Copyright © 1982 Buddhist Publication Society
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammâ sambuddhassa!
The Buddha
Introduction
"The
ages roll by and the Buddha seems not so far away after all; his voice whispers
in our ears and tells us not to run away from the struggle but, calm-eyed, to
face it, and to see in life ever greater opportunities for growth and advancement.
Personality counts today as ever, and a person who has impressed himself on the
thought of mankind as the Buddha has, so that even today there is something living
and vibrant about the thought of him, must have been a wonderful man-a man who
was, as Barth says, 'the finished model of calm and sweet majesty, of infinite
tenderness for all that breathes and compassion for all that suffers, of perfect
moral freedom and exemption from every prejudice.' "1 "His message old
and yet very new and original for those immersed in metaphysical subtleties, captured
the imagination of the intellectuals; it went deep down into the hearts of the
people."2
Buddhism had its birth at Sarnath near the city of Vârânasi
(Benares), India. With only five followers at the beginning, it penetrated into
many lands, and is today the religion of more than 600 million. Buddhism made
such rapid strides chiefly due to its intrinsic worth and its appeal to the reasoning
mind. But there were other factors that aided its progress: never did the dhammadûtas,
the messengers of the Dhamma, the teaching, use any iniquitous methods in spreading
the Dhamma. The only weapon they wielded was that of universal love and compassion.
Furthermore, Buddhism penetrated to these countries peaceably, without disturbing
the creeds that were already there. Buddhist missions, to which the annals of
religious history scarcely afford a parallel, were carried on neither by force
of arms nor by the use of any coercive or reprehensible methods. Conversion by
compulsion was unknown among the Buddhists, and repugnant to the Buddha and his
disciples. No decrying of other creeds has ever existed in Buddhism. Buddhism
was thus able to diffuse itself through a great variety of cultures throughout
the civilized world.
"There is no record known to me," wrote T.W.
Rhys Davids, "in the whole of the long history of Buddhism throughout the
many centuries where its followers have been for such lengthened periods supreme,
of any persecution by the Buddhists of the followers of any other faith."
The Birth
The Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, lived over 2500 years
ago and is known as Siddhattha Gotama.3 His father, Suddhodana, the kshatriya4
king, ruled over the land of the Sâkyans at Kapilavatthu on the Nepalese
frontier. As he came from the Gotama family, he was known as Suddhodana Gotama.
Mahâmâyâ, princess of the Koliyas, was Suddhodana's queen.
In 623 B.C. on a full-moon day of May-Vasanta-tide, when in India the trees were
laden with leaf, flower, and fruit, and man, bird, and beast were in joyous mood-Queen
Mahâmâyâ was travelling in state from Kapilavatthu to Devadaha,
her parental home, according to the custom of the times, to give birth to her
child. But that was not to be, for halfway between the two cities, in the beautiful
Lumbini Grove, under the shade of a flowering Sal tree, she brought forth a son.
Lumbini, or Rummindei, the name by which it is now known, is one hundred miles
north of Vârânasi and within sight of the snowcapped Himalayas. At
this memorable spot where Prince Siddhattha, the future Buddha, was born, Emperor
Asoka, 316 years after the event, erected a mighty stone pillar to mark the holy
spot. The inscription engraved on the pillar in five lines consists of ninety-three
Asokan characters, among which occurs the following: "hida budhe jâte
sâkyamuni. Here was born the Buddha, the sage of the Sâkyans."
The mighty column is still to be seen. The pillar, as crisp as the day it was
cut, had been struck by lightning even when Hiuen Tsiang, the Chinese pilgrim,
saw it towards the middle of the seventh century A.C. The discovery and identification
of Lumbini Park in 1896 is attributed to the renowned archaeologist, General Cunningham.
On the fifth day after the birth of the prince, the king summoned eight wise men
to choose a name for the child and to speak of the royal babe's future. He was
named Siddhârtha, which means one whose purpose has been achieved. The brahmins
deliberated and seven of them held up two fingers each and declared: "O King,
this prince will become a cakravarti, a universal monarch, should he deign to
rule, but should he renounce the world, he will become a sammâ-sambuddha,
a Supremely Enlightened One, and deliver humanity from ignorance." But Koañña,
the wisest and the youngest, after watching the prince, held up only one finger
and said: "O King, this prince will one day go in search of truth and become
a Supremely Enlightened Buddha."
Queen Mahâmâyâ, the
mother, passed away on the seventh day after the birth of her child, and the babe
was nursed by his mother's sister, Pajâpati Gotami. Though the child was
nurtured till manhood in refinement amid an abundance of material luxury, the
father did not fail to give his son the education that a prince ought to receive.
He became skilled in many branches of knowledge, and in the arts of war easily
excelled all others. Nevertheless, from his childhood the prince was given to
serious contemplation.
The Four Significant Visions
When
the prince grew up, the father's fervent wish was that his son should marry, bring
up a family, and be his worthy successor; for he often recalled to mind with dread
the prediction of the sage Kondañña, and feared that the prince
would one day give up home for the homeless life of an ascetic. According to the
custom of the time, at the early age of sixteen the prince was married to his
cousin, the beautiful Princess Yasodharâ, the only daughter of King Suppabuddha
and Queen Pamitâ of the Koliyas. The princess was of the same age as the
prince.
His father provided him with the greatest comforts. He had, so the
story tells, three palaces, one for each of the Indian year's three seasons. Lacking
nothing of the earthly joys of life, he lived amid song and dance, in luxury and
pleasure, knowing nothing of sorrow. Yet all the efforts of the father to hold
his son a prisoner to the senses and make him worldly-minded were of no avail.
King Suddhodana's endeavours to keep away life's miseries from his son's inquiring
eyes only heightened Prince Siddhârtha's curiosity and his resolute search
for truth and Enlightenment. With the advance of age and maturity, the prince
began to glimpse the woes of the world.
On one occasion, when the prince went
driving with his charioteer Channa to the royal gardens, he saw to his amazement
what his eyes had never beheld before: a man weakened with age, and in the last
stage of ageing, crying out in a mournful voice:
"Help master! lift me
to my feet; oh, help!
Or I shall die before I reach my house!"5
This
was the first shock the prince received. The second was the sight of a man, mere
skin and bones, supremely unhappy and forlorn, "smitten with some pest. The
strength is gone from ham, and loin, and neck, and all the grace and joy of manhood
fled."6 On a third occasion he saw a band of lamenting kinsmen bearing on
their shoulders the corpse of one beloved for cremation. These woeful signs, seen
for the first time in his life, deeply moved him. From the charioteer he learned
that even he, his beloved Princess Yasodharâ, and his kith and kin-all,
without exception, are subject to ageing, disease, and death.
Soon after this
the prince saw a recluse moving with measured steps and down-cast eyes, calm and
serene, aloof and independent. He was struck by the serene countenance of the
man. He learned from Channa that this recluse was one who had abandoned his home
to live a life of purity, to seek truth and answer the riddle of life. Thoughts
of renunciation flashed through the prince's mind and in deep contemplation he
turned homeward. The heart throb of an agonized and ailing humanity found a responsive
echo in his own heart. The more he came in contact with the world outside his
palace walls, the more convinced he became that the world was lacking in true
happiness. But before reaching the palace he was met by a messenger with the news
that a son had been born to Yasodharâ. "A fetter is set upon me,"
uttered the prince and returned to the palace.
The Great Renunciation
In
the silence of that moonlit night (it was the full-moon day of July, Âsâlha)
such thoughts as these arose in him: "Youth, the prime of life, ends in old
age and man's senses fail him at a time when they are most needed. The hale and
hearty lose their vigour and health when disease suddenly creeps in. Finally death
comes, sudden perhaps and unexpected, and puts an end to this brief span of life.
Surely there must be an escape from this unsatisfactoriness, from ageing and death."
Thus the great intoxication of youth (yobbana-mada), of health (ârogya-mada),
and of life (jivita-mada) left him. Having seen the vanity and the danger of the
three intoxications, he was overcome by a powerful urge to seek and win the Deathless,
to strive for deliverance from old age, illness, misery, and death not only for
himself but for all beings (including his wife and child) that suffer.7 It was
his deep compassion that led him to the quest ending in enlightenment, in Buddhahood.
It was compassion that now moved his heart towards the great renunciation and
opened for him the doors of the golden cage of his home life. It was compassion
that made his determination unshakeable even by the last parting glance at his
beloved wife asleep with the baby in her arms.
Thus at the age of twenty-nine,
in the flower of youthful manhood, on the day his beautiful Yasodharâ had
given birth to his only son, Râhula, Prince Siddhârtha Gotama, discarding
and disdaining the enchantment of the royal life, scorning and spurning joys that
most young men yearn for, tore himself away, renouncing wife and child and a crown
that held the promise of power and glory.
He cut off his long locks with his
sword, doffed his royal robes, and putting on a hermit's robe retreated into forest
solitude to seek a solution to those problems of life that had so deeply stirred
his mind. He sought an answer to the riddle of life, seeking not a palliative,
but a true way out of suffering-to perfect enlightenment and Nibbâna. His
quest for the supreme security from bondage-Nibbâna (Nirvâna)-had
begun. This was the great renunciation, the greatest adventure known to humanity.
First he sought guidance from two famous sages, from Alâra Kâlâma
and Uddaka Râmaputta, hoping that they, being masters of meditation, would
teach him all they knew, leading him to the heights of concentrative thought.
He practised concentration and reached the highest meditative attainments possible
thereby, but was not satisfied with anything short of Supreme Enlightenment. These
teachers' range of knowledge, their ambit of mystical experience, however, was
insufficient to grant him what he so earnestly sought, and he saw himself still
far from his goal. Though both sages, in turn, asked him to stay and succeed them
as the teacher of their following, the ascetic Gotama declined. Paying obeisance
to them, he left them in search of the still unknown.
In his wanderings he
finally reached Uruvelâ, by the river Nerañjarâ at Gayâ.
He was attracted by its quiet and dense groves, and the clear waters of the river
were soothing to his senses and stimulating to his mind. Nearby was a village
of simple folk where he could get his alms. Finding that this was a suitable place
to continue his quest for enlightenment, he decided to stay. Soon five other ascetics
who admired his determined effort joined him. They were Kondañña,
Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahânâma, and Assaji.
Self-mortification
There
was, and still is, a belief in India among many of her ascetics that purification
and final deliverance can be achieved by rigorous self-mortification, and the
ascetic Gotama decided to test the truth of it. And so there at Uruvelâ
he began a determined struggle to subdue his body in the hope that his mind, set
free from the shackles of the body, might be able to soar to the heights of liberation.
Most zealous was he in these practices. He lived on leaves and roots, on a steadily
reduced pittance of food; he wore rags from dust heaps; he slept among corpses
or on beds of thorns. The utter paucity of nourishment left him a physical wreck.
Says the Master: "Rigorous have I been in my ascetic discipline. Rigorous
have I been beyond all others. Like wasted, withered reeds became all my limbs.¼"
In such words as these, in later years, having attained to full enlightenment,
did the Buddha give his disciples an awe-inspiring description of his early penances.8
Struggling thus for six long years, he came to death's very door, but he found
himself no nearer to his goal. The utter futility of self-mortification became
abundantly clear to him by his own experience. He realized that the path to the
fruition of his ardent longing lay in the direction of a search inward into his
own mind. Undiscouraged, his still active mind searched for new paths to the aspired
for goal. He felt, however, that with a body so utterly weakened as his, he could
not follow that path with any chance of success. Thus he abandoned self-torture
and extreme fasting and took normal food.
His emaciated body recovered its
former health and his exhausted vigour soon returned. Now his five companions
left him in their disappointment, for they thought that he had given up the effort
and had resumed a life of abundance. Nevertheless, with firm determination and
complete faith in his own purity and strength, unaided by any teacher, accompanied
by none, the Bodhisatta resolved to make his final effort in complete solitude.
On the forenoon of the day before his enlightenment while the Bodhisatta was seated
in meditation under a banyan tree, Sujâtâ, the daughter of a rich
householder, not knowing whether the ascetic was divine or human, offered milk-rice
to him saying: "Lord, may your aspirations be crowned with success!"
This was his last meal prior to his enlightenment.
The Final Triumph
Crosslegged
he sat under a tree, which later became known as the Bodhi Tree, the "Tree
of Enlightenment" or "Tree of Wisdom," on the bank of the river
Nerañjarâ, at Gayâ (now known as Buddhagayâ), making
the final effort with the inflexible resolution: "Though only my skin, sinews,
and bones remain, and my blood and flesh dry up and wither away, yet will I never
stir from this seat until I have attained full enlightenment (sammâ-sambodhi)."
So indefatigable in effort, so unflagging in his devotion was he, and so resolute
to realize truth and attain full enlightenment.
Applying himself to the "mindfulness
of in-and-out breathing" (ânâpâna sati), the Bodhisatta
entered upon and dwelt in the first meditative absorption (jhâna; Skt. dhyâna).
By gradual stages he entered upon and dwelt in the second, third, and fourth jhânas.
Thus cleansing his mind of impurities, with the mind thus composed, he directed
it to the knowledge of recollecting past births (pubbenivâsânussati-ñâa).
This was the first knowledge attained by him in the first watch of the night.
Then the Bodhisatta directed his mind to the knowledge of the disappearing and
reappearing of beings of varied forms, in good states of experience, and in states
of woe, each faring according to his deeds (cutûpapâtañâna).
This was the second knowledge attained by him in the middle watch of the night.
Next he directed his mind to the knowledge of the eradication of the taints (âsavakkhayañâna).9
He understood as it really is: "This is suffering (dukkha), this is the arising
of suffering, this is the cessation of suffering, this is the path leading to
the cessation of suffering." He understood as it really is: "These are
defilements (âsavas), this is the arising of defilements, this is the cessation
of defilements, this is the path leading to the cessation of defilements."
Knowing thus, seeing thus, his mind was liberated from the defilements of sense
pleasures (kâmâsava), of becoming (bhavâsava), and of ignorance
(avijjâsava).10 When his mind was thus liberated, there came the knowledge,
"liberated" and he understood: "Destroyed is birth, the noble life
(brahmacariya) has been lived, done is what was to be done, there is no more of
this to come" (meaning, there is no more continuity of the mind and body,
no more becoming, rebirth). This was the third knowledge attained by him in the
last watch of the night. This is known as tevijjâ (Skt. trividyâ),
threefold knowledge.11
Thereupon he spoke these words of victory:
"Seeking
but not finding the house builder,
I hurried through the round of many births:
Painful is birth ever and again.
O house builder, you have been seen;
You shall not build the house again.
Your rafters have been broken up,
Your ridgepole is demolished too.
My mind has now attained the unformed Nibbâna
And reached the end of every sort of craving."12
Thus the Bodhisatta13
Gotama at the age of thirty-five, on another full moon of May (vesâkha,
vesak), attained Supreme Enlightenment by comprehending in all their fullness
the Four Noble Truths, the Eternal Verities, and he became the Buddha, the Great
Healer and Consummate Master-Physician who can cure the ills of beings. This is
the greatest unshakeable victory.
The Four Noble Truths are the priceless
message that the Buddha gave to suffering humanity for their guidance, to help
them to be rid of the bondage of dukkha, and to attain the absolute happiness,
that absolute reality-Nibbâna.
These truths are not his creation. He
only re-discovered their existence. We thus have in the Buddha one who deserves
our respect and reverence not only as a teacher but also as model of the noble,
self-sacrificing, and meditative life we would do well to follow if we wish to
improve ourselves.
One of the noteworthy characteristics that distinguishes
the Buddha from all other religious teachers is that he was a human being having
no connection whatsoever with a God or any other "supernatural" being.
He was neither God nor an incarnation of God, nor a prophet, nor any mythological
figure. He was a man, but an extraordinary man (acchariya manussa), a unique being,
a man par excellence (purisuttama). All his achievements are attributed to his
human effort and his human understanding. Through personal experience he understood
the supremacy of man.
Depending on his own unremitting energy, unaided by
any teacher, human or divine, he achieved the highest mental and intellectual
attainments, reached the acme of purity, and was perfect in the best qualities
of human nature. He was an embodiment of compassion and wisdom, which became the
two guiding principles in his Dispensation (sâsana).
The Buddha never
claimed to be a saviour who tried to save "souls" by means of a revealed
religion. Through his own perseverance and understanding he proved that infinite
potentialities are latent in man and that it must be man's endeavour to develop
and unfold these possibilities. He proved by his own experience that deliverance
and enlightenment lie fully within man's range of effort.
"Religion of
the highest and fullest character can coexist with a complete absence of belief
in revelation in any straightforward sense of the word, and in that kernel of
revealed religion, a personal God. Under the term personal God I include all ideas
of a so-called superpersonal god, of the same spiritual and mental nature as a
personality but on a higher level, or indeed any supernatural spiritual existence
or force." (Julian Huxley, Religion Without Revelation, pp. 2 and 7.)
Each individual should make the appropriate effort and break the shackles that
have kept him in bondage, winning freedom from the bonds of existence by perseverance,
self-exertion, and insight. It was the Buddha who for the first time in the world's
history taught that deliverance could be attained independently of an external
agency, that deliverance from suffering must be wrought and fashioned by each
one for himself upon the anvil of his own actions.
None can grant deliverance
to another who merely begs for it. Others may lend us a helping hand by guidance
and instruction and in other ways, but the highest freedom is attained only through
self-realization and self-awakening to truth and not through prayers and petitions
to a Supreme Being, human or divine. The Buddha warns his disciples against shifting
the burden to an external agency, directs them to the ways of discrimination and
research, and urges them to get busy with the real task of developing their inner
forces and qualities.
Misconceptions
There are
some who take delight in making the Buddha a non-human. They quote a passage from
the Anguttara Nikâya (II, 37), mistranslate it, and misunderstand it. The
story goes thus:
Once the Buddha was seated under a tree in the meditation
posture, his senses calmed, his mind quiet, and attained to supreme control and
serenity. Then a Brahmin, Dona by name, approached the Buddha and asked:
"Sir,
will you be a god, a deva?"
"No, brahmin."
"Sir, will
you be a heavenly angel, a gandhabba?"
"No, brahmin."
"Sir,
will you be a demon, a yakkha?"
"No, brahmin."
"Sir,
will you be a human being, a manussa?"
"No, brahmin."
"Then,
sir, what indeed will you be?"
Now understand the Buddha's reply carefully:
"Brahmin, whatever defilements (âsavas) there be owing to the presence
of which a person may be identified as a god or a heavenly angel or a demon or
a human being, all these defilements in me are abandoned, cut off at the root,
made like a palm-tree stump, done away with, and are no more subject to future
arising.
"Just as, brahmin, a blue or red or white lotus born in water,
grows in water and stands up above the water untouched by it, so too I, who was
born in the world and grew up in the world, have transcended the world, and I
live untouched by the world. Remember me as one who is enlightened (Buddhoti mam
dhârehi brâhmana)."
What the Buddha said was that he was
not a god or a heavenly angel or a demon or a human being full of defilements.
From the above it is clear that the Buddha wanted the brahmin to know that he
was not a human being with defilements. He did not want the brahmin to put him
into any of those categories. The Buddha was in the world but not of the world.
This is clear from the simile of the lotus. Hasty critics, however, rush to a
wrong conclusion and want others to believe that the Buddha was not a human being.
In the Anguttara Nikâya (I, 22), there is a clear instance in which the
Buddha categorically declared that he was a human being:
"Monks, there
is one person (puggala) whose birth into this world is for the welfare and happiness
of many, out of compassion for the world, for the gain and welfare and happiness
of gods (devas) and humanity. Who is this one person (eka puggala)? It is the
Tathâgata, who is a Consummate One (arahat), a Supremely Enlightened One
(sammâ-sambuddho) ¼ Monks, one person born into the world is an extraordinary
man, a marvellous man (acchariya manussa)."
Note the Påli word
manussa, a human being. Yes, the Buddha was a human being but not just another
man. He was a marvellous man.
The Buddhist texts say that the Bodhisatta
(as he is known before he became the Buddha) was in the Tusita heaven (devaloka)
but came down to the human world to be born as a human being (manussatta). His
parents, King Suddhodana and Queen Mahâmâyâ, were human beings.
The Bodhisatta was born as a man, attained enlightenment (Buddhahood) as a man,
and finally passed away into parinibbâna as a man. Even after his Supreme
Enlightenment he did not call himself a God or Brahmâ or any "supernatural
being," but an extraordinary man.
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, a Hindu steeped
in the tenets of the Vedas and Vedanta, says that Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism,
and even goes to the extent of calling the Buddha a Hindu. He writes:
"The
Buddha did not feel that he was announcing a new religion. He was born, grew up,
and died a Hindu. He was restating with a new emphasis the ancient ideals of the
Indo-Aryan civilization."14
But the Buddha himself declares that his
teaching was a revelation of truths discovered by himself, not known to his contemporaries,
not inherited from past tradition. Thus, in his very first sermon, referring to
the Four Noble Truths, he says: "Monks, with the thought 'This is the noble
truth of suffering, this is its cause, this is its cessation, this is the way
leading to its cessation,' there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, insight,
and light concerning things unheard of before (pubbesu ananussutesu dhammesu)."15
(See below p.21.)
Again, while making clear to his disciples the difference
between a Fully Enlightened One and the arahats, the consummate ones, the Buddha
says: "The Tathâgata, O disciples, while being an arahat is fully enlightened.
It is he who proclaims a way not proclaimed before, he is the knower of a way,
who understands a way, who is skilled in a way (maggaññu, maggavidu,
maggakovido). And now his disciples are wayfarers who follow in his footsteps."16
The ancient way the Buddha refers to is the Noble Eightfold Path and not any ideals
of the Indo-Aryan civilization as Dr. Radhakrishnan imagines.
However, referring
to the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, the architect of Indian independence, says: "By
his immense sacrifice, by his great renunciation and by the immaculate purity
of his life, he left an indelible impress upon Hinduism, and Hinduism owes an
eternal debt of gratitude to that great teacher." (Mahâdev Desai, With
Gandhiji in Ceylon, Madras, 1928, p.26.)
Dependent Arising
For
a week, immediately after the enlightenment, the Buddha sat at the foot of the
Bodhi Tree, experiencing the supreme bliss of emancipation. At the end of the
seven days he emerged from that concentration (samâdhi) and in the first
watch of the night thought over the dependent arising (paticca-samuppâda)
as to how things arise (anuloma) thus:
"When this is, that comes to be;
with the arising of this, that arises; namely: dependent on ignorance, volitional
or kamma formations; dependent on volitional formations, (rebirth or rebecoming)
consciousness; dependent on consciousness, mentality-materiality (mental and physical
combination); dependent on mentality-materiality, the sixfold base (the five physical
sense organs with consciousness as the sixth); dependent on the sixfold base,
contact; depend on contact, feeling; dependent on feeling, craving; dependent
on craving, clinging; dependent on clinging, the process of becoming; dependent
on the process of becoming, there comes to be birth; dependent on birth arise
ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. Thus does this
whole mass of suffering arise."
In the second watch of the night, the
Buddha thought over the dependent arising as to how things cease (patiloma) thus:
"When this is not, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this,
that ceases; namely: with the utter cessation of ignorance, the cessation of volitional
formations; with the cessation of formations, the cessation of consciousness ¼
(and so on). Thus does this whole mass of suffering cease."
In the third
watch of the night, the Buddha thought over the dependent arising both as to how
things arise and cease thus:
"When this is, that comes to be; with the
arising of this, that arises; when this is not, that does not come to be; with
the cessation of this, that ceases; namely: dependent on ignorance, volitional
formations ¼ (and so on). Thus does this whole mass of suffering arise.
With the utter cessation of ignorance, the cessation of volitional formations
¼ (and so on). Thus does this whole mass of suffering cease."17
The Buddha now spent six more weeks in lonely retreat at six different spots in
the vicinity of the Bodhi Tree. At the end of this period two merchants, Tapassu
and Bhallika, who were passing that way, offered rice cake and honey to the Master,
and said: "We go for refuge to the Buddha and to the Dhamma.18 Let the Blessed
One receive us as his followers."19 They became his first lay followers (upâsakas).
The First Sermon
Now while the Blessed One dwelt
in solitude this thought occurred to him: "The Dhamma I have realized is
deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful and sublime, beyond mere reasoning,
subtle, and intelligible to the wise. But this generation delights, revels, and
rejoices in sensual pleasures. It is hard for such a generation to see this conditionality,
this dependent arising. Hard too is it to see this calming of all conditioned
things, the giving up of all substance of becoming, the extinction of craving,
dispassion, cessation, Nibbâna. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and others
were not to understand me, that would be a weariness, a vexation for me."20
Pondering thus he was first reluctant to teach the Dhamma, but on surveying the
world with his mental eye, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and with
much dust in their eyes, with keen faculties and dull faculties, with good qualities
and bad qualities, easy to teach and hard to teach, some who are alive to the
perils hereafter of present wrongdoings, and some who are not. The Master then
declared his readiness to proclaim the Dhamma in this solemn utterance:
"Apârutâ
tesam amatassa dvârâ
Ye sotavanto pamuñcantu saddham."
"Open are the doors of the Deathless.
Let those that have ears repose
trust."
When considering to whom he should teach the Dhamma first, he
thought of Âlâra Kâlâma and Uddaka Râmaputta, his
teachers of old; for he knew that they were wise and discerning. But that was
not to be; they had passed away. Then the Blessed One made up his mind to make
known the truth to those five ascetics, his former friends, still steeped in the
fruitless rigours of extreme asceticism. Knowing that they were living at Benares
in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the Resort of Seers (modern Sarnath), the Blessed
One left Gayâ for distant Benares, walking by stages some 150 miles. On
the way not far from Gayâ the Buddha was met by Upaka, an ascetic who, struck
by the serene appearance of the Master, inquired: "Who is your teacher? Whose
teaching do you profess?"
The Buddha replied: "I have no teacher,
one like me does not exist in all the world, for I am the Peerless Teacher, the
Arahat. I alone am Supremely Enlightened. Quenching all defilements, Nibbâna's
calm have I attained. I go to the city of Kâsi (Benares) to set in motion
the Wheel of Dhamma. In a world where blindness reigns, I shall beat the Deathless
Drum."
"Friend, you then claim you are a universal victor,"
said Upaka. The Buddha replied: "Those who have attained the cessation of
defilements, they are, indeed, victors like me. All evil have I vanquished. Hence
I am a victor."
Upaka shook his head, remarking sarcastically, "It
may be so, friend," and took a bypath. The Buddha continued his journey,
and in gradual stages reached the Deer Park at Isipatana. The five ascetics, seeing
the Buddha from afar, discussed among themselves: "Friends, here comes the
ascetic Gotama who gave up the struggle and turned to a life of abundance and
luxury. Let us make no kind of salutation to him." But when the Buddha approached
them, they were struck by his dignified presence and they failed in their resolve.
One went to meet him and took his almsbowl and robe, another prepared a seat,
still another brought him water. The Buddha sat on the seat prepared for him,
and the five ascetics then addressed him by name and greeted him as an equal,
saying, "âvuso" (friend).
The Buddha said, "Address not
the Tathâgata (Perfect One) by the word 'âvuso.' The Tathâgata,
monks, is a Consummate One (Arahat), a Supremely Enlightened One. Give ear, monks,
the Deathless has been attained. I shall instruct you, I shall teach you the Dhamma;
following my teaching you will know and realize for yourselves even in this lifetime
that supreme goal of purity for the sake of which clansmen retire from home to
follow the homeless life." Thereupon the five monks said: "Friend Gotama,
even with the stern austerities, penances, and self-torture you practised, you
failed to attain the superhuman vision and insight. Now that you are living a
life of luxury and self-indulgence, and have given up the struggle, how could
you have reached superhuman vision and insight?"
Then replied the Buddha:
"The Tathâgata has not ceased from effort and reverted to a life of
luxury and abundance. The Tathâgata is a Supremely Enlightened One. Give
ear, monks, the Deathless has been attained. I shall instruct you. I shall teach
you the Dhamma."
A second time the monks said the same thing to the Buddha
who gave the same answer a second time. A third time they repeated the same question.
In spite of the assurance given by the Master, they did not change their attitude.
Then the Buddha spoke to them thus: "Confess, O monks, did I ever speak to
you in this way before?" Touched by this appeal of the Blessed One, the five
ascetics submitted and said: "No, indeed, Lord." Thus did the Supreme
Sage, the Tamed One, tame the hearts of the five ascetics with patience and kindness,
with wisdom and skill. Overcome and convinced by his utterances, the monks indicated
their readiness to listen to him.
The Middle Path
Now
on a full moon day of July, 589 years before Christ, in the evening, at the moment
the sun was setting and the full moon simultaneously rising, in the shady Deer
Park at Isipatana, the Buddha addressed them:
"Monks, these two extremes
ought not to be cultivated by the recluse. What two? Sensual indulgence which
is low, vulgar, worldly, ignoble, and conducive to harm; and self-mortification,
which is painful, ignoble, and conducive to harm. The middle path, monks, understood
by the Tathâgata, avoiding the extremes, gives vision and knowledge and
leads to calm, realization, enlightenment, and Nibbâna. And what, monks,
is that middle path? It is this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: right understanding,
right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness, right concentration."
Then the Buddha explained to them
the Four Noble Truths: the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of the arising
of suffering, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering, and the noble truth
of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.21
Thus did the Supreme Buddha
proclaim the truth and set in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma (dhamma-cakka-pavattana).
This first discourse, this message of the Deer Park, is the core of the Buddha's
Teaching. As the footprint of every creature that walks the earth could be included
in the elephant's footprint, which is pre-eminent for size, so does the doctrine
of the Four Noble Truths embrace the entire teaching of the Buddha.
Explaining
each of the Four Noble Truths, the Master said: "Such, monks, was the vision,
the knowledge, the wisdom, the insight, the light that arose in me, that I gained
about things not heard before. As long as, monks, my intuitive knowledge, my vision
in regard to these Four Noble Truths was not absolutely clear to me, I did not
claim that I had gained the incomparable Supreme Enlightenment. But when, monks,
my intuitive knowledge, my vision, in regard to these Four Noble Truths was absolutely
clear to me, then only did I claim that I had gained the incomparable Supreme
Enlightenment. And there arose in me insight and vision: unshakeable is the deliverance
of my mind (akuppâ me cetovimutti), this is my last birth, there is no more
becoming (rebirth)."22 Thus spoke the Buddha, and the five monks, glad at
heart, applauded the words of the Blessed One.
On December 2, 1933, at the
royal dinner at the King's Palace, Sweden, when it was his turn to speak, Sir
C. Venkata Raman, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, left aside science and, to
the surprise of the renowned guests, delivered a most powerful address on the
Buddha and India's past glories. "In the vicinity of Benares," said
Sir Venkata Raman, "there exists a path which is for me the most sacred place
in India. This path was one day travelled over by the Prince Siddhârtha,
after he had gotten rid of all his worldly possessions in order to go through
the world and proclaim the annunciation of love."23
The supremacy of the Four Noble Truths in the teaching of the
Buddha is abundantly clear from the message of the Sinsapa Grove as from the message
of the Deer Park.
Once the Blessed One was living at Kosambi (near Allahabad)
in the Sinsapa Grove. Then, gathering a few sinsapa leaves in his hand, the Blessed
One addressed the monks:
"What do you think, monks, which is greater
in quantity, the handful of sinsapa leaves gathered by me or what is in the forest
overhead?"
"Not many, trifling, venerable sir, are the leaves in
the handful gathered by the Blessed One; many are the leaves in the forest overhead."
"Even so, monks, many are those things I have fully realized but not
declared to you; few are the things I have declared to you. And why, monks, have
I not declared them? They, monks, are not useful, are not essential to the life
of purity, they do not lead to disgust, to dispassion, to cessation, to tranquillity,
to full understanding, to full enlightenment, to Nibbâna. That is why, monks,
they are not declared by me.
"And what is it, monks, that I have declared?
This is suffering-this have I declared. This is the arising of suffering-this
have I declared.This is the cessation of suffering-this have I declared. This
is the path leading to the cessation of suffering-this have I declared.
"And
why, monks, have I declared these truths?
"They are, indeed, useful,
are essential to the life of purity, they lead to disgust, to dispassion, to cessation,
to tranquillity, to full understanding, to enlightenment, to Nibbâna. That
is why, monks, they are declared by me. Therefore, monks, an effort should be
made to realize: 'This is suffering, this is the arising of suffering, this is
the cessation of suffering, this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.'
"24
The Buddha has emphatically said: "One thing do I make known:
suffering, and the cessation of suffering"25 (dukkham ceva paññapemi,
dukkhassa ca nirodham). To understand this unequivocal saying is to understand
Buddhism; for the entire teaching of the Buddha is nothing else than the application
of this one principle. What can be called the discovery of a Buddha is just these
Four Noble Truths. This is the typical teaching of the Buddhas of all ages.
The Peerless Physician
The Buddha is also known as the peerless physician
(bhisakko), the supreme surgeon (sallakatto anuttaro). He indeed, is an unrivalled
healer.
The Buddha's method of exposition of the Four Noble Truths is comparable
to that of a physician. As a physician, he first diagnosed the illness, next he
discovered the cause for the arising of the illness, then he considered its removal,
and lastly applied the remedy.
Suffering (dukkha) is the illness; craving
(tanhâ) is the arising or the root cause of the illness (samudaya); through
the removal of craving, the illness is removed, and that is the cure (nirodha-nibbâna);
the Noble Eightfold Path (magga) is the remedy.
The Buddha's reply to a brahmin
who wished to know why the Master is called a Buddha clearly indicates that it
was for no other reason than a perfect knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. Here
is the Buddha's reply:
"I knew what should be known,
What should
be cultivated I have cultivated,
What should be abandoned that have I let
go.
Hence, O brahmin, I am Buddha-
The Awakened One."26
With
the proclamation of the Dhamma for the first time, with the setting in motion
of the Wheel of the Dhamma, and with the conversion of the five ascetics, the
Deer Park at Isipatana became the birthplace of the Buddha's Dispensation (sâsana)
and of his Community of Monks (sangha).27
The Spread of the
Dhamma
Thereafter the Buddha spent the vassa28 at the Deer Park at
Isipatana, sacred this day to over 600 million of the human race. During these
three months of "rains" fifty others headed by Yasa, a young man of
wealth, joined the Order. Now the Buddha had sixty disciples, all arahats who
had realized the Dhamma and were fully competent to teach others. When the rainy
season ended, the Master addressed his immediate disciples in these words:
"Released am I, monks, from all ties whether human or divine. You also are
delivered from all fetters whether human or divine. Go now and wander for the
welfare and happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the gain,
welfare, and happiness of gods and men. Let not two of you proceed in the same
direction. Proclaim the Dhamma that is excellent in the beginning, excellent in
the middle, and excellent in the end, possessed of meaning and the letter and
utterly perfect. Proclaim the life of purity, the holy life consummate and pure.
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who will be lost through not hearing
the Dhamma, there are beings who will understand the Dhamma. I also shall go to
Uruvelâ, to Senânigama, to teach the Dhamma."29
Thus did
the Buddha commence his sublime mission, which lasted to the end of his life.
With his disciples he walked the highways and byways of India enfolding all within
the aura of his boundless compassion and wisdom. Though the Order of Monks began
its career with sixty bhikkhus, it expanded soon into thousands, and, as a result
of the increasing number of monks, many monasteries came into being. In later
times monastic Indian universities like Nâlandâ, Vikramasilâ,
Jagaddalâ, Vikramapuri, and Odantapuri, became cultural centres which gradually
influenced the whole of Asia and through it the mental life of humankind.
After a successful ministry of forty-five years the Buddha passed away at the
age of eighty at the twin Sâla Trees of the Mallas at Kusinârâ
(in modern Uttara Pradesh about 120 miles northeast of Benâres).30
The Buddha's Ministry
During his long ministry of forty-five years
the Buddha walked widely throughout the northern districts of India. But during
the rains retreat (vassa), he generally stayed in one place. Here follows a brief
sketch of his retreats gathered from the texts:
1st year: Vârânasi.
After the first proclamation of the Dhamma on the full moon day of July, the Buddha
spent the first vassa at Isipatana, Vârânasi.
The 2nd, 3rd, and
4th years: Råjagaha (in the Bamboo Grove, Veluvana). It was during the third
year that Sudatta, a householder of Sâvatthi known for his bounty as Anâthapindika,
"the feeder of the forlorn," having heard that a Buddha had come into
being, went in search of him, listened to him, and having gained confidence (saddhâ)
in the Teacher, the Teaching, and the Taught (the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha),
attained the first stage of sainthood (sotâpatti). He was renowned as the
chief supporter (dâyaka) of the Master. Anâthapindika had built the
famous Jetavana monastery at Sâvatthi, known today as Sahet-mahet, and offered
it to the Buddha and his disciples. The ruins of this monastery are still to be
seen.
5th year: Vesâli. The Buddha kept retreat in the Pinnacled Hall
(kûtâgârasâlâ). It was at this time that King Suddhodana
fell ill. The Master visited him and preached the Dhamma, hearing which the king
attained perfect sanctity (arahatta), and after enjoying the bliss of emancipation
for seven days, passed away. The Order of Nuns was also founded during this time.
6th year: Mankula Hill. Here the Buddha performed the "Twin Wonder"
(yamaka pâtihâriya). He did the same for the first time at Kapilavatthu
to overcome the pride of the Sakyas, his relatives.
7th year: Tâvatimsa
(the Heaven of the Thirty-three). Here the Buddha preached the Abhidhamma or the
Higher Doctrine to the deities (devâs) headed by his mother Mahâmâyâ,
who had passed away seven days after the birth of Prince Siddhattha, and was reborn
as a deva in the Tâvatimsa.
8th year: Bhesakalâ Forest (near Sumsumâragiri).
It was here that Nakulapitâ and his wife, a genial couple, came to see the
Buddha, told him about their very happy married life, and expressed the wish that
they might continue to live together both here and hereafter. These two were placed
by the Buddha as chiefs of those that win confidence.
9th year: Kosambi-at
the Ghosita Monastery.
10th year: Pârileyyakka Forest. It was in the
tenth year that, at Kosambi, a dispute arose between two parties of monks owing
to a trivial offence committed by a monk. As they could not be reconciled, and
as they did not pay heed to his exhortation, the Buddha retired to the forest.
At the end of the vassa, their dispute settled, the monks came to Sâvatthi
and begged pardon of the Buddha.
11th year: Village of Ekanâla (in
the Magadha country). It was here that the Buddha met the brahmin farmer Kasibhâradvâja
who spoke to the Buddha somewhat discourteously. The Buddha, however, answered
his questions with his characteristic sobriety. Bhâradvâja became
an ardent follower of the Buddha. It was on this occasion that the very interesting
discourse, Kasibhâradvâja Sutta (Sutta-nipâta), was delivered.
(Read The Book of Protection by this author (BPS).)
12th year: Verañja.
The introduction of the Vinaya is attributed to the twelfth year. It was also
during this retreat that the brahmin Verañja came to see the Buddha, asked
a series of questions on Buddhist practices, and being satisfied with the answers,
became a follower of the Blessed One. He invited the Master and the Sangha to
spend the rainy season (vassa) at his village Verañja. At that time there
was a famine. The Buddha and his disciples had to be satisfied with very coarse
food supplied by horse merchants. As it was the custom of the Buddha to take leave
of the inviter before setting out on his journeying, he saw the brahmin at the
end of the vassa. The latter admitted that though he had invited the Buddha and
his disciples to spend the retreat at Verañja, he had failed in his duties
towards them during the entire season owing to his being taxed with household
duties. However, the next day he offered food and gifts of robes to the Buddha
and the Sangha.
13th year: Câliya Rock (near the city of Câlika).
During this time the elder Meghiya was his personal attendant. The elder being
attracted by a beautiful mango grove near a river asked the Buddha for permission
to go there for meditation. Though the Buddha asked him to wait till another monk
came, he repeated the request. The Buddha granted him permission. The elder went,
but to his great surprise he was oppressed by thoughts of sense pleasures, ill
will, and harm, and returned disappointed. Thereupon the Buddha said: "Meghiya,
for the deliverance of the mind of the immature, five things are conducive to
their maturing: (1) a good friend; (2) virtuous behaviour guided by the essential
precepts for training; (3) good counsel tending to dispassion, calm, cessation,
enlightenment and Nibbâna; (4) the effort to abandon evil thoughts, and
(5) acquiring of wisdom that discerns the rise and fall of things."31
14th year: Jetavana monastery, Sâvatthi. During this time the Venerable
Râhula, who was still a novice (sâmanera), received higher ordination
(upasampadâ). According to the Vinaya, higher ordination is not conferred
before the age of twenty; Ven. Râhula had then reached that age.
15th
year: Kapilavatthu (the birthplace of Prince Siddhattha). It was in this year
that the death occurred of King Suppabuddha, the father of Yasodharâ.
16th year: City of Âlavi: During this year Âlavaka, the demon who
devoured human flesh, was tamed by the Buddha. He became a follower of the Buddha.
For Âlavaka's questions and the Master's answers read the Âlavaka
Sutta, in the Sutta-nipâta. (See The Book of Protection, p.81 by this author
(BPS).)
17th year: Râjagaha, at Veluvana Monastery. During this time
a well-known courtesan, Sirimâ, sister of Jivaka the physician, died. The
Buddha attended the funeral, and asked the king to inform the people to buy the
dead body-the body that attracted so many when she was alive. No one cared to
have it even without paying a price. On that occasion, addressing the crowd, the
Buddha said in verse:
"Behold this painted image, a body full of wounds,
heaped up (with bones), diseased,
the object of thought of many, in which
there is neither permanence nor stability."
Dhammapada, 147
18th
year: Câliya Rock. During this time a young weaver's daughter met the Buddha
and listened to his discourse on mindfulness of death (maranânussati). On
another occasion she answered correctly all the four questions put to her by the
Master, because she often pondered over the words of the Buddha. Her answers were
philosophical, and the congregations who had not given a thought to the Buddha
word, could not grasp the meaning of her answers. The Buddha, however, praised
her and addressed them in verse thus:
"Blind is this world;
few here
clearly see.
Like a bird that escapes from the net,
only a few go to a
good state of existence."
Dhammapada, 174
She heard the Dhamma and
attained the first stage of sanctity (sotâpatti). But unfortunately she
died an untimely death. (For a detailed account of this interesting story, and
the questions and answers, see the Commentary on the Dhammapada, Vol. III, p.170,
or Burlingame, Buddhist Legends, Part 3, p.14.)
19th year: Câliya Rock.
20th year: Râjagaha, at Veluvana Monastery.
From the 21st year till
the 43rd year: Sâvatthi.
Of these twenty-four vassas, eighteen were
spent at Jetavana Monastery, the rest at Pubbârâma. Anâthapindika
and Visâkhâ were the chief supporters.
44th year: Beluva (a small
village, probably situated near Vesâli), where the Buddha suppressed, by
force of will, a grave illness.
In the 45th year of his Enlightenment, the
Buddha passed away at Kusinârâ in the month of May (vesâkha)
before the commencement of the rains.
During the first twenty years of the
Buddha's life, the bhikkhus Nâgasamâla, Nâgita, Upavâna,
Sunakkhatta, Sâgata, Râdha, and Meghiya, and the novice (sâmanera)
Cunda attended upon him, though not regularly. However, after the twentieth year,
the Buddha wished to have a regular attendant. Thereon all the great eighty arahats,
like Såriputta and Moggallâna, expressed their willingness to attend
upon their Master. But this did not meet with his approval. Perhaps the Buddha
thought that these arahats could be of greater service to humanity.
Then the
elders requested Ânanda Thera, who had kept silent all this while, to beg
of the Master to be his attendant. Ânanda Thera's answer is interesting.
He said, "If the Master is willing to have me as his attendant, he will speak."
Then the Buddha said: "Ânanda, let not others persuade you. You on
your own may attend upon me."
Buddhahood and Arahatship
Perfect
Enlightenment, the discovery and realization of the Four Noble Truths (Buddhahood),
is not the prerogative of a single being chosen by divine providence, nor is it
a unique and unrepeatable event in human history. It is an achievement open to
anyone who earnestly strives for perfect purity and wisdom, and with inflexible
will cultivates the pârami, the perfections which are the requisites of
Buddhahood, and the Noble Eightfold Path. There have been Buddhas in the dim past
and there will be Buddhas in the future when necessity arises and conditions are
favourable. But we need not think of that distant future; now, in our present
days, the "doors to the Deathless" are still wide open. Those who enter
through them, reaching perfect sanctity or arahatship, the final liberation from
suffering (Nibbâna), have been solemnly declared by the Buddha to be his
equals as far as the emancipation from defilements and ultimate deliverance is
concerned:
"Victors like me are they, indeed,
They who have won defilements'
end."32
The Buddha, however, also made clear to his disciples the difference
between a Fully Enlightened One and the arahats,33 the accomplished saints:
"The Tathâgata, O disciples, while being an arahat, is Fully Enlightened.
It is he who proclaims a path not proclaimed before; he is the knower of a path,
who understands a path, who is skilled in a path. And now his disciples are wayfarers
who follow in his footsteps. That, disciples, is the distinction, the specific
feature which distinguishes the Tathâgata, who being an arahat, is Fully
Enlightened, from the disciple who is freed by insight."34
Salient Features of the Dhamma
There are no dark corners of ignorance, no
cobwebs of mystery, no smoky chambers of secrecy; there are no "secret doctrines,"
no hidden dogmas in the teaching of the Buddha, which is open as daylight and
as clear as crystal. "The doctrine and discipline proclaimed by the Buddha
shine when open and not when covered, even as the sun and moon shine when open
and not when covered" (A.I,283).
The Master disapproved of those who
professed to have "secret doctrines," saying, "Secrecy is the hallmark
of false doctrines." Addressing the disciple Ânanda, the Master said:
"I have taught the Dhamma, Ânanda, without making any distinction between
exoteric and esoteric doctrine; for in respect of the truths, Ânanda, the
Tathâgata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher who hides some
essential knowledge from the pupil."35
A Buddha is an extreme rarity,
but is no freak in human history. He would not preserve his supreme knowledge
for himself alone. Such an idea would be completely ridiculous and abhorrent from
the Buddhist point of view, and to the Buddha such a wish is utterly inconceivable.
Driven by universal love and compassion, the Buddha expounded his teaching without
keeping back anything that was essential for man's deliverance from the shackles
of samsâra, repeated wandering.
The Buddha's teaching from beginning
to end is open to all those who have eyes to see and a mind to understand. Buddhism
was never forced upon anyone at the point of the gun or the bayonet. Conversion
by compulsion was unknown among Buddhists and repugnant to the Buddha.
Of
the Buddha's creed of compassion, H. Fielding Hall writes in The Soul of a People:
"There can never be a war of Buddhism. No ravished country has ever borne
witness to the prowess of the followers of the Buddha; no murdered men have poured
out their blood on their hearth-stones, killed in his name; no ruined women have
cursed his name to high heaven. He and his faith are clean of the stain of blood.
He was the preacher of the Great Peace, of love of charity, of compassion, and
so clear is his teaching that it can never be misunderstood."
When communicating
the Dhamma to his disciples, the Master made no distinctions whatsoever among
them; for there were no specially chosen favourite disciples. Among his disciples,
all those who were arahats, who were passion-free and had shed the fetters binding
to renewed existence, had equally perfected themselves in purity. But there were
some outstanding ones who were skilled in different branches of knowledge and
practice, and because of their mental endowments, they gained positions of distinction;
but special favours were never granted to anyone by the Master. Upâli, for
instance, who came from a barber's family, was made the chief in matters of discipline
(vinaya) in preference to many arahats who belonged to the class of the nobles
and warriors (kshatriya). Såriputta and Moggallâna, brahmins by birth,
because of their longstanding aspirations in former lives, became the chief disciples
of the Buddha. The former excelled in wisdom (pañña) and the latter
in supernormal powers (iddhi).
The Buddha never wished to extract from his
disciples blind and submissive faith in him or his teachings. He always insisted
on discriminative examination and intelligent inquiry. In no uncertain terms he
urged critical investigation when he addressed the inquiring Kâlâmas
in a discourse that has been rightly called the first charter of free thought:
True Purification
In
the understanding of things, neither belief nor fear plays any role in Buddhist
thought. The truth of the Dhamma can be grasped only through insight, never through
blind faith, or through fear of some known or unknown being.
Not only did
the Buddha discourage blind belief and fear of an omnipotent God as unsuitable
approaches for understanding the truth, but he also denounced adherence to unprofitable
rites and rituals, because the mere abandoning of outward things, such as fasting,
bathing in rivers, animal sacrifice, and similar acts, does not tend to purify
a man or make a man holy and noble.
We find this dialogue between the Buddha
and the brahmin Sundarika Bhâradvâja: Once the Buddha, addressing
the monks, explained in detail how a seeker of deliverance should train himself,
and further added that a person whose mind is free from taints, whose life of
purity is perfected, and the task done, could be called one who bathes inwardly.
Then Bhâradvâa, seated near the Buddha, heard these words and asked
him:
"Does the Venerable Gotama go to bathe in the river Bâhuka?"
"Brahmin, what good is the river Bâhuka? What can the river Bâhuka
do?"
"Indeed, Venerable Gotama, the river Bâhuka is believed
by many to be holy. Many people have their evil deeds (pâpa) washed away
in the river Bâhuka."
Then the Buddha made him understand that
bathing in rivers would not cleanse a man of his dirt of evil, and instructed
him thus:
"Bathe just here (in this Doctrine and Discipline, Dhamma-vinaya),
brahmin, give security to all beings. If you do not speak falsehood, or kill or
steal, if you are confident, and are not mean, what does it avail you to go to
Gayâ (the name of a river in India during the time of the Buddha)? Your
well at home is also a Gayâ."39
Caste Problem
Caste,
which was a matter of vital importance to the brahmins of India, was one of utter
indifference to the Buddha, who strongly condemned the debasing caste system.
In his Order of Monks all castes unite as do the rivers in the sea. They lose
their former names, castes, and clans, and become known as members of one community-the
Sangha.
Speaking of the equal recognition of all members of the Sangha the
Buddha says:
"Just as, O monks, the great rivers Gangâ, Yamunâ,
Aciravati, Sarabhû, and Mahi, on reaching the ocean, lose their earlier
name and identity and come to be reckoned as the great ocean, similarly, O monks,
people of the four castes (vannas) ¼ who leave the household and become
homeless recluses under the Doctrine and Discipline declared by the Tathâgata,
lose their previous names and identities and are reckoned as recluses who are
sons of Sâkya" (Udâna 55).
The Buddhist position regarding
racism and racial discrimination made explicit at such an early age is one reflected
in the moral and scientific standpoint adopted by UNESCO in the present century
(Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, UNESCO 1978).40
To Sundarika Bhâradvâja,
the brahmin who inquired about his lineage, the Buddha answered:
"No
Brahmin I, no prince,
No farmer, or aught else.
All worldly ranks I know,
But knowing go my way
as simply nobody:
Homeless, in pilgrim garb,
With shaven crown, I go
my way alone, serene.
To ask my birth is vain."41
On one occasion a caste-ridden brahmin insulted the Buddha saying. "Stop,
thou shaveling! Stop, thou outcast!"
The Master, without any feeling
of indignation, gently replied:
"Birth makes not a man an outcast,
Birth makes not a man a brahmin;
Action makes a man an outcast,
Action
makes a man a brahmin."
(Sutta-nipâta, 142)
He then delivered
a whole sermon, the Vasala Sutta, explaining to the brahmin in detail the characteristics
of one who is really an outcast (vasala). Convinced, the haughty brahmin took
refuge in the Buddha. (See The Book of Protection, p.91.)
The Buddha freely
admitted into the Order people from all castes and classes when he knew that they
were fit to live the holy life, and some of them later distinguished themselves
in the Order. The Buddha was the only contemporary teacher who endeavoured to
blend in mutual tolerance and concord those who hitherto had been rent asunder
by differences of caste and class.
Upåli, who was the chief authority
on the Vinaya-the disciplinary rules of the Order-was a barber, regarded as one
of the basest occupations of the lower classes. Sunita, who later won arahatship,
was a scavenger, another base occupation. In the Order of Nuns were Punnâ
and Punnikâ, both slave girls. According to Mrs. C.A.F. Rhys Davids, 8.5%
of the number of those nuns who were able to realize the fruits of their training
were drawn from the despised castes, which were mostly illiterate.42
Chief Disciples
Râjagaha, the capital of the kingdom of Magadha,
was one of the first places visited by the Buddha soon after his enlightenment.
As a wandering ascetic in the early days of his renunciation, he had promised
King Seniya Bimbisâra that he would visit Râjagaha when he achieved
the object of his search. King Bimbisâra was overjoyed at the sight of the
Buddha, and having listened to his teaching, became a lay follower. His devotion
to the Buddha became so ardent that within a few days he offered him his pleasure
park, Veluvana, for residence.
Râjagaha during that time was a centre
of great learning where many schools of philosophy flourished. One such school
of thought had as its head Sañjaya; and among his retinue of two hundred
and fifty followers were Upatissa and Kolita, who were later to become Sariputta
and Mahâ Moggallâna, the two chief disciples of the Buddha.
One
day when Upatissa was walking through the streets of Râjagaha, he was greatly
struck by the serene countenance and the quiet, dignified deportment of one of
the first disciples of the Buddha, the arahat Assaji, who was on his alms round.
All the strenuous endeavours to achieve perfection that Upatissa had made through
many a birth were now on the verge of being rewarded. Without going back to his
teacher, he followed the arahat Assaji to his resting place, eager to know whom
he followed and what teaching he had accepted.
"Friend," said Upatissa,
"serene is your countenance, clear and radiant is your glance. Who persuaded
you to renounce the world? Who is your teacher? What Dhamma (teaching) do you
follow?" The Venerable Assaji, rather reluctant to speak much, humbly said:
"I cannot expound the Doctrine and Discipline at length, but I can tell you
the meaning briefly." Upatissa's reply is interesting: "Well, friend,
tell little or much; what I want is just the meaning. Why speak many words?"
Then the arahat Assaji uttered a single verse which embraces the Buddha's entire
doctrine of causality:
"Ye dhammâ hetuppabhavâ
Tesam
hetum tathâgato âha
Tesam ca yo nirodho
Evam vâdi mahâ
samano."
"Whatever from a cause proceeds, thereof
The Tathâgata
has explained the cause,
Its cessation too he has explained.
This is the
teaching of the Supreme Sage."
(Vinaya Mahâvagga)
Upatissa
instantly grasped the meaning and attained the first stage of realization, comprehending
"whatever is of the nature of arising, all that is of the nature of ceasing"
(yam kiñci samudayadhammam sabbam tam nirodhadhammam).
With a heart
full of joy, he quickly went back to his friend Kolita and told him of his meeting
with the arahat and of the teaching he had received. Kolita, too, like Upatissa,
instantly gained the first stage of realization, having heard the Dhamma from
his friend. Thereon both of them approached Sañjaya and asked him to follow
the Buddha. But afraid of losing his reputation as a religious teacher, he refused
to do so. Upatissa and Kolita then left Sañjaya-much against his protestations-for
the Veluvana monastery and expressed their wish to become followers of the Buddha.
The Buddha gladly welcomed them saying, "Come, monks, well proclaimed is
the Dhamma. Live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering." He
admitted them into the Order. They attained deliverance and became the two chief
disciples.
Another great one who joined the Order during the Buddha's stay
at Veluvana was the brahmin sage Mahâ Kassapa, who had renounced great wealth
to find the way to deliverance. It was the Venerable Mahâ Kassapa, three
months after the Buddha's passing away (parinibbâna), who called up the
convocation of arahats (the First Council), at the Sattapanni Cave near Râjagaha
under the patronage of King Ajâtasattu, to collect and codify the Dhamma
and Vinaya.
The Order of Nuns
In the early days
of the Order, only men were admitted to the Sangha since the Buddha was reluctant
to admit women. But there were many devout women among the lay followers who had
a keen desire for a life of renunciation as nuns. Urged by their keenness, Pajâpati
Gotami, the foster-mother of the Buddha, in the company of many ladies of rank,
approached the Buddha, beseeching him to grant them ordination. But the Buddha
still hesitated to accept them.
Seeing their discomfiture, and urged by their
zeal, the Venerable Ânanda took up their cause and pleaded with the Buddha
on their behalf. The Buddha finally yielded to this appeal, placing, however,
eight cardinal rules on the ordination of women. Thus was established, in the
fifth year after his enlightenment, the Order of Nuns, the Bhikkhuni Sâsana,
for the first time in history; for never before this had there been an Order where
woman could lead a celibate life of renunciation.
Women from all walks of
life joined the Order. Foremost in the Order stood the Theris Khemâ and
Uppalavannâ. The lives of quite a number of these noble nuns, their strenuous
endeavours to win the goal of freedom, and their paeons of joy at deliverance
of mind, are graphically described in the Therigâthâ, the Psalms of
the Sisters.43
At Kapilavatthu
While at Râjagaha,
the Blessed One heard that his father wished to see him, and he set out for Kapilavatthu.
He did not, however, go straight to the palace, but, according to custom, stopped
in a grove outside the town. The next day the Buddha, with his bowl, went for
his alms from house to house in the streets of Kapilavatthu. King Suddhodana,
startled at the news, rushed to the Buddha and said; "Why, Master, why do
you put us to shame? Why do you go begging for your food? Not one of our race
has ever done so." Replied the Buddha: "You and your family may claim
descent from kings; my descent is from the Buddhas of old; and they, begging their
food, always lived on alms." Then explaining the Dhamma the Master said,
"Be alert, be mindful, lead a righteous life. The righteous live happily
both in this world and the next." And so the king became established in the
Path, he realized the Dhamma.
The Buddha was then conducted into the palace
where all came to pay their respects to him, but not Princess Yasodharâ.
The Buddha went to her, and the princess, knowing the impassable gulf between
them, fell on the ground at his feet and saluted him. Then relating the Candakinnara
Jâtaka, a story of his previous birth44 revealing how great her virtue had
been in that former life, he made her an adherent to the Doctrine. Later when
the Buddha was induced to establish an Order for women, Yasodharâ became
one of the first nuns and attained arahatship, highest sanctity.
When the
Buddha was in the palace, Princess Yasodharâ arrayed her son Râhula
in all his best attire and sent him to the Blessed One, saying, "That is
your father, Râhula, go and ask for your inheritance."
Prince Râhula
went to the Buddha, stood before him, and said, "Pleasant indeed is your
shadow, sage."
And when the Blessed One had finished his meal and left
the palace, Prince Râhula followed him saying, "Give me my inheritance,
sage; give me my inheritance." At that the Blessed One spoke to the Venerable
Sâriputta: "Well then, Sâriputta, take him into the Order."
Then the Venerable Sâriputta gave Prince Râhula the ordination.45
In the Majjhima Nikâya, one of the five original collections in Pâli
containing the Buddha's discourses, there are three discourses (Nos. 61, 62, 147)
entitled Râhulovâda or exhortations to Râhula, delivered by
the Blessed One to teach the Dhamma to little Râhula. The discourses are
entirely devoted to advice on discipline and meditation. Here is an extract from
the Master's exhortation in the Mahâ Râhulovâda Sutta:46
"Cultivate the meditation on loving-kindness (mettâ), Râhula;
for by cultivating loving-kindness, ill will is banished. Cultivate the meditation
on compassion (karunâ), Râhula, for by cultivating compassion, cruelty
is banished. Cultivate the meditation on appreciative joy (muditâ), Râhula,
for by cultivating appreciative joy, aversion is banished. Cultivate the meditation
on equanimity (upekkhâ), Râhula, for by cultivating equanimity, hatred
is banished. Cultivate the meditation on impurity (asubha), Râhula, for
by meditating on impurity, lust is banished. Cultivate the meditation on the concept
of impermanence (anicca-sañña), Râhula, for by meditating
on the concept of impermanence, pride of self (asmi-mâna) is banished. Cultivate
the meditation on mindfulness of in-and-out-breathing (ânåpâna
sati), Râhula, for mindfulness of breathing, cultivated and frequently practised,
bears much fruit and is of great advantage."
Women in Buddhism
Generally
speaking, during the time of the Buddha, owing to brahminical influence, women
were not given much recognition. Sometimes they were held in contempt and in servility
to man. It was the Buddha who raised the status of women and there were cases
of women showing erudition in matters of philosophy. In his large-heartedness
and magnanimity he always treated women with consideration and civility, and pointed
out to them, too, the path to peace, purity, and sanctity. Said the Blessed One:
"A mother is the friend at one's home. A wife is the highest friend of the
husband."
The Buddha did not reject the invitation for a meal though
Ambapâli47 was of bad repute. Whatever food she offered he accepted, and
in return, gave her the Dhammadâna, the gift of truth. She was immediately
convinced by the teaching and leaving aside her frivolous lay life, she entered
the Order of Nuns. Ardent and strenuous in her religious practices, she then became
an arahat.
Kisâgotami was another woman to whom the Buddha gave the
assistance of his great compassion. Her story is one of the most touching tales
recorded in our books. Many more are the instances where the Buddha helped and
consoled women who suffered from the vicissitudes of life.
Ministering to the Sick
Great indeed, was the Master's compassion for the sick.
On one occasion the Blessed One found an ailing monk, Pûtigatta Tissa, with
festering ulcers lying on his soiled bed. Immediately the Master prepared hot
water, and with the help of the Venerable Ânanda washed him, tenderly nursed
him with his own hands, and taught the Dhamma, thus enabling him to win arahatship
before he died. On another occasion, too, the Master tended a sick monk and admonished
his disciples thus:
"Whosoever, monks, would follow my admonition (would
wait upon me, would honour me), he should wait upon the sick."48
When
the arahat Tissa passed away, the funeral rites were duly performed and the Buddha
caused the relics to be enshrined in a stupa.49
The Buddha's mettâ or
loving-kindness was all-pervading and immeasurable. His earnest exhortation to
his disciples was:
"Just as with her own life
a mother shields from
hurt
her own, her only child,
let all-embracing thoughts
for all that
lives be thine."50
Being one who always acted in constant conformity
with what he preached, loving-kindness and compassion always dominated his actions.
While journeying from village to village, from town to town, instructing, enlightening,
and gladdening the many, the Buddha saw how superstitious folk, steeped in ignorance,
slaughtered animals in worship of their gods. He spoke to them:
"Of life,
which all can take but none can give,
Life which all creatures love and strive
to keep,
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest
¼"51
Thus when people who prayed to the gods for mercy were merciless,
and India was blood-stained with the morbid sacrifices of innocent animals at
the desecrated altars of imaginary deities, and the harmful rites and rituals
of ascetics and brahmins brought disaster and brutal agony, the Buddha, the Compassionate
One, pointed out the ancient path of the Enlightened Ones, the path of righteousness,
love, and understanding.
Mettâ or love is the best antidote for anger
in oneself. It is the best medicine for those who are angry with us. Let us then
extend love to all who need it with a free and boundless heart. The language of
the heart, the language that comes from the heart and goes to the heart, is always
simple, graceful, and full of power.
Equanimity and Self-composure
Amid
all the vicissitudes of life-gain and loss, repute and ill-repute, praise and
censure, pain and happiness52-the Buddha never wavered. He was firm as a solid
rock. Touched by happiness or by pain he showed neither elation nor depression.
He never encouraged wrangling and animosity. Addressing the monks he once said:
"I do not quarrel with the world, monks. It is the world that quarrels with
me. An exponent of the Dhamma does not quarrel with anyone in the world."53
He admonished his disciples in these words:
"Monks, if others were to
speak ill of me or ill of the Dhamma or ill of the Sangha (the Order), you should
not on that account entertain thoughts of enmity and spite, and be worried. If,
monks, you are angry and displeased with them, it will not only impede your mental
development but you will also fail to judge how far that speech is right or wrong.
You should unravel what is untrue and make it all clear. Also, monks, if others
speak highly of me, highly of the Dhamma and the Sangha, you need not on that
account be elated; for that too will mar your inner development. You should acknowledge
what is right and show the truth of what has been said."54
There never
was an occasion when the Buddha manifested unfriendliness towards anyone-even
to his opponents and enemies. There were those who opposed him and his doctrine,
yet the Buddha never regarded them as enemies. When others reproached him in strong
terms, the Buddha neither manifested anger nor aversion nor uttered an unkind
word, but said:
"As an elephant in the battlefield endures the arrows
shot from a bow, even so will I endure abuse and unfriendly expressions of others."55
Devadatta
A striking example of this mental attitude is seen in his
relation with Devadatta. Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha who entered the
Order and gained supernormal powers of the mundane plane (puthujjana-iddhi). Later,
however, he began to harbour thoughts of jealousy and ill will toward his kinsman,
the Buddha, and his two chief disciples, Sâriputta and Mahâ Moggallâna,
with the ambition of becoming the leader of the Sangha, the Order of Monks.
Devadatta wormed himself into the heart of Ajâtasattu, the young prince,
the son of King Bimbisâra. One day when the Blessed One was addressing a
gathering at the Veluvana Monastery, where the king, too, was present, Devadatta
approached the Buddha, saluted him, and said: "Venerable sir, you are now
enfeebled with age. May the Master lead a life of solitude free from worry and
care. I will direct the Order."
The Buddha rejected this overture and
Devadatta departed irritated and disconcerted, nursing hatred and malice toward
the Blessed One. Then, with the malicious purpose of causing mischief, he went
to Prince Ajâtasattu, kindled in him the deadly embers of ambition, and
said:
"Young man, you had better kill your father and assume kingship
lest you die without becoming the ruler. I shall kill the Blessed One and become
the Buddha."
So when Ajâtasattu murdered his father and ascended
the throne Devadatta suborned ruffians to murder the Buddha, but failing in that
endeavour, he himself hurled down a rock as the Buddha was climbing up Gijjhakûta
Hill in Râjagaha. The rock tumbled down, broke in two, and a splinter slightly
wounded the Buddha. Later Devadatta made an intoxicated elephant charge at the
Buddha; but the animal prostrated himself at the Master's feet, overpowered by
his loving-kindness. Devadatta now proceeded to cause a schism in the Sangha,
but this discord did not last long. Having failed in all his intrigues, Devadatta
retired, a disappointed and broken man. Soon afterwards he fell ill, and on his
sick-bed, repenting his follies, he desired to see the Buddha. But that was not
to be; for he died on the litter while being carried to the Blessed One. Before
his death, however, he uttered repentance and sought refuge in the Buddha.56
The Last Days
The Mahâ Parinibbâna Sutta,57 the discourse
on the passing away of the Blessed One, records in moving detail all the events
that occurred during the last months and days of the Buddha's life.
The Blessed
One had now reached the ripe age of eighty; his two chief disciples, Sâriputta
and Mahâ Moggallâna, had passed away three months earlier. Pajâpati
Gotami, Yasodharâ, and Râhula were also no more. The Buddha was now
at Vesâli, and the rainy season having come, he went together with a great
company of monks to Beluva to spend the rains there. There a severe sickness fell
upon him, causing him much pain and agony, but the Blessed One, mindful and self-possessed,
bore it patiently. He was on the verge of death; but he felt he should not pass
away without taking leave of the Order. So with a great effort of will he suppressed
that illness and kept his hold on life. His sickness gradually abated, and when
quite recovered he called the Venerable Ânanda, his personal attendant,
and addressing him said:
"Ânanda, I am now grown old and full of
years, my journey is drawing to a close. I have reached my sum of days, I am turning
eighty years of age; and just as a worn-out cart, Ânanda, can only with
much additional care be made to move along, so the body of the Tathågata
can only be kept going with much infusion of will-power. It is only when the Tathâgata,
ceasing to attend to any outward thing and to experience any worldly sensation,
attains to the signless (animitta) concentration of mind, and dwells in it-it
is only then that the body of the Tathâgata is at ease.
"Therefore,
Ânanda, be islands unto yourselves. Be your own refuge. Have recourse to
none else for refuge. Hold fast to the Dhamma as an island. Hold fast to the Dhamma
as a refuge. Resort to no other refuge. Whosoever, Ânanda, either now or
after I am gone, shall be islands unto themselves, refuges unto themselves, shall
seek no external refuge-it is they, Ânanda, among my disciples who shall
reach the very topmost height! But they must be keen to progress."
From
Beluva the Buddha journeyed to the Mahâvana, and there calling up an assembly
of all the monks residing in the neighbourhood of Vesâli, addressed them
saying: "Disciples, the Dhamma realized by me, I have made known to you.
Make yourselves masters of the Dhamma, practise it, meditate upon it, and spread
it abroad: out of pity for the world, for the good and the gain and welfare of
gods and men."
The Buddha concluded his exhortation by saying:
"My
age is now full ripe, my life draws to its close;
I leave you, I depart, relying
on myself alone!
Be earnest then, O disciples, holy, full of thought!
Be steadfast in resolve! Keep watch o'er your own hearts!
Who wearies not
but holds fast to this Truth and Law
Shall cross this sea of life, shall make
an end of grief."
Worn out with sickness, with feeble limbs, the Blessed
One now journeyed on with much difficulty, followed by the Venerable Ânanda
and a great company of monks. Even in this last, long, wearisome journey of his,
the Buddha never failed in his attention to others. He instructed Cunda, the smith,
who offered him his last meal. Then on the way, he stopped for Pukkusa, a disciple
of Âlâra Kâlâma, replied to all his questions, and so
instructed him that Pukkusa offered himself as a follower of the Buddha, the Dhamma,
and the Sangha.
The Blessed One now reached the Sâla Grove of the Mallas
at Kusinârâ-the journey's end. Knowing that here would be his last
resting place, he told the Venerable Ânanda: "I am weary,
Ânanda,
and would lie down. Spread over for me the couch with its head to the north between
the twin såla trees."
He then lay down on his right side, composed
and mindful, with one leg resting on the other. Speaking now to the Venerable
Ânanda, the Blessed One said:
"They who fulfil the greater and
lesser duties, they who are correct in life, walking according to the precepts-it
is they who rightly honour, reverence, and venerate the Tathâgata, the Perfect
One, with the worthiest homage. Therefore, Ânanda, be steady in the fulfilment
of the greater and the lesser duties, and be correct in life, walking according
to the precepts. Thus, Ânanda, should you train yourselves."
The Last Convert
At that time, a wandering ascetic named Subhadda,
who was at Kusinârâ, heard the news of the Blessed One's approaching
death; and in order to clear up certain doubts that troubled his mind, he hurried
to the Sâla Grove to speak to the Buddha. The Venerable Ânanda, however,
did not wish the Buddha to be disturbed in his last moments, and though Subhadda
made several appeals, access to the Master was refused. The Blessed One overheard
the conversation. He knew at once that Subhadda was making his investigations
with a genuine desire for knowledge; and knowing that Subhadda was capable of
quickly grasping the answers, he desired that Subhadda be allowed to see him.
Subhadda's uncertainty was whether the leaders of the other schools of thought
such as Pûrana Kassapa, Nigantha Nâtaputta, and others had attained
a true understanding. The Blessed One then spoke:
"In whatsoever Doctrine
and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya), Subhadda, the Noble Eightfold Path is not found,
neither in it is there found a man of true saintliness of the first, or of the
second, or of the third, or of the fourth degree. And in whatsoever Doctrine and
Discipline, Subhadda, the Noble Eightfold Path is found, in it is found the man
of true saintliness of the first, and the second, and the third, and the fourth
degree.58 Now, in this Doctrine and Discipline, Subhadda, is found the Noble Eightfold
Path, and it too are found the men of true saintliness of all the four degrees.
Void are the systems of other teachers-void of true saints. And in this one, Subhadda,
may the brethren live the life that is right, so that the world be not bereft
of arahats."
Hearing the words of the Blessed One, Subhadda gained confidence,
and took refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. Furthermore, he desired
to be admitted into the Order, and the Buddha requested the Venerable Ânanda
to receive him. Subhadda thus became the last convert and the last disciple of
the Blessed One, and before long by his strenuous effort he attained the final
stage of arahatship.
The Last Scene
Now the Blessed
One, addressing the Venerable Ânanda, said:
"I have taught the
Dhamma, Ânanda, without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric
doctrine, for in respect of the truth, Ânanda, the Tathâgata has no
such thing as the 'closed fist' of a teacher who hides some essential knowledge
from the pupil.
"It may be, Ânanda, that in some of you the thought
may arise, 'The word of the Master is ended. We have no teacher any more.' But
it is not thus, Ânanda, that you should think.
"The Doctrine and
the Discipline which I have set forth and laid down for you-let them, after I
am gone, be your teacher. It may be, monks, that there may be doubts in the minds
of some brethren as to the Buddha, or the Dhamma, or the Sangha, or the path (magga)
or method (patipadâ). Inquire, monks, freely. Do not have to reproach yourselves
afterwards with the thought: 'Our teacher was face to face with us, and we could
not bring ourselves to inquire of the Exalted One when we were face to face with
him.' "
When the Buddha had thus spoken the monks were silent.
A
second and a third time the Blessed One repeated these words to the monks, and
yet the monks were silent. And the Venerable Ânanda said to the Blessed
One: "How wonderful a thing is it, Lord, how marvellous! Truly, I believe
that in this whole assembly of the monks there is not one who has any doubt or
misgivings as to the Buddha or the Dhamma or the Sangha, or the path or the method."
The Blessed One confirmed the words of the Venerable Ânanda, adding that
in the whole assembly even the most backward one was assured of final deliverance.
And after a short while the Master made his final exhortation to those who wished
to follow his teaching now and in the future:
"Behold now, O monks, I
exhort you: impermanent are all compounded things. Work out your deliverance with
mindfulness (vayadhammâ samkhârâ, appamâdena sampâdetha)."59
These were the last words of the Buddha.
Then the Master entered into those
nine successive stages of meditative absorption (jhâna) which are of increasing
sublimity: first the four fine-material absorptions (rûpa-jhâna),
then the four immaterial absorptions (arûpa-jhâna), and finally the
state where perceptions and sensations entirely cease (sañña-vedayita-nirodha).
Then he returned through all these stages to the first fine-material absorption
and rose again to the fourth one. Immediately after having re-entered this stage
(which has been described as having "purity of mindfulness due to equanimity"),
the Buddha passed away (parinibbâyi). He realized Nibbâna that is
free from any substratum of further becoming (parinibbâna).60
In the
Mahâ Parinibbâna Sutta are recorded, in moving detail, all the events
that occurred during the last months and days of the Master's life.
In the
annals of history, no man is recorded as having so consecrated himself to the
welfare of all beings, irrespective of caste, class, creed, or sex, as the Supreme
Buddha. From the hour of his enlightenment to the end of his life, he strove tirelessly
and unostentatiously to elevate humanity regardless of the fatigue involved and
oblivious to the many obstacles and handicaps that hampered his way. He never
relaxed in his exertion for the common weal and was never subjected to moral or
spiritual fatigue. Though physically he was not always fit, mentally he was ever
vigilant and energetic.
Therefore it is said:
"Ah, wonderful is the
Conqueror,
who e'er untiring strives,
for the blessings of all beings,
for the comfort of all lives."
Though twenty-five centuries have gone
since the passing away of the Buddha, his message of love and wisdom still exists
in its purity, decisively influencing the destinies of humanity. Forests of flowers
are daily offered at his shrines and countless millions of lips daily repeat the
formula: Buddham saranam gacchâmi, "I take refuge in the Buddha."
His greatness yet glows today like a sun that blots out lesser lights, and his
Dhamma yet beckons the weary pilgrim to Nibbâna's security and peace.