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The Buddha: Life and
Legend
For Buddhism, a ‘historical biography’ of the Buddha is not a necessity,
for he is not – within the context of the teaching – a pivotal figure in
the actual liberation or emancipation process. He proclaims a system,
but is not, as a person, involved in its realization (cfr. The function
of Jesus Christ as Savior in Christianity). It is the message that is
determining.
The historicity of the Buddha is not questioned: yet, his biography
raises difficulties. Rather soon after his demise, a thick layer of
legendary material has surrounded the figure of the Buddha.
Why a legend?
 Firstly, there
is an understandable human tendency to deify special persons. The second
reason may be of a polemic nature: the necessity to look upon the Buddha
as “bigger, more powerful, more exalted” than the traditional gods. (cfr.
The role of Brahma, Indra, the Nagas and other elements in the ‘old’
religion). Besides that, there was also the inescapable influence coming
from Hindu theistic thought.
How did the legend receive its form?
The characteristics of the Buddha were extolled and glorified. A number
of myths, sagas and legends belonging to the Indian tradition and popular
thought were absorbed and appeared in a “new jacket”. Legends
traditionally dedicated to the gods and famous masters are also “hauled
in”.
In order to understand the teaching, many elements from the Buddha-legend
are important. They illustrate among other things the evolution of the
figure of the Buddha and they interpret – on a psychological and moral
level – doctrinal points that are connected to situations that occurred
during his life. They also function as an accommodated teaching for the
illiterate. One could compare the use of legends with the use of the
“poor mans bible”, a pictorial representation of Jesus’ life used to
instruct the illiterate in medieval catholic churches.
What are the sources of this legend?
The main source is the Lalitavistara. This work, which is written
in prose and interlaced with verse, contains very old elements and is
especially important for Buddhist iconography. Another important work is
the Buddhacarita (“Acts of the Buddha”), a poetic work written by
Asvaghosha (2nd century CE).
Besides these two works there are also several passages in the Discourses
(sutta and agama) in which the Buddha relates some of his
own experiences: these are usually more “human” than the legends. In the
course of time we can also observe an evolution of the legendary aspects
of the Buddha-biography: the stories become more wonderful infused with
magic.
Birth
The Buddha is born as a bodhisattva in the ‘Heaven of the 33 gods’. When
the time is karmically ripe for his manifestation on earth, he descends as
a white elephant with six tusks in the womb of queen Maya, wife of
Suddhodana, king of the Sakya in the capital Kapilavastu.
The birth takes place in a garden near Lumbini. Immediately, the future
Buddha takes 7 steps in each of the four directions, pointing at heaven
and earth and proclaiming: “I am the most worthy one in the universe”.
He is given the name Siddharta (fulfillment), his family name is
Gautama.
Facts to be checked:
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Maya: (= Illusion) is improbable as a first name. It is however
a powerful symbol suggesting the interrelationship between ‘illusion’
and ‘enlightenment’.
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Suddhodana: could be a historical figure. Although he bares the
title of Raja (King), it is more likely that he was an eminent figure, a
primus inter pares, in the oligargic Sakyan republic.
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Lumbini has been located as present day Rumbini in the Nepalese Terai.
It has been identified by the presence of an Ashokan pillar. The old
town was already in ruins in the 7th century CE.
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Various birthdates - ranging from the 7th century BCE to the 3rd century
BCE - are mentioned. At present, researchers still disagree. Probable
dates are 568, 566 or 486 BCE.
Youth
Both the Pali Canon and the Agama’s contain biographical quotes from the
Buddha. These however give no chronological overview of his youth but
refer to his contact with suffering and the consciousness thereof. The
related events in these texts also sound more ‘reasonable’.
As a reaction to Asita’s prediction (of the young man becoming either a
cakravartin, i.e. a World-ruler, or a Buddha, i.e. an enlightened
one), Siddharta is prevented from learning about ordinary life. He is
virtually encloistered in his father’s palaces, surrounded by all possible
sensual pleasures.
However, he manages to escape his father’s attention and has some
important encounters: first he meets an old crippled man, than a sick man
covered in sores, than a corpse and finally a wandering monk. Despite all
of his father’s precautions, Siddharta learns about suffering in its three
fundamental, existential forms: sickness, old age and death.
He questions his charioteer and trustee Chandaka about his encounters with
suffering.
He marries his niece Yasodhara. (other sources also mention Gopi, Gopa)
A
son, Rahula, is born. During the festivities for this occasion Siddharta
is overwhelmed by disgust: he decides to leave the palace in order to
become a religious seeker.
Together with Chandaka he escapes during the night, riding his white horse
to the borders of the kingdom. There he changes into the clothes of a
wandering monk, he cuts of his hair and sends Chandaka and the horse back
home. He is than 29 years of age.
Except for the added ‘adornments’ there is no contradiction in se between
the reconstructed biography and the many legends. Remarkable however is
the similarity with some themes from the Ramayana-epic.
Years of Search
Concerning this period – up until the moment of enlightenment – all
traditions run more or less parallel.
Here we find Siddharta looking for an answer to the most fundamental
questions:
Why does suffering exist?
And
How can one free oneself from suffering?
 First he
becomes a disciple of Arada Kalama, a famous yoga master, who teaches him
a meditation in which one realizes the realm of non-being (annihilation).
Later, he becomes a disciple of another yoga master, Udraka Ramaputra with
whom he learns to master severe ascetic practices up to the realm of
perception-non-perception (unconsciousness).
Finally, he practices asceticism by himself, becoming an example to all
ascetics, and in doing so he gains a lot of admiring followers. But
despite the severest practices he does not find the answer he is looking
for.
Totally exhausted, near death, he realizes that asceticism is of no
avail. He decides to give up his practice, thereby deeply disappointing
his followers. The “five” loathingly abandon him.
Enlightenment
Through these experiences Siddharta comes to realize the uselessness of:
He retires from the conventional life of the sramana and settles
himself alongside the banks of the Nairanjana, a side stream of the River
Ganges, at present day Bodhgaya. He takes a bath, washes his clothes and
accepts food from a young woman called Sujata. Thus regaining his
strength he decides to undertake one ultimate attempt to fathom the cause
and cessation of suffering.
What follows then is called the ‘night of enlightenment’, of which there
are various accounts.
In the Lalitavistara a wonderful, popular and very old tradition is
told:
It is the full moon night in which Siddharta, seated under a papal tree
(later called the Bodhi tree) exposes himself to the temptations of Mara:
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Power over heaven and earth (the cakravartin ideal)
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Possession of all sensual pleasures (Mara’s daughters)
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Attacks of fears and frustrations (Mara’s armies)
 In the fourth
night watch, Siddharta conquered all these temptations and he is awakened
to Enlightenment. He has gained insight into suffering, its cause, its
cessation and the way that leads towards the cessation. He is now an
Awakened One, a Buddha.
In the Pali Canon there is an account told by the Buddha himself. This is
a lot less legendary and it describes the gradual spiritual perfection of
the Enlightenment experience.
What is Enlightenment?
Enlightenment is difficult to describe because it happens on a meditative
level. It contains the attainment of a knowledge or wisdom which is not
empirical, nor intellectual, neither emotional nor discursive.
The keyword is madhyama pratipad, the Middle Way, which points to a
“transcendence” of all opposites, all extremes, e.g.:
Between asceticism and hedonism
Between being and non-being
Between immanence and transcendence
Between doxe and praxis
‘Middle Way’ does not mean any ‘average’ of extremes, but points to the
neutral position (median) where the activity of extremes has completely
ceased; e.g. the middle of a magnet where the activity of the poles is
non-existing.
Enlightenment is the insight into the relativity of ‘all-that-is’.
Proclaiming the Teaching
Because of the difficulty of transmitting that which he experienced, it is
said that the Buddha hesitated to proclaim the teaching. According to the
legend it is the god Brahma who persuades the Buddha to teach:
“Proclaim the teaching for the sake of those
who have but little dust on their eyelids”.
The Buddha then decides to communicate his experience to his two former
teachers, but they have already passed away. Then he goes in search for
the five ascetics who abandoned him before. At Sarnath, near Varanasi, in
the Deer Park Mrgdava, he finds them and gives them the first exposition
of the teaching. With this act he fulfilled what is called ‘Dharmacakra-pravartana’:
i.e. the setting in motion of the Wheel of the Teaching (Dharma).
Concerning the contents of this first exposition there again exist several
versions which are however supplementary. They can be classified into two
categories:
A. Exposition of the Four Noble Truths
· Suffering (stating the symptoms)
· Cause of Suffering (diagnosis)
· Cessation of Suffering (healing process)
· Path that leads to the cessation of Suffering (medication)
B.
Exposition of the central points contained in the Four Noble Truths
· The Three Characteristics (or Marks) of Existence: suffering (dukkha),
impermanence (anicca), non-self (anatta):
Sabbe sankhara dukkha
Sabbe sankhara anicca
Sabbe dhamma anatta
· Dependent Arising, in which Suffering is traced by way of desire
and attachment to the fundamental thought error of the alleged existence
of an ‘ego’ or ‘self’.
Thereupon the five become the Buddha’s first disciples (bhiksu). Another
tradition tells the story of two lay followers becoming the first ones to
hear the Teaching.
From then on, the Buddha starts a wandering existence throughout the
kingdoms that surround the Ganges in Northern India. Wherever he goes, he
proclaims the teaching, not making any distinction of caste, adapting his
words according to the listener. He continues this life for 45 years.
As time passes the number of followers increase, which necessitates rules
of discipline for the ‘community’ (sangha). This is however not yet a
monastic order (a vihara or abode is not necessarily a monastery): the
bhiksus are still wandering monks.
The legend has colored this long life with all kinds of wonderful facts.
The Passing Away: Parinirvana
 The Buddha
passed away at the age of 80, announcing his own death three months
before.
At Kusinara he laid himself between two sala-trees and preached his final
discourse to the grieving followers. This discourse is saved in two
versions:
·
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In the Pali Canon (2 sutta’s: Parinibbana-suttanta), expounded
for the monks.
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In the Mahayana Canons (Maha-parinirvana-sutra in 38 fascicles)
expounded also for bodhisattvas, devas, lay followers, etc.
A
number of anecdotes furnish the background for these texts.
The main motives of the last discourse:
· Synthesis of the most important doctrinal points and advice to
his disciples;
· Refusal to appoint a successor as leader of the Community;
· Affirmation of the Teaching as sole and highest authority (Buddha
= Dharma)
The term ‘dharma’ (related to the Greek phero, Latin firmus and
portare) has many meanings, which gave (and still give) rise to a lot of
discussions among scholars and preachers: law, principle, teaching,
support, characteristic, element,…
Date of the parinirvana: 486 through 478 or even 386 BCE. According to
the Theravada tradition it was in 543 BCE, on the full moon of April-May
(which is the same date as his birth and enlightenment: i.e. Vesakha).
According to the present Mahayana tradition: full moon of the 2nd month of
the lunar calendar, now February 15th.
Events after Buddha’s Parinirvana
According to custom the body of the Buddha was cremated. Remarkable is
that the monks apparently weren’t involved in this event.
Eight (or seven) kings are said to have argued about the ashes. The
Brahmin Drona acted as mediator and divided the ashes in eight equal parts
which were than buried under relic-monuments: stupa’s.
The design of a stupa has been retraced to the Buddha himself, it consists
of:
· A square base (folded robe of a monk)
· A spherical upperbuilding (turned over begging bowl)
· A decorated peak (umbrella)
Stupa’s were built very early. They were mostly decorated with
representations (mainly from the Buddha’s life) and surrounded by a
fence. The oldest recovered stupa is the Sanchi-tope at Sanchi. This
typical Buddhist monument developed further in towers and grand
architectural feats known under various names: e.g. dagoba in SE Asia;
pagoda in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam; chörten in Tibet and Mongolia.
One of the most impressive stupa’s is Borubudur on Java, which gives and
ideographic depiction (mandala) of the Buddhist Teaching.
Relatively soon after the Buddha’s death – according to historically
unverifiable sources already after 4 months – the first ‘council’ was
called together in order to prevent the ‘defilement’ of the teaching.
Buddhism after the Buddha
We will look more closely at this topic during the lecture on Mahayana
Buddhism.
The first councils can certainly not be considered as historical events.
Many points remain uncertain and even impossible:
· Texts: the recitation of texts is mentioned, which however did
not exist at the time.
· What is the ‘Buddhism of the Buddha’ and what are the later
additions?
· Some of the given anecdotes (e.g. the expulsion of Ananda, the
personal attendant of the Buddha) can be interpreted in various ways.
Important to remember however from the reports of these councils –
historical or not - are the following points:
· Councils are part of the Buddhist tradition but have never led to
the formation of an authority;
· Their history tells us something about the multiplicity and
divergence of views (rarely doctrinal, mostly disciplinary) within
Buddhism. This gave rise to the formation of two main currents within
Buddhism: Hinayana (Smaller Vehicle) and Mahayana (Larger Vehicle).
As it is already implied in the name, Hinayana will proclaim that the
attainment of liberation is by and for every being separately.
“Be diligent in your strife for liberation” (Mahaparinibbana-suttanta)
“Make an island (or lamp) for yourself” (Dhammapada)
Mahayana on the other hand states that true liberation can only be
realized by and for all beings simultaneously. This is expressed in the
Bodhisattva’s vow:
“However
innumerable beings are,
I take it upon me to free them all from this world of Suffering”.
It is evident that such a distinction in attitude at the base has led to
far diverging ways in practice and philosophy. This however happened
without destroying the unity of the fundamental Buddhist Teaching.
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