Buddhas Last Words - Ref paper #1 PDF

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Suerth 1 Jackie Suerth Jameson EAS 160A1 9/1/17 Buddha’s Last Words After the death of the beloved Buddha, also known as Siddhartha, his disciples had a mission to not only pass on but live through the message he left behind. Before his passing, the Buddha used his dying breaths to speak his final words. He encouraged those who followed him and his teachings to “diligently seek your own liberation.” These last words spoken by the Buddha himself carry a very deep, meaningful message that would stick with all Buddhists across the world for many years to come. For all Buddhists across the globe, these words acted as a wakeup call in their lives and helped them recognize the path they were headed on. Instead of allowing another person to take his place, Buddha wanted to teach each of his individual disciples to focus on themselves and only themselves as individuals and their own personal paths to complete liberation. I think Buddha believed that instead of looking to someone else to help guide them on their journey like they had been doing their entire lives, digging deep within themselves would be more much effective and speed up the already very long process of reaching enlightenment. This is the way Siddhartha ultimately reached enlightenment within himself, also known as nirvana. In order for his disciples to do the same thing, Buddha believed that they must focus on themselves and dig deep if they want to reach enlightenment the same way he did. What this really means is to only concentrate on the things in life that will lead you towards the ultimate goal such as love, peace, happiness and acceptance. In the life and mind of a Buddhist, it is important to disregard everything else that distracts you from the process and put your sole focus on reaching nirvana at some point in your life on earth. In short, this is what Buddha meant when he spoke his final words.

Suerth 2...