THE TRADITIONAL TALE OF THE BUDDHA’S BIRTH IS RICH WITH MYTH AND SYMBOLISM. . .
Twenty-five centuries ago, King Suddhodana ruled a land near the Himalaya Mountains.
One day during a midsummer festival, his wife, Queen Maya, retired to her quarters to rest, and she fell asleep and dreamed a vivid dream, in which four angels carried her high into white mountain peaks and clothed her in flowers. A magnificent white bull elephant bearing a white lotus in its trunk approached Maya and walked around her three times. Then the elephant struck her on the right side with its trunk and vanished into her.
When Maya awoke, she told her husband about the dream. The King summoned 64 Brahmans to come and interpret it. Queen Maya would give birth to a son, the Brahmans said, and if the son did not leave the household, he would become a world conqueror. However, if he were to leave the household he would become a Buddha.
When the time for the birth grew near, Queen Maya wished to travel from Kapilavatthu, the King’s capital, to her childhood home, Devadaha, to give birth. With the King’s blessings, she left Kapilavatthu on a palanquin carried by a thousand courtiers.
On the way to Devadaha, the procession passed Lumbini Grove, which was full of blossoming trees. Entranced, the Queen asked her courtiers to stop, and she left the palanquin and entered the grove. As she reached up to touch the blossoms, her son was born.
Then the Queen and her son were showered with perfumed blossoms, and two streams of sparkling water poured from the sky to bathe them. And the infant stood, and took seven steps, and proclaimed “I alone am the World-Honored One!
Then Queen Maya and her son returned to Kapilavatthu. The Queen died seven days later, and the infant prince was nursed and raised by the Queen’s sister Pajapati, also married to King Suddhodana.
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Aspects of this story may have been borrowed from Hindu texts, such as the account of the birth of Indra from the Rig Veda.
The story may also have Hellenic influences. For a time after Alexander the Great conquered central Asia in 334 BCE, there was considerable intermingling of Buddhism with Hellenic art and ideas. There also is speculation that the story of the Buddha’s birth was “improved” after Buddhist traders returned from the Middle East with stories of the birth of Jesus.
There is a jumble of symbols presented in this story. The white elephant was a sacred animal representing fertility and wisdom. The lotus is a common symbol for enlightenment in Buddhist art. A white lotus, in particular, represents mental and spiritual purity. The baby Buddha’s seven steps evoke seven directions--north, south, east, west, up, down, and here.
In Asia, Buddha’s Birthday is a festive celebration featuring parades with many flowers and floats of white elephants. Figures of the baby Buddha pointing up and down are placed in bowls, and sweet tea is poured over the figures to “wash” the baby.
Newcomers to Buddhism tend to dismiss the Buddha birth myth as so much froth. It sounds like a story about the birth of a god, and the Buddha was not a god.
In particular, the declaration “I alone am the World-Honored One” is a bit hard to reconcile with Buddhist teachings on nontheism and anatman.
However, in
Mahayana Buddhism, this is interpreted as the baby Buddha speaking of the Buddha-nature that is the immutable and eternal nature of all beings. On Buddha’s birthday, some Mahayana Buddhists wish each other happy birthday, because the Buddha’s birthday is everyone’s birthday
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
Biographical sources
The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the
Buddhacarita,
Lalitavistara Sūtra,
Mahāvastu, and the
Nidānakathā. Of these, the
Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet
Aśvaghoṣa in the first century CE.
[67] The
Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a
Mahāyāna/
Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The
Mahāvastu from the
Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The
Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the
Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The
Nidānakathā is from the
Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by
Buddhaghoṣa.
From canonical sources come the
Jataka tales, the
Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the
Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123), which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a
bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The
Mahāpadāna Sutta and
Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the
Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.
Nature of traditional depictions
In the earliest Buddhist texts, the
nikāyas and
āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing
omniscience (
sabbaññu)
[72] nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (
lokottara) being. According to
Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the
Mahayana sutras and later
Pali commentaries or texts such as the
Mahāvastu.
[72] In the
Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing
[73] while in the
Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (
abhijñā).
[74]The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a
śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as
Alara Kalama and his forty-five-year career as a teacher.
[75]
Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt.
lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the
Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma".Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a
secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.
Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:
It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a
mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a
god; and in the
Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an
aeon were he asked to do so.
The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the
Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in
Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author
Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.
Conception and birth
Maya's dream of the Birth of Gautama Siddharta
The Buddhist tradition regards
Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha.
[note 1] He grew up in
Kapilavastu.
[note 1] The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either
Piprahwa,
Uttar Pradesh, in present-day India, or
Tilaurakot, in present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart.
Gautama was born as a
Kshatriya,
[note 9] the son of
Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the
Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of
Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the
family name. His mother,
Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a
Koliyanprincess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a
white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten
months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilavastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a
sal tree.
Awakening
According to the early Buddhist texts,
[104] after realizing that meditative
dhyana was the right path to
awakening, but that extreme
asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists know as being, the
Middle Way[104]—a path of moderation away from the extremes of
self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the
Noble Eightfold Path, as described in the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which is regarded as the first discourse of the Buddha.
[104] In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and
rice puddingfrom a village girl named Sujata.
[105] Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.
[105]
Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a
pipal tree—now known as the
Bodhi tree—in
Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found
the truth.
Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, ceased to stay with him, and went to somewhere else. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained
Enlightenment,
[107] and became known as the
Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").
According to some sutras of the Pali canon, at the time of his awakening he realized complete
insight into the
Four Noble Truths, thereby attaining
liberation from
samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, suffering and dying again.
[108][110]According to scholars, this story of the awakening and the stress on "liberating insight" is a later development in the Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha may have regarded the practice of
dhyana as leading to
Nirvana and
moksha.
[108][note 10]
Travels and teaching
Buddha with his protector
Vajrapani,
Gandhāra, 2nd century CE, Ostasiatische Kunst Museum
For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the
Gangetic Plain, in what is now
Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as
Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which
Pali may be a standardization.
The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the
Vassa rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.
The first vassana was spent at
Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to
Rajagaha, capital of
Magadha, to visit King
Bimbisara. During this visit,
Sariputta and
Maudgalyayana were converted by
Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha.
Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.
Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:
"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."
The Buddha is said to have replied:
"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."
Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a
sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the
sangha. The Buddha's cousins
Ananda and
Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son
Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother
Nanda also joined and became an arahant.
In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near
Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.
The last days of buddha teachings
The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother
Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (
Vinaya) to follow.
Nine virtues
- Buddho – Awakened
- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened
- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.
- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.
- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.
- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.
- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.
- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one
- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."
- HORUS AND MITHRA TOPICAL IN ANOTHER POST
Ending rebirth:
* Graham Harvey: "The Third Noble Truth is nirvana. The Buddha tells us that an end to suffering is possible, and it is nirvana. Nirvana is a "blowing out," just as a candle flame is extinguished in the wind, from our lives in samsara. It connotes an end to rebirth"
* Spiro: "The Buddhist message then, as I have said, is not simply a psychological message, i.e. that desire is the cause of suffering because unsatisfied desire produces frustration. It does contain such a message to be sure; but more importantly it is an eschatological message. Desire is the cause of suffering because desire is the cause of rebirth; and the extinction of desire leads to deliverance from suffering because it signals release from the Wheel of Rebirth."
* John J. Makransky: "The third noble truth, cessation (nirodha) or nirvana, represented the ultimate aim of Buddhist practice in the Abhidharma traditions: the state free from the conditions that created samsara. Nirvana was the ultimate and final state attained when the supramundane yogic path had been completed. It represented salvation from samsara precisely because it was understood to comprise a state of complete freedom from the chain of samsaric causes and conditions, i.e., precisely because it was unconditioned (asamskrta)."
* Walpola Rahula: "Let us consider a few definitions and descriptions of Nirvana as found in the original Pali texts [...] 'It is the complete cessation of that very thirst (tanha), giving it up, renouncing it, emancipation from it, detachment from it.' [...] 'The abandoning and destruction of craving for these Five Aggregates of Attachment: that is the cessation of dukkha. [...] 'The Cessation of Continuity and becoming (Bhavanirodha) is Nibbana.'"
Gethin: "(I) it is the extinguishing of the defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion; (2) it is the final condition of the Buddha and arhats after death consequent upon the extinction of the defilements; (3) it is the unconditioned realm known at the moment of awakening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Buddhism-related_articles
During an interview on 
