The Buddha is not a god, or prophet or any such creature. He is a unique being that arises only in certain conditions to proclaim the Dhamma that sets man free from the bonds of pain and suffering.
Gautama Buddha was born in northern India about 2250 years ago. The exact place of his birth is said to be the Lumbini garden. Which lie just inside the border of the little Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. Gautama's father, King Suddhodana was the ruler of the tiny kingdom of Sakyas. Naturally, he was delighted to have an heir who could follow him onto the throne. He was thus not very happy when a wise man predicted upon seeing the baby that if he did not become a world ruler he would become a great religious teacher.
Suddhodana did everything in his power to keep Gautam's mind out of the religion direction.
Gautama was thus brought up in a sealed world of security and luxury. He lived in a beautiful palace, wore cloths of the most splendid materials, ate only the finest foods and was generally entertained and waited upon in the best style.
Gautama grew up and eventually married a young princess, Yasodhara, who bore him a son, Rahula. One day, However, he persuaded his attendant, Channa to drive him down to the local village, where he had not been till then. In all, he was to make four trips to the village which were to totally change his life.
On the first trip he met an old man, on the second trip he met a sick man and on the third trip he met a party of people carrying a corpse to the cremation ground. Not having seen old age, sickness and death, he was naturally deeply shocked. Upon realisation that this was the common fate of all mankind, palace life was no longer pleasant or even bearable for him.
He became obsessed with the fact of suffering and with finding a way of ending it.
On a fourth trip to the village, he came across an ascetic, a holy man. One who had given up everything to follow the religious life. Despite having no possessions, this man radiated a calmness that suggested to Gautama that he had somehow come to terms with the unpleasant fact of suffering.
Gautama decided to follow the example of the ascetic. He slipped out of the palace late one night, exchanged his splendid silken robe for the simple orange one of a holy man, and cut off all his beautiful black hair. Then, carrying nothing but a begging bowl for people to put food in, he set off on his great quest.
Gautama when to all the famous religious teachers of his time and learned all they had to teach. In the process he subjected his body to great hardship and torment. He lived in deep forests, burning in the midday heat and shivering in the night; he slept on beds of thorns, sometimes he lived in the cemeteries, he starved himself until he became so thin that if he touched his stomach he could feel his backbone. But still he cannot find an answer to his basic search and realised that if he kept on that way he would probably die before finding the answer.
He therefore took a little food, much to the disgust of his fellow ascetics who promptly left him. Then he sat himself under a great tree at a place now called Bodh Gaya. He was determined to sit there untill he found the answer he sought or die trying. During the night of a full moon of May, Gautama passed into deep meditation and gained various kinds of knowledge. he recalled his previous lives, he also saw how karma works, he saw how to overcome desire, attachment to existence and clinging to false views. Finally as the morning star rose, he attained enlightenment and declared "Birth is ended, the holy life has been fulfilled, what was to be done has been done".
Beautiful Silence by Ajahn Brahmavamso
14 years ago
