Sixth century BC was an important era in history. This was the
period when a great benefactor of mankind was born and became renowned as
Gotama the Buddha. The Buddha rediscovered the path of Dhamma leading to the
eradication of universal suffering. With great compassion he spent forty-five
years showing the path and this helped millions of people to come out of their
misery. Even today this path is helping humanity, and will continue to do so
provided the teachings and practice are maintained in their pristine purity.
History tells us that in
624 B.C. King Suddhodana ruled the kingdom of Sakya. He had two queens: the
chief queen was Mahamaya and the younger queen was Mahapajapata Gotami, the
sister of Mahamaya. When Mahamaya was travelling from Kapilavatthu, the
capital, to Devadaha, her parents’ home, to have her first child, she gave
birth along the way to a son under a large sala tree in the Lumbini grove on
the full moon day of Vesakha (month of April-May). An old sage,
Asita, visited the palace, and on seeing the marks of greatness (mahapurisa
lakkhana) in the child, first expressed joy and then shed tears. He was joyful
at seeing that a great being had come to earth to teach suffering humanity how
to eradicate its misery, yet he shed tears because he would not live long
enough to be able to benefit from this.
Five days after the
birth the name-giving ceremony was held to which a number of brahmans were
invited. All, except Kondanna, foretold: either the child would be a great
Emperor (Cakkavatti Raja)
or an Enlightened One, a Buddha. Kondanna, however, said quite decisively that
the boy would be a Buddha. The boy was given the name of Siddhattha, meaning
one whose aim is accomplished. Just seven days after
the birth, Queen Mahamaya passed away and the young Siddhattha Gotama (Gotama
being his family name) was then raised by his stepmother Mahapajapati Gotami.
As he grew, the young prince preferred solitude and a meditative life to the
games and pranks natural for his age. This was observed by his father who,
fearing the prophecy, tried his best to divert the attention of the young
Siddhattha towards worldly things, while at the same time shielding him from
the sight of any worldly suffering.
At the young age of
sixteen, Siddhattha was married to Yasodhara, a beautiful princess. It was his
father’s hope that she would bind him to the family life. Until the age of
twenty-nine he lived the life of a householder amidst great luxury and ease. One day, as Siddhattha
was going out in his chariot, he saw along the way a decrepit old man, then a
sick man, then a dead body, and finally an ascetic radiating with a glow of
peace and tranquillity on his face. These four incidents made a distinct
impression on him. He began reflecting on the misery inherent in existence; at
the same time he felt drawn to renounce the world and seek a way of liberation.
When Prince Siddhattha
and Princess Yasodhara bore a son, Siddhattha saw the event as bondage and
decided to call the child Rahula, meaning an obstacle. Ultimately, however, the
child did not prove to be bondage, as Siddhattha thought it better to renounce
the worldly life before his attachment grew stronger. He decided to adopt the
life of a wanderer in quest of truth. One night, he left the palace along with
his attendant Channa. After going some distance he discarded his royal robes
and ornaments, giving them to Channa, and then cut off his hair and became an
ascetic. He was twenty-nine years of age.
For six years he
wandered in search of truth. First he met the spiritual teachers Alara Kalama
and Uddaka Ramaputta, and learned from them deep absorption concentrations (the
seventh and eighth jhanas) that were practised at that time. Despite this
practice Siddhattha wasn’t satisfied. Although his mind was more calm and
peaceful, and now purified to a great extent, still at the deepest level of his
mind there remained latent defilements. His mind was not totally pure.
At this stage in his
search he proceeded to Senanigama in Uruvela. There he practised rigorous
austerities along with five other mendicants—the pancavaggiya bhikkhus. By
fasting he was reduced to a mere skeleton, yet total purification still eluded
him. As a result of all these experiences he realised that as the life of ease
and physical luxury was one extreme and not the way to eradicate suffering, so
also the life of physical torture and severe penance was another extreme. This
realisation brought him to the middle path. He decided to take food again, and
was offered rice gruel by Sujata, a young maid living nearby. At this point his
five companions left him, as they were still convinced that the path of
self-mortification led to enlightenment.
Siddhattha continued on
alone. On the full moon day of Vesakha (April-May), after refreshing himself in
the Neranjara River, he was drawn towards a pleasant grove of trees. There he
sat down with a strong determination (adhiṭṭhana) not to leave until attaining
enlightenment. He spent that night in deep meditation, exploring the truth
within, and rediscovered the long-lost technique of vipassana. Vipassana means to see
things as they really are, and not just as they appear to be. In the Brahmajala
Sutta he states how he practised this to achieve enlightenment: Having experienced as
they really are the arising of sensations, their passing away, the relishing of
them, the danger in them, and the release from them, the Enlightened One, O
monks, has become detached and liberated.
Practising Vipassana, he
penetrated the veils of ignorance, delusion, and illusion. He discovered the
law of dependent origination (paticcasamuppada), the chain of cause and effect
conditioning the universe. Whatever arises, arises due to a cause; when the
cause is eradicated there can be no resulting effect. Therefore, by totally
eliminating the cause of suffering one can attain real happiness, real
liberation from all misery. With this realisation, he penetrated the illusion
of solidity in mind and matter, dissolved the tendency of his mind to cling and
crave, and realised the unconditioned truth. The darkness of ignorance was
dispelled and the light of wisdom shone forth in all its brilliance. The
subtlest defilements of his mind were washed away. All the shackles were
broken. No craving remained for the future; his mind became free from all
attachments. Siddhattha Gotama attained supreme enlightenment, experiencing the
ultimate truth in all its purity, and became a Sammasambuddha. The tree under
which he sat became known as the Bodhi tree and the area as Bodhagaya.
With the experience of
total liberation the following words of joy (udana)
came forth:
Anekajatisamsaram sandhavissam anibbisam,
gahakarakam gavesanto dukkha jati punappunam.
Gahakaraka dittho’si puna
geham na kahasi,
sabba te phasuka bhagga
gahakutam visankhitam,
visankharagatam cittam tanhanam khayamajjhaga.
Through countless births
I wandered in samsara, seeking, but not finding, the builder of the house. I
have been taking birth in misery again and again. O builder of the house you
are now seen! You cannot build the house again. All the rafters and the central
pole are shattered. The mind is free from all the sankhara. The craving-free
stage is achieved.
After his enlightenment
the Buddha spent several weeks enjoying nibbanic peace. At the end of this
period Tapassu and Bhallika, two merchants of Ukkala offered him rice cakes and
honey. These two became the first lay disciples (upasaka) taking refuge only in the Buddha and
the Dhamma, as the Sangha had not yet come into being.
The Burmese tradition
maintains that both these merchants were from Okkala, an ancient city near
present day Rangoon. The Burmese take pride in the fact that the first people
to give respect to the Buddha and the Dhamma were from Burma, and that the
first food that the Buddha took after enlightenment was Burmese rice and honey.
With infinite compassion
the Buddha decided to teach the profound Dhamma. His two previous teachers
Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, who could both have understood the Dhamma,
had passed away. So he decided to go to the Isipatana-migadaya at Saranath, the
deer park near Varanasi, to teach his five companions who had left him just
before his enlightenment. It was on the full moon day of Asalha (June-July)
that the Buddha set in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma by teaching the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta explaining the middle path to them. They became his
first five bhikkhu disciples and therefore the first members of the Bhikkhu
Sangha (Order of Monks). This sermon was later followed by the Anatta-lakkhana
Sutta at the end of which all five became fully liberated (arahant) by the
practice of Vipassana. They realised the truth of the impermanent,
substanceless, and unsatisfactory nature of reality (anicca, dukkha, and
anatta) at the experiential level.
Not long after this,
Yasa, the depressed and mentally disturbed son of a wealthy merchant of
Varanasi who could not find peace in his riches and way of life, approached the
Buddha and received ordination. He was followed by his fifty-four friends who
also became monks. Having tasted Dhamma, they soon gained the peace which they
sought and with continued practice they all attained the stage of arahant.
Yasa’s father and mother became the first lay disciples to take refuge in the
Triple Gem, since now there were three qualities in which to take refuge: the
Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.
The next months were the
rainy season and the Buddha spent them in retreat (vassavasa) at Saranath with
the Sangha, which had grown to sixty arahant bhikkhus. As the rainy season
ended he instructed them as follows:
Wander forth, O monks,
for the benefit of many, for the happiness of many. Shower compassion on the
world for the good, benefit, and happiness of gods and men. Let no two go in
the same direction. The Buddha sent these
sixty bhikkhus to various places to teach the Dhamma. Because they had realised
the truth of the path to liberation themselves, they became shining examples of
what they taught. Their teaching did not consist of mere discourses, mere
words. Their success lay in enabling the people to practise what was taught.
The nature of the Dhamma is that it is beneficial in the beginning, beneficial
in the middle, and beneficial in the end. The results of the practice
(patipatti) started to manifest. People from different sects, castes, and
classes were attracted. Leaders of various sects started practising the Dhamma.
While the Buddha was on his way to Senanigama at Uruvela, the thirty
Bhaddavaggiya received ordination. At Uruvela, the three Kassapa brothers with
their thousand followers became monks. Also the two brahmansSariputta and Moggallana took ordination, and later
became the chief disciples of the Buddha.
Many other important
people of that time also became attracted to pure Dhamma: the Kings Bimbisara,
Suddhodana, and Prasenajita; the wealthy merchants Anathapindika, Jotiya,
Jatila, Mendaka, Punnaka, and Kakavaliya; and important women such as Visakha,
Suppavasa, and Khema. They donated various monasteries to the Sangha with the
wholesome volition that the Dhamma might spread throughout society. These facilities
enabled people to learn and practise the Dhamma, and thereby come out of their
suffering.
The Buddha spent his
second, third, and fourth rainy seasons at Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove donated
by King Bimbisara. The Buddha always remained at one place for the rains and
moved around northern India teaching Dhamma during the rest of the year. One of
these journeys was to Kapilavatthu at the invitation of King Suddhodana. The
Buddha was received with honours by the native Sakyans. During this visit
thousands of them joined the Sangha, including his son Rahula and stepbrother
Nanda. Others such as Anuruddha, Bhaddiya, Ananda, Bhagu, Kimbila, Devadatta,
and even the royal barber Upali, also joined.
The fifth rainy season
was spent in Vesali. It was in that year that King Suddhodana, the Buddha’s
father, died. His widow, Mahapajapati Gotami, requested the Buddha to allow
women to join the Sangha. Ananda interceded on their behalf and their request
was granted. This was the beginning of the Order of Nuns (Bhikkhuni Sangha).
The Buddha spent the
next rains retreat at Mankulapabbata, and the seventh at Tavatimsa preaching
Abhidhamma (higher teachings) to Mahamaya and other devas.
Subsequently, the eighth
to the nineteenth rains retreats were spent at the following places:
Bhesakalavana, Kosambi, Parileyyaka Forest, the brahman village of Ekanala,
Veranja, Calikapabbata, Jetavana in Savatthi, Kapilavatthu, Alavi, and
Rajagaha.
In the twentieth year
the Buddha transformed the life of the ferocious Angulimala who had earlier
killed 999 people. Coming into contact with the Dhamma, Angulimala became a
saintly person and later on became an arahant. The Buddha spent the twentieth
retreat at Rajagaha. From the twenty-first up
to the forty-sixth, his final rains retreat, the Buddha spent his time at
Savatthi in the Jetavana Vihara and Pubbarama Vihara.
Throughout his life he
continually faced opposition from those espousing old superstitions and beliefs
based on birth, caste, class, animal sacrifice, etc. At times he faced great
opposition from sectarians who tried to discredit him and his teaching by
trying to create scandals. One monk, Devadatta, tried to create a schism in the
Sangha, and even tried to kill the Buddha by various means. In all instances
the Buddha used his infinite wisdom, love, and compassion to overcome these
opposing forces, and continued to serve more and more suffering beings.
At the age of eighty the
Buddha visited Vesali where the courtesan Ambapali offered him a meal and made
a gift of her Ambalatthika Grove to the Sangha. Through the practice of Dhamma
she came out of immorality, established herself in truth, and became an
arahant. Later in the same year he visited Pava and stayed in the mango grove
of Cunda. Here he took what was to be his last meal, and became ill. In this
weakened condition he continued on to Kusinara. There he instructed Ananda to
spread his upper robe between twin sala trees, and informed him that the end of
his life had come. A large number of monks, lay followers, and devas assembled
around him to pay their last respects. The Buddha gave them his last
admonition, known as pacchima-vaca:
Vaya-dhamma sankhara,
appamadena sampadetha.
Decay is inherent in all
compounded things
work out your own salvation with diligence.
Thus teaching the Dhamma
as he himself practised it, the Buddha attained Mahaparinibbana in his
eightieth year, on the full moon day of Vesakha in 544 B.C
