From Anthony Flanagan
Background
The Buddha (meaning ‘enlightened one’ or ‘awakened one’) was born in Lumbini in what was then northern India (present-day Nepal) between 400 and 480 BCE - the exact date is uncertain. His historical name was Siddhattha Gotama (Pali) - Siddhartha Gautama (in Sanskrit) - his personal name being Siddhattha and his clan name Gotama. His father, Suddhodhana, was a wealthy and prominent figure of the Sakyas, a noble and prestigious tribe. Siddhattha’s mother, Mahamaya, died a week after giving birth to her son and so the boy was brought up by his mother’s sister, Mahapajapati.
Seven Steps that Changed the World
Different stories surround the conception and actual birth of the Buddha. One has it that around the time of the Buddha’s conception, Mahamaya had a dream in which she saw a large white elephant enter her side. This was interpreted by the Brahmins, or priests of the day, that the child would grow up to be a great emperor or a great holy man, the elephant being an auspicious symbol of sovereignty. Another tells how Mahamaya, on her way to visiting her relatives, gave birth to the Buddha standing up and holding on to a tree, which is why the Buddha seems to have been born at Lumbini rather than his father’s town of Kapilavatthu. According to legend, as soon as he was born, the Buddha walked seven steps and announced: ‘I am the highest in the world; I am the best in the world; I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being for me’.
A Life of Pleasure
There seems no doubt that the Buddha was born into a wealthy and privileged family and that materially he wanted for nothing. In the Magandiya Sutra the Buddha describes his home life: ‘I enjoyed myself…I had three palaces, one for the rainy season, one for the winter, and one for the summer. I lived in the rains’ palace for the four months of the rainy season, enjoying myself with musicians who were all female’. At sixteen, Gotama married a local princess, Yasodhara who gave birth to a son, Rahula, thirteen years later. Shortly after this, however - at the age of twenty-nine - Siddhattha’s life took a radical change in direction…
The Struggle Within
At what point the Buddha’s disaffection for his life of luxury began to manifest itself is hard to determine. It is likely that it was something that he struggled with for a long time before, at the age of twenty-nine, he decided to leave the palace, his life of pleasure and comfort, and even his wife, Yasodhara, and child, Rahula. The factors that must have led up this emphatic and irrevocable decision have been crystallized in the traditional account.
Outside the Palace
Because of the prophecies that attended Siddhattha’s birth - that he would either become a world ruler or a great holy man - his father, Suddhodhana tried to shield his son from the more distressing features of the world. Consequently, Siddhattha spent his life with the confines of the palace and its grounds, absorbed in pleasure.
But dissatisfaction grew to the extent that one day Siddhattha asked his charioteer to take him on an excursion outside of the place. On the first visit he encountered an old man. On the next excursion he encountered a sick man. On his third excursion, he encountered a corpse being carried to cremation. Such sights brought home to him the prevalence of suffering in the world and that he too was subject to old age, sickness and death - that no-one, not even a king’s son, could escape these three. What hope was there, what point in living, if this was the destiny of all? On his fourth excursion, however, he encountered a holy man or sadhu, apparently content and at peace with the world. Perhaps, there was a way out of what seemed like the inevitability of suffering after all! (In Buddhism these are referred to as ‘the four sights’ or ‘four signs’.)
The Leaving
It was not easy for Siddhattha to leave his home and family. As his wife and child lay sleeping, he said his goodbyes, fearing that if his wife should wake he wouldn’t be able to leave. And then he was gone, to begin life as a wandering holy man in search of the ultimate
The Quest Begins
After leaving his father’s palace and his family, Siddhattha embarked upon the life of a wanderer, sleeping in forests and living off the food given to him by those he came into contact with. At first he sought out those who might teach him how to progress further along his spiritual path, teachers such as Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. Through the meditation techniques taught by them, he was able to reach higher states of knowledge, but fell short of complete enlightenment. Though he became a teacher under Ramaputta, he came to realize that what he had learnt so far did not ‘lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to enlightenment, to Nibbana’.
Self-Mortification
Like many other seekers of his kind, Siddhattha decided that perhaps enlightenment could be won by pushing the body to extremes. Sometimes this took the form of eating only certain kinds of food; at other times, it took the form of rigorous fasting. Thus he became extremely emaciated: ‘Because of eating so little my belly skin adhered to my backbone; thus if I touched my belly skin I encountered my backbone; and if I touched my backbone I encountered my belly skin’. He would go naked, sleep in cemeteries, allow himself to be tormented by young cowherds but all this did not lead to the ultimate knowledge he sought.
The Rose-Apple Tree
Consequently, he began eating again, much to the disgust of other ascetics who thought that he had become weak and given up his quest. At this point Siddhattha recalled a time in the past when he had sat under a rose-apple tree and contemplated the nature of the world. His heart filled with compassion, he had pondered on the suffering of others and the transience of life. As he sat, his mind became serene and he entered what later he would describe as jhana, a joyous state brought on by deep meditation. Perhaps this was the way to enlightenment, avoiding the extremes of sensuous enjoyment and self-mortification.
And so, six years on from when he left his sleeping wife and child, the Buddha came to a place called Bodh Gaya, in the modern Indian state of Bihar. He sat himself under a Bodhi tree (a species of ficus religiosa) determined not to rise until he had achieved enlightenment…
The Enlightenment
Under the Bodhi-Tree
Six years had passed. Siddhattha had left his home and family, put himself through the most rigorous kinds of self-mortification and, having abandoned the latter, found himself under a Bodhi-tree at Bodh Gaya. He sat there resolute, determined to win though to enlightenment once and for all. First he entered into a series of trance-like states known as jhanas. And then, going beyond these, he gained insight into the true nature of reality.
True Knowledge
During his enlightenment experience, Siddhattha attained three types of knowledge. First he saw that he had died and been reborn many times: ‘I recollected my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births, three births…a hundred thousand births.’ Each birth was seen in some detail: ‘There I was so named, of such a clan, with such an appearance…and passing away from there, I reappeared here’.
Then, having acquired the ‘divine eye’, he saw that all beings are reborn according to their deeds, the law of kamma (karma): ‘I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate….according to their actions’. He saw that good action led to happy states; bad actions to miserable ones.
Lastly, he saw the nature of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the way leading to the cessation of suffering - in short, the Four Noble Truths. With this realization came liberation on a experiential rather than solely intellectual level: ‘I directly knew: “Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no coming to any state of being”‘.
What Next?
Siddhattha, at the age of thirty-five, had reached enlightenment and was now worthy of being called a Buddha, which means ‘enlightened one’ or ‘awakened one’. But what next? Should he simply just keep his newfound knowledge to himself or should he share it with humanity? At first he thought that perhaps his knowledge was too subtle, too profound for anyone to understand. But then, he considered, there might be some who have only ‘a little dust’ in their eyes who would benefit from what he had to teach. One account describes how the compassionate god Brahma Sahampati appeared and persuaded him to share his teachings for the benefit of others. And so, after spending three or four weeks in Bodh Gaya, the Buddha left to meet the world with his newfound knowledge…
The First Teaching
Five Companions
Having decided that he would share his knowledge, the Buddha sought out five of the ascetics he had formerly associated with. Seeing him approach, they thought to snub him, still believing that he had abandoned the quest because he no longer performed the severe austerities that they believed led to enlightenment. As he got nearer, however, they could see that a great change had taken place in him. He assured them that he had indeed reached the final state, that he was fully enlightened and that he would teach them.
The Deer Park, Benares
It was to these five in the Deer Park in Benares that the Buddha gave his first teaching, referred to as ‘Setting into Motion the Wheel of Dhamma’. In his first sermon, the Buddha advises against the two extremes of luxury and self-mortification and offers a ‘Middle Way’. This Middle Way is to be understood in the context of the Four Noble Truths, the distillation of the Buddha’s message. These are ‘the noble truth of suffering…the noble truth of the origin of suffering…the noble truth of the cessation of suffering…the noble truth leading the way to the cessation of suffering’. The last of these, the Eightfold Path is the Buddha’s teaching on what must be done to achieve enlightenment. It consists of eight factors that incorporate wisdom, morality and concentration. The eight factors are: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Kondanna
One of the ascetics, Kondanna, came to understand the Buddha’s teaching very quickly, the latter exclaiming: ‘Kondanna knows!’, followed soon after by the other four ascetics. And so the Buddha’s long teaching career - which was to span forty-five years - began…
The Dissemination
A Simple Message
The Buddha spent the rest of his life as a homeless, itinerant teacher. His life and needs were simple. For nine months of the year he traveled on foot, offering his teachings to any that were interested. He went from village to village, and from town to town, using his begging bowl as a means of obtaining sustenance. In this way he came into contact with all levels of society, relating the same message to all those he encountered: life is suffering, craving is the cause of this suffering, there is an end to suffering, and there is a means to bring this suffering to an end.
The Sangha
As he traveled, he gathered a following of those who wanted to take up the same life of simplicity in the hope of gaining enlightenment. Such followers came from all strata of society, rich and poor. The only requirement was a sincere desire to follow the Buddha’s teaching. The commitment had to be total. It meant leaving one’s family - just as the Buddha himself had done - and leading a life of celibacy and strict morality. It also meant having few possessions and maintaining a simple lifestyle. Gradually, the number of followers increased and eventually a definite community of monks, and later nuns, was formed known as the Sangha.
Devadatta
There seems little doubt that within a short space of time the Buddha won the respect and confidence of many people. He was willing to engage in reasoned argument and debate, winning over those who opposed his views with the clarity and conviction of one who was truly engaged with the Truth. The scriptures reveal a man who never demanded blind faith but asked each individual to investigate the nature of self and the nature of the world and to draw his own conclusions in the light of the Buddha’s teachings. Unfortunately, the Buddha did not always win over the people that opposed him. One notable opponent was Devadatta, his cousin, who wanted the ageing Buddha to leave the leadership of the Sangha to him. When the Buddha refused, Devadatta plotted against his life (unsuccessfully).
For forty-five years, the Buddha continued to spread his teachings, urging his monks to ‘Go forth…for the benefit of many, for the happiness of many, out of compassion for the world. Preach to them the Dhamma, which is beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful at the end…’
The Parinibbana
Kusinara
The Buddha’s teaching spanned forty-five years and, at the age of eighty, his unique journey came to an end. The actual cause of death was said to be food-poisoning but three months before his passing away, the Buddha had indicated that he would soon die. Despite being unwell in the months leading up to his death, the Buddha continued to travel and teach, finally coming to a small village called Kusinara.
Final Words
As monks and lay people gathered round, Ananda, the Buddha’s long time and most devoted attendant broke down in tears as he realized that his Lord was about to die. But the Buddha told him not to weep and wail, saying, ‘Have I not already told you that all things that are pleasurable and delightful are changeable, subject to separation…?…Ananda, make the effort, and in a short time you will be free of the corruptions’. He too, the Buddha, was subject to impermanence, just like anything else in samsara.
One of the concerns of his followers was what would become of the Sangha after he died. Who would lead them? The Buddha said: ‘”Ananda, it may be that you will think: ‘The Teacher’s instruction has ceased, now we have no teacher!’ It should not be seen like this, Ananda, for what I have taught and explained to you as Dhamma and discipline will, at my passing, be your teacher.”‘
The Buddha’s final words were, as ever, pragmatic and encouraging: ‘All things are impermanent - strive on with diligence!’
As he lay dying, the Buddha entered into each of the meditative states known as jhanas, before passing away into nibbana completely. This is referred to as the Buddha’s parinibbana. No longer would he be reborn, he had entered the deathless state never to return.
Relics
After Buddha had died many of the monks fell into great lamentation, only to be reprimanded by one of their seniors, the Venerable Anuruddha: ‘Friends, enough of your weeping and wailing! Has not the Lord already told you that all things that are pleasant and delightful are changeable…? So why all this, friend? Whatever is born, become, compounded is subject to decay’. The body of the Buddha was kept for seven days so that his followers could pay their last respects and then he was cremated as was the custom. His relics were shared out amongst his followed and enshrined in stupas.
The importance of the Buddha lies in the fact that he was unique human being who, through his own efforts, discovered a means of ending he cycle of suffering inherent in samsara. More importantly, he was willing to share what he had discovered with the world at large. His legacy is his teachings which have as profound a significance now as they did over 2500 years ago.
