Buddha
 

Greetings,
I wanted to share what for me was very inspirational and entertaining to watch recently.
It is a series that is currently on our Netflix called "Buddha".
There are a few different ones but this one is the one that is 55 episodes long, each of which are 45 minutes in length.
It was produced in 2013 and stars Himanshu Soni.
It takes you from before his birth to his death.
I learned so much more from this series than anything I've ever read about Buddhism before.
I found that answers to those things I never really got like renunciation and escetic life came to me thru the inspiration this series imparted in me.
It really felt like I was watching my life in many of the things he went thru. It also felt like he was there with me the whole time.
Obviously I loved it and I felt sharing such an extensive source of knowledge,wisdom and entertainment was a great thing to do for those who might also appreciate what it brings.
Enjoy and Have a great day!

No interest. Fine if you watch what catches your interest. But what catches your interest is of no concern for me. Let me know when your death catches your interest.:biggrin:

Yes it goes without saying that if you have no interest in watching and learning from this series then it will not be of any value. I feel it also depends on where you are as to what you get out of anything. Still for those who are interested, I can only say that it was beyond awesome.
I see and appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post. It comes across as kindness on your part to me.
In regards to my death, I probably won't need to come to you because if that thought arises, I will take that opportunity to not identify with it and watch it for what it is.
Blessings

I went to netflix and it is not there. Is it streaming only? Are you using the USA netflix?

I'm using Netflix USA. I found that I can't find it streaming as of lately but I can find it at home. Maybe that is because it is listed as being on "my list".
I would try calling them. I'll try to see if it's anywhere else to be viewed.

I found it on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fedAwJZQk

Edit: it looks like only episode 1 is subtitled in English so you might to look into that first.

Thanks for the information. I found it on Netflix and I'm in Australia.

I've only watched the first two episodes but I thought they were great. (He's only a baby and Queen Maya has just died).

Hi Shaunc,
I'm really glad to hear that and I look forward to hearing if and how it inspires you as it did me.
Blessings

It's going to take a while for me to get back to you. My family and me are going on a holiday tomorrow. 5 days in Hong Kong and then 4 weeks in the beautiful Philippine islands. While in Hong Kong we plan to visit the big buddha statue and the nearby monastery. It's supposed to be the biggest buddha statue in the world.

Wow that really awesome! I hope you all have a great time.
Blessings

BlueSky,

Thank you for letting me know about this wonderful movies: The Life of The Shakyamuni Buddha. I watched the first three episodes with dubbing in Vietnamese. I really like and enjoy watching these movies very much. Thank you.

Best,
Tam

I've been meaning to watch this, so I just stated it now after reading this. Have you seen Dharmakshetra on Netflix? It's a similar concept, but tries to show the details of the Mahabharata story through the eyes of a trial accusing the characters in the story of their faults of action. It makes you think more into the various elements of the story. You might also like the Mahabharata in a movie by Peter Brooks on Youtube. It's 4 hours long, but very well made, especially the scene with Krishna and Arjuna, then the end scene approaching the ladder of Heaven.

Arjuna and Krishna Conversation

youtu.be/_B4Z1PB97KY

FINAL SCENE

youtu.be/dVgBkfNu7k0?t=1h39m50s

There's another great movie set like this on Bodhidharma, but I can only find clips of it so far. I hope Netflix eventually carries it.

I'm so glad to hear that! I can't wait to see what you think 52 more episodes later. Enjoy!

Hi, yes I had seen the previews for that one but I wanted to continue absorbing the change and thoughts and feelings the Buddha series brought out in me.
Thanks to your post, I'm reminded to go back and check it out.

Many people fail to realize that this story and the Hebrew Christ are the same story. Maya is the mother of Buddha. BUDH means to awaken and Maya is Illusion, or the cosmos birthing the Buddha (one being and many). You get this straight by reading Colossians 1:15-18, where The Son of God (BUDH) is born as the Cosmos, or all things (from the invisible God). While the Hebrew narrative is stated from the Male perspective, the Sanskrit is from the feminine perspective. Strength and Compassion are Fire and Water uniting to make relatives from the absolute. In the story, the Prince must choose to be a warrior, or a sage. He first chooses to be a sage, then promises to return to conquer the illusion and bring enlightenment to all. This is the Bodhisattva, or returning compassion to free people from suffering, which is the very story of Christ as the returning King. The Hebrews thought King David would return as a conquering prince. Instead, he returned as a child to become Prince of Peace. It's the same story. No difference.

Prajapati means Lord of People. BUDH means to awaken to truth (Sattva). Maya is the lower six realms of Time / Space, or the lower six dimensions. This is the lower Gunas of Rajas (passion / time) and Tamas (form / ignorance. Both Sanskrit and Hebrew are two sides of a three part language, with Greek / Latin comprising the Western (son) from both Father and Mother. Yama in Hebrew means, "Head West." Bodhidharma. In Sanskrit, Yama is the ruler of the underworld (Yahweh) and Satan is Mara. Manu is Mankind, or the Sanskrit word meaning, "To Think." Yama literally means, self-control, or what Yahweh was as ruler of the underworld for the Hebrews.

Put this together and all rulers, powers, thrones and authorities are in the Son (all of us). Again, this is found in Colossians 1:15-17. Rulers and thrones are Satan (conscience), Yahweh / Yama (Sub-conscious / underworld) and Manu as the conscious Jiva / Atman. Ishvara is the Lord collectively, or chariot driver. Each person is given the lordship of their own avatar (buddha body). We are each Kings. The essence of the entire story is to use the personifications as Yadims, or objects of veneration to see the truth behind the symbolism, eventually awakening (BUDH) to your higher nature as the one the stories are about.

As you watch, I hope this adds value to your own BUDH! Thank you for the thread. Maybe I should do a thread on this topic. I don't think many people realize this at all.

Hi there,

Yes, for me, when watching the series it was apparent that it is the same story as that of Jesus. I found myself trying to convince myself that this very observation, that the stories are the same, are reason to believe they are just stories. I think your explanation adds details that help to see that it is much more than a story and even if it is not historically correct, what survived the test of time is the message you outlined here. I especially resonated with this part:

“Each person is given the lordship of their own avatar (buddha body). We are each Kings. The essence of the entire story is to use the personifications as Yadims, or objects of veneration to see the truth behind the symbolism, eventually awakening (BUDH) to your higher nature as the one the stories are about.”

I learned so much from this series and as you alluded to, I had noticed that his mother’s name was Maya. I never knew that.

I also never knew the details behind why or how he was kept away from seeing disease, old age and death, so that was interesting and helpful for my understanding.

Again, regardless of if it was historically correct, it opened my eyes in the same way that the new testament opened my eyes about Jesus.

I walked away feeling like this story was about me and also that The Buddha in the story is with me.

If you start a new thread, please let me know………Thanks! Please feel free to use this thread. I would like that!

I can see similarities between the story of Buddha and Jesus but I wouldn't say they are the same, many differences are there if you look deeply.

Buddhism definitely had some impact on the teachings of Jesus, these can be seen in the Gnostic Gospels, especially the Gospel Of Thomas.

All the great Master realised ' Oneness ' but explained it in their own way.

The Buddha in the story is you.. as is Jesus in his story...
Buddha Nature, Christ Consciouness, all are one.

The reason for this irrationality is just the conditioning through christian upbringing. People just cannot let go of that stuff.

It all resolves to the mind being our common essence, with the collective mind belonging to that of the first essence of creation. One bread, many slices. One blood, many veins. One mind, many thoughts. As the story goes, we will eventually all awaken to All in All, or each part realizing the whole. It's a larger process to know the unknowable, of which, we are all part.

I wouldn't blame Christian upbringing on all of it. I was brought up in a
Irish Roman Catholic enviroment and educated by Nuns yet at a very early age realised what I was being taught was not how I felt deep inside, there was more to it.
I personally think that you are where you are for a reason and when the time is right it will all come together like pieces of a puzzle, regardless.

The Student and Master is YOU!
 

When the student is ready, the Master appears. This aphorism has a twist most miss. We are both master and student. Our mastery in life brings our own enlightenment from within. In Zen, there are 10 directions. North, South, East, West, Past, Present, Future, Above as Below. These are nine. The missing direction is inside, or the only direction that mirrors the outside. Your mastery appears when your student is ready. Always. The answer is always in the question. Quest.

What irrationality are you referring too?

"When dirty water becomes clear,
No effort is required for the reflections of the sun and moon to appear"

Yes, but you have to be able to see the water...:smile:

Please elaborate

The Three Buffalo

The buffalo’s head sprouts horns
As he emerges from the weeds (relatives),
In a dream, he tries to speak
Of the valley of the timeless spring.
Although he has bathed in the fragrant waters,
I hit, saying, “Not Good Enough!
How will you impart strength to others?”

Buffalo one is a mud buffalo. It rears its horns as an uncontrolled Animal (OX) and appears covered in its own weeds. As it rises into Rajas from Tamas, it begins to enter clear water, rising off mud. The Water Buffalo is in a state of baptism, or entering the stream. From this, it reaches higher until it realizes something. It's Buddha Nature. From here, it becomes the domesticated White Buffalo, or the servant to the Family (BodhiSattva).

Compassion is imparting strength (previously uncontrolled) to others. Service. Each of the 10 OX herding pictures fit into this form 1 - 10, divided by the first 9 into threes. Tamas, Rajas and Sattva.

What I quoted from Sky in particular but also in general to construct similarities between different religions which is just a manifestation of grasping at a truth that cannot be found since it does not exist.
All just fabrications and mental fashionings.

I think grasping at them is the source of religions but otherwise they seem to point to that which can't be grasped. A symbol or reflection of the truth that cannot be grasped.
That's how I see it anyways

From my perspective the notion of 'truth' is the issue. There are different modes of consciousness but one mode is not 'truer' than the others.

One thing about the way the Buddha was reflected in the character after enlightenment as dispassionate bothers me and always has.
I can't imagine a state of being where you look at your wife as if she is not special to you. I can't imagine viewing your grandson in this manner either.
I wouldn't want that nor would I want to not desire my wife or enjoy a piece a cake over a piece of broccoli.
If anyone understands what I'm saying here, I'd be interested in your comments.
Thanks!

That's why in the Palikanon there are monks and householders and the buddha gives different teachings to each of them.

Even a slice of pie comes form the cake. It too is impermanent. The essence of time / spaces is the appreciation both the value of having your cake and knowing you can make another if you eat it. When seen by this light, rebirth is not the process of consuming the cake, but both consuming and making a new variety. Your Grandson will die (impermanence), but the joy comes in knowing that the Yoga you did with him (union) is an ingredient from you he carries with him to the next life. You also carry him with you in the storehouse of collective memory gleaned from him (seed). Although you cannot remember all your past relatives today, your truth being in Sattva IS the storehouse. Read the opening lines of the Diamond Sutra.

Within Buddhism, there are many hidden truths that are there to keep you asking the questions. This is called great doubt, or the essence of continually questioning your previous false views. Each new insight then reveals another hidden piece of the puzzle. In the Diamond Sutra, the robe is his body he wears to birth into the material realm of Rajas and Tamas. He carries his bowl (mind) and goes with his assembly (family). Each generation into life is a new journey to beg for knowledge. When he returns, he hangs up the Robe, puts away the bowl and washes his free (karma on his seed / feet is euphemism for what is between the legs). He then sits with his assembly to learn what they have learned. You are never away from your family, only ignorant of what I just showed you here in Tamas. Take heart.

As much as I know this, it is only now that I see that I unconsciously placed one over the other as if he was instructing householders as if to say.. you do this cuz there's not much else you can do, we'll get you in the next life... lol

Thanks Ground

I often share with people that I have never known joy that compares to being a grandfather to my 4 little ones. Your post here carried that same joy for me.
Thank you!

Pancavaggi Sutra Five Brethren, SN 22.59.

It certainly can be interpreted that way and this is the interpretation preferred by monks who cultivate elitist thinking. But it also can be interpreted as just different teachings for different characters.

Liberation can mean so much. For buddhist believers it is liberation from literal rebirths. For non-budddhist believers in buddhas time it was liberation from only bad literal rebirths.
For some it may mean liberation from negative thinking or painful feelings or memories or fears. For others it may mean liberation from the conventional world as it appears to them. For others it may mean liberation from belief to enhance autonomy.

As their are as many kinds of liberation as there are individuals there are many kinds of views and instructions.

Baptism - clear vision.

Do you mean this in the way that everyone has that special something they need liberation from? Isn't liberation really just setting the mind free?