongst men;
His gait is graceful as that of an elephant of
noble breed.
That, indeed, is your father, lion of men.
 
4.
He is of Aryan (aristocratic nobility) lineage, sprung from the warrior caste;
His feet have been honoured by Gods and men;
His mind is well established in morality and
concentration.
That, indeed, is your father, lion of men.
 
5.
Long and prominent is His well-formed nose,
His eye-lashes are like those of a heifer;
His eyes are extremely blue ; like a rainbow are
His deep blue eyebrows. 
(The word used is "adhi nila", meaning "very blue", nila is used for the word blue sapphire.)
That, indeed, is your father, lion of men.
 
6.
Round and smooth is His well-formed neck;
His jaw is like that of a lion;
His body is like that of king of beast;
His beautiful skin is of bright golden colour.
That, indeed is your father, lion of men.
 
Interpretations may vary, and the reliability of the ''[[Sutras]]'' may be questioned. The description above is indicative of a typically Indo-Aryan body type. This can also be related to the tradition describing the historic Buddha as a member of the Indian Kshatriya warrior caste.
 
*[[The Buddha's 32 Major Marks]] as explained by Ju [[Mipham Rinpoche]]
*[[The Buddha's 80 Minor Marks]] as explained by Ju [[Mipham Rinpoche]]
 
==Teachings==
<!--[[Image:Sermon in the Deer Park depicted at Wat Chedi Liem-KayEss-1.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|Painting of the first sermon depicted at [[Wat Chedi Liem]] in [[Thailand]]]]-->
 
The teachings of the Buddha are covered in the articles on '''[[Buddhism]]''' and '''[[Buddhist philosophy]]'''. Many [[Schools of Buddhism|Buddhist sects]] disagree as to what the Buddha actually taught. There seems to be major agreement on these points:
 
* The [[Four Noble Truths]]: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that suffering is caused by attachment(craving); that craving can be ceased; and that following the Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of craving (and suffering).
* The [[Eightfold Path]]: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
* The law of [[Pratitya-samutpada|dependent causation]]: that events are not [[Predestination|predestined]], nor are they [[random]], but that events are caused by the actions that preceded them.
* Rejection of the [[infallibility]] of accepted [[scripture]]: teachings should not be accepted unless they are borne out by our experiences.
* [[Anicca ]](pronouce as "anatesa"): That all things are impermanent.
* [[Anatta]]: That the perception of a constant "[[self]]" is an illusion.
 
==The Buddha in other religions==
===Hinduism===
Buddhists in general do not consider the Buddha to be [[God]] or an [[avatar]] of any god, and view such notions as [[Hinduism|Hinduism's]] (largely successful) attempt to "absorb" Buddhism. The general decline of Buddhism in India has been attributed to this "absorption" not only of the Buddha as a religious figure but of development in parallel [[Vedanta]] philosophy which began challenging Buddhism's logical and philosophically strong image.
 
===Islam===
Some [[Islam|Muslims]] believe that Siddharta Gautama is the same person who is referred to in the [[Koran]] as ''[[Dhul-Kifl]]'', and that he was therefore a [[prophet of Islam]]. The meaning of ''Dhul-Kifl'' is unclear, but, according to this view, it means "the man from ''Kifl''", where ''Kifl'' is the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] pronunciation of [[Kapilavastu]], where the Buddha spent thirty years of his life. More common views, however, hold that ''Dhul-Kifl'' was a different person and not a prophet at all, or that he was the prophet called [[Ezekiel]] in the [[Bible]].
 
===Christianity===
A theory surrounds [[Barlaam and Josaphat|Sts. Barlaam and Josaphat]] that it is a retelling of the story of Buddha's conversion from the worldly life of a prince to the life of an ascetic. The legend of "[[Barlaam and Josaphat]]" was written down by [[St. John of Damascus]] some time around the 7th century and later enjoyed fame in its telling. Barlaam and Josaphat found their way into the Roman Martyrology (27 November), and into the Greek calendar (26 August). If Josaphat was not already a historical figure, Buddha might be canonized in the [[Roman Catholic church]].
 
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html A sketch of the Buddha's Life]
* [http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/buddhist.htm Critical Resources: Buddha & Buddhism]
* [http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/quotes/buddha_sakyamuni.asp Pictures and selected quotes]
* [http://www.azibaza.com/lecture/lectures_emaciated.htm The Emaciated Gandharan Buddha Images: Asceticism, Health, and the Body]
* [http://www.borobudur.tv/lalitavistara.htm The Lalitavistara]
 
 
''This article is licensed under the [[http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html|GNU Free Documentation License]]. It uses material from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakyamuni_Buddha|Wikipedia article "Shakyamuni Buddha"]]''

Latest revision as of 13:32, 30 July 2008

Choegon Rinpoche (name in wylie)

H.E. Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche's brief biography:

The successive reincarnations of Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche are considered to be very important spiritual masters of the Drukpa lineage, a Tibetan Buddhist tradition founded by the first Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje (1161 - 1211) who was revered as the authentic reincarnation of the great Indian saint Naropa (1016-1100). The first Choegon Rinpoche was not only a disciple of the famed omniscient Pema Karpo, the fourth Gyalwang Drukpa, but he was also a kind teacher to him. The first Drukpa Choegon was well-known for his accomplishments in the practice of Vajrapani and Mahakala.

There are two reincarnations of the eighth Choegon Rinpoche. The ninth Choegon Rinpoche Chokyi Sengye took rebirth in a family of a yogi living in Kinnaur, a remote Himalayan town of Northern India. He was recognized by His Holiness the sixteenth Karmpa and His Eminence the eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche. His main teachers were His Eminence the Eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche of the Drukpa lineage and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche of the Nyingma lineage.

Another reincarnation of the eighth Choegon Rinpoche, the ninth Choegon Rinpoche Tenzin Chokyi Gyatso was recognized by His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama and His Eminence Gar Rinpcohe.

More details

Primary Teachers

Primary Lineage

Publications

Internal Links

External Links

  • main website has details of the ninth Drukpa Choegon Rinpoche Chokyi Sengye's activities and the monastery in India .
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