🗣️ How he taught
He used simple stories and everyday pictures, and he spoke so that each listener could understand. He told people to test his teaching for themselves, not to accept it blindly (see Why People Follow the Buddha's Path, or Do Not).
Buddhism: Origins and Their Impact on the Community » The Buddha's Teaching, Death and Parinirvana
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Buddhism (4RS1/2A), 1.1
- The Buddha's first sermon at Sarnath and the start of the Sangha
- His 45 years of teaching people of every background
- His death at Kushinagar, his last words and his parinirvana
- Why his teaching, death and example matter to Buddhists today, and how far he is a role model
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Unlock This CourseThe first sermon at Sarnath
After his enlightenment, Buddhist tradition says the Buddha wondered whether anyone could understand what he had found. He decided to teach. He travelled to the deer park at Sarnath, near Varanasi, where his five former companions from his ascetic years were living. They had left him when he gave up extreme fasting, but this time they listened.
This talk is called the first sermon. In it the Buddha explained the Middle Way, the path between self-indulgence and self-denial. He then set out the Four Noble Truths, which are the heart of the sermon. You met them in The Four Noble Truths: Dukkha and Tanha, so here is a one-line reminder of each:
- Life involves dukkha (suffering and unsatisfactoriness).
- Dukkha has a cause: craving (tanha).
- Dukkha can end.
- The way to end it is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Buddhists say the five men understood his teaching and became his first followers. When they joined him, the Sangha (the community of Buddhist monks and nuns, met in Ultimate Reality in Buddhism: Do Gods Matter?) began. Buddhists often call the first sermon "turning the wheel of the Dhamma", because it set the teaching in motion.
Key terms:
- Sarnath: the deer park near Varanasi where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
- First sermon: the Buddha's first teaching, to his five former companions, on the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths.
Forty-five years of teaching
The Buddha is said to have spent about 45 years walking around northern India, teaching. Buddhists believe he taught anyone willing to listen, whatever their background. His listeners included kings and merchants, farmers and workers, men and women. Many became followers, and many joined the Sangha.
🌿 Why it matters
His teaching is the Dhamma, the guide that Buddhists still follow. Because he taught people of every background, many Buddhists say the path is open to everyone.
The Buddha's death and parinirvana
When he was about 80, the Buddha fell ill while travelling. He died at Kushinagar, with his followers around him, including his close companion Ananda. Buddhists do not see his death as a tragedy to be mourned in despair. They see it as the end of a life of teaching.
His last words are remembered as a final lesson. In their usual paraphrase, he told his followers that all things pass away, and that they should work for their own liberation with care. This repeats two ideas you know: impermanence (see Buddhism: Impermanence, Compassion and Caring for the World), and that each person must make the effort themselves (see Kamma and Choice: Buddhist Views on Free Will).
Buddhists call his death his parinirvana (in Pali, parinibbana), meaning "final nirvana". He had reached nirvana (nibbana) at his enlightenment. At death, Buddhists teach, he was freed from samsara for ever, with no further rebirth. This is the final nibbana you met in Nibbana and the Noble Eightfold Path.
Key terms:
- Kushinagar: the place in northern India where the Buddha died.
- Parinirvana: the Buddha's final nirvana at death, with no further rebirth.
Different views after the parinirvana
📜 Theravada view
The Buddha was a human teacher who has passed beyond rebirth. Theravada Buddhists honour him with respect and thanks, but they do not pray to him for help, because he has passed beyond rebirth and cannot answer prayers.
🌟 Mahayana view
Many Mahayana Buddhists see the historical Buddha as one of many Buddhas. They believe the compassion of Buddhas and bodhisattvas still helps living beings, so some pray to them (see Ultimate Reality in Buddhism: Do Gods Matter?).
Why this matters to Buddhists today
The importance of his teaching, death and example
- His teaching: the first sermon and 45 years of teaching are the source of the Dhamma, so they are the basis of what Buddhists believe and do.
- His death: it shows impermanence, since even a Buddha's body ages and dies. It also shows the goal of the path, freedom from rebirth.
- His example: he travelled and taught for 45 years out of compassion, and he lived simply.
How far is he a role model? Many Buddhists see him as the perfect role model: he showed that a human being can end suffering and then spent his life helping others to do it. Others, such as some Mahayana Buddhists, say the bodhisattva ideal (staying to help all beings) goes further. Some Buddhists say that no one can fully copy him, but all can follow his path in daily life, for example by keeping the Five Precepts and showing metta.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Buddha "died and went to heaven". Buddhists teach that the parinirvana is the end of rebirth, not a heaven.
- Saying all Buddhists pray to the Buddha. Theravada Buddhists honour him but do not pray for help, while some Mahayana Buddhists pray to Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
- Confusing the first sermon (Sarnath, after the enlightenment) with the enlightenment (Bodh Gaya).
- Presenting the stories as proven in every detail. Say "Buddhist tradition says".
Exam-style question
Paper 2 (a) [AO1] Outline two things the Buddha did after his enlightenment. [4 marks]
Paper 2 (b) [AO1, AO2] Explain why the Buddha's death and parinirvana are important for Buddhists today. [6 marks]
Paper 2 (c) [AO1, AO2] "The Buddha is the best role model for Buddhists today."
Discuss this statement, considering the arguments for and against. In your answer you should include reference to teachings, other (divergent) points of view, and your own opinion using reasoned arguments. [10 marks]
Model answer
(a) He gave his first sermon at Sarnath (1), where he taught the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths to his five former companions (1), and the Sangha began (1). He taught for about 45 years (1), to people of every background, such as kings, merchants and farmers (1).
(b) Buddhists believe the parinirvana was his final nirvana, so he was freed from rebirth for ever (1). This shows Buddhists the goal of the path (1). His death at about 80 also shows impermanence, as even the Buddha's body passed away (1), so Buddhists are reminded not to cling (1). His last words told his followers to work for their own liberation with care (1), so Buddhists today must make the effort themselves (1).
(c) Plan. For: he ended suffering by his own effort and taught for 45 years out of compassion; he lived simply by the Middle Way, which he also taught; his example shows that anyone can follow the path. Against: the Buddha's achievement is so great that no ordinary person can copy it; Mahayana Buddhists may say the bodhisattva ideal of helping all beings is the better model, and may also look to Buddhas and bodhisattvas for help; Theravada Buddhists may see him as a teacher to honour but not a figure who still acts in the world. Possible conclusion: the Buddha is the main role model for most Buddhists, because the whole path comes from his example. Different traditions stress other models as well, but they still follow his teaching, and many Buddhists copy his example by keeping the Five Precepts.
Exam tip
In a 6-mark "Explain why ... is important for Buddhists today" question, give three or four reasons and finish each with what it means for Buddhists now, for example what they do or believe because of it.