The Buddha was a unique Being. He was the profoundest of thinkers, the most persuasive of speakers, the most energetic of workers, the most successful of reformers, the most compassionate and tolerant of teachers, the most efficient of administrators, and above all - the Holiest of Holies.

During the early period of His renunciation He sought the advice of distinguished religious teachers, but He could not obtain what He sought from outside sources. Circumstances compelled Him to think for Himself and seek within. He sought, He thought, He reflected; ultimately He found His goal of life. Having discovered the Truth, He opened the gates of Immortality to all who wish to hear Him and seek their Deliverance from this ever-recurring cycle of births and deaths, and not because He was an infant prodigy in the ordinary accepted sense.

As He knew everything that ought to be known and as He obtained the key to all knowledge. He is called Sabbannu-Omniscient. This knowledge He acquired by His own efforts as the result of a countless series of births.

What He taught was merely an infinitesimal part of what He knew. He taught only what was necessary for our Deliverance. On one occasion while the Buddha  was residing in a forest He took a handful of leaves and said:-“O Bhikkhus, what I have taught you is com-parable to the leaves in my hand, what I have not taught you is comparable to the number of leaves in the forest.”

Daily He preached His Doctrine to both the Sangha (ordained disciples) and the laity. In the forenoon He goes in search of individuals who need His advice. Immediately after His noon meal He exhorts and instructs His ordained disciples. In the evening for about an hour He preaches to the layfolk who flock to hear Him. During the first watch of the night He again preaches to His ordained disciples. Throughout the middle watch He receives the Devas and other invisible beings and explains the doctrine to them.

Practising what He preached, He worked incessantly for forty-five long years for the good and happiness of all to His last moment.
 

The Buddha and the Caste System

Very wisely and very effectively He laboured to eradicate the social evils that prevailed in His day. He vehemently protested against the caste system that blocked the progress of mankind.

In His opinion:-

“Birth makes no Brahman,
nor non-Brahman makes;
This life doing that mould the Brahman true.
Their lives mould farmers,
tradesmen, merchants, serfs;
Their lives mould robbers, soldiers, chaplains, kings.
By birth is not one an outcast,
By birth is not one a Brahman,
By deeds is one an outcast,
By deeds is one a Brahman.”

According to the Buddha, caste or colour does not preclude one from becoming a Buddhist or entering the Order.  Fishermen, scavengers, courtesans, together with warriors and Brahmins, were freely admitted into the Order and enjoyed equal privileges and were equally given positions of rank.

Upali,’ the barber, for instance, was made, in preference to all others, the chief in  matters pertaining to the Vinaya. The timid Sunita, the scavenger, was admitted by the Buddha Himself into the Order. The courtesan Ambapali entered the Order and attained Arahantship. Sati, the monk who maintained a deadly heresy, was the son of a fisherman. Subha was the daughter of a smith, Punna was a slave girl. Capa was the daughter of a deer-stalker. Such instances could be multiplied to show that the portals of Buddhism were wide open to all without any distinction.

It was also the Buddha who attempted to abolish .slavery for the first time in the known history of the world.
 

The Buddha and Women

The Buddha raised the status of women and brought them to a realisation of their importance to society. He did not humiliate women, but only regarded them as weak by nature. He saw the innate good of both men and women and assigned to them their due place in His Teaching. Sex is no obstacle to attaining Sainthood.

Sometimes the Pali term used to denote woman is “Matugama”, which means ‘mother-folk’, or ‘society of mothers’. As a mother, woman holds an  honourable  place  in  Buddhism.  The wife is regarded as ‘the best friend’ (paramasakha) or the husband.

Although at first the Buddha refused to admit women into the Order, yet later He was persuaded by the entreaties of the Venerable Ananda and founded the Order of Bhikkhunis (Nuns). Just as the Arahants Sariputta and Moggallana were made the two chief disciples in the Order of Monks, even so the Arahants  Khema  and Uppalavanna were made the two chief female disciples in the Order of Nuns. Many other female disciples too were named by the Buddha Himself as amongst His most distinguished and devout followers.

Women were placed under unfavourable circumstances before the advent of the Buddha, and this new Order was certainly a great Blessing.

In this Order queens, princesses, daughters of noble families, widows, bereaved mothers, help-less women, courtesans - all despite their caste or rank - met on a common platform, enjoyed perfect consolation and peace, and breathed that free atmosphere which is denied to those confined in cottages and palatial mansions.  Many who otherwise would have fallen into oblivion distinguished themselves in various ways and gained their emancipation by seeking refuge in the Order.
 

His Tolerance towards Dumb Animals

The tolerance of the Buddha was extended not only to men and women but to dumb animals as well.  For it was the Buddha who banned the sacrifice of poor beasts and admonished His followers to extend their Loving-Kindness (Maitri) to all living beings. No man has the right or power to destroy the life of another living animal even for the sake ot one’s stomach as life is precious to all.
 

His Greatness

The efficient way in which He maintained the discipline of His numerous followers, especially His Orders of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis, testifies to His unsurpassed administrative ability. He anticipated even the present Parliamentary system.

Lord Zetland writes:-

“And it may come as a surprise to many to learn that in assemblies of Buddhists in India, two thousand years and more ago, are to be found the rudiments of our own Parliamentary practice of the present day.”

The most notable characteristic of the Buddha was His absolute purity and perfect holiness. He was so pure and so holy that He should be called “The Holiest of Holies.” He was the perfect model ot all the virtues He preached. His life had not a stain upon it.” On no occasion did the Buddha manifest any moral weakness. Everybody that came in contact with Him acknowledged His indisputable greatness and was deeply influenced by His magnetic personality.

His will, wisdom, compassion, service, renunciation, perfect purity, exemplary personal life, the blameless methods that were employed to propagate the Dhamma, and His .final success - all these factors have contributed to hail the Buddha as the greatest religious Teacher that ever lived on earth.

Hindus honour Him as an incarnation of Vishnu. Christians have canonised Him as Saint )oshaphat (a corruption of Pali term Bodhisatta). Muslims  regard  Him  as  a  spiritual  teacher.  Rationalists treat Him as a great free-thinker. H.G. Wells, the distinguished thinker, assigned to Him the first place amongst the seven great men in the world. The poet Tagore calls Him the Greatest Man ever born.

Fausboll, a Russian admirer, says:-
“The more I know Him, the more I love Him.”

A humble follower would say:-

“The more I know Him, the more I love Him; the more I love Him, the more I know Him.”