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<\/a>Image of the Buddha from <\/span>sacredsites.com<\/a><\/span><\/div>\nWhat follows is a very quick set of notes from the above mentioned book. It\u2019s highly recommended for all who are interested in the life and teachings of the Buddha.<\/p>\n
Chapters 1 through 4, from his birth through his first teachings.<\/p>\n
The story of the Buddha begins long before his own birth, where the man who would become the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama), in a previous life, vowed before the Buddha of that age \u2013 Dipankara \u2013 to become a Buddha himself. Dipankara recognized his vow then and prophesied that indeed, this one would become the next Buddha.<\/p>\n
In his penultimate birth, in the Heaven of the Contented, the one who would become our Buddha finally determined that his time had come: the Dharma<\/a> of the previous Buddha had passed and the life-spans of Humanity was right for learning and practicing a new turning of the Dharma wheel. And so he turned over the reign of this heaven to Maitreya, prophesieing that he (Maitreya) would be the Buddha of the next age, and died to be reborn on earth.<\/p>\n The stories of Siddhartha\u2019s birth are well-known by most of us: the auspicious dream of his mother, Mahamaya<\/a>, the painless birth from her side, and his marks of greatness. His youth, as the son of a king (or chieftain) is also well-known in its legendary form. He was secluded from the world by his father, with the hope that he would become a great chakravartin<\/span><\/a>, or wheel-turning-king. It had been prophisied that he would follow either this route, or he would renounce his father\u2019s kingdom and become a great rishi or seer. <\/p>\n Despite his father\u2019s careful actions, young Siddhartha did manage to get out of the palace on four distinct occasions. On one he saw an old man, weak and withered, and was told that this is the lot of all mortals: to grow old. Next he saw a person crippled with a terrible disease, perhaps lepracy, and told that this too \u2013 disease of some form \u2013 is a fact of life. Third he witnessed a funeral procession, with a corpose carried on open wood to be burned. Finally he saw an ascetic, free from the worries of material life, contented and smiling. Troubled by these sites, Siddhartha decided at last to leave his palace, including his wife and newborn son, Rahula (which means \u201cfetter\u201d). <\/p>\n As he set forth on his path the myth tells us he was caught up by Mara<\/a> (a Buddhist<\/a> sort of devil or demon temptor). But, knowing that the words of doubt were Mara, the Buddha shook him off and continued forth. After some time Siddhartha found a teacher, Arada, who taught him the four levels of jhanic absorbtion. Next he found another teacher, Rudraka Ramaputra, who taught him yet another level of absorption that went beyond the form realm into \u201cneither perception nor non-perception.\u201d But Siddhartha knew that this was not enough \u2013 there still was a \u2018watcher\u2019 or \u2018soul\u2019 that had not been penatrated with these meditations.<\/p>\n Siddhartha\u2019s next route was that of extreme asceticism, total denial of the body in order to \u2018free\u2019 the consciousness from its trappings. He spent several years doing this, accomplishing enormous feets, surpassing the austerities of all others, and yet still he was not free from suffering. In this time he picked up five students who followed him and attended to him, amazed by the extent of his ascetic practices. When, realizing that this would get him nowhere, he abandoned asceticism and took food, the students all left him in disgust.<\/p>\n Having revived his weakened body with food, he set forth again to meditate. At one point he finally sat down with total resolve not to move again until fully awakened. There he returned to the meditations he had been taught and pushed further. Again Mara attacked him \u2013 this time with everything he had: 1) force and physical hordes of demons \u2013 all failing to break the quiescent aura of the soon-to-be Buddha; 2) lust and beauty to tempt him from his mission \u2013 again failing; and finally 3) the challenge, \u201cwho are you<\/span> to become enlightened! Who is your<\/span> witness to practice!?\u201d\u2026 Siddhartha simply touched the earth, the famous bhumisparsa mudra<\/span><\/a>, and said, \u201cthe earth is my witness.\u201d At this the earth shook mightily and thundered as Mara and his hordes fled in fear.<\/p>\n
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