Was Buddha poisoned?

[Eviander]

I just read that Shakyamuni died from eating poisoned mushrooms to the extent. Though other sources say he died of old age, I doubt that is the case. Also, why would he eat poisoned mushrooms intentionally, and why would someone feed him this if they did not intend to kill him? The sources that claim he died from poison make it seem like it was an accident but the facts don't add up. The question is then..was he potentially assassinated?

[Vajrahridaya]

I just read that Shakyamuni died from eating poisoned mushrooms to the extent. Though other sources say he died of old age, I doubt that is the case. Also, why would he eat poisoned mushrooms intentionally, and why would someone feed him this if they did not intend to kill him? The sources that claim he died from poison make it seem like it was an accident but the facts don't add up. The question is then..was he potentially assassinated?

 

No one really knows. We can all just guess. There are takes that he died of dysentery and takes that he was poisoned intentionally, and others accidentally. I've read all three of these versions.

[goldisheavy]

I just read that Shakyamuni died from eating poisoned mushrooms to the extent. Though other sources say he died of old age, I doubt that is the case. Also, why would he eat poisoned mushrooms intentionally, and why would someone feed him this if they did not intend to kill him? The sources that claim he died from poison make it seem like it was an accident but the facts don't add up. The question is then..was he potentially assassinated?

 

Well if you read Pali Canon, it's pretty clear that Buddha decided to die. Buddha gave Ananda a chance to ask for Buddha to stick around, given Buddha's psychic ability to do so. Buddha asked Ananda three times about it and three times Ananda didn't understand that it may be a good idea to ask Buddha to live longer. So Buddha decided enough is enough, time to die. Also Buddha had an encounter with Mara where he said something like, "Oh don't trouble yourself Mara, as I am not going to be in this world much longer." Something like that. So basically Buddha died according to his own intention to die, if you believe the stories anyway. And if not, there is no point in discussing it anyway.

 

When Buddha died he was kind of old, right? Wasn't he 80? Many people die before that age. But again, those are the stories. We have no way to verify this kind of information about Buddha's life now.

Edited November 10, 2010 by goldisheavy

[Gerard]

I just read that Shakyamuni died from eating poisoned mushrooms...

 

That is what the "good boys" Mahayanans say. Theravadins say it was a meal of pork.

 

I don't think he was poisoned. It was just time to leave Samsara behind.

[Procurator]

That is what the "good boys" Mahayanans say. Theravadins say it was a meal of pork.

 

I don't think he was poisoned. It was just time to leave Samsara behind.

You are correct on both counts it was pork and he ate it to leave the world. However the story as told in Mahaparinibanna sutta, is a coded story, true meaning of which is reavealed only to the knowledgable reader. The gist of it is that Buddha used external alchemy to ascend.

[goldisheavy]

Here's an interesting blog post about Buddha's death, based on Stephen Batchelor's research (of the Pali Canon) and writings:

 

http://ecbuddhism.blogspot.com/2010/03/buddha-untold-story-who-killed-gautama.html

Edited November 10, 2010 by goldisheavy