Was Buddha a "deadbeat?"

Well, leaving your wife and children would be a terrible thing to do in this world. But during the time of the Buddha, His family was very rich and well taken cared of, They would be well feed and protected, he of course must have taken this inconsideration before his quest. So he left on his quest to "enlightenment". After his enlightenment, He came back to his family to see his wife, children and dad.

reply to post by Electricneo

Hey ElectricNeo!

When King Bimbisara met Buddha, he accepted him as his master, and said to him "I take refuge in Buddha". The mad elephant came and knelt at his feet. Just before Devadatta died, and was at his weakest, he said "I know I am about to die, I take refuge in him" (about Buddha).

Once again, as I said, while all Buddhism does not have worship of Buddha, part of Buddhism does involve it. And while I agree that worship and prostration brings down ego, I don't agree to point it towards something that is obviously human.

As for alms, I didn't just mean that the problem is that it is a burden on society. The problem is also one of self-sufficiency. Something is seriously wrong with a system where a man is not responsible for his own well-being, and must beg for his own up-keep. Money doesn't buy happiness, but as a member of the human race here on earth, one can't give up the physical.

People must work for their wages, and while giving a monk may help your karma, the monk isn't really performing any useful function (all his monkness is for his own benefit). Get good karma by helping out people who are poor not by choice, but by necessity (or are sick, or old, or disabled).

Babloyi,

Buddha was human when he was Prince Siddhartha but there is some
question as to whether he transcended Homo Sapien and became
Homo Luminous once he was fully enlightened.

There are transcendental highly evolved qualities that go with full enlightenment.
Indeed if you investigate the 'Jalus' or Rainbow Body of
great Tibetan yogis you will see that there is a phase change. A phase
change is like ice becoming water or water becoming steam. Only in
a Buddhas phase change he or she becomes a being of light. Buddha taught
about these dimensional shifts and in Sanskrit they are labeled as, Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya.
Kaya means body or dimension in Sanskrit.

I recommend the book "The Crystal and Way of Light by Namkhai Norbu
he speaks of instances of yogis reaching Rainbow Body.

There are also advanced mental shifts that occur in enlightenment such as
telepathy, omniscience, clairvoyance, the ability to emanate in various bodies even as an animal to benefit beings, and since at the state of enlightenment the past, present and future is seen as the illusion it is and is all combined into the present moment then the ability to see past and future lives comes into play. There are millions of more benefits too numerous to mention at the state of enlightenment.
It's a wonderful dimension to find out about if one has the curiosity and intuitive intelligence to go there.

Many cannot fathom it as it would be like steam trying to explain to ice that it could fly.

Regarding the begging for alms matter-Buddhist societies like ancient India and Tibet of a millenium ago ran into problems when too many people went into the monastic life. There weren't enough farmers or workers to support them. This reason has a bit to do with the origin of the Dalai Lama to help with this problem as he became an authority who would try to ferret out those with a talent for enlightenment from those who were better off staying on as farmers or yak herders.

reply to post by babloyi

When King Bimbisara met Buddha, he accepted him as his master, and said to him "I take refuge in Buddha". The mad elephant came and knelt at his feet. Just before Devadatta died, and was at his weakest, he said "I know I am about to die, I take refuge in him" (about Buddha).

Prostrating yourself at the feet of another does not automatically mean you worship them.Its also a sign of due respect for that persons position and/or authority.

As for alms, I didn't just mean that the problem is that it is a burden on society. The problem is also one of self-sufficiency. Something is seriously wrong with a system where a man is not responsible for his own well-being, and must beg for his own up-keep. Money doesn't buy happiness, but as a member of the human race here on earth, one can't give up the physical.

The concept of giving alms differs from religion to religion.Though not a law in Christianity,it was part of the faith for many centuries as it helped the poor,monks,nuns and pilgrims.

In Buddhism it is not a charity,as many interpret it.Its a sign of respect and a symbol of the spiritual connection between lay Buddhists and Buddhist monks.It is part dependence on each other and is part of the path to enlightenment.(Dhamma)

reply to post by asmeone2

It has always intersted me to know that the Buddha has so many followers, yet has this "stain" in his background.

You could say it makes him more accessible to people.He made mistakes,like we all do,but showed people that we can atone for them and find enlightenment.

To many Jesus seems out of reach because he was divine and would therefore not experiance life exactly as we would.