Lesson 1: The Buddha and his Doctrines
The Story of the Buddha
The story of the Buddha is integral to the main tenets of Buddhism – a colleague of mine once said that the Buddha’s story is the only part of Buddhism a Westerner can understand. While I do disagree with that statement, I find that the Buddha’s biography is the best way to begin one’s study of Buddhism.
There are several recorded versions of the story, but the most popular is the Buddhacarita, written by a man named Ashvaghosha several hundred years after the events it reports. It relates the whole story of the Buddha in great detail – since we only have space for a sketch of the story, I recommend the work in full for those interested.
The story begins with the auspicious birth of Buddha to a king and queen. His birth is preceded by miracles and a prophecy that declares he will be either a great political leader or a great spiritual leader. He is able to walk at birth, and as he does so lotus flowers blossom in his footsteps. He is able to speak as well, and declares this birth to be his last (we find later that he loses knowledge of being a Buddha). He is named Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Shakyamuni.
His father had political aspirations for his son, and worked to ensure that he never experienced any hardships – for to allow these would send Siddhartha on a spiritual quest. He excelled in everything he attempted, and married Yashodhara, a local woman, and lived with her and many servants in a beautiful palace.
In his home he did not see pain, disease or death. He grew curious about the outside world and eventually ventured beyond the palace walls. The king tried to hide all signs of mortality, but Siddhartha did come upon sights he had no experience of in his home – these are known as the Four Passing Sights. He beheld an old man, a diseased man, a funeral and a spiritual practitioner. At this point Siddhartha is made aware of the mortality of human kind.
He returned to the palace but made the decision to leave for ever in an attempt to solve the problem of existence in samsara. He fled and studied under many different spiritual strivers, of both Hindu and Jain traditions. Under these teachers he experienced extreme deprivation and abused his body, and decided that this method of spiritual striving is inadequate. He cleaned himself, ate a modest meal and sat beneath a tree – later known as the bodhi tree – and swore that he would attain enlightenment in this place.
At this point he was assailed by Mara, the Buddhist equivalent of the devil. Mara was the lord of death, and knew that Siddhartha’s success would cause him harm. He sent warriors to threaten him and women to seduce him, but Siddhartha was able to subdue any attempt by Mara to break his concentration.
On that evening Siddhartha made the ultimate realizations about the nature of existence and became the Buddha, which means “awakened one”. He was able to see his past lives, the past lives of others, and discovered the means to escape samsara. He called his path the “middle path”, because it is neither a path of hedonism nor extreme deprivation. He went on to preach to others and instructed them until he experienced parinirvana – once he died he did not leave a corpse.
