1 - Buddha After Being Enlightened (2)   Contd... from Previous Page

Buddha renounced the luxurious life of his father's court and became a religious seeker of Truth at the age of 29 . After abandoning severe ascetic practices and as a result of meditation he achieved "Enlightenment" and realized the state of mental calmness called as Nibbaan or Nirvaan in Sanskrit language.

After he became the Enlightened One he returned to his Ajapaal banyan tree and thought as from where he should start his teachings of Dhamma (Dharm). Then Sahampati (Brahmaa) and many Devtaa came to him to request him to preach to people. He first thought of Aalaar and Uddak (Buddha's two first teachers) but found that they had already died. Next he thought of those five ascetics who were wandering with him in the beginning but now they were in Banaaras (present Varanasi). So he proceeded to preach them.

On the way he got a false priest Upaka and announced to him that he had become an Enlightened One. His five companions first ignored him but later they came to see him. So in the deer park of Asee-Patanaa (near Banaaras) the Buddha preached his first sermon which contained the fundamental principles of his teaching of the Four Noble Truths - (1) life is full of suffering, (2) the cause of suffering is desire, (3) cessation of desire ends suffering, and (4) the way to end sufferings to follow the Noble Eightfold Path - right views, right aims, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Thus on the full Moon day, Brahmaa and all Devtaa heard the Buddha's first message and the five ascetics became his five disciples.

At the same time a memorable conversion of a young man took place. There lived a rich man's young son named Yash in the city of Banaaras. He was always indulged in music and dancing, until one day he decided to take leave from his passions and become a monk. So his father invited Buddha to his house and offered him food. As all of them listened to his sermon, they became his disciples. Thus the number of his disciples started increasing. His teachings, called Dhamma (Dharm), attracted many disciples who formed a community called as "Sangh". They were called Buddhist. First a follower was received by the words "Ehi Bhikku" (Come, O Monk) but later rules were set. After the number increased to more than 60, Buddha sent them to preach elsewhere but he himself continued on his way alone.

Once he arrived at Urubelaa grove where lived three hermit brothers and their many followers. He asked permission to stay there overnight. The eldest brother Urubelaa-Kashyap said - "You can stay here but beware of a poisonous serpent here who guards this place." But Buddha had no fear from him so he stayed. In the night when he came with all his fumes and smokes, he caught him in his alms bowl and showed him to Urubelaa-Kashyap. Kashyap got impressed and he was invited to stay there for some time. He did stay there, and performed many miraculous happenings there still Kashyap could not reconcile for a long time that Buddha was even equal to him.

On one occasion, Kashyap invited him for a meal which Buddha agreed upon saying that he would join him later. Then Buddha went to the farthest part of Jamboo Dweep (the southern continent of man) and plucked a Jamboo (Jaamun or roseapple) fruit and reached for the meal before Kashyap. Buddha offered him the fruit but Kashyap said that it was not suitable for him to eat that fruit.

On another occasion, Buddha wanted to wash his robe, so Indra provided him a tank and a stone, and a nearby tree branch bent for him to dry his robe. Yet on another occasion, there rained heavily and the land was submerged. Kashyap went to see in a boat how Buddha was doing in that rain, he saw that Buddha was walking to and fro on a firm dry land untouched by water. This incident convinced those brothers and his followers that he was real Buddha and all became his disciples.

Now Buddha remembered the promise made to king Bimbasaar, so he went to Raajgriha where he stayed in a palm grove and Bimbasaar came to see him with his courtiers. There Kashyap acknowledged that Buddha was his teacher. Bimbasaar also became his disciple and gave him a bamboo forest, Velu Van, to live. Buddha spent next rainy season in Vaishaalee.

In the sixth year of his preaching Buddha performed a great miracle. He tried to find out what the former Buddha did, so he saw that they preached the law in Tavaatinsh Heaven (Heaven of the 33 Devtaa) to their mothers. So he raised his right foot and placed it on the top of Yugandhar mountain and his left toe upon Mount Meru, and with another stride he reached Tavaantinsh Heaven and seated upon a large rock called Paandukambal (the throne of Indra) under the Divine tree - Paarijaat. Then he preached his mother along with Indra and all Devtaa of 10,000 worlds the Abhi-Dhamma for three months. When on full Moon day, when Buddha was to descend the Heaven, Indra prepared a triple stairway - one of gold for Devtaa, one of silver for Brahm, and a one jeweled one in the middle for Buddha. He set on his foot at the gateway of the city of Sankass where all paid respects to him.

After some time in Jet Van, his chief disciple Saariputt noticed that previous Buddha's chief disciples had always died first and thus realized that he wouldn't live beyond the next seven days. So he asked Buddha's permission to go to his village Nalak and died there. At his deathbed, he was visited by four Devtaa of directions, Indra and Brahm. When his old mother saw it, she recognized her son's worth and received Buddha's teaching from him. Sariputta also got Moksh. His grieved mother ordered for 500 gold shrines, 500-tiered spires to be made in his honor and built a funeral pyre 99 cubits (about 45 and 1/2 yards) high. Saariputt's nurse Revatee also came to offer flowers at his pyre but was crushed to death on her way in the crowd. She was immediately translated to Heaven from where she descended in a golden ornamented room to pay homage to Saariputt.

From Raajgrih, Buddha traveled to Vaishaalee. There he stopped at the Kapaal shrine for one day, there he said to his favorite disciple Aanand - "Every wise person should perfect himself in the four bases of psychic powers, and if he chooses so, he may remain for whole world cycle. Since I have perfected this matter, I can so remain for as long as I wish." Foolish Aanand did not understand this so he kept quiet.

Soon Maar, the Spirit of Evil, again appeared before him and said - "Your time has come, go to Nirvaan." Buddha said- "Don't be concerned, within three months I will get Pari-Nirvaan (Moksh)." At the same moment earth began to shake. Aanand asked the reason for this. Buddha told him eight reasons for this. The seventh reason was his decision to die, and the eighth reason was yet to come - his attaining Moksh. Hearing this Aanand got shocked and asked him three times to stay on earth for one age of the world but Buddha replied - "Aanand, It is too late." The he asked Aanand to assemble all his monks and preached them.

On his last journey, from Vaishaalee, at the age of 80, he preached on four bases of mindfulness, that is the four ways of directing the mind to the impurities of and impermanence of matter, on the four great authorities and on the practices that lead to the attainment of Nirvaan. Once on his journey he felt thirsty so he asked Aanand to fetch water from a river. The water was very dirty and muddy so he did not want to give it Buddha but Buddha insisted three times to give it to him. As Aanand filled Buddh's bowl with that dirty water, the water became pure and clear.

Malla Prince offered him two robes of golden color, Buddha gave one to Aanand who in turn offered it to Buddha. Buddha in his robe was shining like a pillar of fire. Buddha told Aanand it was because his time to get Moksh had come. Then he went to the Shaal grove of Malla kings on the banks of Hiranyavatee River. There he lay down on his right side on a royal couch. The branches of the trees which were above him burst into bloom. Devtaa of the 10,000 worlds came and honored him. His last words were - "Everything is subject to change, strive on without delay." And at dawn Buddha got Moksh.

For seven days music and dancing continued. On the eighth day Malla kings put on his body the new robes and took it in a procession accompanied by all Devtaa. Outside the city they built a huge funeral pyre and according to his instructions his body was wrapped 500 times in a cotton cloth in a fine cloth and was placed in a golden coffin on the pyre which was 120 cubits (about 60 yards) high.

At the same time Kashyap was on his way from Pava to Kusheenar, that he met an ascetic with an extraordinary large Mandaarav flower like umbrella. This flower appeared only on great and rear occasions associated with Buddha, so he knew that Buddha got the Moksh seven days ago. On the other side Malla kings were trying to set fire in the pyre but the wood was not catching fire. In fact Devtaa were waiting for Kashyap to arrive and pay his last respects to Buddha's body. Kashyap arrived, he raising his hands circled the pyre three times and where he stopped, the sacred feet of Buddha appeared from the coffin and he paid his respects to them. Only then the wood caught fire and all was consumed apart from some sacred relics. After that a stream of water came down from the sky between the two Shaal trees to extinguish the fire.

Kashyap predicted that there will be a king Ashok in future who will spread Buddha's teachings to his homeland and other lands, and so it happened.

Later his teachings were gathered and placed in monuments called "Stoop". Together they became known as "Tipitakaa" (three baskets). First basket is of Discipline, second basket is of Discourses, and the third basket is of Ultimate Doctrine. Buddhism spread southward from India to Sri Lankaa, Burmaa, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and northward to Central Asia, Tibet, Korea, China and Japan. 

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[This information is based on "The Life of Buddha", by Patricia M. Herbert, published by Pomegranate Communications in association with the British Library, 1993.]