Gautama Buddha, the founder of what came to be known as Buddhism, on the full moon day of May, in the year 563 B.C.[1] He was born in the Lumbini Park at Kapilavatthu, on the Indian borders of present Nepal, a noble prince who was destined to be the greatest religious teacher of the world. His personal name was Siddhartha, and family name Gotama. The name Buddha was given to him after he attained enlightenment and realized the truth. It means the awakened or the enlightened one. He generally called himself the Tathagata, while his followers called him Bhagava, the Blessed One. Others spoke of him as Gotama or Sakyamuni. He was born a prince who seemed to have everything. He had a luxurious cultivation and his family was of pure descent on both sides. He was the successor to the throne, inspiring trust, splendid and gifted with great beauty of complexion and fine presence. At sixteen he married his cousin named Yasodhara who bore him a son whom they called Rahula. His wife was majestic, cheerful day and night, and full of dignity and grace.Despite all this, he felt trapped amidst the luxury like a bird in a golden cage. During a visit to the city one day, he saw what is known as the four sights, that is, an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a holy hermit. When he saw the sights, one after another, the realization came into affected his heart, it is subject to age and death. He asked, 'Where is the realm of life in which there is neither age nor death?' The sight of the hermit, who was calm for having given up the craving for material life, gave him the clue that the first step in his search for truth was renunciation.
After that, determined to find the way out of these universal sufferings, he decided to leave home to find the solution not for himself only, but for all human being. One night in his twenty-ninth year, he bade his sleeping wife and son a silent farewell, saddled his great white horse, and rode off toward the forest. He left at the height of youth, from pleasures to difficulties, from certainty of material security to uncertainty, from a position of wealth and power to that of a wandering ascetic who took shelter in the cave and forest, with his ragged robe as the only protection against the blazing sun, rain and winter winds. He renounced his position, wealth, authority and power, and a life filled with love and hope in exchange for the search for truth which no one had found.
For six long years, he endeavored to find the truth. He studied under the foremost masters of the day, and learned all these religious teachers could teach him. When he could not find what he was looking for, he joined a band of ascetics and excruciated his body so as to break its power and crush its interference, since it was believed that truth could be found this way. A man of enormous energy and will power, he outdid other ascetics in every austerity they proposed. While fasting, he ate so little that when he took hold of the skin of his stomach, he actually touched his spine. He pushed himself to the extent that no man had done and yet lived. He, too, would have certainly died had he not realized of no use of self-mortification, and decided to practice middle path instead. On the full moon night of the month of Vesakha, he sat under the Bodhi tree at Gaya, contemplative in deep meditation. It was then that his mind burst the bubble of the universe and realized the true nature of all life and all things. At the age of 35 years, he was transformed from an earnest truth seeker into the Buddha, the Enlightened One.
For nearly half a century, the Buddha walked on the dusty paths of India teaching the doctrines, so that those who heard and practiced could be ennobled and free. He founded an order of monks and nuns, challenged the caste system, raised the status of women, taught religious freedom and free inquiry, and opened the gates of deliverance to all, in every condition of life, high or low, rich or poor, saint or sinner. Exactly, in Buddhism, actions are merely termed as inexpert or unwholesome, not as sinful. Buddhism teaches that everyone is responsible for his own good and bad deeds, and that each individual can reflect on his own destiny. Says the Buddha in the Dhammapada: By the self alone is evil done; by the self is one defiled. By the self is evil not done; by the self is one purified. Purity and impurity concern the individual. One man may not purify another.[2]
Buddha was splendid in wisdom and intelligence. Every problem was analyzed in component parts and then reassociated in logical order with the meaning made clear. None could defeat him in dialogue. An unbeatable teacher, he still is the foremost analyst of the mind and phenomena even up to the present day. For the first time in history, he gave men the power to think for themselves, raised the worth of mankind, and showed that man can reach to the highest knowledge and supreme enlightenment by his own efforts.
Despite his superlative wisdom and royal lineage, he was never removed from the simple villager. Surface distinctions of class and caste meant little to him. No one was too little or low for him to help. Often when an outcast, or poor and sorrowful came to him, his self-respect was restored and he turned from the ignoble life to that of a noble being. The Buddha was full of compassion (karuna) and wisdom (panna), knowing how and what to teach each individual for his own benefit according to his level and capabilities. He was known to have walked long distances to help one single person. There was never an occasion when the Buddha expressed any unfriendliness towards a single person. Not even to his opponents and worst enemies did the Buddha express any unfriendliness. There were a few biased minds that turned against the Buddha and who tried to kill him, yet the Buddha never treated them as enemies. The Buddha once said in the Dhammapada: As an elephant in the battle-field endures the arrows that are shot into him, so will I endure the abuse and unfriendly expressions of others.[3]
He loved and devoted to his disciples, always inquiring after their well-being and progress. When staying at the monastery, he paid daily visits to the sick wards. His compassion for the sick can be seen from his advice, 'he, who attends the sick, attends on me.' The Buddha kept order and discipline on the basis of having the same relationship each to the other respect. King Pasenadi could not understand how the Buddha maintained such order and discipline in the community of monks, when he as a king with the power to punish, could not maintain it as well in his court.
The Buddha did not claim to have 'created' worldly conditions, universal phenomena, or the universal law which we call the 'Dhamma'. Although described as lokavidu or 'knower of the worlds', he was not regarded as the only superintendent of the universal laws. He freely acknowledges that the Dhamma, together with the working of the cosmos, is timeless; it has no creator and is independent in the absolute sense. Every conditioned thing that exists in the cosmos is subject to the operation of Dhamma. What the Buddha did was to rediscover this reliable truth and make it known to mankind. In discovering the truth, he also found the means whereby one could ultimately free oneself from being subjected to the endless cycle of conditioning, with its attendant evils of unsatisfactoriness.
Eventually, the Buddha at an advanced age of seventy-nine years, and in spite of his weakened health, perhaps chiefly due to his life of privation, made a memorable journey over all the places which he used to visit during his ministry. Then, just before he entered the final Nibbana, he told his disciples with the same idea to make themselves and the doctrine their lamps and refuge, but nothing else. He seems to have been conscious of the approach of his last days, because in talking with Ananda in the "Mahaparinibbana Sutta." Buddha said:
After the Blessed One had taken up residence for the rains, a severe sickness attacked him with violent and deadly pains. He bore them without any complaint, mindful and fully aware. Then he thought: "It is not right for me to attain final Nibbana without having addressed my attendants and taken leave of the sangha of bhikkhus. Suppose I forcibly suppressed this sickness by prolonging the will to live?" He did so. And then the sickness abated.
The Blessed One recovered from that sickness. Soon afterwards he came out from the sick-room and sat on a seat made ready at the back of the dwelling. The venerable Ananda went to him and said: I have been used to seeing the Blessed One in comfort and in health, Lord. Indeed, with the Blessed One's sickness I felt as if my body were quite rigid, I could not see straight, my ideas were all unclear. However, Lord, I comforted myself knowing that the Blessed One would not attain final Nibbana without a pronouncement about the sangha of bhikkhus.
But, Ananda, what does the sangha expect of me? The Dhamma I have taught has no secret and public version: 'there is no teacher's closed fist' about good things here. Surely it would be someone who thought thus: 'I shall govern the sangha' or 'the sangha depends on me' that might make a pronouncement about the sangha? A Blessed One does not think like that. How then can he make a pronouncement about the sangha? Now I am old, Ananda, my years have turned eighty: just as an old cart is made to carry on with the help of makeshifts, so too, it seems to me, the Blessed One's body is made to carry on with the help of makeshifts. For the Blessed One's body is only at ease when with non-attention to all signs and with cessation of certain kinds of feeling, he enters upon and dwells in the signless heart-deliverance. So, Ananda, each of you should make himself his lamps, himself and no other his refuge; each of you should make the Dhamma his lamps, the Dhamma and no other his refuge.
How does a bhikkhu do that? Here a bhikkhu abides comtemplating the body as body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feeling as feeling … contemplating consciousness as consciousness … contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware, mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. Either now or when I am gone, it is those, whoever they may be, who make themselves their lamps, themselves and no other their refuge, who make the Dhamma their lamps, the Dhamma and no other their refuge, who will be the foremost among my bhikkhus – of those, that is, who want to train.[4]
Later on, Buddha crossed the Ganges and went on to Vesali, where he passed the rainy season, and where, before setting out again, he summed up his teaching and prophesied his death within three months. Buddha said:
Go, Ananda, assemble in the meeting hall all the monks who are dwelling near Vesali. Even so, Lord, the elder Ananda replied, and having assembled in the meeting hall the monks who were dwelling near Vesali he approached the Lord, saluted him, and stood on one side. Standing on one side he said to the Lord, the assembly of monks is assembled, Lord, now is the time for what seems good to the Lord. So the Lord went to the meeting hall and sat on the appointed seat.
Thus seated the Lord addressed the monks: Therefore now, monks, those doctrines which have been comprehended and taught by me, you should grasp, follow, practice, and cultivate, in order that this religious life may be permanent and lasting, that it may be of advantage to many, of happiness to many, of compassion to the world, of profit, advantage, and happiness to gods and men. And what are those doctrines comprehended and taught by me which you should learn…? They are namely:
The four foundations of mindfulness,
The four right efforts,
The four bases of psychic power,
The five faculties,
The five powers,
The seven parts of enlightenment,
The Noble Eightfold Path.
These doctrines, monks, comprehended and taught by me, you should learn, follow, practice, and cultivate, in order that this religious life may be permanent and lasting, that it may be for the profit of many, for the happiness of many, out of compassion to the world, for the good, profit, and happiness of gods and men. So the Lord addressed the monks:
Come now, monks, I addressed you: transient are compound things, strive with earnestness. In no long time will take place the Tathagata's attaining of Nibbana.
Thus said the Lord, and having spoken the happy one, the master, said further:
Ripe is my age, short is my life.
Leaving you I shall go, my refuge have I made.
Be vigilant and mindful and virtuous, O monks.
Practicing concentration well, preserve the mind.
Who in this doctrine and discipline vigilantly shall abide, abandoning birth and transmigration, he shall make an end of pain.[5]
Then the Buddha said to the Ananda: come Ananda, let us go on to the sala grove of the Mallas, the Upavattana of Kusinara, on the further side of the river the River Hiranyavati.
The Blessed One recovered from that sickness. Soon afterwards he came out from the sick-room and sat on a seat made ready at the back of the dwelling. The venerable Ananda went to him and said: I have been used to seeing the Blessed One in comfort and in health, Lord. Indeed, with the Blessed One's sickness I felt as if my body were quite rigid, I could not see straight, my ideas were all unclear. However, Lord, I comforted myself knowing that the Blessed One would not attain final Nibbana without a pronouncement about the sangha of bhikkhus.
But, Ananda, what does the sangha expect of me? The Dhamma I have taught has no secret and public version: 'there is no teacher's closed fist' about good things here. Surely it would be someone who thought thus: 'I shall govern the sangha' or 'the sangha depends on me' that might make a pronouncement about the sangha? A Blessed One does not think like that. How then can he make a pronouncement about the sangha? Now I am old, Ananda, my years have turned eighty: just as an old cart is made to carry on with the help of makeshifts, so too, it seems to me, the Blessed One's body is made to carry on with the help of makeshifts. For the Blessed One's body is only at ease when with non-attention to all signs and with cessation of certain kinds of feeling, he enters upon and dwells in the signless heart-deliverance. So, Ananda, each of you should make himself his lamps, himself and no other his refuge; each of you should make the Dhamma his lamps, the Dhamma and no other his refuge.
How does a bhikkhu do that? Here a bhikkhu abides comtemplating the body as body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feeling as feeling … contemplating consciousness as consciousness … contemplating mental objects as mental objects, ardent, fully aware, mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. Either now or when I am gone, it is those, whoever they may be, who make themselves their lamps, themselves and no other their refuge, who make the Dhamma their lamps, the Dhamma and no other their refuge, who will be the foremost among my bhikkhus – of those, that is, who want to train.[4]
Later on, Buddha crossed the Ganges and went on to Vesali, where he passed the rainy season, and where, before setting out again, he summed up his teaching and prophesied his death within three months. Buddha said:
Go, Ananda, assemble in the meeting hall all the monks who are dwelling near Vesali. Even so, Lord, the elder Ananda replied, and having assembled in the meeting hall the monks who were dwelling near Vesali he approached the Lord, saluted him, and stood on one side. Standing on one side he said to the Lord, the assembly of monks is assembled, Lord, now is the time for what seems good to the Lord. So the Lord went to the meeting hall and sat on the appointed seat.
Thus seated the Lord addressed the monks: Therefore now, monks, those doctrines which have been comprehended and taught by me, you should grasp, follow, practice, and cultivate, in order that this religious life may be permanent and lasting, that it may be of advantage to many, of happiness to many, of compassion to the world, of profit, advantage, and happiness to gods and men. And what are those doctrines comprehended and taught by me which you should learn…? They are namely:
The four foundations of mindfulness,
The four right efforts,
The four bases of psychic power,
The five faculties,
The five powers,
The seven parts of enlightenment,
The Noble Eightfold Path.
These doctrines, monks, comprehended and taught by me, you should learn, follow, practice, and cultivate, in order that this religious life may be permanent and lasting, that it may be for the profit of many, for the happiness of many, out of compassion to the world, for the good, profit, and happiness of gods and men. So the Lord addressed the monks:
Come now, monks, I addressed you: transient are compound things, strive with earnestness. In no long time will take place the Tathagata's attaining of Nibbana.
Thus said the Lord, and having spoken the happy one, the master, said further:
Ripe is my age, short is my life.
Leaving you I shall go, my refuge have I made.
Be vigilant and mindful and virtuous, O monks.
Practicing concentration well, preserve the mind.
Who in this doctrine and discipline vigilantly shall abide, abandoning birth and transmigration, he shall make an end of pain.[5]
Then the Buddha said to the Ananda: come Ananda, let us go on to the sala grove of the Mallas, the Upavattana of Kusinara, on the further side of the river the River Hiranyavati.
Even so, Lord, the Ananda replied. Then the Buddha went with a large community of bhikkhus to the further bank of the Hiranyavati and on to the Mallians' sala-tree grove at the turn into Kusinara. Then he said to the Ananda: "Ananda, please a couch ready for me with its head to the north between the twin sala trees. I am tired and I will lie down." Even so, Lord, the venerable Ananda replied, and he did so. Then the Buddha placed himself in the lion's sleeping pose on his right side with one foot overlapping the other, mindful and fully aware.
Then the Buddha said to the venerable Ananda: "Ananda, the twin sala trees are quite covered with blossoms though it is not the season. They scatter and sprinkle and strew them on the Tathagata body out of veneration for him. And heavenly mandarava flowers and heavenly sandalwood powder fall from the sky and are scattered and sprinkled and strewn over the Tathagata body out of veneration for him. And heavenly music is played and heavenly songs are sung in the sky out of veneration for him. But this is not how a Tathagata is honoured, respected, revered, venerated or reverenced: rather it is the bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, or the man or woman lay follower, who lives according to the Dhamma, who enters upon the proper way, who walks in the Dhamma, that honours, respects, reveres and venerates a Tathagata with the highest veneration of all. Therefore, Ananda, train thus: We will live in the way of the Dhamma, entering upon the proper way and walking in the Dhamma".[6]
Finally, Buddha preferred attain final Nibbana in the Kusinara:
When he had spoken thus, the venerable Ananda said: Lord, let the Blessed One not attain final Nibbana in this little mud-walled town, this backwoods town, this branch township. There are other great cities like Campa, Rajagaha, Savatthi, Saketa, Kosambi and Benares. Let the Blessed One attain final Nibbana there where there are many prominent warrior-nobles and brahmans and householders who believe in the Blessed One. They will venerate the Blessed One's remains.
Do not say so, Ananda, do not say 'A little mud-walled town, a backwoods town, a branch township.' There was once a king called Sudassana the Great. He was a righteous lawful universal monarch who turned the wheel of righteousness, a conqueror of the four quarters, who had stabilized his country, and who possessed the seven treasures. His capital city was Kusinara, and then called Kusavati, and it was twelve leagues wide from east to west and seven leagues broad from north to south. The royal capital, Kusavati, was as mighty and prosperous with as many inhabitants and as crowded with people and full plenty as the royal capital city of the gods called Alakamanda. The royal city of Kusavati never lacked the ten kinds of sounds, that is to say, the sounds of elephants, horses, chariots, drums, tabors, lutes, songs, and the cries of 'Eat! Drink! Taste!' as the tenth sound.[7]
In accordance with above mentioned, it is unquestionable to describe the life of the Buddha are strongly connection that people felt with nature is illustrated particularly in the story above of the Buddha's life, in all the most significant events occur in the countryside and are associated with trees, his birth at Lumbini as his mother grasped the branch of a sala tree, his early experience of states of meditative absorption under the rose apple tree, his enlightenment between the Bodhi-tree, and his parinibbana between twin sala trees. However, let us look back to the world we live in today. There are plenty of examples to demonstrate this in the current situations: global warming, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, the ozone hole, radioactive contamination, and so forth. These reactions of nature to our carelessness harm us not only physically but also psychologically, as we face the threat of our environment becoming increasing baleful to healthy human life. The crucial of Buddhist practice, we have no reason to doubt, to live in harmony with nature.
Gautama the Buddha was not a mythical figure but an actual, historical personality who introduced the religion known today as Buddhism. Evidence to prove the existence of this great religious teacher is to be found in the following facts: The life of the Buddha, it is undoubtedly to say without any hesitation that could be seen in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. Hence, in the Three Greatest Men in History, H. G. Wells mentioned: In the Buddha you see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light, and a vivid universal in character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being. Buddhism in a different language called men to self-forgetfulness 500 years before Christ. In some ways he was nearer to us and our needs. He was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality.
In the end, what we can see in the life of the Buddha? In fact, he gave a new vision of eternal happiness, the achievement of perfection in Buddhahood. Of course, he gave the world a new explanation of the universe. He pointed out the way to the permanent state beyond all impermanence, the way to Nibbana, the final deliverance from the misery of existence. Yet, even today this great teacher is honored not only by the religious-minded people, but, he is also honored by atheists, historians, rationalists and intellectuals all over the world who have acknowledged him as the Enlightened, most liberal minded and compassionate teacher.
Abbreviations:
DN = Digha Nikaya.
JRAS = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
References:
- Aiyer, Gopala V. (1908) "The Date of Buddha." Indian Antiquary. pp.341～350.
- Brewster, E. H. (1926) The Life of Gotama the Buddha. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd.
- Buhler, G. (1877) "Three New Edicts of Asoka." Indian Antiquary. pp.149～161.
- Cousins, L. S. (1996) "The Dating of the Historical Buddha." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. pp.57～63.
- Fleet, J. F. (1909) "The Day on which Buddha Died." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. pp.1～34.
- Geiger, W. (1950) The Mahavamsa. Colombo: The Ceylon Government.
- Hultzsch, E. (1910) "A Third Note on the Rupnath Edict." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. pp. 1308～1311.
- Ling, T. O. (1972) A Dictionary of Buddhism. New York: Charles Scribner's Son.
- Malalasekera, G. P. (1999) "Buddha" Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. Vol. III. Ceylon: The Government Press. pp.357～380.
- Norman, K. R. (2004) The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada). Oxford: The Pali Text Society.
- Rhys Davids, C. A. F. (1921) "Buddha" Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. II. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. pp. 202～204.
- Rhys Davids, T. W. (1922) "The Early History of the Buddhists" The Cambridge History of India. Vol. I. England: Cambridge University Press. pp.171～197.
- Rhys Davids, T. W. et el. (2000) Dialogues of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya). Vol. II. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. (First Indian Edition).
- Smith, A. Vincent. (1918) "New Light on Ancient India." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. pp. 543～547.
- Tachibana, S. (1926) The Ethics of Buddhism. England: Oxford University Press.
- Thomas, Edward J. (1927) The Life of Buddha as Legend and History. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd.
- Thomas, Edward J. (1935) Early Buddhist Scriptures. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd.
- Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda. (1998) What Buddhists Believe. Malaysia: Buddhist Missionary Society.
- Ven. Nanamoli (1998) The Life of the Buddha. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
- Ven. Narada (1998) The Buddha and His Teachings. Malaysia: Buddhist Missionary Society.
- Ven. Narada (2000) The Dhammapada. Colombo: Buddhist Culture Centre.
- Warder, A. K. (2004) Indian Buddhism. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.
- Winternitz, M. (1933) History of Indian Literature. Vol. II. India: University of Calcutta.
Notes:
[1] There is great debate about the dates of the Buddha. A number of different theories have been advanced concerning of the birth and death of the Buddha, according to the Singhalese tradition the dates of Buddha life 623～543B.C. However, this ideal was rejected by most western scholars as incompatible with the chronology of the kings of Magadha. In Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand were 624～544 B.C. On the other hand, Mahayana and modern scholars prefer the dates about 566～486, or 563～483 B.C. W. Geiger states that the Buddha died in 483 B.C. and consequently had been born in 563 B.C. See Mahavamsa, pp. XXII～XL; S. Tachibana, the exact date when the Buddha appeared in the world is not known, but it is most generally accepted that he lived from about 563 to 483 B.C. See The Ethics of Buddhism, p.9; M. Winternitz mentioned Gotama Buddha was born about 480 B.C. See History of Indian Literature, Vol. II, p. 4; A. K. Warder adopted 566 B.C. as a provisional date for the birth and 537 B.C. for the renunciation of the Buddha. See Indian Buddhism, p. 45; for more details about the arguments of the dates of the Buddha. See also, JRAS (1909) The Day on which Buddha Died. pp. 1 ff., The Origin of the Buddhavarsha, the Ceylonese Reckoning from the Death of Buddha. pp.323 ff.; JRAS (1910) A Third Note on the Rupnath Edict. pp.130 ff.; JRAS (1918) New Light on Ancient India. pp.543 ff.; JRAS (1996) The Dating of the Historical Buddha. pp.57 ff.; Indian Antiquary (1877) Three New Edicts of Asoka. pp.149 ff.; Indian Antiquary (1908) The Date of Buddha. pp.341 ff.; The Cambridge History of India. Vol. I, pp.171 ff.
[2] Dhammapada 165
[3] Dhammapada. 320
[4] DN. 99～101
[5] DN. II. 119～120.
[6] DN. II. 137～138.
[7] Ibid. 146～147.
