Short life of Gautama Budhha

June 19, 2007

This is how the story goes. It is taken from the site, http://www.elumbini.com/buddhism/historyofbuddha.php : -

Similar versions can be found in Wikipedia and other sources.

Essentially this and other stories establish that renunciation is the first step to self enlightenment.

Gautama partook the offering of Pyasam from Sujata under the Bodhi tree at Gaya. Sujata made this offering as she thought Gautama to be the tree (god) to whom she had promised the Payasam for giving her the boon of a child. Gautama was very emaciated from prolonged spells of fasting and his complexion resembled that of a tree. Gautama partook this meal before enlightenment. After enlightenment, he did not partake of any meals for seven weeks. So the legend goes.

A fast really means without food or water. Today we have even relay hunger strikes where people fast for stretches of 4 to 8 hours only. This is mockery of the word fast and non-violent way of Gandhiji.

Rajinder

Every year there was a big festival at the time the rice fields were ploughed. One day King Suddhodana took the little Prince to the ploughing festival. The Prince fell asleep. Seeing that the Prince was sleeping, His maids joined in the festivities of the day.

When they came back they found the Prince deep in meditation. He was meditating on His breathing in and breathing out. This meditation is known as breathing meditation (Aanaapaana Sati Meditation). This form of meditation is very important, as it was this meditation that was later used by the Buddha to attain enlightenment (the supreme knowledge that leads to the end of rebirth)

He asked Channa to take them back to His family and tell them that He had gone to find a way to end death.

The ascetic Gautama went to two well-known teachers to seek a way to defeat death. They were Alaara Kalaama and Uddaka Raamaputta. Very soon the ascetic Gautama had mastered all the knowledge of His teachers. However, neither of them could teach Him the way to end the cycle of birth and death.

The ascetic Gautama left the two teachers and was joined by five of His friends who were also searching for the truth. They were Kondanna, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahaanaama and Assaji. Together the friends gave up sensual gratification and tried to find the truth through self- mortification. At this time in India it was thought that the way to purify one's mind was through self-mortification. That is, by giving up eating, drinking and even breathing.

The ascetic Gautama tried all of this. His body wasted away due to lack of food. His beautiful golden skin became darkened and withered. His hair fell out for lack of nourishment. He had by now reduced the amount of food He ate to one mustard seed per day. He was so weak He could hardly move. The Devas said, "Surely the ascetic Gautama has passed away."

The ascetic Gautama realised that He would not reach His goal through self-mortification. Slowly, He started to take nourishment again. He decided to follow the middle path: to avoid the luxuries He had as a prince and also to avoid the extreme sacrifice of His body. His five friends left Him, thinking that the ascetic Gautama had given up His holy life and search for the Truth.

The ascetic Gautama set off on His own and reached the river Neranjara. He started to meditate under a tree.

In this area there lived a noble lady by the name of Sujaataa. She had taken a vow to the Deva whom she believed lived in this tree, and had prayed for a good son. On having her prayer answered, she prepared a dish of milk rice and went to the tree to offer it to the Deva. On seeing the ascetic so calm and beautiful she offered it to Him, thinking that He was the Deva. She said, "May your wishes be fulfilled just as mine have been."

The ascetic Gautama ate the food, put the bowl into the river, and tested His mind-power by saying, "If I attain the supreme knowledge of enlightenment today, may this bowl float upstream." The bowl floated upstream. This encouraged Him further.

Thereafter He went to Gaya and sat under a tree to meditate, determined to achieve the supreme knowledge on that day

It was a full moon day in the month of May. Remembering how, as a small boy, He had meditated on breathing in and breathing out at the ploughing festival and reached the first mental absorption (Jhaana), the ascetic Gautama decided to use this form of meditation.

Maara, the feeling of desire and attachment, seeing that the ascetic Gautama was about to achieve the supreme knowledge, tried to tempt Him with images of His wife and other pleasures. However, the ascetic Gautama was determined and continued His meditation. Finally, He attained the Supreme knowledge known as enlightenment. He attained it in three stages by realising the Four Noble Truths.

In the first week after enlightenment the Gautama Buddha meditated on His new-found knowledge and enjoyed His new-found happiness.

In the second week He paid respect to the Tree that had given Him shade during His long struggle for enlightenment, by standing at attention and gazing motionless at it. The Tree is now known as the Bodhi Tree: The Tree of Knowledge. A sapling from this original tree is now in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest documented tree in the world.

In the third week, seeing that the Devas were still in doubt as to whether He had attained enlightenment, He created a golden bridge with His powers and meditated while walking up and down on it.

In the fourth week he created a jewelled chamber and meditated on the higher teachings (Abhidhamma). At this time His mind and body were so pure and perfect that an aura of six colours emanated from His person. They were blue, yellow, red, white, orange and a mixture of the five. Today the Buddhist flag is made up of these colours.

Each colour represents one noble quality of the Buddha as follows:

Blue - confidenceYellow - holinessRed - wisdomWhite - purityOrange - absence of desireMixed - all of these qualities

In the fifth week the beautiful daughters of Maara - Tanhaa, Rathi and Ragaa - tried to disturb His concentration by dancing.

In the sixth week He was meditating under the Mucalinda tree when there was a heavy rain. Mucalinda, the king of serpents, coiled round the body of the Buddha seven times and held his large hood over the Buddha's head so that He would not get wet.

In the seventh week the Buddha was meditating under the Raajaayatana tree when two merchants by the name of Tapassu and Bhallika offered him rice cake. This was the Lord Buddha's first meal after enlightenment. The two merchants took refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma, and became the first lay disciples of the Gotama Buddha.

-

Sunil Bhattacharjya

Saturday, June 16, 2007 9:56 AM

Re: [HealthyIndia] Use of psychiatric drugs on children & the consequences.

Hi Rajinder,People observe different types of fasts. It does not matter to them whether others approve their type of fasting or not. The fasting without taking water is called Nirjal upavas or waterless fasting. Lord Buddha was supplied payasam by that lady during those days of meditation also. Lord Buddha was not in favour of people remaining hungry as a man cannot concentrate well if he is very hungry. Once when he was teaching a group of his disciples there was one trader disciple, who came from a distance and had to skip his meals to be in time to join the group. Lord Buddha came to know of that and he asked the man to go and have his meal first before joining the group. Eating food (of the type which is conducive to meditation) and attending to nature's call need not come in the way of meditation. The samadhi state need not always continue endlessly.

..

June 19, 2007

Going back to our earlier discussions all of us may or may not accept Lyall's opinion regarding Lord Budha's eating the fruits of the holy Pipal tree (Ficus Religiosa), popularly called the Bodhi or Ashvattha tree. But there is no doubt that the fruits having the precursor of Serotonin are very useful. Modern science will vouch for it. Fruits like fig, date and banana have the serotnin precursor, which raises the level of serotonin levels in the body and this removes stress and produces calmness of mind. Fig particularly is said to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells also. Taking serotonin as drug, administered directly, may not help in the same way as what the taking of natural fruits may do.Sandhirs <nimmiraj61 wrote: This is how the story goes. It is taken from the site, http://www.elumbini.com/buddhism/historyofbuddha.php : - Similar versions can be found in Wikipedia and other sources. Essentially this and other stories establish that renunciation is the first step to self enlightenment. Gautama partook the offering of Pyasam

from Sujata under the Bodhi tree at Gaya. Sujata made this offering as she thought Gautama to be the tree (god) to whom she had promised the Payasam for giving her the boon of a child. Gautama was very emaciated from prolonged spells of fasting and his complexion resembled that of a tree. Gautama partook this meal before enlightenment. After enlightenment, he did not partake of any meals for seven weeks. So the legend goes. A fast really means without food or water. Today we have even relay hunger strikes where people fast for stretches of 4 to 8 hours only. This is mockery of the word fast and non-violent way

of Gandhiji. Rajinder Every year there was a big festival at the time the rice fields were ploughed. One day King Suddhodana took the little Prince to the ploughing festival. The Prince fell asleep. Seeing that the Prince was sleeping, His maids joined in the festivities of the day. When they came back they found the Prince deep in meditation. He was

meditating on His breathing in and breathing out. This meditation is known as breathing meditation (Aanaapaana Sati Meditation). This form of meditation is very important, as it was this meditation that was later used by the Buddha to attain enlightenment (the supreme knowledge that leads to the end of rebirth) He asked Channa to take them back to His family and tell them that He had gone to find a way to end death. The ascetic Gautama went to two well-known teachers to seek a way to defeat death. They were Alaara Kalaama and Uddaka Raamaputta. Very soon the ascetic Gautama had mastered all the knowledge of His teachers. However, neither of them could teach Him the way to end the cycle of birth and

death. The ascetic Gautama left the two teachers and was joined by five of His friends who were also searching for the truth. They were Kondanna, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahaanaama and Assaji. Together the friends gave up sensual gratification and tried to find the truth through self- mortification. At this time in India it was thought that the way to purify one's mind was through self-mortification. That is, by giving up eating, drinking and even breathing. The ascetic Gautama tried all of this. His body wasted away due to lack of food. His beautiful golden skin became darkened and withered. His hair fell out for lack of nourishment. He had by now reduced the amount of food He ate to one mustard seed per day. He was so weak He could hardly move. The Devas said, "Surely the ascetic Gautama has

passed away." The ascetic Gautama realised that He would not reach His goal through self-mortification. Slowly, He started to take nourishment again. He decided to follow the middle path: to avoid the luxuries He had as a prince and also to avoid the extreme sacrifice of His body. His five friends left Him, thinking that the ascetic Gautama had given up His holy life and search for the Truth. The ascetic Gautama set off on His own and reached the river Neranjara. He started to meditate under a tree. In this area there lived a noble lady by the name of Sujaataa. She had taken a vow to the Deva whom she believed lived in this tree, and had prayed for a good son. On having her prayer answered, she prepared a dish of milk rice and went to the tree to offer it to the Deva. On seeing

the ascetic so calm and beautiful she offered it to Him, thinking that He was the Deva. She said, "May your wishes be fulfilled just as mine have been." The ascetic Gautama ate the food, put the bowl into the river, and tested His mind-power by saying, "If I attain the supreme knowledge of enlightenment today, may this bowl float upstream." The bowl floated upstream. This encouraged Him further. Thereafter He went to Gaya and sat under a tree to meditate, determined to achieve the supreme knowledge on that day It was a full moon day in the month of May. Remembering how, as a small boy, He had meditated on breathing in and breathing out at the ploughing festival and reached the first mental absorption (Jhaana), the ascetic Gautama decided to use this form of

meditation. Maara, the feeling of desire and attachment, seeing that the ascetic Gautama was about to achieve the supreme knowledge, tried to tempt Him with images of His wife and other pleasures. However, the ascetic Gautama was determined and continued His meditation. Finally, He attained the Supreme knowledge known as enlightenment. He attained it in three stages by realising the Four Noble Truths. In the first week after enlightenment the Gautama Buddha meditated on His new-found knowledge and enjoyed His new-found happiness. In the second week He paid respect to the Tree that had given Him shade during His long struggle for enlightenment, by standing at attention and

gazing motionless at it. The Tree is now known as the Bodhi Tree: The Tree of Knowledge. A sapling from this original tree is now in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest documented tree in the world. In the third week, seeing that the Devas were still in doubt as to whether He had attained enlightenment, He created a golden bridge with His powers and meditated while walking up and down on it. In the fourth week he created a jewelled chamber and meditated on the higher teachings (Abhidhamma). At this time His mind and body were so pure and perfect that an aura of six colours emanated from His person. They were blue, yellow, red, white, orange and a mixture of the five. Today the Buddhist flag is made up of these colours. Each colour represents one noble quality of the Buddha as follows: Blue - confidenceYellow - holinessRed - wisdomWhite - purityOrange - absence of desireMixed - all of these qualities In the fifth week the beautiful daughters of Maara - Tanhaa, Rathi and Ragaa - tried to disturb His concentration by dancing. In the sixth week He was meditating under the Mucalinda tree when there was a heavy rain. Mucalinda, the king of serpents, coiled round the body of the Buddha seven times and held his large hood over the Buddha's head so that He would not get wet. In the seventh week the Buddha was meditating under the Raajaayatana tree when two merchants by the name of Tapassu and Bhallika offered him rice cake. This was the Lord Buddha's first meal after enlightenment. The two

merchants took refuge in the Buddha and the Dhamma, and became the first lay disciples of the Gotama Buddha. - Sunil

Bhattacharjya Saturday, June 16, 2007 9:56 AM Re: [HealthyIndia] Use of psychiatric drugs on children & the consequences. Hi Rajinder,People observe different types of fasts. It does not matter to them whether others approve their type of fasting or not. The fasting without taking water is called Nirjal upavas or waterless fasting. Lord Buddha was supplied payasam by that lady during those days of meditation also. Lord Buddha was not in favour of people remaining hungry as a man cannot concentrate well if he is very hungry. Once when he was teaching a group of his disciples there was one trader disciple, who came from a distance and had to skip his meals to be in time to join the group. Lord Buddha came to know of that and he asked the man to go and have his meal first before joining the group. Eating food

(of the type which is conducive to meditation) and attending to nature's call need not come in the way of meditation. The samadhi state need not always continue endlessly. .

Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles.Visit the Auto Green Center.