Traditionally, there are three “Jewels” in Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṃgha. The Buddha is the founding Master, the Dharma is his teaching (doctrine and practice) and the Saṃgha is the name given to the community of his disciples, who put this teaching into practice.
Buddha est un titre honorifique attribué à tous les êtres qui, par leurs propres efforts, ont atteint l’Éveil, la « bodhi ». Employé de manière absolue, « le » Buddha (avec une majuscule) désigne un homme en particulier, Siddhārta Gautama Śākyamuni, dont l’enseignement a donné naissance à ce que l’Occident appelle « bouddhisme » et qu’on connaît en Orient sous le nom de Buddha-Dharma, « l’enseignement du Buddha ».
L’enseignement du Buddha (le Dharma) est issu de sa propre expérience et non pas d’une révélation divine : il trouve son origine dans l’Éveil (la bodhi), une expérience de l’esprit, libre de toute erreur ou illusion. Cet enseignement se compose d’un ensemble doctrinal (les notions fondamentales) et d’un ensemble de conseils et de méthodes (la pratique).
The community (saṃgha) of the Buddha's disciples is traditionally made up of "four quarters": the "monks" (bhikṣu), the "nuns" (bhikṣunī), the lay men (upāsaka) and women (upāsikā). They are distinguished by their social status and their commitment to practice, depending on the “precepts” (or “training”) that they undertake to implement.
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Cultural areas of Buddhism
The life of Buddha is documented by a set of texts, the oldest of which were written down around the 1st century AD, approximately five centuries after his nirvana. They are based on an oral tradition or even older texts, which have since disappeared, each presents only a partial account of his life and contains numerous “wonderful” elements.
Therefore, if the existence of the “historical” Buddha is not contested, the reliability of these sources for reconstructing his “real” life is discussed, even if they are important for their exemplary value among the faithful. But it is generally considered that they have enough in common to allow a relatively reliable biography to be drawn in broad terms.
The Buddha's life dates according to Buddhist tradition range from about 560 to 480 BCE, but current studies place him about a century later, with nirvana somewhere between 420 and 350 BCE.
The future Buddha, called Siddharta84 (“He who achieved his goal”) in certain Sanskrit texts, was born in the country of Magadha, in the Shakya clan, among the line of descendants of Gautama (or Gotama). This explains why he is also called in the texts Siddharta Gautama, or Shakyamuni, the “Sage of the Shakyas” (rather in the Mahayana tradition). He has an important social status, his father Shuddhodana being an eminent person in the country of the Shakyas. Around the age of 29, although married and a young father (or in the process of becoming one), Siddharta is dissatisfied with this pleasant life and leaves his family to become an ascetic.
Non convaincu par l’enseignement que lui prodiguent plusieurs maîtres et les pratiques ascétiques, il se tourne vers la « voie moyenne » qui renvoie dos-à-dos aussi bien l’opulence que l’ascétisme. Puis il connaît l’« Éveil » sept années après avoir quitté son foyer, ce qui lui confère la condition d’« Éveillé », Bouddha.
He then began to deliver his teachings, beginning with his first sermon, delivered according to tradition in the Deer Park of Benares to those who were to become the first members of the Buddhist community. He sets out the Four Noble Truths, the foundations of Buddhist doctrine. He acquired an important reputation, and gradually constituted a community of disciples, laying the foundations of Buddhist discipline.
