Was the Buddha Murdered for His Progressive Teachings?

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: Grant Lawrence - Writer

In his new book, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, to be out in the US early March, this author of eight other books on Buddhism claims the Buddha was a man whose teachings were regarded by his contemporaries as not only radical, but "queer" enough for him to be denounced by one of his own former disciples as a "fake", who not only managed to win the patronage of the three most powerful political figures of his time, but was worldly enough to survive in the midst of court intrigues, murders and betrayals, effectively quelling a rebellion within his own flock before he was done in by the ambitions of his own family.

But it is Batchelor's findings on the Buddha's last days that are the most startling: in the last 10 months of his life, Batchelor says, the Buddha, old and ailing, saw his two main disciples die, one of them brutally murdered, and was forced to flee with a handful of loyalists from all the three political bases he had spent a lifetime building up, until he was possibly poisoned to death by one of his many rivals, leaving a pretender to take over the community after an intense power struggle.....Source: The Malaysian Insider



The story of the Buddha's death always seemed a bit odd to me and a bit convenient.


The story goes that an aged Buddha sat down to eat a meal that included spoiled pork. The Buddha ate it and shortly after died.

But is there something more to the story?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Was-the-Buddha-Murdered-fo-by-Grant-Lawrence-100301-669.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. History has been replete with Phillistines and yahoos.

[WhiteTara]

2. and why wouldn't "they" murder the Buddha

because after all how can you have slaves if you have someone telling them they are free. Also, it would fit that most other visionaries were killed.

[Syntheto]

3. Siddartha came from a very wealthy family...

... and was indulged from childhood. His father was not particularly happy that his son wanted to be a holy man, but when the choice was made, his family made sure that not only would Siddartha become a holy man, but that he would become The Holy Man... In short, Siddartha was a playa...