Life of the Buddha

The historical Buddha was born Prince Siddhatha Gotama in Kapilavatthu, near the present-day border of India and Nepal, on the May Full Moon day in 623 B.C.  His parents, King Suddhodana and Queen Maya, had waited for a child for a long time.  Everyone in the kingdom rejoiced at his birth. 

 At this time India already had a rich spiritual heritage.  It had been prophesized there would soon be an ascetic who would realize the ultimate truth and become the greatest teacher.  According the Hindu tradition, five days after his birth seven Brahmin priests came to the temple to name the baby using astrology and forecast his future by reading his body signs.  Each of the Brahmins said this baby would become a universal monarch or leave his princely life to become a world spiritual leader.  The youngest priest, Kondanna, was so confident that this was the future Buddha that he left the priesthood to wait in the forest for his future teacher.

 When Siddhatha was six years old, King Suddhodana organized a Ploughing Festival which the whole royal family had to attend.  Everyone in the kingdom was celebrating and having a great time, but little Siddhartha felt that it was all meaningless.  He wandered off by himself and sat under a beautiful tree.  Instinctively, he began to watch his breath and to everyone’s surprise, he started to levitate.  It is said that he had developed this ability by practicing meditation over previous lifetimes.

 King Suddhodana loved his son and desperately wanted him to become a great king.  He was given the excellent education of a prince and by age 16 he knew everything a king needed to know.  He married Princess Yasodhara and was given the deputy kingship by his father.  Prince Siddhatha and Princess Yasodhara lived many happy years in the palace.  When Siddhatha was 29 years old he became curious about what was outside of the city walls.  His father forbid him to go out of the city, but curiosity overwhelmed him and one night he snuck out in disguise with his best friend, Channa. 

 A smallpox plague was ravaging the countryside around the city.  For the first time, Siddhatha saw a sick man.  He asked Channa, “Can I become sick one day like this man.”  Channa replied, “Yes, because we all have a human body.”

 The next day they went out again.  For the first time, Siddhatha saw an old man.  The third day, he say a corpse for the first time.  Each time he realized deep within himself that this was the inescapable fate of all human beings.  On the fourth day, they saw an ascetic with his begging bowl. 

 When Siddhatha went back to the palace, he complained to his father that he did not love his own people if he could allow them to suffer so much.  At the same time, he was informed that his first son had been born.  He immediately realized that the bond between him and his son would be so strong that he would never leave the palace if he did not leave that night.  He felt that if he really loved his wife and child, he should find a solution for this dukkha, the transient, unsatisfactory nature of life that all beings experience.  He permitted himself one last look at his wife and son before he left.

 Yasodhara was not surprised when she found out that her husband had left.  Over their thirteen years of marriage she had observed his spiritual yearnings.  She vowed to follow him and support him in whatever he did.

 Siddhatha cut off his hair and took on the life of an ascetic.  He became a student of a great Brahmin teacher, Alarakalama.  Within seven months his abilities were equal to his teacher.  Alarakalama asked him to stay and instruct him and his students, but Siddhartha was not satisfied.  He left his teacher and found another teacher, Uddhakaramaputra, who had attained a higher state of jhana.  Before long, Siddhatha had surpassed the abilities of this teacher.  Still, he had emotional attachments and pain.  He left his teacher to practice by himself.

 For six years Siddhatha practiced the most extreme form of ascetism.  He consumed only one meager meal per week.  His body was like skin stretched over a skeleton.  He could control his breath for up to one hour.  Finally, he realized that he was no closer to his goal.  He began to eat again.  From this point on, he advocated the Middle Way: avoiding the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. 

 The day before his 35^th birthday, again the Full Moon of May, Siddhatha sat down under the Bodhi tree.  He was determined not to get up from that spot until he had become fully awakened, even if he should die in the process.  By the next morning he had attained nibbana. 

 When the five ascetics saw the Buddha approaching, they were determined to ignore him.  They were convinced that he had given up his practice when he started to eat regularly.  However, when he approached they could not resist offering him food and water.  Despite their doubt, they agreed to listen to what he had to say.  The Buddha preached all night.  This famous sermon is known as the Dhammacakkapavattava Sutta, or “Wheel of Dhamma.” Over the next few days, each of the ascetics became enlightened.

 The Buddha continued to teach for the next 45 years.  During that time he ordained thousands of monks and nuns and many of them reached enlightenment, including his wife and his son, Rahula.  His chief disciples were Ananda, the treasurer of the Dhamma, who was able to remember every sermon the Buddha gave, Sariputta, who was put in charge of the Sangha upon the Buddha’s death, and Mogallana, who taught the Dhamma by travelling between worlds. 

 The Buddha passed into Parinibbana on the Full Moon of May at the age of 81 in Upawattana Sall Park in Kusinara.  He was cremated and his relics have been divided and enshrined in Buddhist temples around the globe. 

References

    1988  The Buddha and His Teachings. 4^th ed. The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation,

         Taipei, Taiwan.

Buddha delivering the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. http://bazanlin.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/lord-buddha-and-the-theravada/, accessed 12/14/07.

Written by Melissa Lorentz, 2007.