3

Current India was previously not as big and united as it is now. Multiple countries quarrel for existence. Life was not normal for people. Chaos and Imbalance was on its height.

Is that the reason, Shakyamuni Buddha choose Indian Subcontinent as a favorable place to teach Buddhist way of living?

If so, next destination for Buddha to teach may be Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or even United States. If next Buddha is seen in some other place besides Indian Subcontinent, will he/she be recognized as Buddha? What if Jesus was a form of Buddha? What if new Buddha change the way Buddhism is what we are following, according to current situation?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

(I think you know about who a Bodhisattva is....)

While a Bodhisattva is in the heavenly realm (Thauthisa) he chooses the Best time,Best parents,Best cast,Best kingdom,Best country to be born. This is an essential process that all Bodhisattva's go through before being born as a human being.

Here are the reasons why.....

As you know democracy is really new,what existed before is a cast system with nobles and lower casts. Your name sounds Indian so i presume there is no need of explaining the difficulties that a lower cast person will have to go through to get to any higher level in anything. At the age of kings there is no better place to get accepted than being born as a prince and that's why it happened like that in this era.

I have learned that there is an auspicious place on the Human realm that all Bodhisattvas (Who are destined to be A Lord Buddha) reach nirvana and become Lord Buddhas. And this place is the same place every time even after all the destruction that can happen. This time it was India and next time maybe there will be no India, Next time it may be on an island. What we are talking about is a universal position that does not change,its geography,name and other things may change but it will always be the same place in the universe.

Another Buddha can't be born in a particular realm while there is already a previous Buddha's teaching.

(Please not that this is "Theravada Buddhism" and "Mahayana Buddhists" believe in multiple Buddhas in different realms. But even them do not believe that another Buddha can be born in a particular realm while there is already a previous Buddha's teaching.)

Can Lord Buddha be a woman....

No, As Lord Buddha explained a woman who start the life of a Bodhisattva will soon turn into a male in the most nearby life and continue to be male. Because of this reason a Lord Buddha will always be a male.

Please note that this does not mean that a woman can't be a Lord Buddha. What this means is that when she start her practice as a Bodhisattva she will soon get a life as a male and therefore a woman being a lord Buddha does not happen because of this gender change between births.

Can Jesus or any other recent teachers be a Buddha....

No, Because as far as my knowledge goes none of the schools accept that two Lord Buddhas will exist in the same planet at the same time or two teachings would exist at the same time.

Will Buddhism change or modify to suit the time....

No, Because there is one unique thing about Buddhism. And that is....

Akalika = Timeless

As Lord Buddha said there is no need of updating or changing the teaching as it is timeless and complete.

Also Lord Buddha challenged saying that no one can add or remove a single teaching as too much or non worthy.

So there can be differences in

The Language The explaining method The idioms The examples

when two Lord Buddhas teach the path. But the core will always be the same. The only difference will be Grammatical and explanatory differences.

Improve this answer
6
  • So, in brief, a person who is dominant in any realm, where buddhist ideology is lost, can become a buddha by gaining buddhist knowledge. Who knows, some realm may have female as dominant than male. Or is it universal that the male will always be dominant than female!
    – kiran
    Feb 5, 2016 at 6:58
  • @kiran , dear friend this is not a matter of Masochism or Feminism. It is more like this (If you want to race a horse on foot and win you can try your luck but it is simply not going to happen. But if you get on a Plane you can win the race.) So this is how things happen. You might know that we as Buddhist do not recognize gender the way normal society recognize it. We believe that gender is not a solid thing (Meaning any man has been a woman and any woman has been a man). So what we value is spiritual significance not Gender based superiority......
    – Theravada
    Feb 5, 2016 at 7:31
  • @kiran , The dominance of a person does not matter, A person must be a Bodhisattva to become a Buddha. You and i are normal people who go on with our own lives if you or me try to be a Buddha when Buddhism is not around it will not work. Because non e of us two live the life of a Bodhisattva. And gaining Buddhist Knowledge does not make a Buddha. A Bodhisattva who alone without any help or teaching Realizes Reality and therefore is called a Lord Buddha. So gender does not matter.....
    – Theravada
    Feb 5, 2016 at 7:36
  • @kiran , As i said above in my answer without the matter of a gender (It may be a HE,She,Transsexual) will be born as a male in the journey of a Bodhisattva and after that the gender may change according to Karma. But in the last life in which the Bodhisattva becomes a Buddha the birth will be male. This has been taught by Buddha as "A Nature of things". This has nothing to do with male dominance. If you know a female who would like to be a Buddha she can just like me (a male) can.
    – Theravada
    Feb 5, 2016 at 7:40
  • 1
    There's more on the subject of gender in this topic. If you want to pursue the topic of gender, you might do that by posting an answer there. "Can Lord Buddha be a woman" wasn't asked here: the question here was, "Why in India, and why 2500 years ago?"
    – ChrisW ♦
    Feb 5, 2016 at 11:25
1

The five major factors were when the Buddha chose to be born

  1. If it is the right time to be born as a human being in order to attain Buddha hood
  2. The right continent
  3. The right country or the state
  4. The right caste
  5. The right person chosen as the mother to give birth to

In the Indian sub continent there was many exploration of seeking for spiritual salvation during the time. No other country or time was there similar activity in seeking spiritual development and salvation. Hence this was chosen as the right time and place.

Also since the when establishing the order of monks you have to renounce you cast, i.e, what ever cast you had before is left behind and you come to the common pedestal of monkhood. Since this will not be take seriously is a low caste person preachers the set aside cast and will not gain respect of all castes the Buddha has to be born at the highest caste.

In the current situation is not ideal for a Buddha to have been born in case the Buddha to be chose this time as human life expectancy is less than 100 years. A Buddha does not appear in such times. Also back 2500 or so years ago there was no interest in meditation and meditative forms of spiritual development other than in India.

The next Buddha will be Maitreya Buddha. Depending on the time he may set Vinaya and perhaps Vinaya rules different from the current. The Vinaya is established by the Buddha and new rules do not fall into the sphere of a disciple to enact though you can have conventions or agreements, but they are not Vinaya rules. Then a new Buddha enacts his rules then they become effective. In such times the teaching of the previous Buddha would be lost to the world. The Dhamma taught by all Buddhas is the same.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    What is the right caste to be a buddha?
    – kiran
    Feb 4, 2016 at 9:43

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .