Bouddha and mahavira

[alishan]

did they live the same period of time? met each other?

thanks

 

[Rainbow Mage]

No one really knows for sure. Some believe they may have been one and the same. I doubt this.

 

[Breathe]

No one really knows for sure. Some believe they may have been one and the same. I doubt this.

Hmmm, I believe they may were contemporaries, and I'm of the opinion that Buddha was influenced by Jain Dharma.

As we know, Mahavira lived from 599-527BCE, and Buddha 563-483BCE, and Mahavira lived in what is now Bihar in India, which is only a little south of where Buddha was born, and only a little east of where Buddha passed on -- and Buddha also spent time in what is now Bihar (in Rajgir), so it's easy to imagine that Buddha probably encountered some Jains in his time and studied with them during his years as an ascetic in my opinion.


I'd be interested to know, actually, what Jains tend to think of the Buddha and his teachings.

 

[alishan]

for louis frederic in his book "bouddha at his time"

he said that mahavira was one the 6 masters competing against the Bouddha and that the two masters had many arguments.

 

[emptybe]

Wasn't the Buddha Jain before his enlightenment? I remember reading somewhere that he practiced asceticism before his enlightenment, and that would explain where he got a lot of his teachings.

 

[alishan]

what is beeing jain?

if he had arguments with muhavira how could he be jain?

 

[LuisDantas]

(Sorry for intruding in the Jain DIR, but I mean no disrespect and this seems worth a comment)

I don't believe Buddha met Mahavira, at least before becoming a religious teacher himself, but I'm not sure anyway.

In any case, from a Buddhist perspective there is certainly no contradiction between following the teachings of a religious person and having arguments with same. A few examples are even part of the Tipitaka.

There is a well-regarded tradition of "Dharma Combat" that I can easily imagine applying to a hypothetical meeting between Gautama Buddha and Mahavira, or at least between early Buddhists and early Jains. Quite frankly, it is an exciting thought.

 

[hindupridemn]

According to legend, Buddha was a disciple of Mahavira. HIs "middle path" came as a compromise between the strictness of Jainism and the excesses of the Hindus of the time. Ironically, Hinduism is IMHO now the middle path as it seems to be stricter than modern Buddhism. Jainsm remains one of the strictest religion on Earth, however.

 

[anant]

In my opinion and from what I have read, Buddha was against the strict ascetic nature of Jainism. He did try Jain Ascetism in early phase of life but renounced it as he was of the opinion that the suffering that occurs from such strict ascetism does not help the mind on the other hand it generates negative thoughts there by comin in the way to Nirvana.

 

[LuisDantas]

Was the ascetism that Sidarta experimented with before his awakening Jain in origin? Do you happen to have sources on that?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Yes I agree that Jain dharma is much too ascetic to be compatiable with Buddhist dharma, but that doesn't mean there aren't similarities. Lots of them.

 

[anant]

Mazzim Nikaya,-"i wandered about naked, licked food from hands which i begged from the house which had not prepared it for me specially,plucked out my hair,fasted without water,i kept a sweeper in my hands and sweeped the place before i sat down

All the above are Jain monk practices. From what I have read is that Buddha took Jain diksha in the group that followed the 23rd Jain tirthankar Lord Parshavnath.

Disclaimer: My knowledge about Buddhism is limited and the above information is copy pasted from internet. I would like to be corrected if the information is incorrect.

 

[Chewbarker1054]

Found this on line


Jainism in Buddha Period
Lord Mahavir was the senior contemporary of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. In Buddhist books Lord Mahavir is always described as nigantha Nataputta (Nirgrantha Jnatrputra), i.e., the naked ascetic of the Jnätr clan. Further, in the Buddhist literature Jainism is referred to as an ancient religion. There are ample references in Buddhist books to the Jain naked ascetics, to the worship of Arhats in Jain chaityas or temples and to the chaturyäma dharma (i.e. fourfold religion) of 23rd Tirthankar Parsvanath.
Moreover, the Buddhist literature refers to the Jain tradition of Tirthankars and specifically mentions the names of Jain Tirthankars like Rishabhdev, Padmaprabh, Chandraprabh, Puspdant, Vimalnath, Dharmanath and Neminath. The Buddhist book Manorathapurani, mentions the names of many lay men and women as followers of the Parsvanath tradition and among them is the name of Vappa, the uncle of Gautama Buddha. In fact it is mentioned in the Buddhist literature that Gautama Buddha himself practiced penance according to the Jain way before he propounded his new religion.

 

[akiratoriyama]

According to our religion (jainism) He met Mahavira
Infact he was a follower of Mahavira

 

[Indra Wardhana]

Do not confuse between Indrabhuti Gautama (the diciple of Mahavira) with Sidharta Gautama (the Buddha).

 

[alishan]

Bouddha a disciple of mahavira? difficult to accept

do we have extracts of the dialogue between the two masters ?

 

[anant]

I do not have exact citation currently, but Mahavira and Buddha were contemporaries. Some of Buddhist texts do quote that certain disciples of Mahavira after having debated and lost to Buddha accepted Buddhism. As mentioned above by Chewbarker the Buddhists referred to Mahavira as 'Nirgrantha Jnatrputra' or 'Nirgrantha Natputra'. Most of the references to Mahavira are demeaning in nature.

 

[Jain]

According to legend, Buddha was a disciple of Mahavira. HIs "middle path" came as a compromise between the strictness of Jainism and the excesses of the Hindus of the time. Ironically, Hinduism is IMHO now the middle path as it seems to be stricter than modern Buddhism. Jainsm remains one of the strictest religion on Earth, however.

Correct. The Buddha provided a path for those who can't handle the strict austerities of the Jain Dharma. That is why it has appealed to far more followers than Jainism. The Jain Dharma can take you to moksha, freedom, release and the Buddha's path is less strict and will take longer, but will let you reach there too.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

According to a book I read, Mahavira was about 2 decades old by the time Guatama was born. I wouldn't be surprised if they met, or at least if Guatama met Jains themselves.