Part 1
The actual dates of Shakyamuni's life are unknown. Most contemporary
scholars believe that he died somewhere around the fourth to fifth
centuries B.C. Nevertheless, many differing opinions still exist on this
point today.
What is known, however, is that Shakyamuni was born as a prince of
the Shakyas, a small tribe whose kingdom was located in the foothills of
the Himalayas south of what is now central Nepal. His family name was
Gautama. Later, when he attained enlightenment, his followers came to
call him Gautama Buddha or Shakyamuni-- meaning "Sage of the Shakyas."
Shakyamuni was the son of King Shuddhodana and Queen Maya, rulers of
the Shakyas. He was born in the Lumbini Gardens, while his mother was on
her way from Kapilavastu to her parents' home. It is believed that Maya
passed away a week later. As a result, Shakyamuni was raised from
infancy by his maternal aunt, Mahaprajapati.. It was a tumultuous start
for a turbulent life.
As a prince, Shakyamuni grew up in the lap of luxury and was educated
in both the civil and military arts. He had a different palace at his
disposal for each season of the year and attendants with parasols were
always on hand to shield his head from the sun's burning rays. During
the rainy season, female attendants, dancers and musicians would serve
and entertain him so that he would not have to venture outdoors. He
lived in complete ease and comfort.
However, he was extraordinarily sensitive, and eventually began to
suffer from deep spiritual anguish. Often he would walk by the edge of
the pond in the palace gardens, immersed in deep philosophical thought.
"No matter how young and healthy we may be," he thought, "old age,
sickness and death will inevitably overtake us. This is a destiny none
of us can avoid." Shakyamuni discerned the workings of aging, sickness
and death in his own life and scrutinized them carefully. "Yet, people
look upon the aging, sickness and death of others with disgust and
derision," he mused.
He was deeply sensitive to the prejudice and arrogance that lurked in
the human heart, prompting people to view old age, sickness and death
as if they were the sole concern of others. He came to believe that
there could be no true happiness in life without resolving these
unavoidable questions inherent in the human condition. This was the
start of much agonizing soul-searching for the young prince.
* * *
Buddhist tradition holds that a series of incidents known as "the
four meetings" motivated Shakyamuni's decision to renounce secular life.
Venturing outside the eastern gate of the palace on a pleasure outing
one day, he encountered an old man; leaving from the southern gate on
another occasion, he saw a sick person; and passing through the western
gate yet another time, he came across a corpse.
Then one day, he left through the northern gate, where he chanced
upon a passing ascetic. This encounter struck a deep chord within him,
and he mustered the resolve to renounce his princely title and go out
into the world in search of enlightenment.
The story of "the four meetings" is probably not literally true, but
an embellishment added in later times. Nevertheless, viewed from the
perspective of Buddhist teachings, Shakyamuni's motivation in renouncing
secular life must have been deeply connected to his desire to find a
way to transcend the fundamental human sufferings of old age, sickness
and death.
Shuddhodana sensed that his son and heir, Shakyamuni, was thinking of
entering religious life. According to one source, he arranged
Shakyamuni's marriage to the beautiful Yashodhara to prevent his son
from leaving home. The two eventually had a son named Rahula, who later
became one of Shakyamuni's ten major disciples.
Having married and produced an heir, it seemed to most around him
that Shakyamuni would settle down. But the young prince's spiritual
torment continued. Indeed, the more he thought of his responsibility to
assume the throne, the more his suffering intensified.
"People fight and kill each other, trying to dominate through
military might. Yet even the most majestic military power is doomed to
be destroyed some day by the very means it used to conquer others. None
of us can escape the sufferings of the human condition--old age,
sickness and death. Surely what is most important is to seek the way to
liberate ourselves from these sufferings," he thought.
Rather than live in a world ruled by military prowess, he sought the
true path of humanism. So he resolved to renounce his princely life and
embark on a journey to seek the eternal realm of the human spirit.
The king immediately took measures to prevent Shakyamuni from leaving
home to pursue a religious life. He provided his son with even greater
luxuries and comforts than before and ordered his retainers to lavish
the prince with entertainment and attention. But Shakyamuni remained
firm. Finally, the king completely forbade his son to step outside the
palace walls.
But nothing could quench the flame of Shakyamuni's seeking spirit.
One night, riding a beloved steed in the company of a faithful
attendant, he slipped through the tight security and left the city of
Kapilavastu.
Sources differ on how old Shakyamuni was at the time; some say he was nineteen; others, twenty-nine.
Shakyamuni made his way south through the kingdom of Koliya, crossing
the Anouma River. There, he removed all clothes and ornaments that
could identify him as a prince and handed them to his attendant along
with the reins of his favorite horse. He cut off his hair with the blade
of his sword and, turning to his attendant, said: "From here, I go
alone. Please return to the palace and tell my father and my wife that I
shall not return to Kapilavastu until I have fulfilled my purpose in
leaving secular life."
* * *
Having pondered the question of whom to
study under, Shakyamuni finally called on a Brahman, a hermit-sage said
to be a master of yogic meditation. It was said that by practicing yogic
meditation, people could liberate their pure, undefiled spirit from
material attachments.
The hermit-sage whom Shakyamuni chose as his first teacher had,
through such meditation, attained the stage known as "the realm where
nothing exists"--a state of emptiness in which one is free from all
worldly attachments. Under him, Shakyamuni applied himself to practice
and in a short time attained the same level as his teacher. However, he
felt that the teaching did not provide a fundamental solution to the
questions of human life and death.
He sought out another teacher, also a hermit and master of yogic
meditation, who through that practice had attained "the realm where
there is neither thought nor no thought"--a state where there was no
mental activity. Again, Shakyamuni quickly mastered this practice, but
it also failed to fulfill his purpose in pursuing a religious life.
Aging, sickness and death--all are real sufferings that torment human
beings. Shakyamuni keenly sensed that the enlightenment of these
masters, for whom meditation had become an end in itself, was ultimately
ineffectual in providing fundamental solutions to these questions of
life and death.
Shakyamuni left his second teacher to continue his quest for true
enlightenment, seeking a tranquil place to devote himself to the
practice of austerities.
Part 2
He arrived in the village of Sena, nestled on the banks of the
Nairanjana River, which flowed west of Rajagriha. The village had a
beautiful green forest. It was here that Shakyamuni chose to begin his
austerities. Many other ascetics lived in the woods for the same
purpose.
It was commonly believed in India in those days that the body was
tainted and the spirit alone was pure. The body held the spirit captive;
by mortifying the body and physically weakening oneself, it was thought
one could attain spiritual freedom.
Shakyamuni thus embarked on ascetic practice. It was the beginning of
an unremitting struggle with himself, a struggle to attain perfect and
penetrating enlightenment. His austerities included engaging in long
fasts, lying on a bed of thorns, sleeping on the bones of corpses in the
cemetery and eating filth. Fellow ascetics, seeing Shakyamuni lying
immobile, his breathing indiscernible, sometimes thought he was dead. So
punishing were the rigors he inflicted upon himself that no one could
rival him in the practice of austerities.
* * *
Shakyamuni's body was cruelly emaciated. His ribs and the veins on
his chest protruded painfully. His skin was smeared with dirt and
covered with festering sores and wounds he had sustained in the course
of his ascetic practice. His beard and hair were long and unkempt. Only
his eyes, bloodshot as they were, shone with unusual lucidity and
clarity.
He had devoted himself to austerities for several years, pushing
himself to the very limits of his endurance. Yet despite all of these
efforts, he had failed to attain enlightenment . . . Recognizing that
extreme asceticism would not enable him to attain the enlightenment he
sought, he decided to abandon this path.
Having left the woods, Shakyamuni stood on the banks of the
Nairanjana River. The sunlight glistened on the leaves of the trees and
shimmered like diamonds on the water's surface.
He made his way unsteadily down to the river to bathe his body. He
was dazed from extreme exhaustion, but the water revived him. He washed
away the grime of his accumulated austerities so that he might start
anew.
His body was so weak it required an enormous effort for him to climb
out of the river. As he sat on the river bank and straightened his hair,
a young girl, named Sujata, from the nearby village appeared at his
side and offered him some rice gruel. After his long fast, Shakyamuni
gladly accepted the food. Fresh life began to infuse his entire body.
After resting a while and recovering some of his strength, he set off
in search of a new path that would lead him to enlightenment. Crossing
the Nairanjana River, Shakyamuni eventually came upon a large pipal
tree. He sat down beneath its branches, crossed his legs and assumed the
lotus position.
"I shall remain in this position until I have attained true
enlightenment, even if my body withers in the heat as I try," he vowed,
and then gently closed his eyes. From time to time, the wind rustled
through the leaves of the pipal tree, but Shakyamuni, lost in deep inner
contemplation, did not stir.
According to Buddhist writings, at this time demons began to tempt
him. The devious means they resorted to differ with the various Buddhist
writings, but it is interesting to note that some involved quite a soft
and subtle approach.
In one, for example, a demon tried to sway Shakyamuni by whispering
to him gently, "Look how gaunt you are, how pale your face is. You're
surely on the verge of death. If you keep sitting here like this, it
will be a miracle if you survive." After pointing out the peril he was
in and strongly urging him to live, the demon tried to persuade
Shakyamuni that if he followed the teachings of Brahmanism, he could
accumulate great benefit without having to undergo such hardship.
Shakyamuni's efforts to attain enlightenment, the demon declared,
were meaningless. This episode of being tempted by demons symbolized an
intense personal struggle taking place within Shakyamuni.
Doubt assailed him, shattering his inner peace and throwing his mind
into turmoil. With his body extremely weak and his physical reserves all
but depleted, the specter of death also came to haunt him. Shakyamuni's
mental torment was all the greater because of the knowledge that he had
gained nothing from the intense austerities he had undertaken. Might
not this effort, too, he thought, ultimately prove meaningless? He was
plagued by attachments to worldly desire, racked by hunger for food and a
craving for sleep, tormented by fear and by doubt.
Demons are the workings of earthly desires and illusions; they
attempt to unsettle the mind of those who seek the way to true
enlightenment. Sometimes demons arise in the form of our attachments to
worldly desires, or appear as hunger or sleepiness. At other times, they
torture the mind in the form of anxiety, fear and doubt.
Whenever they are led astray by such demons, people invariably
justify their failing in some way. They convince themselves that their
justification is perfectly reasonable and natural.
However, Shakyamuni saw these devilish functions for what they were
and summoned a powerful life force, sweeping away all the disruptive
thoughts that plagued him. In his heart, he cried out: "Demons! You may
defeat a coward, but the brave will triumph. I will fight. Rather than
living in defeat, I would rather die fighting!"
With this, his mind was restored to a state of tranquility.
The quiet blanket of night enfolded him, as countless stars above glittered with a pure, crystalline brilliance.
* * *
After overcoming the onslaught of devilish forces, Shakyamuni's mind
was left fresh and invigorated, his spirit as clear as a cloudless blue
sky.
Having secured an impervious inner state, Shakyamuni now focused on
his past. No sooner had he looked back over his present life, than
images of his immediately preceding life began to appear. As he
continued this inner quest, memories of countless former existences came
back to him vividly one after another. And further beyond that still,
he recalled countless formations and destructions of the universe.
Shakyamuni realized that his present existence as he sat meditating
under the pipal tree was part of an endless cycle of birth, death and
rebirth, which had continued since time without beginning. He thus
awakened to the eternal nature of life that spans past, present and
future.
At that moment, all fears and doubts which had resided in the depths
of his life like a heavy sediment since birth evaporated. He had arrived
at last at the deep, unshakable roots of his own existence. He felt the
darkness of illusion that shrouded him fall away as the brilliant light
of wisdom illuminated his life. He had unlocked within himself a state
of being akin to commanding a clear, unhindered view in all directions
from atop a lofty mountain peak.
With this sharply focused inner vision, Shakyamuni turned his
attention to the karma of all living beings. Images of all kinds of
people undergoing endless cycles of birth and death passed through his
mind. Some were born into misery while others, into fortunate
circumstances. With single-minded concentration, Shakyamuni traced the
cause of this discrepancy.
"Those burdened by the karma to be unhappy," he observed silently,
"have in some past lifetime, through their actions, words or thoughts,
committed evil deeds and slandered the practitioners of the Buddhist
Law. Their attachment to erroneous views formed the basis for mistaken
actions.
In contrast, those who were good and virtuous in their actions, words
and thoughts, who did not slander practitioners of the Buddhist Law and
conducted themselves correctly based on correct views, enjoyed
happiness in later existences.
"The present life is determined by karma accumulated from past
existences, while future existences are determined by our actions in
this life."
Shakyamuni now clearly understood this. He plainly discerned the
uncompromising law of cause and effect operating in people's lives
throughout the unending cycle of life and death.
Dawn was drawing near. At the very moment the morning star began to shine in the eastern sky, something happened....
Part 3
Like a limitless, penetrating beam of light, Shakyamuni's wisdom
suddenly broke through to illuminate the eternal, immutable truth of
life. He felt something like an electric shock coursing through him. He
trembled with emotion, and with his face radiant and tears filling his
eyes, he said:
"This is it!"
In that instant, Shakyamuni attained a profound awakening. He had
finally become a Buddha--one enlightened to the supreme truth. It was as
if a door within his life had been thrown open to the entire universe,
and he was released from all illusion. He felt he could now move and act
freely based upon the Law of life. It was a state he had never
experienced before in this lifetime.
Now Shakyamuni understood:
"The entire universe is subject to the same constant rhythm of
creation and change. This applies equally to human beings. Those now in
infancy are destined to grow old and eventually die and then to be
reborn again. Nothing, either in the world of nature or human society,
knows even a moment of stillness or rest. All phenomena in the universe
emerge and pass into extinction through the influence of some external
cause. Nothing exists in isolation; all things are linked together over
space and time, originating in response to shared causal relationships.
Moreover, a Law of life permeates the entire process."
Shakyamuni had grasped the wondrous truth of existence. He was
convinced that he could develop himself limitlessly through this Law he
had awakened to. All criticism, obstacles and hardships would be nothing
more than dust before the wind.
Shakyamuni thought:
"Unaware of this absolute truth, people live under the illusion that
they exist independently of one another. This ultimately makes them
prisoners of their desires, estranging them from the Law of life, the
eternal and unchanging truth of existence. They wander about in darkness
and sink into unhappiness and suffering. But such darkness stems from
delusions in one's own life. Not only is such spiritual darkness the
source of all evils, but also the essential cause of people's suffering
over the realities of birth, aging, sickness and death. By confronting
this delusion and ignorance in our own lives, we can open the way to
true humanity and indestructible happiness."
As the sun rose over the horizon, its bright light began to dispel
the morning mist. It was truly a radiant dawn of happiness and peace for
all humankind.
Bathed in the joy of his awakening to the Law, Shakyamuni watched the light of a new morning spread across the land.
* * *
For a time, Shakyamuni simply savored the joy of awakening to the
Law, but soon he began to grow deeply troubled. He faced a painful new
dilemma: Should he preach this Law to others or should he remain silent?
Sitting in the shade of the pipal tree, he agonized for many days over
this question.
No one had ever before heard, let alone expounded, this magnificent,
unsurpassed Law. A vast gap lay between the brilliant realm within his
own being and the real world outside. People lived in torment, fearing
sickness, aging and death; consumed by desire, they fought constantly
among each another.
All this was due to their ignorance of the law of life. Yet even if
he taught them the Law for their own sake, it was possible that no one
would comprehend it.
Shakyamuni felt completely alone. His was the "loneliness of the
truly enlightened," known only to those who have gained an understanding
of a profound principle or truth that no one else is aware of.
According to one account, at this point, demons reappeared to torment
Shakyamuni. This episode can again be interpreted as a struggle with
the devilish functions in his own life, which were now attempting to
dissuade him from teaching the Law to others.
Shakyamuni couldn't stem this upsurge of doubt and hesitation at the
thought of forging ahead and disseminating the Law. He agonized over
what to do.
Devilish functions thus continued to plague Shakyamuni even after he
had become a Buddha. They vied to attack him through even the smallest
breach in his heart.
A Buddha is not a superhuman being; one who has attained this state
continues to experience problems, suffering and pain and is still
subject to illness and to temptation by devilish forces. For that
reason, a Buddha is a person of courage, tenacity and continuous action
who struggles ceaselessly against devilish functions.
No matter how lofty a state we may achieve, without continuous
efforts to advance and improve, our faith can be destroyed in a moment.
According to one Buddhist text, the god Brahma appeared before the
still indecisive Shakyamuni and entreated him to preach the Law to all
people. This episode symbolizes the determination that welled up in
Shakyamuni's life to go forward and fulfill his mission.
"I will go forward!" he resolved with finality. "Those who seek to
learn will surely listen. Those of little impurity will understand. I
shall go out among the people, who are shrouded in delusion and
ignorance!"
Once he had made this determination, he felt a surge of new energy
flow through him. At this moment, a great lion of an individual stood up
for the happiness of humanity.
The sage of the Shakyas buoyantly set forth from the woods. The sky,
clouds, forest and river were bathed in a dazzling golden glow. A
breeze rustled gently through the branches. Nature seemed to be
applauding his journey with a beautiful, jubilant melody.
--SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
Excerpted from The New Human Revolution Vol. 3
(SGI-USA, 1996)