THE sacred Buddha Purnima is the full-moon day of Vesakha, when Goutama Buddha was born in the Lumbini Garden at the foot of the Himalayas, attained enlightenment under the Bo-tree at Gaya, and passed into Mahaparinibbana at Kushinara. This day is of great significance to the Buddhist world, and brings love, peace, happiness and purity.
The main teachings of the Buddha may be summed up in three words -- Sila (moral), Samadhi (concentration) and Panna (wisdom). He discovered the "four noble truths" -- there is suffering; there must be the origin of suffering, there must be the cessation of suffering; and the way for the cessation of suffering was the "noble eight-fold path."
The eight factors that constituted the path were right understanding, right purpose (aspiration), right speech, right conduct, right vocation, right effort, right alertness and right concentration. The concept of Sila is very broad. Unless a man's body, speech and mind are free from ebullition of feelings, and perfectly guarded and controlled, and until the purity of these actions is ensured, the attainment of Sila is impossible.
Buddha says: "Unless purity of thought, feeling and will is made certain, it is impossible to make any progress." Based on this splendid behaviour, the mind goes on developing and sheds itself of vestiges of impurities. Perfect concentration and advancement of mind so as to include the four noble or exalted states of love, compassion, rejoicing and equilibrium of the mind are then acquired.
Upon this concentration or Samadhi, the light of Panna begins to shine and he realises that behind the phenomena, which are subjected to birth, death, disease, defilements, impermanence, there exists the ineffable, never-changing and incomparable safety of Nirvana.
His rebirth is exhausted, his holy life has been properly lived, his duty done, and there is no further mundane existence for him. He attains what may be described as "unshakable emancipation of the mind." Thus Goutama gave to the world his compact plan of ethical and mental development and progress, and termed it as His dhamma or the law.
His discovery of the law of causation and the law of karma is the triumph of Goutama's genius. Goutama's teachings exercised profound influence on the social, moral, political, intellectual, religious and aesthetical sides of human life.
Politically, the Buddha favoured representative institutions, and His Sangha, or monastic order, is an example of the democratic way in which affairs of the monks were managed. It was called the "Sangha of the four quarters." Every qualified member had to take part in all the meetings of the Sangha; a question was raised and discussed, and decided by majority of votes.
He also encouraged republics, and seems never to have relished the idea that a big kingdom should be formed at the expense of smaller and less powerful federations.
Socially, He wanted to reconstruct the society of his times differently. He first gave a rude shock to the Brahamanical doctrine, declaring that the division of the society into four castes was illogical and against the natural integrity of humanity. He said that the Brahman or the Vaisya or the Kshatriya or the Sudra is to be determined by the worth or kamma and not by the birth. His Sangha was an ideal example of a classless society, where the Brahman as well as the pariah found a good place for self-expression and development. His declaration in this respect was a great advance in those times. In fact, He brought about a social revolution.
Morally, Buddha's doctrine of equality of man paved way for moral basis of life as the only criteria of success or duty. His scheme of ethics was a death knell to the life of ritualism, dogmatism, and mere external purity. He emphasised the fact that purity from within was the main thing to be achieved.
Immoral acts were condemned. Social grandees were given the same status as courtesans like Ambapali. He could convert a highway robber like Angulimala without a weapon. His doctrine is summed up as "Not doing evil, attainment of good, and purification of the mind." His religion was neither metaphysical nor speculative, but based upon psychology and ethics. Starting with the mind of man, He analysed the various mental processes and divided them into various Dharmas, or states of consciousness, and showed how to develop the mind so as to include good thoughts.
In the Kutadanta Sutta of the Dighanikaya He proves the inefficacy of animal sacrifice and its great inconvenience to a poor population and the great national loss it entailed upon all. Goutama, thus, brought out prominently the necessity of showing compassion to the animal world.
His loving-kindness extended to the whole creation. In His Metta Sutta, He says a loving consciousness should be developed in respect of all beings, creation's infinitely smallest animalcule and those that await birth.
Intellectually, He always disapproved speculative views in philosophy. In His own days the subjects that were discussed were concerning the first cause, the world and its finite or infinite character, life and soul, whether a man exists, or does not exist, or both exists and does not exist.
In the Brahmajala Sutta are described 62 heresies or speculative views about the soul. The Buddha had tried to prove that they were questions which would not lead to the edification of man. In the Sutta Nipata He had given views of sectarians and shown their love for mastery over others.
The Buddha's contribution to the ideal of an Universal Religion may be summarised as follows:
1. The Buddha has taught that the universe evolved, not created, and it functions according to law, not according to the capricious will of any God.
2. The truths upon which Buddha's teachings are founded are natural. They have been taught in successive Kalpas, or world periods, by certain enlightened beings called Buddhas (Enlightened Ones).
3. The Buddha looked upon all men as equal, regarding the caste system as a form of social snobbery, with the result that all religions that followed the Buddha also emphasised the equality of all men. All men could in this very life attain the ineffable state of Nirvana by the complete destruction of craving and all the defilements of the mind.
4. The Buddha taught His followers to show the same tolerance, forbearance, and brotherly love to all men, without distinction, and an unswerving kindness towards animals.
5. The message of the Buddha is to lead a perfectly moral life. His teaching to monks and householders emphasise nothing but the urgent necessity of understanding the law of the Buddha and knowing the real nature of the world.
6. Even the doctrine of dependent origination lays stress on what is humanly possible, that is, in order to get rid of evil or to acquire heaven one does not require any other power outside one's self.
7. The Buddha has laid greatest stress on the law of Karma that governs the whole world. The doctrine of Karma has taken the place of God in Buddhism. Nobody can destroy his Karma. Though the earlier religions and teachers had spoken of Karma they had not emphasised it to such an extent, and they introduced the doctrine of grace that could, many a time, countermand the decrees of Karma. The Buddha made every individual responsible for his fate, and the architect of his fortune.
8. The Buddha eschewed dogmas and theories, and also belief in authority and God. In the case of the latter he held an agnostic position, neither denying nor admitting the existence of God.
9. Buddha's doctrine of love and piety was not confined only to human beings; it was extended even to the animal world and to superhuman or semi-divine beings as well.
Buddhism is a progressive religion, and in its passage it has traveled from intellectual analysis and the ideal of the arahant to the building up of emotionalism on the universal level, which paved the way for the ideal of the Bodhisatta.
The Bodhisatta vowed that he would forgo his claim to Nirvana as long as there was a single person suffering in this world. This attitude of an all-embracing love for creation began with Asoka's Dharma and paved the way for the humanitarian, an altruistic message given by the Buddha in the history of humanity. In fact, this should be the bedrock upon which it is possible to build up the edifice of Universal Religion. Buddhism tries to raise the standard of life of humanity by elevating the less privileged ones and bringing them on a par with those who are already developed.
This harmonisation of the human race and its elevation to the highest level is the crux of Buddha's teachings. Sabbe Satta Sukhita Hontu -- May all beings be happy. May peace prevail on earth.

Professor Dr. Sukomal Barua is Chairman Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Dhaka.