History of Sakyamuni Buddha

Owing to one of his great vows and his infinite compassion, Sakyamuni Buddha refused all forms of happiness, power, material conveniences to obtain the salvation religion. Also, with his such great vow and after having realised the Paths and Fruitions entitled The Supreme Bodhi of the Buddha, he devoted all his life to the propagation of the true Dharma and rescued all beings from delusions. The World Honoured One travelled all around India in the ancient times, from the North Pole below the foot of Hymalaya down to the South Pole along Ganga riverside.

The Buddha reserved his first weeks to experiment the\r\nextremely marvelous dharma from which he experienced his Buddhahood and enjoyed\r\nthe religious joy brought to him by his previous good karma. In the Dharmapada\r\n(sutra) and from the verses 153 to 154, one of the first words of the Buddha\r\nhave been recorded as follows:

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[153. Through many a birth in samsara have I wandered\r\nin vain, seeking the builder of this house (of life). Repeated birth is indeed\r\nsuffering! 154. O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build\r\nthis house again. For your rafters are broken and your ridgepole shattered. My\r\nmind has reached the Unconditioned; I have attained the destruction of\r\ncraving.]

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The verses equal to a song of triumph which describes the\r\nglorious victory after a secret and miserably hard fight against our innermost\r\nfeelings. The builder represents desire, ignorance and defilement which are\r\nalways lurking deeply in each of a human being but are finally detected.

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The Buddha has also left us a fine moral lesson which is his\r\nexpression of deep gratefulness toward the bodhi-tree that had shaded him from\r\nthe sun and rain during the time he was looking for his appropriate religion.\r\nFor one week, the Buddha was standing at a far distance from the tree to\r\nworkship it. Later, king Asoka had a souvenir tower built called\r\nAnimisalocana Cetiya which still exists these days.

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The World’s Honoured One thought of the deep catechism of\r\nsalvation which is hard to be seen, hard to be proved,upaśama, lustless, and\r\nnon-ego from which he attained Buddhahood, while living beings are always sunk\r\nin delusion, pre-conceptions, ego-grasping from their previous lives, ... How\r\ncan human beings easily accept such a kind of catechism? And then, with the\r\nintelligence of a high-level enlightened circle, the World’s Honoured One\r\nobserved the world and noticed that “There is a class of people who are less\r\ninfected by dust of life, those who are unable to receive Buddha-truth, those\r\nwho are clever, those who have good roots, those with cruel roots, those who\r\nare easy to be educated, and those who are hard to be educated, ...

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It is like a lotus lake, in one there is green lotus, in\r\nanother rose lotus, still in another white lotus, but all these flowers are\r\nopen out and grown up under water surface - never rise upon water surface and\r\nare brought up within water; that is, some of this kind of flower are born and\r\ngrown up under water surface and then rise out of water but are not absorbed by\r\nwater, ...” (in Sautrantka – 1st Central Volume). In that way - pictures\r\nof the lotus petals rising out of water, half in the air and half in water, or\r\ndeep within water - all these suggested in the Buddha’s mind the difference in\r\nlivelihood of living beings. It means that there are some people who are born\r\nand grown up at the bottom level of life like the lotus at the bottom of a\r\nlake, some at the level between the bottom and water surface, and some at the\r\nhigh level who can completely absorb the Buddha’s dharma like the lotus petals that\r\nhave risen out of the water surface. Although differing in their karmas, all\r\nliving beings have their hidden seeds of enlightenment, which are like lotus\r\nflowers - living in stinking mud but they still keep their very sweet fragance.

After three times of request and wishing to start the\r\nBrahma‘s vows of helping the Dharma, the World’s Honoured One decided to prod\r\nwith beatings of the drum of Dharma and started his mission by proclaiming to\r\nthe world, to human beings, to celestial area and to all, his road of suffering\r\nsalvation leading to neither to be born nor ended and nirvana is wide open,\r\n“The immortal door is open to those who are willing to listen to the\r\nproclamation ...” (in Sautrantka – 1stCentral Volume). And the dharma wheel started\r\nturning around.

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I. The first Dharma lesson: The notion called\r\n‘Triratna’ was formed, which started the Buddhism School.

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After deciding to propagate the morality of salvation for\r\nall species, the Buddha used his divine eyes to observe the whole world in\r\norder to pick out the person who deserved to be helped first. For this, he\r\nthought of his two previous masters - Alara Kàlama and Uddaka Ramaputta - but\r\nthese two had already passed away not long ago. Then the Buddha thought of his\r\nfive old co-religious friends who shared with him their ascetic practices but\r\nthey had left him behind previously and were now still in the Deer Park. So he\r\nstarted out and reached there.

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The first Dharma. At the Park the first Dharma lesson on\r\nthe topic named ‘The Four Noble Truths’ was explained clearly by the Buddha.\r\nRight after listening to it, the saint named Kodanna attained srotapanna (the\r\nfirst step of the four before attaining Arhat Enlightenment). The World’s\r\nHonoured One admitted five monks as his first disciples and, as a result, the\r\nword Trinity has been formed since then.

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To mark this memorable fact, people later represented it as\r\nthe picture with a wheel having two deers on its two sides. The two deers\r\nrepresent the location where the Dharma was preached (the Deer Park) and the\r\nwheel represents Dharma-cakra, meaning ‘The wheel of law’. The topic to be\r\nexplained was called Dharma Cakkappavattana, meaning ‘To turn the wheel of\r\nDharma’ -

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The content of the sutra called ‘Turning the Dharma\r\nwheel’.

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The World’s Honoured One opened his speech by giving advice\r\nto his disciples that they should not be committed the two extremes, the first\r\nof which is known as wordly lustful desire because it is really artificial,\r\ntemporary, mediocre and prevents all human spiritual progress. The second\r\nextreme is known as pressed austereness. It makes our spirit tired, and loses\r\nour clearsightedness. For this, he advised people to follow the Middle Way\r\nwhich leads to a restful, intelligent and clearsighted life aiming at liberating\r\nhuman beings ultimately. The Middle Way is known as ‘The Noble Eightfold Path’\r\nor ‘The Eight Correct Ways’, the first of which is Right View. The second is\r\nRight thought. The third is Right speech. The fourth is Right action. The fifth\r\nis Right livelihood. The sixth is Right efforts. The seventh is Right\r\nmindfulness, and the eighth is Right meditation. Next, he explained the four\r\nsacred principles or dogmas. They are the truths about misery, the truths about\r\nthe source of misery, the truths about misery destruction, and the truths about\r\nthe road to misery destruction.

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After listening to the Buddha’s second preaching entitled Anttalakkhana\r\nSutra which is about egolessness, or about the five aggregates that make\r\nup a human being - form, feeling, perception, mental formation and\r\nconsciousness - and that these are all impermanent, and that anyone who\r\ncan escape from worldly passion and desire can escape rebirth and is liberated,\r\nthe five sages named Kodanna, Vappa, Bhaddhiya, Mahànàma, and Assaji in\r\nturn attained Arahanthood. It was in Vesàkha month (between April and May,\r\nsolar calendar) at the beginning of the summer retreat. The Buddhist School of\r\nthe World’s Honoured One took a peaceful residing during the summer retreat\r\nhere.

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Converting Mr. Yasa by instruction. Close to Benarès\r\nthere was a son of a millionaire named Yasa. Tired of his luxurious but\r\nmediocre and tasteless life of the world, the son looked for the Buddha and\r\nasked the latter to leave the world as a monk. Not long after having listened\r\nto the Dharma, this son attained Arahanthood. On the way looking for his son,\r\nYasa’s father also came to the Deer Park to request the Buddha to listen to the\r\nDharma and after that he asked for becoming a Buddhist. He then became the\r\nfirst layman of the Buddha. At their house, the son’s mother and his wife also\r\ntook the ceremony of Triratna refuge. The four close friends of Yasa named Vimala,\r\nSubhàhu, Punnaji and Gavampati as well as his more than 50 other friends\r\nliving close to and far away from him also bowed to their parents, asking their\r\nparents’ permission to become the Buddha’s disciples and not long later\r\nattained Arahanthood.

 The first preaching sangha.\r\n\r\n

At that time the World’s Honoured One had a group of\r\ndisciples amounting to the number of sixty who were all Arahants. The Buddha\r\ndecided to send them everywhere to propagate the true Dharma. Before these\r\ndisciples set off, the Buddha encouraged and appealed to them for the\r\nfollowing: â€œHey, bhiksus! I am Tathagata who have escaped from all\r\nworldly and universal ties and you have, too... Hey, bhiksus! Set out because\r\nof the benefits of many people, because of the happiness of heaven and the\r\nmajority of people, of the pity toward the world, of the benefits of the heaven\r\nand human beings. Do set out, but do not go in pairs and in the same direction.\r\nInstead, go one by one, each of you in one direction and propagate the true\r\nDharma. It is a perfect version from the beginning, in the middle part, and\r\nalso in the end, both in its ideas as well as its style. Do make public a\r\nperfect and restful life... I myself will go, too. I will head forUruve, which\r\nis in Sanànigàma, to propagate the correct Dharma. Do raise high the flag\r\nof the learned masters. Do propagate and impart the sublime Dharma, and do\r\nbring the good to many others. If you can do so, then you have completed your\r\nmission. (Mahavagga, 19-20).

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The Buddha did not advise all people to leave their family\r\nlife to enter monk- or nunhood because if they do so, they may become homeless,\r\njobless or non-property people. A layperson can also lead a noble life, adapt\r\nhimself to the Buddhist Dharma and attain sainthood. Yasa’s parents and his\r\nwife were the first laypeople who followed the Buddha’s steps - all of them\r\nmade progress in their self-cultivation and attained Srotapanna (the first step\r\nof the four before attaining Arahant Enlightenment).

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It was the first time in world history that the Buddha and\r\nhis disciples comprising 60 Arahants to form a sangha of mendicant friars who\r\ndid not have a fixed dwelling place or any property of their own but a yellow\r\nkasaya and an almbowl to beg for their daily food. In the rain or the sun, in\r\nthe misty or windy atmosphere there have always been footprints of those who\r\npreach the suffering philosophy and a pure, noble life and how to set a good\r\nexample of a peaceful and liberated life. That is the cause and the main\r\ncontent of the first sangha formed and led by the Buddha himself.

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It could be said that this was the start of the Buddhist\r\nSchool.

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II. Large and everywhere conversion - Conversion\r\nmission.

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 The road to conversion promoted by The World’s\r\nHonoured One was extremely hard and difficult. But, thanks to his deep\r\ncompassion and absolute equalitarian spirit plus his iron will, he based on\r\nindividual conditions and used appropriate and wonderful methods to convert\r\npeople successfully. He was like a king in medicine who knew how to cure all\r\ndiseases perfectly. Accordingly, he fully succeeded in fulfilling his spiritual\r\nmission of conversion by putting forward a really new way of instruction in the\r\nhistory of mankind.

 He has converted the three Kassapa brothers, head of\r\ndivine fire.\r\n\r\n

Right after each of his 60 disciples took his own road, the\r\nBuddha headed for the direction to Uruvela. On his way to this location, he\r\nconverted 30 young men who were having a good time with their wives and a\r\nprostitute in a forest.

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Close to Uruvela, there were three brothers with the names Uruvela\r\nKassapa, Nadi Kassapa and Gaya Kassapa. These were very famous young men in\r\nMagadha, especially the eldest brother, Uruvela Kassapa, who called himself an\r\nArahant, was intentionally arranged to pass the night in a room where the fire\r\ngod was worshiped and where a venomous and very cruel Indian cobra was found.\r\nBut beyond Uruvela Kassapa’s imagination, the Buddha successfully\r\nsurrendered the holy snake. Believing that the Buddha himself, not themselves,\r\ndid attain sainthood, the three Kassapa brothers and 1,000 followers asked the\r\nBuddha to become his disciples.

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Later, the Buddha arrived at Gàya Sirà which was not too\r\nfar away from Uruvela. It was at this place that the Buddha preached Aditthapariyàya\r\nSutta, meaning ‘The fire is burting into flames’ and the topic of which was\r\n‘The world is a building which is on fire burnt to the ground by greediness,\r\nanger, delusion, birth, old age, sickness, death, sadness, misery and\r\ndisappointment’. All the bhiksus present at the preaching session attained\r\nArahanthood.

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During the time the Buddha abandoned his family, he\r\ntemporarily spent some time in Pàndavapabbata. Here kingBimbisàra was\r\nmoved and fired by the Buddha’s imposing appearance and his intelligent, smart,\r\nand modest nature. The king, therefore, let his subordinate inquire into the\r\nPrince’s identity. When the king understood the Prince’s strong willingness, he\r\nasked the latter to return to visit Magadha, the kingdom which he governed,\r\nonce the Prince had attained Buddhahood.

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Remembering the old promise, the Buddha, together with his\r\nover 1,000 Arahant disciples, came to Ràiagaha, the rich and strong\r\ncapital city of Magadha, and here once king Bimbisara had understood the\r\nsublime dharma, he attained the initial fruit of achievement and asked the\r\nBuddha to organise a ceremony of Triratna refuge for the king himself and for\r\nall the citizens of the spacious monastery named Veluvanaràma, next\r\nto Ràjagaha citadel. It could be the first monastery and king\r\nBimbisara was the first donor among the kings at this tranquil Budhist\r\nestablishment where the Buddha, together with the masses, entered a successive\r\nthree-year summer retreat session and three other sessions apart.

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The reception of Sariputta and Moggallàna. Close\r\nto Ràjagaha, there was a village named Upatissa, also calledNàlaka.\r\nIt had an intelligent young man named Sariputta. As this young man was born\r\ninto a high rank family, he was also called Upatissa.

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Upatissa shared the same opinion with his close friend named Moggallàna in\r\nKolita Village: that all the wordly pleasures were temporary, insipid and\r\ntasteless. Therefore, the two young men decided to leave their families and\r\nwandered aimlessly to find out universal truth. Then they accepted Taoist\r\nhermit Sànjaya, who had many students, as their master. But, owing to\r\ntheir dissatisfaction with this Taoist hermit and also with their other\r\nmasters, these two close friends said good-by to each other and promised that\r\neither of the two would promptly let the other know the appropriate way of\r\nliberation.

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On a sudden occasion, Sir Sàriputta was astonished\r\nto witness the liberated, calm and supernatural manners and attitude of Sir Assaji,\r\nwho was walking leisurely in an attempt to transform by instruction\r\neverybody in the city namedRàjagaha. The former thought that this must be\r\na a person of the rank of Arahant or at least someone who was on his road of\r\nenlightenment, Sariputta waited for an appropriate occasion to respectfully\r\nprostrate himself before the latter and asked, “Respectfuly dear Sir! Your gait\r\nis so calm, your manners are so relaxed, and the colour of your skin is so\r\nbright. How come did you enter religion? Who is your master? And what is your\r\ndoctrine?”

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At such sincere, modest and urgent questions on the part of\r\nSariputta, Sir Assaji read the fundamental religious principles he learned from\r\nthe World’s Honoured One, through a verse which is as follows,

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Being a person who attained enlightened wisdom with a\r\nwell-train brain so as to master the deep knowledge, Sariputta attained the\r\ninitial fruit of achievement (Srotàpanna) right at the moment he just\r\nheard the first two sentences of the above-mentioned verses.

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As promised previously, Sapuritta quickly informed his close\r\nfriend, while

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Moggallàna had also attained Srotapanna. Because of the\r\ninsistence of the two close friends, the Buddha admitted them into his sangha\r\nat the monastery named Veluvana with a simple saying, “Do come here, my\r\nbhiksus!” And half of a month later Sapuritta attained Arahanthood after\r\nhaving listened to the sutra ‘Vedanà Pariggha’ that the Buddhapreached to the\r\nTaoist Hermit named Dighnakha. Sir Moggalàna attained such a\r\nreligious result just one week before. With a great good condition, the Buddha\r\nconvened his sangha and proclaimed that those two new members were the two\r\ntop official members of the sangha.

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Hence, they often represented the World’s Honoured One in\r\nleading the Buddhist clergy. And that was the point of time that marked the\r\nstrong development of the Buddhist School led by the World’s Honoured One.

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III. The Buddha and his relatives.

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Knowing that his beloved and wise son had attained the Way\r\nand was successfully preaching at Ràjagaha, kingSuddhodana was\r\nimpatiently wanted to see his son. So, the king ordered his messenger to\r\npolltely invite the Buddha to go back to Kapilavatthu right away.\r\nUnhappily, all the nine messengers asked the Buddha to become a monk and stay\r\nwith him.  The tenth one, Kàludàyi, who was the Buddha’s close\r\nfriend during the time the Buddha was a Crown Prince, also asked the Budha to\r\nbecome a monk and stay with the Buddha after having listened to the Buddha’s\r\npreaching, and finally attained the fruition like the previous nine messengers.\r\nThe sole difference was that Kàludàyi asked the Buddha to meet the\r\nweak and old king’s request.

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Two months later, the World’s Honoured One and his disciples\r\narrived in Kapilavatthu. In front of the Buddha’s imposing religious\r\nmanners, the Buddha’s father bowed himself to the Buddha three times. After the\r\nBuddha’s first preaching, the king’s father attained the initial fruit or\r\nachievement and attained the second fruit after the second preaching. After the\r\nthird preaching entitled Dhammapala Jàtaka, the king’s father attained Anagami.\r\nAlso with this preaching, the Buddha’s  mother’s younger sister also\r\nattained Srota-apanna or the initial fruit or achievement.

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Later, on his sick-bed, king Suddhodana was visited once\r\nmore by the Buddha who preached to the king. After 7 successive days deeply\r\nenjoying the joyful dharma, the king attained Arahanthood and then passed away\r\nin tranquility at his 40 years old and it was his fifth summer retreat. Also in\r\nthis fifth retreat, the Buddhist Nun School was established. And in the seventh\r\nretreat the Buddha reached the Heaven Womb Tusita in an attempt to help the\r\nDevas and Queen Maya.

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Princess Yasodhara.

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 After the Crown Prince had left the imperial palace,\r\nPrincess Yasodhara also cast off all her jewellery and wore a yellow kasaya.\r\nShe led a faithful life in 6 years to whole-heartily raised her only one child\r\nnamed Rahula until he became a young man. Hearing his father-king praised her\r\nas a virtuous daughter-in-law, the World’s Honoured One preached Candakinnara\r\nJàtaka sutra and said, “Not only in this last life of hers but in her previous\r\nlives did the Princess had saveguarded, respected and lived together as husband\r\nwife with Tathagata.”

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After the king passed away, the Buddha’s  mother’s\r\nyounger sister Pajàpati entered nunhood and later attained Arahanthood.\r\nAmong the Buddhist nuns at that time, she was the one who had the most\r\nmagic power, and entered Nirvana at the age of 78. In Apadana sutra, one still\r\nsees the verses preached by her.

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The boy named Rahula. Rahula was born just on the day\r\nwhen the Crown Prince decided to leave his secular life. The boy grew up within\r\nthe plight of a parentless child who was brought up by his grandfather and his\r\nmother. At his 7 years old, just the time during which the World’s Honoured One\r\nwas staying at his own native place, the boy became always attached to his\r\nfather, the Buddha, coddled himself and asked for his inherited property as\r\ntold by his mother. The Buddha decided to give ‘The seven treasures of\r\nEnlightened Beings’ to the boy by admitting him to the Sangha, and giving him\r\nto Sapuritta for educating him.

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It was beyond human imagination that a seven years old boy\r\ncould, by himself, lead a noble life of a supernatural superior disciple. But\r\nthe sramanera Rahula was especially intelligent and obeyed in practising his\r\nreligious studies. In a sutra one reads that each morning the sramanera woke up\r\nvery early, took a handful of sand and vowed, “I hope that today I will be able\r\nto study as much as the quantity of this handful of sand, ...”

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One of the famous sutras that the Buddha taught his son,\r\nRahula, was Ambalatthika Rahulovada Sutta. It stresses on the importance\r\nof honesty, the method known as ‘Reflecting so as to abolish all bad concepts,\r\nwords and actions”.

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When Rahula reached the age of 18, together with his father\r\nin a religious mendicancy, the two showed their majestic and aristocratic\r\nmanners of clergymen which looked like the royal bodyguards and the father\r\nsedately walked beside his docile and meek son. This image make people thought\r\nof a royal swan which was leading its young child swimming on a lake of a royal\r\npark; it looked like a king of the jumgle with its imposing, young tiger. Both\r\nof them had an attractive body and were of noble descent, and both refused and\r\nleft the throne. While looking at his father king, the Buddha suddenly thought\r\nof the attractive body of both. Knowing this, the Buddha read the  immortal\r\nverse entilted "N'etam mama”, meaning “This does not belong to us”\r\nand “N'eso'ham'asmi”, meaning “This is not us”, and “Na me so attatà”, meaning\r\n“This is not our selves”.  (For this, you can refer to the whole\r\noriginal verse named Anattalakkhana Sutta, part II).

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And after listening to the sutra named Cùla Ràhulovàda,\r\nRahula attained Arahanthood. He entered Nirvana even before the Buddha and Sir\r\nSariputta. He was famous for observing discipline, and his close friends called\r\nhim ‘Lucky Rahula‘ because his life obtained two great happiness  -  one\r\nwas the son of a Buddha, and two was his experience of the truth as he\r\nmentioned in the verse named Theragàthà.

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Sir Ananda. Sir Ananda was the son of Prince Amitodana,\r\nking Suddhothana’s younger brother. Accordingly, Ananda was The Buddha’s\r\ncousin. As his birth brought joy to the royal family, he was named ‘Ananda’,\r\nmeaning ‘joy’. Two years after the Buddha attained the Way, Ananda entered\r\nmonkhood together with the young men of the Sakya line named Anurudha,\r\nBhaddiya, Bhagu, Kimbala and Devadatta. Not long after that, he attained\r\nSrota-apanna or the first step of the four before attaining Arhant\r\nEnlightenment after listenign to the sermon preached by Junior Venerable Puna\r\nMantàniputta.

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When the World’s Honoured One reached his 55 years old,\r\nAnanda suggested his eight-point petition which was as follows. 1) The Buddha\r\nis requested not to give Ananda any of the kasayas that the Buddhists presented\r\nto the Buddha. 2) The Buddha is requested not to give Ananda any of the foods\r\nthat the Buddhists presented to the Buddha. 3) Ananda requested not to share the\r\nsame dwelling place with the Buddha. 4) The Buddha is requested not to let\r\nAnanda come to anywhere the former is invited to come alone. 5) The Buddha\r\nshould be elated at coming to the place where the former is requested to come\r\nalone. 6) The Buddha should be elated at giving Ananda the permission to\r\nintroduce people coming from far away  to see the Buddha. 7) The\r\nBuddha should be elated at giving Ananda the permission to raise questions to\r\nthe former whenever there are suspicions about anything. 8) The Buddha should\r\nbe elated at preaching again any sermons from which Ananda was absent.

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Ananda’s petition was approved by the Buddha and in the\r\nmasses he was appointed to be the Buddha’s attendant for 25 years since then,\r\nand he performed his mission very devotedly. In a sutra one reads, “Every night\r\nAnanda went on 9 inspection tours around the Buddha’s residence to make sure\r\nthat the latter be secured.

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Ananda had an extraordinary memory. He remembered without\r\nomitting any of the Budha’s and the Buddha’s great disciples’ sayings once he\r\nhad heard of. Once there was a Brahmin who asked Sir Ananda how many sutras he\r\ncould remember and his answer was ,”82,000 of the Buddha and 2,000 preached\r\nby  other sages.”

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The Buddha exclaimed Ananda for the latter’s 5 merits  -  great\r\nlearning, extraordinary memory, consistency, considerate care, and good conduct\r\nhimself.

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Not until after the Buddha entered nirvana that Ananda\r\nattainned Arahanthood, just one day before the  First Cannon\r\nRegrouping Congress. It was written in sutras and books that Ananda was the one\r\nwho attained Arahanthood beyond his walking, standing, lying, and sitting. He\r\ndied at the age of 120.

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IV- The Buddha’s younger sister named Maha\r\nPajapati Gotami entered nunhood. The appearance of nun-school

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Named Maha Pajapati because the Buddha’s younger sister\r\nwas predicted by the prophets at that time that in the future she would head a\r\nlarge group of people. Her son was Nanda, who was a half-brother on the father’s\r\nside with Crown Prince Siddhattha, and was helped by the World’s\r\nHonoured One in entering monkhood while Nanda was organising three important\r\nceremonies known as wedding, title confering, and new palace inaugurating.

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Although it was proclaimed that womankind could attain the\r\nfour sainthood steps (lady Maha Pajàpati had attained Srota-apanna as\r\nsaid here above), the road of self-cultivation for women encountered\r\ndifficulties due to the fact that this circle had to undergo a non-family life,\r\nto shut themselves in the Dharma laws, as well as in the Bhudist precepts, and\r\nto help people transform themselves  -  all are miserably\r\nhard to perform. Besides, with their soft-hearted and easy-moved nature, it is\r\nvery difficult for them to perform the spiritual, lofty and hard mission of a\r\nTathagata’s messenger. It was for these reasons that after King Suddhodana’s\r\ndeath, Maha Pajàpati three times asked for becoming a nun, but the\r\nWorld’s Honoured One refused her request without any explanations.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Not until Maha Pajàpati, together with many other\r\nmandarin’s wives of Sakya line, shaved their heads, wore yellow sakaya, and\r\nwalked the 200 kilometre long, rough road from Kapilavatthu to Vesàli with\r\ntheir considerably swollen feet and soiled bodies, and bewailed their lot by\r\nthe side of the Buddha’s residence plus the fourth request of Ananda that the\r\nBuddha accepted to let women lead their nunhood life on condition that they had\r\nto abide by the 8 articles stipulated for a woman in a sangha. When hearing\r\nAnanda reported the 8 articles, the ladies were very happy and swore that they\r\nwould abide by them, and the women altogether agreeded joyfully. The women\r\nBuddhist School was found then.

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When appoving women circle to join the sangha, the Buddha\r\nalso called the masses’ attention to many things. He said, “Hey Ananda! Robbers\r\nare easy to sneak into a house with more women than men. Likewise, if women\r\nabide by Tathagata’s laws, then these sacred laws are difficult to be\r\nmaintained long. It is like the case of a man who is trying  to\r\nembank a dike next to a large lake, trying to stop water overflown from the\r\nlake. Likewise, I have made the Eight Commands Sutra, aiming at helping\r\nbhiksunis so that they may abide by them all their lives.”

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In any large-scale social organisation there must always be\r\nsome basic fundamental principles so as to respect and protect the rights of\r\nsome special group as a matter of priority for such a group. The Buddha did not\r\nrestrain any values of female circle’s rights; instead, he was the first head\r\nof a religion in mankind history who formed a female organisation with full of\r\nlaws and precepts. It is known that at that time India had various\r\norganisations, but none of which had a female union that worked on such\r\nactivities.

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Some time later, the bhiksuni Maha Pajàpati attained\r\nArahanthood. In Maha Pajàpati sutra many other names were still\r\nrecorded and many verses were composed by bhiksunis who had attained\r\nArahanthood

\r\n\r\n

 

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V- Mr. Devadatta and the opponents.

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Although with an attempt to create liberated happiness with\r\nan absolute purity and complete non-profit for everybody, and there was not any\r\ndiscrimination among the social classes, the Buddha had always to confront many\r\nfierce oppositions on his road to the Buddhist propagation. He was severely\r\ncriticised, treated, scolded and attacked ruthlessly. The opponents were those\r\nwho followed other religious systems with superstitious ceremonies and useless\r\ncustoms harmful to society and prevented spiritual progress, including those\r\nwith low and egoistic ambition, among whom was Mr. Devadatta, the most\r\nsymbolic character.

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He was the son of king Suppabuddha and Queen Pamità,\r\none of the Buddha’s aunts; and Princess Yasodharà was his sister. Devadatta\r\nentered monkhood at the same time with Junior Venerable Ananda and the\r\nyoungsters of Sakya line. Although he did not attain any sainthood, he was very\r\ngood at magical power and was supported at maximum in all aspects by king Ajàtasattu.\r\nAt his first phase of monkhood, he had his examplary way of life, so noble\r\nto the extent that Sir Sariputta exclaimed his talent and virtue throughout Pajàgaha.\r\nBut then fame and wealth shook him and made him a man with a life of\r\ndebauchery, declined conduct, and false views. However, he was still supported\r\nby a great number of people. When the Buddha’s age was high, he asked the\r\nformer to hand over the leadership of the sangha to him, but the former\r\nrenounced his proposal. Devedatta then tried to incite Crown Prince Ajàtasattu to\r\nkill king-father Bimbisàra so that he might seize the authority and\r\nhad the plot to harm the Buddha. But the gunners who were hired to kill the\r\nBuddha were converted and became the Buddha’s disciples. Devedatta then\r\nundertook the plot himself by pushing a big stone from Gijihakuta mountain\r\nside directly down to the Buddha while the latter was passing below. Unhappily,\r\nthe stone hit another one, broke into pieces and a small piece of which hit the\r\nBuddha’s foot and gave him a blood seepage, but the herb doctor Jìvaka, the\r\nfamous surgeon in Rajàgaha and also the person who cared for the Buddha’s\r\nhealth and the citizens in that city, was quickly present to take care of\r\nthe Buddha’s injury. Unsuccessful with the intrigue, Devedatta tried to feed\r\nthe ferocious elephant with strong alcohol and then drove this drunk animal\r\ntoward the Buddha, but it was converted by the merciful Buddha.

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Devedatta gradually lost his prestige and the public opinion\r\nraised its voice strongly. These made king Ajàtasattu left Devedatta\r\ndown. Devedatta changed his plot to another one that seemed to be more\r\npeaceful. He put forward 5 requests relating to the Sangha activities which\r\nwere as follows: bhiksus must live for all their lives in a forest and at the\r\nfoot of a tree, wear clothes made from scraps of fabric gathered from\r\ngraveyard, live by begging for alms, and eat vegetable food for their whole\r\nlives. But The Buddha brought out a free and democratic answer : “Not a single\r\nperson has to strictly follow these rules.”

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At the end of Devedatta’s life, none supported him, and he\r\nwas fallen in ‘black days’. Struck by a serious disease, he was repented\r\nendlessly of his folly and wanted to see the Buddha for the last time, but it\r\nwas too late. He was just able to utter the phrase ‘I wish to turn to and rely\r\non the Buddha” and then he drew his last breath.

\r\n\r\n

 

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VI. The giant colosus. Sir Anathapindika.

\r\n\r\n

The most important alms-giver during the time of the Buddha\r\nthat should be mentioned was Sudatta, a citizen of Savatthi, who was specialised\r\nin doing charitable work to help orphans and widows and provided for\r\nshorthanded people. For his merits, he was given the name ‘Elder Anathapindika’,\r\nmeaning ‘An old man who helps lonely and deserted people’. Once he came to city Ràjagaha\r\non business and heard that his brother-in-law was preparing to receive the\r\nBuddha the next day. The word Buddha (meaning the enlightened\r\nman) made him have a strange change in his heart. Although he had heard of such\r\na literary word, he had never seen the Buddha in person. But he could not wait\r\nuntil the next day to see the Buddha. Feeling that there was something hurrying\r\nhim, he quickly went up and down hill toSitavara to present himself to the\r\nBuddha right away, and he was converted  by the Buddha ever since.

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At the seriocomic challenging words from Crown Prince\r\nJeta,  Anathapindika used the gold coins of his own and\r\nstretched out covering the surface of Jeta’s garden; the latter’s faith created\r\nadmiration from the Buddha. Next, with the large pieces of rock offered by\r\nJeta,  Anathapindika built the pure abode named Jetavana,\r\nwhich was finally offered to the Buddha. It was right at this place that\r\nthe Buddha spent 19 times as his peaceful residing during his summer retreats.\r\nMost of the Buddhist dharma lessons were made at this pure abode in Savatthi,\r\nwhich was recognised from the sentence in a sutra, “Savatthi nation, Jeta’s\r\ntrees, and Anathapindika’s garden ...”. \r\n\r\n

The dharma sermons relating to laypeople came from his\r\nmerits. In a dharma sermon on the conduct of alms-giving, the Buddha taught us\r\n: offering a place to eat and lodge to monks and nuns equals to create numerous\r\nmerits, but turning to and relying on Trinity brings more merits and strictly\r\nkeeping the five precepts will give even more merits to the followers. But\r\nobtaining more merits if you can practise meditation and keeping a heart of\r\ncompassion. But the highest merit must be to develop one’s wisdom, absorb the\r\ntrue life’s physionomy and really see the doors of enlightenment, especially Vipassanà (a\r\nBuddhist system meditation practised in the Therevada  -  recorded\r\nin the IV section reserved for monks and nuns).

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Also within the family of Anathapindika, the Buddha\r\ntaught the method how to classify 7 types of wife in a nuptial\r\nlife -  a sermon which is a very fine and practical lesson for\r\nhuman society for ever and ever.

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Madam Visàkhà. The female alms-giver that shoudl be\r\nmost mentioned was Madam Visàkhà. She was the daughter of the\r\nmillionaire pair named Dhananjaya and Summanà Devi. Her grandfather was\r\nalso a millionaire named Mendaka. She had a pure abode built in Pubbasama, and\r\nthen offered it  to the Buddha  -  6 seasons of\r\npeaceful retreat took place here. Being a woman with 5 great beauties  -  perfect\r\nhair, skin, bone, stature and health status, and her relatives were those who\r\nhad all the four conditions of a perfect woman known as good labour, nice\r\nspeech, great beauty, and good conduct plus clear-sighted in handling worldly\r\nmatters and in spiritual and ethical issues. Madam Visakha also played an\r\nimportant role in various domains relating to the activities of the sangha. She\r\nwas once appointed by the Buddha to settle some disagreements among bhiksunis.\r\nSometimes she requested the Buddha to reduce some of the commandments applied\r\nto both male and female bhiksus. Her husband’s father was a millionaire named\r\nMigara, who was a well-trained follower of the Nigantha Nataputta religion\r\n(also called Jain, meaning the naked-body religion). She successfully\r\nadvised all the members in her husband’s family to take refuge in Trinity and\r\nmany of them attained Buddhist fruits. She passed away at the age of 120.

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After giving up evil to follow virtue, King Pasenadi and\r\nthe great king Bimbisàra, as mentioned here above, whose son-in-law was\r\nnamed Ajàtasattu and succeeded the throne, became the great\r\ncolosuses, extraordinary good believers, with their merits for having supported\r\nin the realisation of the first threefold canon. Another alms-giver among the\r\nkings who should be mentioned here was king Pasenadi, who governed the\r\ncountry named Kosala, the capital city of which wasSavatthi. The pure\r\nabode named Rajakamara was built by the king and then offered to\r\nthe Buddha and the sangha. Queen Malika, the king’s wife, was a clever\r\nwoman who knew how to convince her husband to lead a virtuous life\r\nand take refuge in Trinita. She admonished her husband lovingly to come to the\r\nBuddha in understanding the meaning of his 16 dreams instead of killing many\r\ninnocent animals in the ceremonies for peace according to the directions of\r\nBrahmin hermits.

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In the sutra named Samyutta Nikaya there is an entire\r\nsection named Kosala Samyutta which the Buddha explained to the king. Some of\r\nthe surmons were stressed, such as : 1) Assessing a person is not a simple\r\nthing to do. 2) Women should be esteemed as equally as men for the fact that\r\nsome women are better than men. While during that time Indian women was never\r\nappropriately respected as men, such noble words from the Buddha encouraged the\r\nfair sex very much. 3)  Young people should not be discounted  -  like\r\na young Crown Prince, a young snake, a still low flame, and a young\r\nbhiksu  -  all these will become very important and\r\nmeaningful in the future. 4) Triumph breeds feud. These have been mentioned in\r\nthe verse named Relative III, as follows:

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VII. Poor landless peasants and landless class.

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The sympathy religion, Buddhism,  liberates people\r\nof diffrent types, undiscriminately their social classes  -  that\r\nis, there is not any discrimination between the rich and the poor. A murderer\r\nlike Angulimala or an adulteress like Ambapali, once they could return to\r\nBuddhism could become the fruits of this religion, as written in a sutra:\r\nAngulimala, also called Ahimsaka  -  meaning guiltless,\r\nson of a teacher of the Prince of the country named Kosala and also an\r\noutstanding and confidential disciple of the Chinese famous teacher at the\r\nwell-known Taxila Training Center. But due to  his fellow-student’s\r\nenvy that caused misunderstanding from his teacher, his teacher required him to\r\nprovide his teacher 1,000 little fingers to pray for blessings.

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He became a disaster, a black shadow  covering all\r\nover Kasola country. Afraid of the hard-earned fingers that may be eaten by the\r\ncrows, he was resigned wearing them around his neck, and that’s why he had the\r\nrude name ‘Angulimala’, meaning ‘wreath of fingers’. The Buddha was the 1,000th person\r\nwhom he had planned to kill and  then complete the little\r\nfinger-wreath on his teacher’s request. He suddenly woke up from his murder\r\ndream when he heard  the person whom he was running after but wasn’t\r\nable to reach and who uttered, “Hey Angulimala!  It’s you who have to\r\nstop while Tathagata has already stopped long enough.” Angulimala suddenly\r\nthrew his sinful knife away and became a Buddhist by such casual connections.\r\nDue to his previous sins, he became a bhiksu who was continuously beaten,\r\nscolded and stoned everywhere. To him, being injured at many spots on his body\r\nwas a normal matter. Later, he attained Arahanthood thanks to his repentance\r\nand penitence together with his diligent efforts.

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Madam Ambapàli. The case of the prostitute named Ambapali,\r\nwho was famous for her talent and beauty in Vesali city, was another typical\r\nevent of helping human beings that the World’s Honoured One was performing.

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On his way to Kusinara to enter Nirvana, the Buddha wanted\r\nto make a short stop at the mango-tree garden of this girl swashbuckler.\r\nHearing this news, the girl came and asked the Buddha and his attendants to\r\ncome to her house so that she might have a chance to make offerings to them,\r\nalthough the aristocrats in Licchavi expressed a wish that they would give her\r\na large sum of money to enjoy this special privilege but she refused it. She\r\nshowed kindness of heart to offer her mango-tree garden to a great monk and\r\nthen entered nunhood. Later, she attained the fruit of Arahantship.

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Like a squall that blew and gathered all the leaves to one\r\nspot, the Gautama (the Buddha) educated and converted all kinds of people  -  namely,\r\nthick-headed intellectuals, those born in the purple, poor people, humble\r\npeople, well-to-do people, old people, youngsters, women, men, wicked people,\r\ngood people, all types of people. The Gautama equally brought the Dharma to all\r\nthese people. Therefore, the Gautama religion or Buddhism is the religion of\r\nequality. In other words, there are not any other words that can praise the\r\nboundless compassion of this religion and the conversion by Sakyamuni Buddha.

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VIII-The Buddha proclaimed that he was going to enter\r\nNirvana.

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The Buddha was an extraordinary person. Nevertheless, as he\r\nwas still having the 5 aggregates in his body known as form, feeling,\r\nperception, mental formation and consciousness; that is, he still had to\r\nundergo the  destruction of the\r\nnatural             impermanence  law.\r\nAt his 80 years old, the Buddha realised that he was old enough and his health\r\nconditions were decreasing, and that he had completed his mission of\r\nconversion. So he decided to enter Nirvana in a remote village named Kusinàrà,\r\n180 miles or about 300 kilometers away from Patna which is in the North of the\r\ncapital city of the present state Bihar  -  instead of in\r\nsuch large cities as Sàvatthi or Ràjagaha.

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During his last time at Magadha, the Buddha preached to the\r\nhigh-ranking mandarin of Ajàtavattu on the 7 conditions of prosperity and\r\ndecadence of a country when the mandarin asked the Buddha about the conquest of\r\nthe Republic of Vajjian. By the way, the Buddha also explained the 7 factors\r\nleading to the prosperity and decadence of the Buddhist School.

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Leaving Ràjagaha, the Buddha headed for Ambalatthika, and\r\narrived at Nàlandà, and then passed by Pàtaligàma, where the local citizens\r\nnamed their main entrance Gautama to mark the event. From here the\r\nBuddha crossed over Gange River and then headed for Kotigàma to reach Nàdika\r\nVillage. Then he continued until Vesàli where he finally entered Nirvana. Each\r\nof the places the Buddha passed by there was the hallmark of the Buddha’s\r\nsalvation of everybody.

\r\n\r\n

In that year the Buddha made a statement among his\r\ndisciples, “Hey Ananda! What is your Buddhist school still expecting from me,\r\nTathagata? I have handed down to you the fundamental teachings  -  that\r\nis, there is not a distinction between the esoteric principles and those\r\ntransmitted on a large scale. About the universal truth, Tathagata has never\r\nheld his hands tightly like a teacher does ...” And the Buddha said that no one\r\nshould think that there must be a sole person to guide the Buddhist school, or\r\nit should depend upon someone. Instead, each individual should be an authentic\r\nprinciple, an embodiment of the authentic one.

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Then the Buddha added, “I, Tathagata, is now very old and\r\nweak. I am going to leave this world. I have reached 80 years of age and,\r\ntherefore, am nothing but a very old carriage that is in need of some strings\r\nto bind up its separate parts from being separated.” He then appealed to\r\neverybody to make their diligent efforts and awaken to be right mindful and\r\nrefuse all forms of worldly desire and look into things and think over the four\r\nkinds of mindfulness maintained by bhiksus ... He added again, “You should\r\nconsider yourself as an island, and Dharma is the sole place on which you\r\nshould rely instead of relying on anything outside.” He also stressed on the\r\nimportance of individual efforts.

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Although being at high age and weak wealth, the Buddha\r\nalways made use of all opportunities to encourage bhiksus by various methods.\r\nAt Càpalà the Buddha proclaimed that he would enter into Nirvana three months\r\nlater. Previously, the Buddha had created favourable conditions for Ananda to\r\npray for the Buddha to live longer but Ananda missed them, so now when hearing\r\nthe Buddha’s proclamation, Ananda was so starled and entreated the Buddha to\r\naccept the request but the Buddha refused it.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Before returning to Mahàvana with Ananda, the Buddha\r\npreached to the masses on the nature of impermanence of human life when he saw\r\nthat these people were extremely sad.

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Gathering the Buddhist clergy in Vesàli, the Buddha said his\r\nlast words to them, glared at this city for the last time and then headed for\r\nKusinara. On his way to Kusinara, he converted many people who possessed good\r\nconditions. In Pava the blacksmith named Cunda offered the food called\r\nsùkasamaddhara (wild mushroom) to the Buddha and the latter was elated at\r\nreceiving it and ordered that the leftover mushroom should be fixed in the\r\nground. After the meal with the mushroom, the Buddha got a serious amebic dysentery.\r\nWith his uneventful spirit, he wished everybody well to calm everybody’s\r\nnerves, and said some words to absolve Cunda from blame and continued his way\r\nto Kusinara which was six miles (about 9 kilometres  away) from Pava,\r\nwhere  Malla clan of the kinglet lineage  lived.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Having arrived at the planned spot in the shade\r\nbetween  the two rows of sala trees, the Buddha lied down peacefully\r\nand quietly on his right body side with his left leg put on his left one, both\r\nstraightened and his head turned toward the North. The sala trees were\r\nflowering out of season as to offer a great mourning  for the Buddha.\r\nEverybody expressed their respect to the Buddha in their own way. The Buddha\r\nhad taught people the way to respect and venerate him by abiding by the Dharma,\r\ndiligently practising their cultivation and having their solemn behaviour.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Next the Buddha mentioned the four relics (his birth place,\r\nthe place where he reached the peach of the Way, the place where he first\r\npreached Buddha-truth, and the place where he entered into Nirvana) relating to\r\nthe life of a Buddha. Therefore, those who show their respectfulness and\r\nworship at these places will obtain many benefits.

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After rescuing the layman named Subhadda and this was his\r\nlast disciple, the Buddha told Ananda to inform the local Malla citizens that\r\nthe Buddha would entered into Nirvana at the last watch of that night as well\r\nas telling Ananda not to do anything important about the physical body of\r\nTathagata. Instead, they should practise their religious work so as to benefit\r\nthemselves. \r\n\r\n

Receiving the bad piece of news through Ananda’s tears\r\noverflowed profusely, the citizens of Malla of Kusinara city in a rush pulled\r\nthemselves to gathered around the Buddha. Together with the sala-tree forest,\r\nthe citizens witnessed the Buddha’s most sacred last minute and listened to the\r\nlast voice of their original teacher, “Hey Ananda! Don’t think that only the\r\nsublime Dharma still exists without its teacher. The Dharma and its laws that I\r\ntaught you, the teacher of which is me. Hey Ananda! If you, the Buddhist clergy\r\nwant, you may leave out some of the auxiliary or unimportant laws after\r\nTathagata has entered into Nirvana. If you have any suspicions, querries or\r\nhesitations about anything relating to Buddha, Dharma, the clergy, or the\r\nmethods,  you may ask me right now instead of later regrets.” The\r\nWorld’s Honoured One urged this statement three times, but the masses kept\r\nsilence. Then the master advised his disciples this last sentence of his, “Hey,\r\nmy disciples! Tathgata admonish you that all methods are impermanent.\r\nTherefore, you should make every effort to nurture your continual diligence.”\r\nAnd that was the World’s Honoured One’s posthumous instruction. After that he\r\nquietly entered into the first stage of dhyana or meditation and then later\r\nleft it. In turn he entered the second stage of dhyana, and then, etc. After\r\nthat, he entered into samadhi (the highest form of meditation). Then he entered\r\nand left the  heaven or place where there is neither thinking or\r\nnot-thinking. Then, in turn, he re-entered and left smadhi again. After his\r\nsecond time in  samadhi, the Buddha entered into Nirvana. Then, after\r\nbeing in his fourth time in samadhi, the Buddha entered Anupadhisesa (the\r\nNirvana state in which  exists no remainder of the karma of\r\nsuffering).

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Buddha’s body was brought to Makutabandhana for\r\neverybody to worship, and after 7 days it was cremated in a ceremony organised\r\nby Sir Maha Kassapa. The Buddha’s relic was divided into 8 portions according\r\nto the agreement at the meeting of Sir Maha Kassapa, Royal Highest named\r\nAjàtasattu and Sir Dona, who presided over the meeting. The relic was then\r\ndistributed to eight big and small countries including the Malla people to\r\nbuild a tower for worshiping it. Sir Dona asked for the jar that held the relic\r\nafter the cremation so he could worship it for ever. Due to their late arrival,\r\nthe people of Maurya in Pipphalirana asked for getting the cinders of the\r\nbale-fire to worship it.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The image of Tathagata has left us since then. The Buddha’s\r\nroad of preaching and benefits to all living beings extended for 45 years long.\r\nFrom the day he attained the Way till the day he entered into Nirvana, he\r\nceaselessly served human beings by two roads  -  the one of\r\nhis own and his teachings. Throughout the road he covered, sometimes he\r\nperformed his mission by himself and  many times with the masses\r\nthrough villages, forests and mountains, up hill and down dale, in  poor\r\nhamlets as well as in noisy and gaudy urban areas  -  in\r\nany of these places he was present to bring the people to the true dharma, the\r\ndharma of compassion, of liberty, of democracy, of equality and salvation.

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

With the Buddha’s lofty sacrifice, great pity and strong\r\nwillingness to help everybody, we can praise or think that he is a great man\r\nabove all great men or a super man above all supermen. But the heroism beyond\r\npraise should be his following recomendations to all of us before he passed\r\naway, “Hey Ananda! You should not respect, praise, esteem and bow yourself to\r\nTathagata in your own way. Any bhiksu who abides by the correct Dharma and\r\nbehaves correctly according to Buddhism with correct actions, it is that very\r\nperson who has respected, praised, esteemed and bowed himself to Tathagata in\r\nthe best way then".

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\r\nTranslated into English by Mr. Hoang Huan, layman.

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