Buddhas Life
This chapter tells the life story of the historical Buddha.
At the time when the historical Buddha Siddharta Gautama Shakyamuni was born, India had a high culture. People had open minds - like during the Renaissance or the atmosphere of departure in the 1960s. Philosophical schools and views of all kinds flourished simultaneously and old teachings and the spiritual authority of the Brahmins were challenged. People expected teachings to be holistic, they demanded that a weltanschauung should penetrate their life to the very detail. The teachings had to have a basis, work with clear methods, and have an attainable goal. People were very careful with assertions: Once someone was emphatic on a view somebody else could prove wrong, he or she would become the other’s disciple – this was a question of honesty in those days.
Buddha was born around 560 B.C. as the son of a sovereign family at the southern border of today's Nepal near the then-city of Kapilavastu. The family was part of the house of the Shakyas and the lineage of the Gautamas, which is why his name was Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni.
His birth on a full moon day in May was accompanied by special signs and his parents received the following prophecy: “If the boy does not come in touch with the world’s suffering, he will become a great sovereign and fulfill all your wishes. But should he recognize that all conditioned states are subject to suffering, he will leave everything behind and bring a new dimension into the world.”
Therefore, his parents decided to bring him up inside the palace in an artificial world, where there existed only youth, beauty, pleasure, and joyful experiences. He received an extensive education in all sciences, arts, and sports – and as a member of the warriors’ caste also in martial arts. He showed brilliance in all disciplines. He was both sensitive and subtle, courageous and strong. For his few trips into the “normal” world, everything was prepared in a way that he only saw young, healthy, and happy people. So, the young prince grew up in his world of luxury, enjoyed life, married, and became father of a son.
This was the way things went on until his 29th year, when during secret excursions he came upon the darker sides of life. On three days in succession, he saw someone who was seriously ill, an old and a dead person. The things you normally get used to step by step, hit him without warning and deeply unsettled him. All of a sudden, he had to understand that worldly pleasures, beauty, strength, and youth are all conditioned and impermanent. After that, he returned to his palace but he no longer found joy in anything and he looked for a way out.
On the next day he had an experience which would shape his life. He saw a man sitting in deep meditation with a content expression on his face and he understood that real freedom can only be found in your own mind. But it seemed impossible to him to reach this insight within the framework of his social life, so he decided to leave his life as a prince behind. He cut short his long hair, a symbol of his noble ancestry, went into the woods and studied with many teachers of his time. Although, he learned very fast and often surpassed his teachers, none of their methods could lead him beyond limited, impermanent experiences. For six years, he was devoted to asceticism.
Driven by the strong wish for enlightenment for the best of all beings he omitted no possibility, which could bring him closer to his goal. So he joined a group of five ascetics who lived in the woods near the place we know as Bodhgaya, today. After he had experienced all joys of the body and the senses as a prince, he now thought they were a hindrance and suppressing them would clear the mind. hindrance Therefore, he practiced total renunciation and had nearly starved himself to death. Finally, he realised that asceticism not only weakens the body, but also the mind and took him no closer to his goal. This experience was another turning point in his life – turning away from the extreme.
After Siddharta had regained his strength, he sat down in the shade of the well-known Bodhi Tree and vowed to himself that he would not leave this place until he had realised an absolute level of experience. For six days and nights, he sat in deep meditation. His absorption was so unshakeable that neither outer nor inner distractions could disturb him. At the dawn of the seventh day, the full moon in May, at the age of 35, he attained enlightenment und became Buddha, the Awakened One. Sangye in Tibetan, this means: perfect purification from all veils of ignorance (Sang) and perfect development of all of mind’s inherent qualities (Gye). Calling on “earth as a witness for the causes of his enlightenment”, he touched the ground with the fingertips of his right hand. As a statue, he is often displayed with this earth touching gesture, the symbol of Buddha’s actions for the benefit of all living beings based on compassion and wisdom and for perfect enlightenment – the experience of the fearless, joyful and loving space of mind.
Buddha spent another seven weeks in meditation under the Bodhi Tree. For him there was nothing to give up or to gain.“Highest truth is highest joy”, as it is said in the Diamondway teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.
In the woods near Benares (Varanasi), he met the people he had formerly practiced together with, the five ascetics. They no longer liked him and swore at him to have become worldly. But when they came closer, they were attracted by his charisma and understood, that something special had happened to him. They grew curious and asked him for explanations, and Buddha taught about the Four Noble Truths as the basis, path, and goal of liberation and enlightenment.
Buddha more and more unfolded the Dharma, the Buddhist teachings. During the first three months, when he stayed in the forest of Benares, the community of his disciples, the Sangha already grew rapidly. Its combination of people from all social levels was untypical for his days: Kings, merchants, and beggars were among Buddha’s disciples. Within the Sangha the caste system was of no relevance.
From this time on, Buddha wandered across Northern India teaching, for 45 years, at most times surrounded by disciples who travelled with him. Several centres crystallized, where he stayed more often and gave special teachings. The forests of Benares are especially linked to the lessons of the “first cycle”, from which historically developed the Theravada schools. At the “Vulture’s Peak” in Rajgir he mainly gave teachings of the Great Way on compassion and wisdom (second cycle); in Shravasti (in the kingdom of Magadha) and Vaishali he finally taught the Diamondway with explanations on the nature of mind (third cycle).
Although Buddha and his disciples never did missionary work, the new teachings quickly spread over Northern India. It was spread according to the picture:“Wherever there is a lake, the swans will come” in the sense of supply and free demand. Naturally, the new movement was also treated with hostility due to religious envy or by those who feared a social revolution. For Buddha did not accept the caste system and accepted women as nuns into the order; moreover, with his statements on cause and effect (Karma), in the eyes of many he did not conform to the demands of political correctness.
Buddha and his disciples spent the rainy season in retreat with intense meditation practice, while they used the rest of the year for travelling and teaching. During 45 years he gave 84,000 teachings which are transmitted in the 108 volumes of the Kanjur, today. When Buddha died at the age of 80 on the night before the full moon in May in the small village of Kushinagar - not far from his birth place - from poisonous food, his last words were said to be:“Now, I can die happily. I held no single teaching in a closed hand. Everything, that is useful for you, I have given already.” And finally:“Don’t believe me, just because I am Buddha, but check, if what I say is in accordance with your experience. Be your own light.”
After Buddha’s death, his teachings were compiled during the council of Rajgir. 500 realised practitioners assembled to write down the oral transmissions which had been memorized, often in verses, up to that day. Thus, every Sutra starts with the words: “Thus have I heard …” and initially names the place, listeners, occasion, and circumstances of the teaching.
In this way, Buddha’s teachings were preserved for the future. The teachings of the Great Way and the Diamondway were not yet published then, for they were meant for advanced disciples. They were mainly transmitted orally among the practitioners.
At the time when the historical Buddha Siddharta Gautama Shakyamuni was born, India had a high culture. People had open minds - like during the Renaissance or the atmosphere of departure in the 1960s. Philosophical schools and views of all kinds flourished simultaneously and old teachings and the spiritual authority of the Brahmins were challenged. People expected teachings to be holistic, they demanded that a weltanschauung should penetrate their life to the very detail. The teachings had to have a basis, work with clear methods, and have an attainable goal. People were very careful with assertions: Once someone was emphatic on a view somebody else could prove wrong, he or she would become the other’s disciple – this was a question of honesty in those days.
Buddha was born around 560 B.C. as the son of a sovereign family at the southern border of today's Nepal near the then-city of Kapilavastu. The family was part of the house of the Shakyas and the lineage of the Gautamas, which is why his name was Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni.
His birth on a full moon day in May was accompanied by special signs and his parents received the following prophecy: “If the boy does not come in touch with the world’s suffering, he will become a great sovereign and fulfill all your wishes. But should he recognize that all conditioned states are subject to suffering, he will leave everything behind and bring a new dimension into the world.”
Therefore, his parents decided to bring him up inside the palace in an artificial world, where there existed only youth, beauty, pleasure, and joyful experiences. He received an extensive education in all sciences, arts, and sports – and as a member of the warriors’ caste also in martial arts. He showed brilliance in all disciplines. He was both sensitive and subtle, courageous and strong. For his few trips into the “normal” world, everything was prepared in a way that he only saw young, healthy, and happy people. So, the young prince grew up in his world of luxury, enjoyed life, married, and became father of a son.
This was the way things went on until his 29th year, when during secret excursions he came upon the darker sides of life. On three days in succession, he saw someone who was seriously ill, an old and a dead person. The things you normally get used to step by step, hit him without warning and deeply unsettled him. All of a sudden, he had to understand that worldly pleasures, beauty, strength, and youth are all conditioned and impermanent. After that, he returned to his palace but he no longer found joy in anything and he looked for a way out.
On the next day he had an experience which would shape his life. He saw a man sitting in deep meditation with a content expression on his face and he understood that real freedom can only be found in your own mind. But it seemed impossible to him to reach this insight within the framework of his social life, so he decided to leave his life as a prince behind. He cut short his long hair, a symbol of his noble ancestry, went into the woods and studied with many teachers of his time. Although, he learned very fast and often surpassed his teachers, none of their methods could lead him beyond limited, impermanent experiences. For six years, he was devoted to asceticism.
Driven by the strong wish for enlightenment for the best of all beings he omitted no possibility, which could bring him closer to his goal. So he joined a group of five ascetics who lived in the woods near the place we know as Bodhgaya, today. After he had experienced all joys of the body and the senses as a prince, he now thought they were a hindrance and suppressing them would clear the mind. hindrance Therefore, he practiced total renunciation and had nearly starved himself to death. Finally, he realised that asceticism not only weakens the body, but also the mind and took him no closer to his goal. This experience was another turning point in his life – turning away from the extreme.
After Siddharta had regained his strength, he sat down in the shade of the well-known Bodhi Tree and vowed to himself that he would not leave this place until he had realised an absolute level of experience. For six days and nights, he sat in deep meditation. His absorption was so unshakeable that neither outer nor inner distractions could disturb him. At the dawn of the seventh day, the full moon in May, at the age of 35, he attained enlightenment und became Buddha, the Awakened One. Sangye in Tibetan, this means: perfect purification from all veils of ignorance (Sang) and perfect development of all of mind’s inherent qualities (Gye). Calling on “earth as a witness for the causes of his enlightenment”, he touched the ground with the fingertips of his right hand. As a statue, he is often displayed with this earth touching gesture, the symbol of Buddha’s actions for the benefit of all living beings based on compassion and wisdom and for perfect enlightenment – the experience of the fearless, joyful and loving space of mind.
Buddha spent another seven weeks in meditation under the Bodhi Tree. For him there was nothing to give up or to gain.“Highest truth is highest joy”, as it is said in the Diamondway teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.
In the woods near Benares (Varanasi), he met the people he had formerly practiced together with, the five ascetics. They no longer liked him and swore at him to have become worldly. But when they came closer, they were attracted by his charisma and understood, that something special had happened to him. They grew curious and asked him for explanations, and Buddha taught about the Four Noble Truths as the basis, path, and goal of liberation and enlightenment.
Buddha more and more unfolded the Dharma, the Buddhist teachings. During the first three months, when he stayed in the forest of Benares, the community of his disciples, the Sangha already grew rapidly. Its combination of people from all social levels was untypical for his days: Kings, merchants, and beggars were among Buddha’s disciples. Within the Sangha the caste system was of no relevance.
From this time on, Buddha wandered across Northern India teaching, for 45 years, at most times surrounded by disciples who travelled with him. Several centres crystallized, where he stayed more often and gave special teachings. The forests of Benares are especially linked to the lessons of the “first cycle”, from which historically developed the Theravada schools. At the “Vulture’s Peak” in Rajgir he mainly gave teachings of the Great Way on compassion and wisdom (second cycle); in Shravasti (in the kingdom of Magadha) and Vaishali he finally taught the Diamondway with explanations on the nature of mind (third cycle).
Although Buddha and his disciples never did missionary work, the new teachings quickly spread over Northern India. It was spread according to the picture:“Wherever there is a lake, the swans will come” in the sense of supply and free demand. Naturally, the new movement was also treated with hostility due to religious envy or by those who feared a social revolution. For Buddha did not accept the caste system and accepted women as nuns into the order; moreover, with his statements on cause and effect (Karma), in the eyes of many he did not conform to the demands of political correctness.
Buddha and his disciples spent the rainy season in retreat with intense meditation practice, while they used the rest of the year for travelling and teaching. During 45 years he gave 84,000 teachings which are transmitted in the 108 volumes of the Kanjur, today. When Buddha died at the age of 80 on the night before the full moon in May in the small village of Kushinagar - not far from his birth place - from poisonous food, his last words were said to be:“Now, I can die happily. I held no single teaching in a closed hand. Everything, that is useful for you, I have given already.” And finally:“Don’t believe me, just because I am Buddha, but check, if what I say is in accordance with your experience. Be your own light.”
After Buddha’s death, his teachings were compiled during the council of Rajgir. 500 realised practitioners assembled to write down the oral transmissions which had been memorized, often in verses, up to that day. Thus, every Sutra starts with the words: “Thus have I heard …” and initially names the place, listeners, occasion, and circumstances of the teaching.
In this way, Buddha’s teachings were preserved for the future. The teachings of the Great Way and the Diamondway were not yet published then, for they were meant for advanced disciples. They were mainly transmitted orally among the practitioners.
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Date: 6 September 2012Author: With kind permission of www.buddhismus-schule.de
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