How Did Buddha Gained So Much Inflluence?

[Ether]

He was just a man!

[Ether]

yo

[psychoknaut]

I think part of it, was the simple method of the noble eight-fold path. Many of the practices being done in that time involved extreme austerities, and the worship of gods. I think it appealed as a way to realize without doing some of those things.

[Ether]

17 minutes ago, psychoknaut said:

I think part of it, was the simple method of the noble eight-fold path. Many of the practices being done in that time involved extreme austerities, and the worship of gods. I think it appealed as a way to realize without doing some of those things.

Is India usually a place where the majority focus on attaining meditation?

[Ether]

@Shanmugam ?

[MM1988]

How did the buddha become so fat? 

[Reflection]

To be fair, Siddhartha was a Prince.  His father was King.  He was born with influence. 

[Ether]

1 minute ago, Reflection said:

To be fair, Siddhartha was a Prince.  His father was King.  He was born with influence. 

True but he left all that behind.

@MM1988 I dont think thats the real him

[Joseph Maynor]

The Buddha said you can become enlightened too no matter who you are or where you come from.  If you follow the Path, you too can become enlightened.  The first explicit Enlightenment teacher of the masses.  Kinda like Jesus in that sense, right?  Jesus brought the religion of the Jews to the masses and told them -- you too can have a place at God's table, you don't have to be Jewish to do so.  So, I sense a widening up of Enlightenment to the masses in both men.  The Buddha was obviously influenced by the Jains and the Hindus, but I think what is great about him is he opened up Enlightenment to the common man.  It doesn't matter who you are, what family you came from, what your economic status is, what your level of education is, etc. -- you too can become Enlightened if you follow the Path.  I think that's the revolutionary message of the Buddha and what makes him so important historically.  You don't have to be a Brahman to have the highest spiritual attainment, it's open to everybody.  You could be a bum on the street and become Enlightened.  I'm sure there are bums on the street who are Enlightened, lots of them!  I've spoken to brilliant homeless people in my life: they just don't wanna play by society's rules.  The Path is open to everybody -- that's what's great about the Buddha's message.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Reflection]

49 minutes ago, Ether said:

True but he left all that behind.

Which makes his story all the more impressive and influential.

[Leo Gura]

Because he became enlightened as fuck.

His level of attainment is very unusual, even among enlightened folk.

There is a level of enlightenment at which you appear superhuman, godly to by-standards. Those were the levels reached by people like Jesus and Buddha. It wasn't your run-of-the-mill Neo-Advaita enlightenment. It was a very deep embodiment. One's level of embodiment is what makes people say, "Holy fuck! Look at that guy!" And then that produces tons of loyal followers and free mass marketing.

Massive deep enlightenment is the oldest method of viral marketing. Because it's so rare and amazing and inspiring.

[Faceless]

There were straight playas y’all 

lolol

Edited March 9, 2018 by Faceless

[Prabhaker]

8 hours ago, Ether said:

How Did Buddha Gained So Much Inflluence?

Buddhism gained so much influence because his disciples spread his teaching beyond the boundaries of India. Otherwise there were many contemporaries who were great enlightened teachers like Mahavir, Makhali Ghosal, Ajit Kesakambal, Sanjaya Belaputta, Nigantha Nathaputta.

7 hours ago, Reflection said:

To be fair, Siddhartha was a Prince.  His father was King.  He was born with influence.

There were many great enlightened teachers in India who were prince like Mahavira and left their kingdoms to seek truth. Buddhism survived because Buddha's disciples spread it outside India.

[Joseph Maynor]

I think he's a symbol at this point.  A cultural artifact.  Use it to inspire you.  

Edited March 9, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Ether]

8 hours ago, Prabhaker said:

Buddhism gained so much influence because his disciples spread his teaching beyond the boundaries of India. Otherwise there were many contemporaries who were great enlightened teachers like Mahavir, Makhali Ghosal, Ajit Kesakambal, Sanjaya Belaputta, Nigantha Nathaputta.

There were many great enlightened teachers in India who were prince like Mahavira and left their kingdoms to seek truth. Buddhism survived because Buddha's disciples spread it outside India.

What princes?

[Prabhaker]

1 hour ago, Ether said:

What princes?

Not only Buddha, Mahavira and other twenty three enlightened masters of Jainism, Bodhidharma were prince. All of them are considered as great enlightened masters in India. All of them renounced there kingdoms.

[Ether]

@Prabhaker Damn, they followed Buddha's way? How did their dads react?

[Prabhaker]

Just now, Ether said:

Damn, they followed Buddha's way?

Only Bodhidharma followed Buddha. Mahavira is as popular as Buddha in India, both criticized each other. Most of them were older than Buddha , they didn't followed Buddha.

[Ether]

@Prabhaker Why did they criticize each other?

[Prabhaker]

1 minute ago, Ether said:

Why did they criticize each other?

They are not enemies, their fight is not of the ego. Their fight has a totally different context. They fight because they know one thing: that the goal is one, but the paths are many. And each master has to defend his path, knowing perfectly well that other paths are as valid as his. But if he starts saying that all the paths are valid, he will not have the impact, the influence on his people. The journey is long and he needs absolute trust.