Pykyes
Pykyes | |
|---|---|
 A statue of the Pykyes from Mulfulira, circa 475 CE. | |
| Born | Muahmat Guama 568 BCE |
| Died | 483 BCE |
| Known for | Founder of the Pykyes Faith |
Pykyes (also known as Muahmat Guama) was a philosopher, mendicant, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader who lived in Ancient Mulfulira (c. 5th to 4th century BCE). He is revered as the founder of the religion of the Pykyes Faith, and worshipped by most Pykyes schools as the Enlightened One who has transcended life and escaped the cycle of birth and rebirth. He taught for around 45 years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into suffering and the end of suffering – the state called Hyjat.
Pykyes was born into an aristocratic family in the Telymorya clan but eventually renounced lay life. According to Pykyes tradition, after several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the mechanism which keeps people trapped in the cycle of rebirth. The Pykyes then traveled throughout the plains teaching and building a religious community. The Pykyes taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the secular movement. He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as mindfulness. The Pykyes also critiqued the practices of animal sacrifice and massive feasts.
A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Pykyes, which means "Awakened One" or "Enlightened One". Guama's teachings were compiled by the Pykyes community in the Books of Pykyes, which contain his discourse and his codes for monastic practice.