Happy Wesak Greetings... !!!

[Guest guest]

HAPPY WESAK GREETINGS TO ALL!!!

MAY YOU ENJOY A WEEK FULL OF:

HAPPINESS,

PEACE,

JOY,

ENLIGHTENMENT!!!

Angelica

 

 

 

 

Bhikkhu Samahita <bhikkhu_ekamuni wrote:

 

Friends:

The Great Enlightenment of the Buddha:

 

On this full moon night of May, 2533 years ago the Buddha Awakened...!!!May all beings gain advantage & bliss by Celebrating this very Wesak Day!

So indeed it happened as later told by the blessed lord Buddha Himself...Source: The Story of The Sakyamuni Gotama Buddha. Well translated by Professor N.A. Jayawickrama. http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=132935

At that time a girl named Sujata Senani lived in Uruvela. When adult, she prayed before a certain Banyan tree, that she might get a husband equal to herself in caste and that her firstborn may be a son. If so, she promised to offer the perceived tree deity the value of 100.000 yearly. Her prayer was successful since so indeed did it happen. Six years after the Buddha-to-be had started his severe asceticism, she desired to pay back the perceived tree deity on the full moon day of the month of Vesak. First she put 1000 cows on good grass in the forest. The milk from them she fed to 500 cows and the milk from these 500 cows she gave to 250 and so on down to feeding such ultra pure milk from 16 cows to 8 cows. This process called "Working the milk in & in" made the milk more sweet, thick, protein rich & nutritious. At the full moon day of

Vesak month she rose at early dawn & made the cows to be milked. As soon as new buckets were placed under the cows, their milk poured forth in streams spontaneously all by itself. Seeing this miracle Sujata collected the milk herself in a new pot and began to cook milk-rice (Kiribath). Seeing the milk boil immediately while rotating right with large bubbles yet not spilling over & the fire burn without trace of smoke, she knew something special was going on. When Sujata saw so many miracles appear, she said to her servant girl Punna: "Punna, dear girl, the tree deity is very well disposed towards us today. Never have I seen so many wonders. Run quickly to the Holy tree and get everything clean, neat & ready. "Yes, my lady," answered the girl and ran in hot haste to the foot of the tree. Now at that very night the Future Buddha had 5 specific dreams

that made him conclude after thorough consideration: "Certainly, without doubt, today is the very day, I will reach Enlightenment!" When the night had passed, he cleaned himself and came early before down to that very tree and sat down facing east, to await the suitable time for going the begging round. His 5 colored radiance illuminated the whole tree. Then Punna came. When she saw the streaming radiance from his body lighten up the whole tree in a golden color, she became highly excited and said to herself: "Our deity, methinks, have come down from the tree and has seated himself in order to receive our offering with his own hands!". So she ran in great speed back to Sujata & told all about it. When Sujata heard this news, she became both thrilled & jubilant! So elated, she rewarded the slave Punna by saying: "From this very day you

may be here as my eldest daughter," and gave Punna all such jewellery appropriate for that position. Since all Buddhas on the day of Buddhahood receive their food on a golden dish, the idea occurred to Sujata to put the milk-rice & a golden plate worth 100.000. The milk-rice poured out from the pot as water from a lotus leaf & filled exactly the golden dish. Covering it with another golden dish and wrapping it in a white cloth, she adorned herself with all her ornaments and proceeded with the dish on her head to the foot of the Banyan tree. As soon as she caught sight of the Future Buddha, she became exceedingly overjoyed & ecstatic. Expecting him to be the tree deity, she approached while constantly bowing. She took down the golden dish from her head & uncovered it. Advancing close to the Buddha-to-be she put down a golden vase with flower scented

water. Sujata then placed the golden plate in the hands of the Great Being. He gazed at her & she perceived that he was a Holy Man. Doing a reverential obeisance she said: "Lord, please accept my donation & take it wherever you see fit." Adding "May your wishes come through like mine." she raised and departed as disinterested in her golden plate as had it been a withered leaf. The Future Buddha then raised and circulating the tree right-wise he proceeded down to the Neranjara river and descended into its waters just as many thousands of Future Buddhas before him had here bathed on the day of their complete enlightenment. This place is even today a pilgrimage called Suppatitthita. Coming out of the water he dressed in the simple hempen dress of Saint-ship also common to all the Noble Bodhisattvas before him. Sitting down on the bank he then rolled the

entire dish of thick sweet milk-rice into 49 small pellets and ate them. Thereafter he took no further food in the 49 days of the 7 weeks he spent enraptured in the bliss of Awakening. During all that time the Buddha neither bathed, rinsed his mouth nor eased himself but was fully absorbed into the ecstasy of the trance of Arahatship. When he had consumed the milk-rice he took the golden dish and said: "If I am to become a Buddha today, let this golden dish go up-stream." He then threw it into the water, and cleaving the stream as a fleet horse it went up-stream in the middle of the river for 160 meters. Then it dived into a whirlpool & sank into the submerged palace of the black Snake King where it hit "Click! Clack!" against the top of the stack of golden dishes, used by the 3 prior Buddhas of this Eon. When the black Snake King heard this particular sound

he exclaimed: "Yesterday another Buddha lived. Today a new One has been born!" repeating several hundred admiring verses. As the time from yesterday did this immense time lapse between two Buddhas appear to him. At these rare occasions his body raised up into the air to several km. Then the Future Buddha rested at the riverbank between Sal trees in full bloom. At nightfall when the flowers closed, he raised like a lion & went towards the Bo tree along a path prepared by the deities. Just then a grass-cutter came going with his harvest from the other side. He offered the Great Being 8 handfuls of Kusa grass, when he saw that this Sage was a Holy Man. The Future Buddha accepted the grass and proceeded to the foot of the Bo-tree. There, the Expert of worlds surveyed the site standing on the Southern side. This instantly sank down

while the opposite side raised up. "This cannot be the site for the attainment of supreme wisdom". So he went around the tree to the Western & Northern sides, but also there did the ground sink down. Reaching the imperturbable Eastern side, where all Buddhas take their seat, he sat down saying to himself: "This is indeed the immovable spot where all the Buddhas have planted themselves! This is the very place for destroying the net of passion!" Shaking out the grass it spontaneously arranged itself into a suitable & symmetric seat. Then the Future Buddha turned his back to the trunk and faced East. Right there he then made this mighty decision: "Let blood & flesh of this body dry up & let skin & the sinews fall from the bones. I will not leave this seat before having attained the absolute supreme Wisdom!" So determined did

he seat himself in this unconquerable seat, which not a 100 strikes of lightning could make him waver from. At this very moment the rebel deity Mara -the Evil One- raised exclaiming: "Prince Siddhattha will pass beyond my power, but I will never allow it!" and sounding the Mara's war shout, he prepared his army & went out for battle. The sound of it was like the rumbling roar of an earthquake. Mara mounted his enormous Elephant carrying many different weapons. Not two in his army carried the same weapon & this immense mass of warriors swept forward as a flood to overwhelm the Blessed Bhagava. There Deities of the 10 thousands worlds of this galaxy were singing the praises of the Great Being. Maha-Brahma was holding a white umbrella. But when Mara's army came close, no one dared stay put. They all fled trembling like a caught rabbit. The black Naga King dived

into the earth & reaching his hidden home, he covered his face with both hands & lay down. Sakka threw the conch right over his shoulder & took up a safe position at the rim of the world. Maha-Brahma left the white umbrella at the end of this world & fled into his fine-material plane. Not a single deity was able to stand his ground, so they all left the Great Being sitting calmly all alone only protected by the consummation of his perfections. Then Mara said to his militia: "This Siddhattha, son of king Suddhodana, is far greater than any other man, so we will never succeed to fight him up front. We will therefore attack him from behind." Looking towards the North the Kinsman of the sun perceived that Mara's Army was approaching like a great flood and noted: "Here come this mighty gang putting up all their forceful power against me alone. Neither

my parents, family nor friends are here. But I have these great accumulated perfections at my side. These will be my shield and the force that will crush this mighty evil & armed gathering. And so he remained all still inwardly focusing on the 10 great perfections. Wanting to drive away the Future Buddha Mara then whirled up a great storm, which could tear away mountain peaks, uproot trees and pulverize entire cities into scattered powder. Yet when this immense energy reached the Future Buddha it could not even make the corner of his robe flutter. Such was the power of the Great Being's long accumulated merit. Intending then to drown this Bull among Seers Mara caused a great rain to pour down until the wild torrents of water flooded even the treetops. But on reaching the Future Buddha this immense flood could not even wet his robe to the extent of a dewdrop.

Infuriated, Mara, yielding power over even the creation of others, then caused a showering bombardment of flaming rocks & smoking boulders. Yet these turned into celestial flowers reaching the Great Being. So also did a veritable assault by a cascade of burning spears, swords, arrows & axes hurling through the air. Enraged, Mara then whirled forth an attack of burning red coals. These also however feel gently as flowers at the feet of the Foremost of all humans. Seething mad, Mara then tried white ashes & sand glowing like fire but this fell as sandal wood powder at the feet of the Caravan leader. A shower of boiling mud became a delighting balm. Feverishly attempting to frighten the Great Seer, Mara then caused a dense fourfold darkness to spread out, but reaching the Dispeller of darkness it disappeared like darkness is lighted up in the

radiance of the sun. Frustrated, being unable even to touch the Wielder of power with these nine mighty hurricanes of wind, rain, rocks, weapons, red coals, hot ashes, sand, mud, & darkness Mara somewhat in panic commanded his army: "Why do you stand still? Seize, kill & drive away this prince". Armed with a discus he drew near the Future Buddha on his elephant & yelled: "Siddhattha, leave this seat. It is not yours but mine!" Hearing this the Well-gone One replied: "Mara, neither have you fulfilled the 10 perfections to the third degree nor have you given the 5 great donations*. Neither has you striven for insight, for the welfare of the world, nor for enlightenment! Therefore does this seat not belong to you, but indeed to me." Unable to control his fury the enraged Mara hurled his discus which could cut stone pillars like bamboo shoots. But as the

Great Being reflected on the perfections, it changed into a canopy of flowers, which remained suspended over his head. Mara's army then threw enormous mountain like boulders saying: "This will make him get up & flee!" but they also fell to the ground as flowers. Meanwhile the gods were standing on the rim of the world & craning their necks to see, they mumbled: "Oohh what a day. This handsome prince will certainly be smashed! What will he do to save himself?" The Conqueror then confidently continued: "Mara, who is your witness to have given the great donations ?" Mara responded: "As many as you see here!" and instantly all in his army roared "I am his witness, I am his witness" as with one voice. Mara then asked the Great Being: "Siddhattha, who is your witness to have given the great donations ?" The Future Buddha answered: "You have

alive witnesses at your side while I have none. However the great seven-hundred-fold donation, which I gave at my existence as Vessantara, shall now be testified by this great earth how inanimate she may be. And at the exact moment he touched the earth with his hand, it erupted into a tremulous earthquake. When he gladdened remembered his prior great donation, Mara's elephant crouched down before him on its knees. Suddenly overpowered by fear Mara's followers fled helter-skelter in all directions. Not two went the same way, but leaving their weapons in a chaos all behind, they fled terrified by panic. Seeing them flee, the great assembly of deities triumphantly shouted: "Mara is defeated. Prince Siddhattha has Won! Let us celebrate the Victory!" The snakes then urged the snakes, the birds urged the birds, the deities urged the deities, the Brahmas urged the brahmas

and they all approached the great wisdom seat of the Supreme Teacher carrying perfumes, flowers, garlands, and offerings, while they sang: "The Victory has this illustrious Buddha Won. The Evil One, The End-maker is defeated & done. Thus they jubilantly circled the wisdom throne, the band of snakes singing their praises of the Seer, the flocks of birds singing their praises of the Sage, the assembly of Deities singing their praises of the Conqueror, the group of Brahmas singing their praises of the Worthy One." It was before the sun had set that the Tathagata thus conquered Mara & defeated his army. Then at the same night, while the Bo tree rained red sprigs on his robe, the Consummate One acquired knowledge of previous existences in the first watch of the night: "With the mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, fixed, unified,

focused, tractable, compliant, steady & imperturbable, I directed it to remembrance of my past lives. I recollected numerous past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five, ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan & species, had such a body. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there. There I had such name, belonged to such a sort & family, had such a form. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here. Thus I remembered my various past lives in all their various modes & details. This was

the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is mindful, keen, & determined. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind nor remain. With the mind thus still concentrated, purified, bright, intact, pliant, malleable, steady, & imperturbable, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human eye I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I realized how & why they are high & low, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate all in accordance with the kamma of their prior actions: 'These beings -- who were endowed with bad behavior of body, speech, & mind, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views

and acted under the influence of wrong views, with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of misery, the bad destination, the lower realms, even in hell. But these beings who were gifted with good behavior of body, speech & mind, who did not revile the Noble Ones, who held right views and acted under the influence of right views -- with the break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in happy destinations, even in a divine world.' Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human -- I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I differentiated why they are high & low, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate all in accordance with their particular mixture of good & bad kamma. "This was the second knowledge I attained in the second watch of the night. Ignorance was

destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as happens in one who is mindful, keen, & determined. But the satisfaction that arose in this way did not invade my mind nor remain. With the mind thus concentrated, absorbed, bright, purified, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the ending of the mental fermentations. I realized how it actually comes to be, that: Caused by Ignorance, Mental Construction emerges. Ceasing of Ignorance therefore ceases Mental Construction. Caused by Mental Construction, Consciousness emerges. Ceasing of Mental Construction therefore ceases Consciousness. Caused by Consciousness, Name- & -Form emerge. Ceasing of Consciousness therefore ceases Name- & -Form. Caused by Name- & -Form, the Six Senses emerge. Ceasing of

Name- & -Form therefore ceases the Six Senses. Caused by The six Senses, Contact emerges. Ceasing of The six Senses therefore ceases Contact. Caused by Contact, Feeling emerges. Ceasing of Contact therefore ceases Feeling. Caused by Feeling, Craving emerges. Ceasing of Feeling therefore ceases Craving. Caused by Craving, Clinging emerges. Ceasing of Craving therefore ceases Clinging. Caused by Clinging, Becoming emerges. Ceasing of Clinging therefore ceases Becoming. Caused by Becoming, Birth emerges. Ceasing of Becoming therefore ceases Birth. Caused by Birth, Ageing, Sickness & Death emerge. Ceasing of Birth therefore ceases Ageing, Sickness & Death. Caused by Ageing, Sickness & Death, Misery emerges. Ceasing of Ageing, Sickness & Death therefore ceases all Misery! So seeing:

Such is Misery... Such is the cause of Misery... Such is the end of Misery... Such is the way leading to the end of Misery... Such was the mental fermentations... Such is the cause of fermentation... Such is the end of fermentation... Such is the way leading to the end of fermentation.' When my mind saw that, realized that, it was freed of the fermentation of sensuality, released from the fermentation of becoming, unobstructed by the fermentation of ignorance. With release, there was the knowledge, 'Released.' I realized that 'Birth is ended, this Holy life is fulfilled, the mission is completed. There is no further state in this world.' "This was the third knowledge I attained in the third watch of the night. Ignorance was destroyed; certainty arose; darkness was destroyed; light arose -- as it

happens to one who is mindful, keen, & determined. But the satisfaction that so arose, did not obsess my mind nor remain." At this very moment of attainment of Omniscience, the 10 thousand worlds quaked 12 times & became gloriously adorned. Throughout this galaxy flowering trees bloomed, lotuses blossomed, and wines & trees bore fruit, the dark spaces of the hells and between the worlds became illuminated by a flood of radiance surpassing even that of 7 suns. Fully & perfectly Enlightened - The Buddha - perceiving this immense glory spoke these solemn 2 verses, which never has been omitted by any of countless thousands of prior Buddhas: Through this round of countless existences have I searched yet failed to find the Creator who framed this formation: What Misery! - Endless Birth, Death & Pain ! Now I see that 'the

Constructor' of this structure is Craving. Never shall this construction be build again as all the rafters are shattered and the main beam is busted & broken. At the elimination of Craving this mind has reached rest… Then, friends, I myself a subject birth, ageing, sickness, death, pain, sorrow & mental degradation, having fully comprehended the danger in all what is subject to birth, ageing, sickness, death, pain, sorrow & mental degradation, searching the unborn, unageing, immune, deathless, unburning, happy, pleasant & pure supreme security from the oppressing bondage of craving, of becoming, of views, and of ignorance, entered this unbecome, unborn, uncreated, unconstructed, undiverse, unformed, unchangeable, unconditional, unimaginable, undecaying, unageing, unending, undeceiving, universal unity, this supremely safe, immune, death &

painless state called Nibbana. This vision of certainty arose in me: "This release is irreversible, this is the last birth, this endless reappearance is finally ended..." Further Information about the most important Buddhist Holy day: Wesak: