By
Scott Shaw
Historically, little is of absolute certainty regarding the
life of the being who has become commonly referred to as, The Buddha.
Throughout history, however, his life has been chronicled in legend.
Siddharta
Guatama
Siddhartha Guatama, the Sakyamuni Buddha, “Buddha from the Kingdom of Sakya,” is
generally agreed to have lived from 563 to 483 B.C.E. Legend states that he was
a Prince who lived a very sheltered life. Upon witnessing poverty, illness, and
death for the first time, he lost faith in all that was material and left
behind his Royal Lifestyle, his wife, and his newborn child in pursuit of the
ultimate truth of human existence.
What is historically established is that during the lifetime
of The Buddha a revolution was taking place in South Asia. Iron had recently
been introduced to the Indian Subcontinent from China. This led to many rapid
advancements in society—agriculture was vastly improved and landscapes could be
readily cultivated. No longer were the forests the daunting obstacles they had
once been. Now, they could be cleared so crops could be harvested within their
once impenetrable boundaries. New structures, particularly palaces, were
constructed in a much more substantial fashion. And perhaps most definitive of
the era, the tool of warfare were vastly improved. So much so that near the end
of his life The Buddha’s own kingdom of Sakya fell to the neighboring Kingdom
of Kosala. Within a century of his lifetime, the entire region of what is now
Northern India and Nepal would be united as the Magadha Empire.
The prominent religion of this historic era was Vedic
Brahanism. This religion can trace its roots back a thousand years prior to the
life of The Buddha. Its scriptures, known as The Vedas, began to be composed in
1500 B.C.E. This religion is the basis for modern Hinduism.
The highest practitioners of this religion were the
Brahmans. They were identified as the highest cast and obviously the wealthiest
of this ancient society. From this, they claimed privileges not afforded to the
average individual.
As formalized power, secular wealth, and religious privilege
rose in this region, dissatisfaction among the populous also escalated. This
gave birth to a group of ascetics who were known as Sramana. The Sramana
shunned society, renounced material possessions, and became wandering holy men
following an undefined path to enlightenment. This group laid the foundation
for what has become more commonly known as the Sadhu. The mindset of this
group, undoubtedly, influenced the path the young Siddhartha Guatama as he
would ultimately follow.
The Buddha’s path to enlightenment is historically unclear.
It is believed that he studied with two primary teachers, Arada Kalama, who
taught Akimcanya Ayatana, “The experience
of nothingness” and, Udraka Ramaputra, who taught Naiva Samjna Asamjna
Ayatana, “The experience of conscious
unconsciousness.”
The legend persists in China that Lao Tzu, the Great Sage
who is credited as the author of The Tao
Te Ching, upon becoming disheartened with Chinese society and leaving his
royal post, actually entered what is modern day Nepal and also became one of
The Buddha’s teachers. As romantic as the pairing of these great souls appears,
there is no historic evidence to provide factual substantiation to this claim.
The
Enlightenment of the Buddha
Legend states that The Buddha dissatisfied with not
obtaining the ultimate understanding of life from his two teachers or following
the path of a wandering holy man, sat down under a Bodhi Tree and swore he
would not rise until he became enlightened. Though many legends have been
written about what The Buddha experienced during this period of intensive
meditation, it is known that he did, in fact, emerge an enlightened being.
The Buddha, upon his realization, gave his first enlightened
discourse at what is now Bodh Gaya, near Varanasi, India. This talk is known
as, “The First Turning of the Wheel of
Dharma.”
It cannot be established, with absolute certainly, what The
Buddha actually said during this discourse, however. All that is written,
claiming him as the source, was done so years, and in some cases centuries,
after his physical death.
The
Pali Canon
The Theravada tradition of Buddhism claims that the language
of the Buddha was Pali, and thus, their collections of scriptures, known as,
The Pali Canon, is the most accurate. This, however, has proven to be
linguistically incorrect, as Pali came into existence after the time of The
Buddha—who left his body near the city of Kusinagra, when he was eighty years
old.
Thus, his spoken words, though possibly initially recorded
in his native dialect, most probably, Magadhi, were handed down from disciple
to disciple for an undefined period before they finally found their way into
scriptural form.
The
Buddhist Religion
With the end of Buddha’s life came the Buddhist religion.
But, The Buddha did not invent the concept of enlightenment, nor was he the
first or the last, being to reach this highest level of conscious evolution.
Throughout the centuries, the followers of Buddhism have come to idealize his
life and his teachings to the degree that it was impossible for them to reach
their own Buddhahood, due to the extensive set of parameters they have assigned
to the advancement of human consciousness.
There is an elemental problem with this mindset, however.
Was the Buddha a Buddhist? No, he was not. He was a Hindu. Did the Buddha ask
for worship? No, he did not. In fact, legend states that when he was asked, “Are you an Avatar,” he answered, “No, just a man.” When asked, “Then, are you a Guru?” He answered, “No, just a man.”
This is the portrait of the true, perfectly enlightened
teacher, who achieved the highest level of human consciousness. Yet, he did not
seek admiration due to his realization.
It is the unenlightened mind of humanity that has forgotten
this simple truth and chosen to make him a deity of worship and his teachings
the basis for a religion. From this mindset has come centuries of Buddhist that
have been unable to encounter the realms of Nirvana—solely due to the fact that
they project such an orchestrated, idealized image of what enlightenment is
supposed to be. This problem is amplified by the fact that many Buddhists hold
fast to the belief that the teachings of their sect of Buddhism or their
individual teachers hold the only great truth and the purest pathway to higher
consciousness. They miss the point...
The teaching laid down by The Buddha are absent from
formalized religion. Formalized religion employs ritual. Ritual, though
beautiful to watch, is based in physical actions. Physical actions only leads
to physical reactions. Thus, Karma is set in motion—not enlightenment.
If enlightenment is the core teaching of The Buddha and it
is understood that it is possible for each individual to achieve this level of
consciousness, then why do anything other than become enlightened? Arguing that
my school or my teacher is the best and yours is wrong does not produce
enlightenment. Only enlightenment produces enlightenment.
Be enlightened.
Copyright
2006—All Rights Reserved
