Contents
30. THE HISTORICAL BUDDHA
- SHAKYAMUNI
In history, the Buddha, of course, refers to Shakyamuni Buddha. He was not
the almighty god by imagination. He was a lovely baby born around 565 B.C. in Lumbini Park in the city of Kapilavastu in the ancient northern India,
today's Nepal. His name was Gotama Siddhattha, which means "he who has
accomplished his aim".
Since King Suddhodana had long awaited a
child, he and everyone else in the palace rejoiced at the birth of a son. The
King immediately called a famous wise sage, Asita. Asita told the king, "If he
remains at home, the child will become the Wheel-rolling King. If he leaves home, he
will become the great teacher, the Buddha."
It was unfortunate that Maya died on the
seventh day after her delivery and Maya's sister, Mahapajapati became the step mother of
Siddhattha. The prince grew up in an environment of care and love, respect
and joy. However, he was sometimes unhappy.
At the age of seven, the prince began to study science and technology, art and
philosophy, and of course, religious knowledge under the tuition of famous
scholars. He also learnt riding, archery, fencing, etc.
The prince was outstanding in all intellectual and physical subjects. Putting
faith in the forecast of the sage Asita, his father expected much from his son
and made him crown prince and heir apparent. But this did not please the
young man, who steadily grew to be thoughtful and sad.
To cheer him up, his worried father and foster mother built three palaces, one
for cold weather, one for hot weather, and one for the rainy season. They
appointed many beautiful court ladies to wait on him and arranged banquets
with dancing and music. Furthermore, they encouraged him to marry the lovely
princess Yasodhara. Later, Siddhattha got
a son called Rahula.
30.2 From a prince to a Samana
Hoping to give his son pleasure, King Suddhodana arranged four trips outside
the city of Kapilavastu, one through each of its four gates. On three
occasions, Siddhattha encountered distressing scenes: an aging man, a sick
man and a corpse. Finally, he met a calm, serene ascetic monk, who inspired
Siddhattha to have same kind of life.
Whether the story of these trips is true or not is not significant, the four
gates represent the state of mind of the prince with respect to the suffering
of aging, illness and death. Superficial prosperity in economy and relative
stability in political environment cannot relieve people from worry, fear,
anxiety and suffering and cannot lead them to ultimate happiness.
With his great compassion, the enthusiastic prince decided to give up his
worldly glory and desire, and leave home. He would devote himself to search
for the ultimate truth.
Though his love to his family may have hindered him, the birth of his son,
Rahula, provided a favourable occasion for his departure since with the birth
of his son, Siddattha had fulfilled his duty to his father and his wife according
to the Indian tradition. Departing from the palace and the wearing coarse clothes,
the prince chose to become a Samana.
30.3 From a Samana to an Enlightened
One
Siddhatha went to Rajagaha, the capital of
Magadha, which was the centre of culture
with many orthodox and unorthodox monks. By that time, the two major
disciplines for the sake of enlightenment
were meditation and ascetic austeritics.
Siddhattha practised meditation under two famous teachers, Alara-Kalama and Uddaka-Ramaputta. The state attained by
Alara-Kalama was that of a much higher formless world where matter no longer
exists. Uddaka-Ramaputta reached an even higher state at which neither
thought nor non-thought existed. However, Siddhatha did not find it difficult
to attain both states. Attaining these states of mind did not ease his mental
anxieties, because once he stopped meditation, he returned to the mental state
of suffering. He knew that the true liberation from the attachment of
ignorance and suffering could be attained only by reaching a state of absolute
tranquillity. He left them and continued his search for the ultimate truth.
He then practised asceticism, which was very common among Samanas. They
believed that the human suffering was caused by the attachment to the physical
body and the mental spirit. Suffering can only be freed by detaching the
spirit imposed by the body. Therefore, they tormented themselves for the
purpose of weakening the power of the physical body over the mental spirit,
until the body was destructed. Jainism was
considered to be the best in asceticism. Nine of the outstanding disciples in
Jainism starved to death in fasting, and were said to have attained ultimate
freedom. Siddhattha passed through the country of Magadha to the town of Uruvela, where he settled in a grove of trees
to find enlightenment. Practising austerities for six years, he was extremely
tough to himself and did different things that no one could tolerate to do.
He was so weak that his body comprised virtually skin and bones only.
Realizing that asceticism had no effect in attaining enlightenment, Siddhattha
decided to give up austerities. He accepted a bowl of milk from a maid
Sugata. He ate and gradually recovered his strength. His five followers
thought that Siddhattha had given up the pursuit for enlightenment, and they
left him.
Knowing that neither meditation nor ascetic austerities could lead to the
Enlightenment, Siddhattha stopped following existing methods but turned
to find his own way. He prepared a seat
with soft grass under a Bodhi tree. Sitting
in the lotus posture, he made a vow not to rise until he attained
enlightenment. Having struggled with Mara
Papiyan (the Evil King representing all kinds of desires, hatred and
ignorance) in deep meditations in the state of Samadhi, he was finally enlightened. He
discovered the ultimate truth, and understood fully and completely the reality
of universe, and found the path to liberate beings from suffering of birth and
death, and to attain eternal happiness.
30.1 The Birth of Shakyamuni
30.2 From a Prince to a Samana
30.3 From a Samana to an Enlightened One