I’m interested in understanding the religious and devotional practices that may have been part of Siddhartha Gautama's life before he undertook his renunciate life and became the Buddha. Specifically: Are there any historical or textual references indicating that Siddhartha Gautama himself, or members of his immediate family (such as his father Suddhodana, mother Māyā etc), participated in worship of deities or followed any theistic religious practices prior to his renunciation? If so, which deities were venerated, and are there any specific suttas, commentaries, or canonical sources that mention this? Additionally, was deity worship a common practice within the socio-religious environment of Kapilavastu at that time? I’m looking for references from early Buddhist texts (Pāli Canon, Āgamas, or later commentarial traditions if relevant) or scholarly interpretations that shed light on this aspect.

I am new to Buddhism & exploring it. Recently I came across this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6E8er3XqN0) which made me ask few questions & they are:
1)They have shown image of Lord Shiva at 13:50 above the baby(Lord Buddha). Even in Hinduism Buddha is considered one the avatars of Lord Vishnu. So is there a connection between Buddha,Shiva & Vishnu.
2)Lastly in this video they said child's(Buddha) parents are Brahmins. So was Buddha a 'Hindu Brahmin' before he attained enlightenment?

There has been many questions on whether Gautama Buddha was casteist or not. The answer to that is, of course he was. Majjhima Nikaya > If, sometime or other, at the end of a long period, that fool comes back to the human state, it is into a low family that he is reborn - into a family of outcasts or hunters or bamboo-workers or cartwrights or scavengers - one that is poor with little to eat and drink, surviving with difficulty, where he scarcely finds food and clothing... AN 5.191 > In the past, brahman males mated only with brahman females and not with non-brahman females. At present, brahman males mate with brahman females and with non-brahman females. At present, male dogs mate only with female dogs and not with female non-dogs. This is the first ancient brahmanical tradition that is now observed among dogs but not among brahmans... Astasahasrika ch 25 > A Bodhisattva who trains thus is not reborn in the hells, nor among animals, nor in the realms of the Pretas, nor among the Asuras, nor in outlying districts [among barbarous populations], nor in the families of outcasts or fowlers, of hunters, fishermen or butchers, nor in the other low class families of that kind, in which one is addicted to low deeds It is pretty much established that yes, he was a casteist. Buddhism seems to regard him as Lord and often Infallible. Yet, most Buddhists doesn't seem to be too casteist. I am guessing the attitude towards caste changed. My question is, what changed this? Did you guys get influenced by Abrahamic religions or did you guys change by yourself? How do you separate yourselves from the stance that Gautama Buddha took? I asked Hindus how they are not casteist. Most of them responded they indeed believe in caste and justified it, while others simply said 'times are different'. When looked into Hindu history, we understand it was Abrahamic religions that made them change their stance. My question to you guys is what made Buddhists change? Or are Buddhists mostly secretly casteist too?

I need some advices about unwanted intrusive thoughts. I have been living a totally normal and happy life until last week. I got random thoughts about sexual images and other unsanitary activites which are very disturbing. Those thoughts would involve around the Buddha, Bodhisattvas and other stuff that are related around the religion. Even typing this out makes me uncomfortable. Everything I do at everytime will activate my mind in some way to automatically redirects it to Buddhist-related, which is disturbing and I just want it to stop. My mind is always alerted because I'm terrified that new thoughts would pop up. There are advices that told me to ignore them thoughts and move on with my life, but then I would think about the consequences of my thoughts and stuff around it, which make my anxiety worse. I want my old life back, just living normally without any issues. I want Buddha to know that I am not disrespectful about the religion or anything, it is the random thoughts that I just cannot do anything about it. Will these thoughts lead to negative karma? I am a teenager and still live with both of my parents. They are both Buddhist and so as their relatives, so I am sure that they won't be happy listening to my problems add I can't really afford a therapy. Any help and advices would be appreciated.

**This is NOT a duplicate question**. Have seen other similar questions but their questions were very different from what I am about to ask. The modern Cosmology is clear. 13.8 billion years ago, the Universe started to form, then 4.5 billion years ago the Earth was formed, then 3 billion years ago primitive forms of life was created, then 200,000 years ago early humans came to existence, and finally we have modern human civilizations about 5000 years ago. This is in sharp contrast to Buddha's claims of having past lives hundreds of thousands of years ago, millions of years ago, billions of years ago, trillions of years ago, etc when there was either no life or no humans. Buddha already lived close to the formation of human civilization, he couldn't have possibly lived so many lives given in vivid details in Jataka tales and other scriptures when there were no human civilizations or humans to begin with. So, how do Buddhists deal with this? Do they deny science? Do they think that millions of years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, there was Buddha? Do they think when the Universe wasn't even formed trillions of years ago, Buddha lived a life? If you guys accept Science, does that mean Buddha lied all along? Did he just make up those stories to attract more followers?

In some suttas like SN 22.95 and Snp 4.14, the Buddha is called the Kinsman of the Sun (*ādiccabandhu*). Why is he called the Kinsman of the Sun? What is the origin of the term?

Mahavir(Jain GOD) was the contemporary of the Buddha of his time. Buddha did knew some details about Mahavir, Jainism(as its mentioned in the text) & about its own way of enlightenment which he tried only to discover the '**Middle Path**'. They even lived & preached in & around the area of '**Vaishali**' (ancient city in Indian state Bihar) for certain period of their time.But did they ever met?

**The Vinegar Tasters** is a very interesting subject in Chinese art. It depicts Confucius, the Buddha and Laozi tasting vinegar. A common interpretation is the following: > Confucius is depicted with a sour face, because in confucionism life is "sour", that's why we need rules etc. The Buddha is depicted with a bitter face, because the Buddha saw life as full of suffering etc, while Laozi is depicted smiling, because the vinegar is sweet to him, because he understands "the perfect nature of vinegar". Despite the point of view of the Buddha (that life is full of *dukkha*), he understood that vinegar is vinegar, just as Laozi; and, knowing that, why would he have a bitter face? Is this depiction raising the image of Laozi and daoism and mistreating buddhism as pessimistic? Or is it more like a "Buddha sees the vinegar as it is" thing while Laozi sees it as sweet and thus "lying to himself"?

Some people said to me that , Gautama Buddha ***never made claims*** about himself that he had gained ***enlightenment*** and on the other hand, some people say that's not true. Some people have also said to me that this ***news of enlightenment*** was probably initiated by one of his disciples after his death. Here is ***my question***: Who claimed that ***Lord Buddha said that that "he obtained enlightenment"***?

It is traditionally believed that the Buddha was born, enlightened and passed away on the date(*tithi*) of Vesak. Now it does not seem to be very probable that all three major incidents of one's life would occur on the same date. What is the earliest source of this information about Vesak in the scripture?

In the literature we generally read that the Koliya clan, a neighbouring clan of the Sakyans, had two capitals - Devadaha and Ramagama. Moreover, the Buddha's mother Mayadevi and foster mother Mahapajapati Gautami were Koliyan ladies from Devadaha. But the following few facts cast doubt on whether Devadaha was actually a Koliyan town and whether the Buddha's maternal relatives were actually Koliyans. 1. We read that the Sakyans and the Koliyans resided on the opposite sides of the river Rohini and they often quarelled with each other over the water of that river. Now, the Sakyan capital Kapilavatthu is on the west side of the Rohini. In keeping with this, the Koliyan capital Ramagama is on the east side of the river. In contrast, Devadaha is on the west side of the Rohini. 2. In her Apadana, Gautami says that she was born in Devadaha and her father was Anjana Sakya. 3. In the opening of the Devadaha Sutta (MN 101), Devadaha is mentioned as a Sakyan town. These facts strongly point to the possibility that only Ramagama was the capital of the Koliyans. Devadaha was actually a Sakyan town and the Buddha's maternal relatives were also Sakyans. There are few additional points that strengthen this conclusion: 1. Since the Sakyans and the Koliyans were opponents, it is unlikely that they would make marrital relationship with each other. 2. We know from Bidudabha's story that the Sakyans were so proud about their nobility that they were unwilling to make relationship even with the mighty king of Kosala, Pasenadi. So how could they make relationship with the small clan Koliya? 3. The Koliyans, being a small clan like the Sakyans, were unlikely to have two capitals. Is my conclusion correct? If so, I would like to know how the ideas that the Buddha's maternal relatives were Koliyans from Devadaha entered the literature. Are there any evidence in support of this in the Pali canon or commentaries?

After finishing the last meal before attaining enlightenment, the Ascetic Gautama threw the golden bowl into the river and said: > "If I am to succeed in becoming a Buddha today, let this bowl go > upstream, but if not, let it go downstream." (source ) Gautama was not yet a Buddha and I don't think he had psychic powers to make the bowl go upstream. Even if he had the power, it seems he was not doing it by himself. Was Gautama expecting some divine being to answer his request? Did a Deva or god make the bowl go upstream? If not, how did the Golden Bowl go upstream?

In some sutras from the Pāli Canon the Buddha speaks about supernatural powers (Eg here , psychic powers, telepathy, clearaudience, etc). Buddhist masters and teachers nowadays don’t talk about these powers and make me think that in fact is not relevant to talk about them. I also have the thought that maybe not even the Buddha have actually spoke about supernatural powers but were added later to make the teachings more interesting. So my question is how reliable is that the Buddha actually spoke about supernatural powers?

In which text first time "Gautama leaving Yashodhara for searching truth" story is found to be written? This text was written how many years after death of Buddha?

In the Pali commentaries, there is a contradiction regarding the name of Thera Anuruddha's father. Somewhere he is said to be the son of Sukkodana, and somewhere of Amitodana. Both Sukkodana and Amitodana were Suddhodana's brother. So, in any case, Anuruddha was surely a cousin of the future Buddha. But his relation with Thera Ananda becomes controversial. Everywhere Ananda is said to be the son of Amitodana. So he might be either a cousin or a brother of Anuruddha. Most modern Western scholars seem to prefer the latter alternative albeit insisting that they were probably step-brothers from different mothers "as the texts do not refer to the two as brothers and imply that they grew up in different households." If that is the case, why not accept Anuruddha as the son of Sukkodana? Are there more weightage in the claim of Amitodana? Can someone answer with commentarial references?

The Lotus Sutra implies light came from Gautama Buddha, which connected to " illuminating thousands of buddha fields"; can anyone enlighten me as to what that could mean?

When Siddhartha Gautama started his path, before acknowledging the possibility of achieving and passing on the path to enlightenment, is there reference of his thoughts before making the decision to influence the world and ease its suffering?

Why does in almost all instances in the pali canon where Lord Buddha refers to himself he calls himself "Tathagatha" in 3rd person? Is it because Lord Buddha has eliminated self view? Or is it that when a bodhisattva reaches buddhahood he becomes the same as all previous Buddhas? Or a combination of both?

Where did Lord Buddha say to Ananda Thero that a Buddha can, if there is an invitation, extend His lifespan? Was this mentioned in a Sutta or somewhere else?

Siddarth promised Alara Kalama & uddaka rāmaputta that if he ever finds the way, he will come and tell them ? Is it true that buddha saw them being born in a Universe, where there was not physical body, but only mind ? And in Buddha's way one must have a physical human body.