A journey of personal enlightenment
623 BC – Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in Kapilavastu, near the present-day border of India and Nepal, on the May Full Moon. His Hindu parents were King Suddhodana and Queen Mahamaya. He was born into the Kashtriyas caste of rulers and warriors. His mother Mahamaya died seven days after he was born.
607 BC – King Suddhodana loved his son and desperately wanted him to become a great king. He was given the excellent education of a prince and by age 16 he knew everything a king needed to know. He married Princess Yasodhara and was given the deputy kingship by his father. Prince Siddhartha and Princess Yasodhara lived happily in the palace
594 BC – Siddhartha became curious about what was outside of the city walls. His father forbid him to go out of the city, but curiosity overwhelmed him and one night he snuck out in disguise with his best friend, Channa. A smallpox plague was ravaging the countryside around the city. For the first time, Siddhartha saw a sick man. He asked Channa, “Can I become sick one day like this man.” Channa replied, “Yes, because we all have a human body.” The next day they went out again. For the first time, Siddhatha saw an old man. The third day, he saw a corpse for the first time. Each time he realized deep within himself that this was the inescapable fate of all human beings. On the fourth day, they saw an ascetic yogi with his begging bowl. When Siddhartha went back to the palace, he complained to his father that he did not love his own people if he could allow them to suffer so much. At the same time, he was informed that his first son had been born. He felt that if he really loved his wife and child, he should find a solution for this suffering. Yasodhara was not surprised when she found out that her husband had left. Over their thirteen years of marriage she had observed his spiritual yearnings. She vowed support him in whatever he did. Siddhartha cut off his hair and took on the life of an ascetic. He became a student of a great Brahmin ascetic (yogi), Alarakalama. Within seven months his abilities were equal to his teacher. Alarakalama asked him to stay and instruct him and his students, but Siddhartha was not satisfied. He left his teacher and found another teacher, Uddhakaramaputra, who had attained a higher state of meditation. Before long, Siddhartha had surpassed the abilities of this teacher. Still, he had emotional attachments and pain. He left his teacher to practice by himself. For six years Siddhartha practiced the most extreme form of ascetism. He consumed only one meager meal per week. His body was like skin stretched over a skeleton. He could control his breath for up to one hour. Finally, he realized that he was no closer to his goal. He began to eat again. From this point on, he advocated the middle way avoiding the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification.
588 BC – Siddhartha sat down under the Bodhi tree, on the day before his 35th birthday, on the Full Moon of May. He was determined not to get up from that spot until he had become fully awakened, even if he should die in the process. By the next morning he had attained nirvana, meaning his “fire” went out…or in modern terms his “ego”. For seven weeks he remained at Bodh Gaya, paying respect to the Bodhi Tree and reviewing what he had understood. He tried to think of someone who would have the capacity to understand what he had realized. He thought of his two teachers and realized that they had both passed away. Then he thought of Kondanna and the four other ascetics that he had stayed with during his extreme asceticism. When the five ascetics saw the Buddha approaching, they were determined to ignore him. They were convinced that he had given up his practice when he started to eat regularly. However, when he approached they could not resist offering him food and water. Despite their doubt, they agreed to listen to what he had to say. The Buddha preached all night. This famous sermon is known as the “Wheel of Dharma.” The Dharma is the teaching of the Buddha: the truth, understanding, and wisdom to release suffering. Over the next few days, each of the ascetics became enlightened.
543 BC – The Buddha continued to teach for the next 45 years. During that time he ordained thousands of monks and nuns and many of them reached enlightenment, including his wife and his son, Rahula. His chief disciples were Ananda, who was able to remember every sermon the Buddha gave, Sariputta, who was put in charge of the Sangha (monks and nuns) upon the Buddha’s death, and Mogallana, who taught the Dharma by traveling between worlds.
542 BC – The Buddha passed into Parinirvana on the Full Moon of May at the age of 81 in Kusinara. He was cremated and his relics were divided and enshrined in Buddhist temples.
542 BC – The first council of Buddhism Sangha was organized a few months after Buddha attained Nirvana. It was held in Rajagaha, with the hope of developing an agreement on his teachings. However, the teachings of Buddha were not written down even then.
483 BC – The Second Council, held at Vesali, was to settle a conflict over the nature of Buddhist saints and monastic discipline, which had arisen between the Mahasanghika majority of eastern India and the Sthavira elders of the west.
200 BC – Asoka, the first Buddhist Emperor – was the ruler of the Magadhan empire. Initially a ruler obsessed with the aim of expanding his empire, he changed after witnessing the brutal carnage at the battle of Kalinga. This event led him towards Buddhism and he built his empire into a Buddhist state, a first of its kind. He laid the foundation of numerous stupas and spread the teachings of Lord Buddha throughout the world. Emperor Asoka sent his son, Mahindra, to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism in the state. He succeeded in converting the King of Sri Lanka to Buddhism and soon, Buddhism became the state religion of the country.
200 BC – The Third Council and the Birth of Theravada Buddhism – was held under Emperor Asoka, in Pataliputra. The reason for the council was deterioration in the standards of the monks. The consequence of the council was exclusion of numerous monks from the Sangha. What arose from that council were the definitive teachings of Theravada Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism emphasized a monastic life removed from society and required an extreme amount of time meditating.
80 BC – The Fourth Council and the creation of the Pali Canon – took place in Sri Lanka, in the Aloka Cave near the village of Matale. The teachings of Buddha were finally written into a canon, they were written not in Sanskrit, but in a language derived from Sanskrit, called Pali between 89 and 77 BC. The entire writing was given the name of Tipitaka or the Pali Canon.
100 – Mahayana Buddhism emerged and grew. With the rise of this sect, new sutras emerged. Lotus Sutra, the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra.
300 – 700 – Tantra a new form of Buddhism emerged out Mahayana. This form came to be known as Tantra, Mantrayana and Vajrayana. Tantras emphasized on the bodhisattva ideal and empathy for all beings. At the same time, it also encouraged the drawing of mandalas or ‘magic’ circles, symbolic hand gestures known as mudras, the recitation of phrases known as mantras and visualizations. It was also believed that one needs an experienced teacher or guru to learn the teachings of Lord Buddha.
520 – Zen Buddhism derives from the Sanskrit word Dhyana “meditation.” Zen Buddhism focuses on attaining enlightenment (bodhi) through meditation as Siddharta Gautama did. It teaches that all human beings have the Buddha-nature, or the potential to attain enlightenment, within them, but the Buddha-nature has been clouded by ignorance. To overcome this ignorance, Zen rejects the study of scriptures, religious rites, devotional practices, and good works in favor of meditation leading to a sudden breakthrough of insight and awareness of ultimate reality. The Zen path is usually undertaken by a disciple under the guidance of a master.
538 – Spread of Buddhism into Southeast Asia. With the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism to China in around the fourth to fifth centuries AD, Daoism and Buddhism became religious rivals in China. The Buddhist tactic was to change, and even supplant, indigenous Daoist deities in favor of Buddhist deities. By the end of the century, Buddhism had become the state religion of the country.
600 – Decline of Buddhism in India – because of growth of Hinduism, decline of Buddhist universities and Muslim Turk invasions of northwest India.
700 – Padmasambhava spreads Buddhism in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism is the combination Theravada Buddhism and Hindu yogic and tantric practices.
800 – Chinese Buddhism spreads under the patronage of Emperor Shomu. Six schools of Chinese Buddhism, namely Sanron, Jojitsu, Hosso, Kusha, Kegon and Ritsu, were also introduced during this period. Tendai and Shingon schools develops in Japan.
840 – Persecution of Tibetan Buddhism under King Lang Darma, civil strife begins
877 – Destruction of Tibetan Dynasty Buddhism almost completely wiped out
978 – Commencement of second Buddhist period in Tibet
1042 – Atisa, a great Buddhist teacher from India establishes reform movement
1391 – The Dalai Lama becomes the spiritual leader of Lamaism is regarded as the principal incarnation of the bodhisattva Chenrezig also known as Avalokiteshvara – the bodhisattva of compassion. Guan Yin is the feminine aspect the bodhisattva of compassion. The Dalai Lamas function as spiritual guides to Buddhists throughout the world. The literary works of the Dalai Lamas reflect the fusion of Buddhist philosophy embodied in Tibetan Buddhism and have become one of the world’s great repositories of spiritual thought. Lamaists believe that the Dalai Lama is continually reborn through the process of reincarnation by which the soul of the previous Dali Lama moves into the body of another person and is born again. When the Dalai Lama dies, Buddhist Monks go in search of a young boy who was born at about the time of the Dalai Lama’s death. After finding this boy, they train him to become the next Dalai Lama.
The First Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa: 1391-1474
Second, Gedun Gyatso: 1475-1542
Third, Sonam Gyatso: 1543-1588
Fourth, Yonten Gyatso: 1589-1617
Fifth, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, “The Great Fifth”: 1617-1682
Sixth, Tsangyang Gyatso: 1682-1706
Seventh, Kelsang Gyatso: 1708-1757
Eighth, Jamphel Gyatso: 1758-1804
Ninth, Lungtok Gyatso: 1805-1815
Tenth, Tsultrim Gyatso: 1816-1837
11th , Khedrup Gyatso: 1838-1856
12th, Trinley Gyatso: 1856-1875
13th, Thupten Gyatso: 1876-1933
*14th, Tenzin Gyatso born on 6 July 1935. (He was the 5th of 16 children)
1937 - Tenzin Gyatso is proclaimed the reincarnation of the thirteenth Dalai Lama
1940 - Tenzin Gyatso is officially installed as the spiritual leader of Tibet.
1950 – October 24, China invaded Tibet. Around 1.2 million Tibetans die.
1950 – November 17, the Dalai Lama assumed full political power over Tibet.
1959 – The Dalai Lama sets up the Tibetan Government in exile in Dharmsala, India.
1989 – Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to free his homeland
1995 – The Dalai Lama urges the US to press China’s leaders to grant autonomy to Tibet.
2010 – Unrest continues with China in Tibet. Dalai Lama called for calm.
