Was the Buddha a bad father?

[Narz]

On the one hand he ditched his kid, on the other he was rich & left her in his kingdom to be taken care of, on the 3rd hand it's not like he really earned that kingdom.

He did find a path to liberation for suffering but he missed his son's high school basketball games.

What do you think?

 

[amadeus]

I think you don't have three hands.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I don't think they had basketball back then

 

[Skwink]

I think that Buddha was an Indian Hippy.

EDIT: Nice synchronization guys

 

[civplayah]

On the one hand he ditched his kid, on the other he was rich & left her in his kingdom to be taken care of, on the 3rd hand it's not like he really earned that kingdom.

He did find a path to liberation for suffering but he missed his son's high school basketball games.

What do you think?

Wow, this thread made me laugh. I never thought about this before.

Well, his children had lots of royal care, so, I don't think it was wrong to leave his kids. He wanted to start over, I believe.

 

[sophie]

No, but God definitely was/is.

 

[stormerne]

When seven years old, Buddha's kid, Rahula, wanted the inheritance due to being a prince's son. Fair enough. But Buddha only had the way to Enlightenment to give him. So Rahula took it. He became ordained, followed his father, and did in time become Enlightened.

You might call it "tough love" but it has a happy ending.

 

[amadeus]

Screw enlightenment, I'll take the inheritance.

 

[Earthling]

Thread is rather confusing/fail, didn't even use the right idiom and I don't know what this is about the Buddha playing basketball- it's the gripping hand.

 

[stormerne]

Screw enlightenment, I'll take the inheritance.

Sounds like a poll...

 

[Hygro]

And he named his son something like "Nuisance". Yeah, he was a bad father.

 

[Narz]

Thread is rather confusing/fail, didn't even use the right idiom and I don't know what this is about the Buddha playing basketball- it's the gripping hand.

If you don't like it you can make like a tree and GTFO!

Wow, this thread made me laugh. I never thought about this before.

Glad to have brought joy to someone.

Well, his children had lots of royal care, so, I don't think it was wrong to leave his kids. He wanted to start over, I believe.

So if you're rich it's ok but if you're poor it's not?

 

[stormerne]

And he named his son something like "Nuisance". Yeah, he was a bad father.

Don't forget to call all parents bad who name their little girls "Mary", which means "bitter" in Hebrew.

Rahula means "fetter".

 

[civplayah]

So if you're rich it's ok but if you're poor it's not?

I didn't say that. It's just that the children were probably too spoiled to really care that their father left. They were probably upset at first, but my guess is they got over it.

 

[Perfection]

Don't ditch your kid, Narz.

 

[Skwink]

I didn't say that. It's just that the children were probably too spoiled to really care that their father left. They were probably upset at first, but my guess is they got over it.

So spoiled kids can't love their dads?

 

[civplayah]

Again- not what I said.

They were probably sheltered, protected, and, like the Buddha, didn't know what the outside world was like.

 

[RebelYeller]

Well he's a better father than a snake. Snakes eat their kids.

 

[Cashie]

And he named his son something like "Nuisance". Yeah, he was a bad father.

Rahula means "fetter".

I thought it meant "obligation."
As far as being a bad father, it doesn't sit well with modern ideas of how a father should behave. He didn't want to be king, so he sired an heir to take his place. Though he later, had his son become a monk and wife a nun.
Mahayana Buddhists would argue that the Buddha's life is allegorical - in that it demonstrates the path to Enlightenment, rather than being his actual enlightenment.

* Having a pleasant (human) life - earned through previous Karma - allowing wealth and pleasure, etc [in this case being a king/ruler]
* Foregoing worldly pleasures for asceticism - causing oneself pain
* Discovering the Middle Path, ie not going to extremes
* Doing things "the right way"
* Finding enlightenment
* Preaching the Path
* Passing into Nirvana

I'm not sure that I've actually answered anything

 

[Karalysia]

It doesn't matter because the Buddha is not intended to be an object of worship.