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The birth of
Buddha and the prophecy
In 544 BCE, over five centuries
before the birth of Christ, the ruling family of the Sakyas in the
kingdom of Magadha (an area which is now in Nepal) was enriched by
the addition of a
baby boy.
It was tradition for a woman to give birth in her parents house, but
whilst on her way there, Mayadevi (also known as Mahamaya) his
Mother, started her labours and so it was that a very special baby was
born in Lumbini forest in Nepal.
His name was Siddhārtha Gautama (Also spelt 'Gotama') and a highly respected hermit and
seer foretold that this boy would become a great holy man or the greatest religious
teacher in the world.
Siddhārtha's Father, Suddhodana, was mighty upset by the prediction
concerning his child. He had a different vision for his son and heir
and wanted
him to follow in his footsteps rather than face the rigours and
austerities of becoming a holy man.
He took a great deal of trouble to give the boy a
most enjoyable life and to shield him from the tragedies and pains
all living creatures will have to endure at times. All to make sure
that Siddhārtha would not be
tempted to choose the spiritual path and aspire to be anything else
but a prince.
The ancient tree at Lumbini
underneath which Buddha was said to have been born.
The legend tells how one of its branches bend down so Buddha's Mother could
hold onto it for support when she gave birth.
Thanks to Lokabandhu and the FWBO
Croydon Sangha for use of this photo!
Buddha's first exposure
to pain and suffering
Everything went according
to plan. The young Siddhārtha thrived and excelled at many arts and activities.
In time he was
married to a beautiful woman, and a little son was born to the young
couple.
Some legends say that on the occasion of the celebrations for the birth of this son, it was the first time
ever that Siddhārtha was exposed to the world
outside the 3 palaces in which he had been kept a happy prisoner.
The event deeply affected the sensitive young man and was to change his life
for ever. He saw what has become known as the 4 "Passing sites": an old crippled man, a sick man, a decaying corpse, and
finally a wandering holy man. Siddhārtha was profoundly bewildered by the
suffering he beheld and the realisation that that birth, old age, sickness and death came to
everyone, not only once but repeated for life after life for endless aeons.
He felt the need rise within himself to find out if there is a way in which this
suffering can be stopped or transformed. His heart flowed over with
compassion at the thought of so much pain and anguish for all of humanity,
and he set off to lead the life of a wandering holy man, determined not to
return until he had found a path that would resolve suffering.
Six years (from age 29
to 35) as a wandering ascetic
There is an ancient
tradition that by denying the flesh, we set the spirit free. In Hinduism it
was thought that through advanced mind control and ascetic practices, it is
possible to set the soul free from cycle of rebirth with its
inevitable pain and suffering. The famous Holy people of India are a good
example of humans trying to achieve such a goal and there were a great
number of these 2½ millennia ago.
For 6 years Siddhārtha lived the life of an ascetic. He sought
instruction from hermit teachers and is said to have surpassed them in his
practice, but he did not find the answer he was looking for. He and a small
group of companions decided to take their 'flesh-denying' practices to the
extreme. They practiced breath control, including holding the breath and are
said to have survived on merely one grain of rice a day. He became a
skeleton and nearly died.
Buddha's enlightenment
under the Bodhi tree
Their are different accounts of how Siddhārtha reached enlightenment,
although all of these stories have very similar elements.
Everyone seems to agree that he had begun to realise that starvation and
denying the body leads to yet more pain and suffering rather than resolving
it.
At
dawn on Vaisakha Poornima, the full moon day in April-May, the kind
daughter of the village chief of Senani, Sujata, brought him a bowl of kheer
(sweet thickened milk). It is said that the gods had infused the kheer with
ambrosia.
He sat down under the Boddhi Tree to eat it. 'Bodhi' means 'to
awaken' and 'Buddha' means 'one who is awake'. Siddhartha attained Samma
Sambodhi, the Enlightenment that he had been
seeking for six years. He was no more a seeker … he had become the Buddha.
The Sacred Boddhi tree in
the
Mahabodhi Temple in Bodgaya, India
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