Nenbutsushu Sampozan Muryojuji Temple

Buddhism is the teachings expounded by Lord Buddha who was born in the northern India about 2,500 years ago. Every human being is born with his or her “purpose” and “mission.” Lord Buddha penetrated that life is full of suffering, and sought for a way to get rid of human suffering that never ceases. Finally, he could get away from every suffering. He found the way leading to true serenity, the great nirvana, and taught it to his disciples.

His teachings were compiled in large volumes of sutras by his disciples and have been handed down to posterity as Buddhism, guiding numerous people to attain peace and serenity to this day.

In the ancient times of 2,500 years ago, Lord Buddha was born as a crown prince in Kapilavatsu, a kingdom at the foot of the Himalayas in the northern part of India.

Lord Buddha had lived in great luxury since childhood, but one day he was distressed to find that human beings have fundamental suffering that cannot be resolved at any cost. Seeking for the solution, he renounced the world at the age of 29, abandoning all his wealth, honor, and status.

After hard ascetic practices of six years, he perceived that asceticism is not the way leading to the truth, and abandoned it.　When he was 35, on December 8, at dawn when the morning star was shining, he attained enlightenment under the Bo-tree in Buddha Gaya. He emancipated himself from all the restraint of earthly desires to reach a state of true serenity.

Then, Lord Buddha devoted himself entirely to expounding the truth to people from all walks of life for the rest of his life of 45 years.

It shows his infinite compassion wishing all living things to be happy.

Lord Buddha entered into nirvana between the twin sal trees on February 15, and ended his great life of 80 years.

Lord Buddha was born as a human and experienced agony and suffering just like us. He found the way leading to the great nirvana, the ultimate purpose of human life, and left this world, showing the great nirvana by himself for the benefit of all the people.

His disciples faithfully memorized every word of what Lord Buddha expounded, and they compiled their teacher’s words into a large number of sutras. His teachings, with his aspiration to bring true happiness to all the people, have spread into the world from India and been handed down to modern times.