11/27/07
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MAHABODHI ACADEMY FOR PALI AND BUDDHIST STUDIE (MAPBS)
Questionnaire No 2 and Answers of Second Year Diploma Course
1. Write a brief essay on the advent of the Tathaagata, the bearer of truth. What are the terms used to describe the nature and attainment of Buddhahood? Give brief explanation of each term
Tathagata
Tathฤgata (Pali and Sanskrit. “one who has thus gone” - tathฤ-gata; “one who has thus come” - tathฤ-ฤgata; or ” one who has gone to That“, Tat-ฤgata; pron: taaht-ฤhgatah) (ch.ๅฆไพ๏ผ(jp. ๅฆๆฅ๏ผis the name which the historical Buddha Gautama used when referring to himself.[1] The term is deliberately ambiguous, reflecting the ineffable ontological status of a fully liberated human being transcending categories of being and non-being. Thus tathฤgata reflects these ambiguities. Gautama Buddha used this word as his preferred personal appellation. In the scriptures instead of saying ‘me’ or ‘myself’ he says, “The tathagata is such and such…” emphasising that as an enlightened being he has gone beyond human personality - the absence of self being a central doctrine of Gautama Buddha’s teaching.
On one occasion Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Maha Kotthita were staying near Varanasi in the Game Refuge at Isipatana. Then in the evening, Ven. Sariputta emerged from his seclusion and went to Ven. Maha Kotthita and exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to Ven. Maha Kotthita, “Now then, friend Kotthita, does the Tathagata exist after death?”
“That, friend, has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The Tathagata exists after death.’”
“Well then, friend Kotthita, does the Tathagata not exist after death?”
“Friend, that too has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death.’”
“Then does the Tathagata both exist and not exist after death?”
“That has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death.’”
“Well then, does the Tathagata neither exist nor not exist after death?”
“That too has not been declared by the Blessed One: ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’”
“Now, friend Kotthita, when asked if the Tathagata exists after death, you say, ‘That has not been declared by the Blessed One: “The Tathagata exists after death.”‘ When asked if the Tathagata does not exist after death… both exists and does not exist after death… neither exists nor does not exist after death, you say, ‘That too has not been declared by the Blessed One: “The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.”‘ Now, what is the cause, what is the reason, why that has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
(i. The aggregates)
“For one who loves form, who is fond of form, who cherishes form, who does not know or see, as it actually is present, the cessation of form, there occurs the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’
“For one who loves feeling…
“For one who loves perception…
“For one who loves fabrications…
“For one who loves consciousness, who is fond of consciousness, who cherishes consciousness, who does not know or see, as it actually is present, the cessation of consciousness, there occurs the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’
“But for one who doesn’t love form, who isn’t fond of form, who doesn’t cherish form, who knows & sees, as it actually is present, the cessation of form, the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ doesn’t occur.
“For one who doesn’t love feeling…
“For one who doesn’t love perception…
“For one who doesn’t love fabrication…
“For one who doesn’t love consciousness, who isn’t fond of consciousness, who doesn’t cherish consciousness, who knows & sees, as it actually is present, the cessation of consciousness, the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ doesn’t occur.
“This is the cause, this is the reason, why that has not been declared by the Blessed One.”
(ii. Becoming)
“But, my friend, would there another line of reasoning, in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
“There would, my friend. “For one who loves becoming, who is fond of becoming, who cherishes becoming, who does not know or see, as it actually is present, the cessation of becoming, there occurs the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’
“But for one who doesn’t love becoming, who isn’t fond of becoming, who doesn’t cherish becoming, who knows & sees, as it actually is present, the cessation of becoming, the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ doesn’t occur.
“This, too, is a line of reasoning in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One.”
(iii. Clinging/sustenance)
“But, my friend, would there another line of reasoning, in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
“There would, my friend. “For one who loves clinging/sustenance, who is fond of clinging/sustenance, who cherishes clinging/sustenance, who does not know or see, as it actually is present, the cessation of clinging/sustenance, there occurs the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’
“But for one who doesn’t love clinging/sustenance, who isn’t fond of clinging/sustenance, who doesn’t cherish clinging/sustenance, who knows & sees, as it actually is present, the cessation of clinging/sustenance, the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ doesn’t occur.
“This, too, is a line of reasoning in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One.”
(iv. Craving)
“But, my friend, would there another line of reasoning, in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
“There would, my friend. “For one who loves craving, who is fond of craving, who cherishes craving, who does not know or see, as it actually is present, the cessation of craving, there occurs the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.’
“But for one who doesn’t love craving, who isn’t fond of craving, who doesn’t cherish craving, who knows & sees, as it actually is present, the cessation of craving, the thought, ‘The Tathagata exists after death’ or ‘The Tathagata does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death’ or ‘The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death’ doesn’t occur.
“This, too, is a line of reasoning in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One.”
“But, my friend, would there another line of reasoning, in line with which that has not been declared by the Blessed One?”
“Now, what more do you want, friend Kotthita? When a monk has been freed from the classification of craving, there exists no cycle for describing him.”
Buddha Nature
I
The Mind of Purity
1. Among humans there are many kinds and degrees of mentality; some are wise, some are foolish, some are good-natured, some are bad-tempered, some are easily led, some are difficult to lead, some possess pure minds and some have minds that are defiled; but these differences are negligible when it comes to the attainment of Awakenment. The world is like a lotus pond filled with many varieties of the plant; there are blossoms of many different tints. Some are white, some pink, some blue, some yellow; some grow under water, some spread their leaves on the water, and some raise their leaves above the water. Mankind has many more differences. There is the difference of sex, but it is not an essential difference, for, with proper training, both men and women may attain Awakenment.
To be a trainer of elephants, one must possess five qualifications: good health, confidence, diligence, sincerity of purpose, and wisdom. to follow the Buddha’s Noble Path to Awakenment, one must have the same five good qualities. If one has these qualities, then regardless of gender, it is possible to attain Awakenment. It need not take long to learn Buddha’s teaching for all humans possess a nature that has an affinity for Awakenment.
2. In the practice of the way to Awakenment, people see the Buddha with their own eyes and believe in Buddha with their own minds. The eyes that see Buddha and the mind that believes in Buddha are the same eyes and the same mind that, until that day, had wandered about in the world of birth and death.
If a king is plagued by bandits, he must find out where their camp is before he can attack them. so, when a man is best by worldly passions, he should first ascertain their origins.
When a man is in a house and opens his eyes he will first notice the interior of the room and only later will he see the view outside the windows. In like manner we cannot have the eyes notice external things before there is recognition by the eyes of the things in the house.
If there is a mind within the body, it ought first to know the things inside the body; but generally people are interested in external things and seem to know or care little the things within the body.
If the mind is located outside the body, it should not be in contrast with the needs of the body. But, in fact, the body feels what the mind knows, and the mind knows what the body feels. Therefore, it cannot be said that the human mind is outside the body. Where, then, does the substance of the mind exist?
3. From the unknown past, being conditioned by their own deeds and deluded by two fundamental misconceptions, people have wandered about in ignorance.
First, they believed that the discriminating mind, which lies at the root of this life of birth and death, was their real nature; and, second, they did not know that hidden behind this discriminating mind, they possessed a pure mind of Enlightenment which is their true nature.
The discriminating mind is only a mind for the discrimination of imagined differences that greed and other moods relating to the self have created. The discriminating mind is subject to cause and conditions, it is empty of any self-substance, and it is constantly changing. But, since people believe that this mind is their real mind, the delusion enters into the causes and conditions that produce suffering.
A man opens his hands and the minds perceives it; but what is it that moves? Is it the mind, or is it the hand? Or is it neither of them? If the hand moves, then the mind moves accordingly, and vice versa; but the moving mind is only a superficial appearance of mind; it is not the true and fundamental mind.
4. Fundamentally, everyone has a pure clean mind, but it is usually covered by the defilement and dust of worldly desires which have arisen from one’s circumstances. This defiled mind is not of the essence of one’s nature: something has been added, like an intruder or even a guest in a home, but not its host.
The moon is often hidden by clouds, but it is ot moved by them and its purity remains untarnished. Therefore, people must not deluded into thinking that this defiled mind is their own true mind.
They must continually remind themselves of this fact by striving to awaken within themselves the pure and unchanging fundamental of mind of Awakenment. Being caught by a changing, defiled mind and being deluded by their own perverted ideas, they wander about in a world of delusion.
The disturbances and defilement of the human minds are aroused by greed as well as by its reactions to the changing circumstances.
The mind that is not disturbed by things as they occur, that remains pure and tranquil under all circumstances, is the true mind and should be the master.
We cannot say that an inn disappears just because the guest is out of sight; neither can we say that the true self has disappeared when the defiled mind which has been aroused by the changing circumstances of life has disappeared. That which changes with changing conditions is not the true nature of mind.
5. Let us think of a lecture hall that is bright while the sun is shining but is dark after the sun goes down.
We can think of the light departing with the sun and the dark coming with the night, but we cannot so think of the mind that perceives lightness and darkness. The mind that is susceptible to lightness and darkness cannot be given back to anybody; it can only revert to a truer nature which is its fundamental nature.
It is only a “temporary” mind that momentarily notes changes of lightness and darkness as the sun rises and sets.
It is only a “temporary” mind that has different feelings from moment to moment with the changing circumstances of life; it is not the real and true mind. The fundamental and true mind which realizes the lightness and the darkness is the true nature of man.
The temporary feelings of good and evil, love and hatred, that have been aroused by surroundings and changing external conditions, are only momentary reactions that have their cause in the defilement accumulated by the human mind.
Water is round in a round receptacle and square in a square one, but water itself has no particular shape. People often forget this fact.
People see this good and that bad, they like this and dislike that, and they discriminate existence from non-existence; and then, being in these entanglements and becoming attached to them, they suffer.
If people would only give up their attachments to these imaginary and false discriminations, and restore they purity of their original minds, then both their mind and their body would be free from defilement and suffering; they would know the peacefulness that comes with that freedom.
II
Buddha-Nature
1. We have spoken of the pure and true mind as being fundamental; it is the Buddha-nature, that is, the seed of Buddhahood.
One can get fire if one holds a lens between the sun and moxa, but where does the fire come from? The lens is at an enormous distance from the sun, but the fire certainly appears upon the moxa by means of the lens. But if the moxa would not have the nature to kindle; there would be no fire.
In like manner, if the light of Buddha’s Wisdom is concentrated upon the human mind, its true nature, which is Buddhahood, will be enkindled, and its light will illuminate the minds of the people with its brightness, and will awaken faith in Buddha. He holds the lens of Wisdom before all human minds and thus their faith my be quickened.
2. Often people disregard the affinity of their true minds for Buddha’s awakened wisdom, and, because of it, are caught by the entanglement of worldly passions, becoming attached to the discrimination of good and evil, and then lament over their bondage and suffering.
Why is it that people, possessing this fundamental and pure mind, should still cling to illusions and doom themselves to wander about in a world of delusion and suffering, covering their own Buddha-nature while all about them is the light of Buddha’s Wisdom?
Once upon a time a man looked into the reverse side of a mirror and, not seeing his face and head, he became insane. How unnecessary it is for man to become insane because he carelessly looks into the reverse side of a mirror!
It is just as foolish and unnecessary for a person to go on suffering because he does not attain Awakenment where he expects to find it. There is no failure in Awakenment; the failure lies in those people who, for a long time, have sought Awakenmentin their discriminating minds, not realizing that theirs are not true minds but are imaginary minds that have been caused by the accumulation of greed and illusion covering and hiding their true mind.
If the accumulation of false beliefs is cleared away, Awakenment will appear. But, strange enough, when people attain Awakenment, they will realize that without false beliefs there could be no Awakenment.
3. Buddha-nature is not something that comes to an end. Though wicked men should be born beasts or hungry demons, or fall into hell, they never lose their Buddha-nature.
However buried in the defilement of flesh or concealed at the root of worldly desires and forgotten it may be, the human affinity for Buddhahood is never completely extinguished.
4. There is an old story told of a man who fell into a drunken sleep. His friend stayed by him as long as he could but, being compelled to go and fearing that he might be in want, the friend hid a jewel in the drunken man’s garment. When the drunken man recovered, not knowing that his friend has hid a jewel in his garment, he wandered about in poverty and hunger. A long time afterwards the two men met again and the friend told the poor man about the jewel and advised him to look for it.
Like the drunken man of the story, people wander about suffering in this life of birth and death, unconscious of what is hidden away in their nature, pure and untarnished, the priceless treasure of Buddha-nature.
However unconscious people may be of the fact that everyone has within his possession this supreme nature, and however degraded and ignorant they may be, Buddha never loses faith in them because He knows that even in the least of them there are, potentially, all the virtues of Buddhahood.
So Buddha awakens faith in them who are deceived by ignorance and cannot see their own Buddha-nature, lead them away from their illusions and teaches them that originally there is no difference between themselves and Buddhahood.
5. Budhha is one who has attained Buddhahood and people are those who are capable of attaining Buddhahood; that is all the difference lies between them.
But if a man thinks that he has attained Enlightenment, he is deceiving himself, for, although he may be moving in that direction, he has not yet reached Buddhahood.
Buddha-nature does not appear without diligent and faithful effort, nor is the task finished until Buddhahood is attained.
6. One upon a time a king gathered some blind men about an elephant and asked them to tell him what an elephant was like. The first man felt a tusk and said an elephant was like a giant carrot; another happen to touch a ear and said it was like a big fan; another touched its trunk and said it was like a pestle; still another, who happened to feel its leg, said it was like a mortar; and another, who grasped its tail said it was like a rope. Not one of them was able to tell the king the elephant’s real form.
In like manner, one might partially describe the nature of man but would not be able to describe the true nature of a human being, the Buddha-nature.
There is only one possible way by which the everlasting nature of man, his Buddha-nature, that cannot be disturbed by worldly desires or destroyed by death, can be realized, and that is by the Buddha and the Buddha’s noble teaching.
III
Egolessness
1. We have been speaking of Buddha-nature as though it were something that could be described, as though it were similar to the “soul” of other teachings, but it is not.
The concept of an “ego-personality” is something that has been imagined by a discriminating mind which first grasped it and then become attached to it, but which must abandon it. On the contrary, Buddha-nature is something indescribable that must first be discovered. In one sense, it resembles an “ego-personality” but it is not the “ego” in the sense of “I am” or “mine.”
To believe in the existence of an ego is an erroneous belief that supposes the existence of non-existence; to deny Buddha-nature is wrong, for it supposes that existence is non-existence.
This can be explained in a parable. A mother took her sick child to a doctor. The doctor gave the child medicine and instructed the mother not to nurse the child until the medicine was digested.
The mother anointed her breast with something bitter so that the child would keep away from her of his own volition. After the medicine had time enough to be digested, the mother cleansed her breast and let the child suck her. The mother took this method of saving her child out of kindness because she loved the child. Like the mother in the parable, Buddha, in order to remove misunderstanding and to break up attachments to an ego-personality, denies the existence of an ego; and when the misunderstanding and attachments are done away with, then He explains the reality of the true mind that is the Buddha-nature.
Attachment to an ego-personality leads people into delusions, but faith in their Buddha-nature leads them to .Awakenment
It is like the woman in a story to whom a chest was bequeathed. Not knowing the chest contained gold, she continued to live in poverty until another person opened it and showed her the gold. Buddha opens the minds of people and shows them the purity of their Buddha-nature.
2. If everyone has this Buddha-nature, why is there so much suffering from people cheating one another or killing one another? And why are there so many distinctions of rank and wealth, rich and poor?
There is a story of a wrestler who used to wear an ornament on his forehead of a precious stone. One time when he was wrestling the stone was crushed into the flesh of his forehead. He thought he had lost the gem and went to a surgeon to have the wound dressed. When the surgeon came to dress the wound he found the gem embedded in the flesh and covered over with blood and dirt. He held up a mirror and showed the stone to the wrestler.
Buddha-nature is like the precious stone of this story: it becomes covered over by the dirt and dust of other interests and people think that they have lost it, but a good teacher recovers it again for them.
Buddha-nature exists in everyone no matter how deeply it may be covered over by greed, anger and foolishness, or buried by his own deeds and retribution. Buddha-nature cannot be lost or destroyed; and when defilements are removed, sooner or later it will reappear.
Like the wrestler in the story who was shown the gem buried in his flesh and blood by means of a mirror, so people are shown their Buddha-nature, buried beneath their worldly desires and passions, by means of the light of Buddha.
3. Buddha-nature is always pure and tranquil no matter how varied the conditions and surroundings of people may be. Just as milk is always white regardless of the color of the cow’s hide, either red, white, or black, so it does not matter how differently their deeds may condition people’s life or what different effects may follow their acts and thoughts.
There is a fable told in India of a mysterious medical herb that was hidden under the tall grasses of the Himalayas. For a long time men sought for it in vain, but at last a wise man located it by its sweetness. As long as the wise man lived he collected this medical herb in a tub, but after his death, the sweet elixir remained hidden in some far-off spring in the mountains, and the water in the tub turned sour and harmful and of a different taste.
In like manner Buddha-nature is hidden away beneath the wild growth of worldly passions and can rarely be discovered, but Buddha found it and revealed it to the people, and as they receive it by their varying faculties it tastes differently to each person.
4. The diamond, the hardest of known substances, cannot be crushed. Sand and stones can be ground to powder but diamonds remain unscathed. Buddha-nature is like the diamond, and thus cannot be broken.
Human nature, both its body and mind, will wear away, but the nature of Buddhahood cannot be destroyed.
Buddha-nature is, indeed, the most excellent characteristic of human nature. Buddha teaches that, although in human nature there may be endless varieties such as men and women, there is no discrimination with regard to Buddha-nature.
Pure gold is procured by melting ore and removing all impure substances. If people would melt the ore of their minds and remove all the impurities of worldly passion and egoism, they would all recover the same pure Buddha-nature.
Buddha nature. The essential nature of all sentient beings. The potential for awakenment.
Buddhahood.The perfect and complete awakenment of dwelling in neither samsara nor nibbana. Expression of the realization of perfect awakenment, which characterizes a Buddha. The attainment of Buddhahood is the birthright of all beings. According to the teachings of Buddha, every sentient being has, or better is already, Buddha nature; thus Buddhahood cannot be โattained.โ It is much more a matter of experiencing the primordial perfection and realizing it in everyday life.
2. What happened immediately after the Bodhisatta became a Buddha? Give a clear narration of the weeklong meditative absorption in the first week under the Bodhi tree.
VAJRASANA (THE DIAMOND THRONE) First Week
The Vajrasana or the Diamond Throne is the seat of Awakenment which was made in the 3rd century B.C. by King Asoka the Great. It lies between the Temple and the Bodhi Tree. The Vajrasana is made of red sand stone which is 7 feet 6 inches long, 4 feet 10 inches broad and three feet height where Prince Siddhartha sat to become the Buddha and which is the Holiest of Holy places to the Buddhist of the world. Venerable Ashwaghosa in the Buddhacharita reveals that this place is the Navel of the Earth and the Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien’s travellogue also notes that it was this place where all the past Buddhas had attained Enlightenment and where all the future Buddhas must go there in order to achieve the same goal.
3. Describe the events of the second week when he remain gazing at the Mahabodhi tree.
ANIMESHA LOCHANA CHAITYA Second Week
After attaining Awakenment the Buddha spent the second week in meditation in standing posture gazing at the Bodhi Tree with motionless eyes for one whole week. There is one chaitya (shrine) dedicated to this event and it is located north- east of the Mahabodhi Temple.
4. Describe the weeklong walking meditation on the third week.
CHANKRAMANA Third Week
walking up and down in meditation. On the platform lotuses indicate the places the Buddhas feet rested while walking. It is located adjacent to the north of the Mahabodhi Stupa where a long platform has been constructed to commemorate the great event.
5. Describe the weeklong contemplation in the Jewel Pavilion on the fourth week.
RATANAGHARA Fourth Week
This is a small roofless shrine which is situated in the north-west corner of the Maha Bodhi Temple and is known as Ratanaghara or the Jewel House. The Buddha spent the fourth week here in meditation reflecting on the Patthana or the Law of Dependent Origination. While He sat here in deep contemplation the six rays of blue, yellow, red, white, orange and a combination of all these colours together forming the sixth colour emanated from His body. The Buddhist flag used in all Buddhist countries is designed with these colours.
6. Narrate the weeklong contemplation under the Ajapaala Banyan , on the fifth week.
AJAPALA NIGRODHA TREE Fifth Week
The Buddha spent the fifth week in meditation under this tree. The site is situated in front of the Mahabodhi Temple, just a little away from the last step of the eastern gate. Here the Buddha replied to a Brahamana that only by one’s deeds one becomes a perfect Brahmana, and not by birth.
7. Describe the encounter he had with Maara and Huhunhaara Brahmin.
8. How did Maara recall the Buddhaโs attainment? Explain each one vis-avis his own, which was nil. Briefly write on the incident with Maaraโs daughters.
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Siddharthaโs five peers abandoned him in disgust for giving up the austere practices. In the days that followed, Siddhartha returned to his former life as a wandering ascetic. He regained his health and strength. He was preparing himself for the final struggle to attain the supreme truth.
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| Choosing the famous Bodhi tree close to the river, Siddhartha undertook to meditate until he attained the knowledge he sought. A local grasscutter offered him some soft green kusha grass for a cushion. Siddhartha walked around the tree seven times and then he prepared his seat. Sitting down facing eastwards, he began to meditate, vowing that he would not get up from that spot until he had attained enlightenment.
As Siddhartha sat deep in meditation, Mara (the Lord of Delusion who personifies the obscurations of our own mind) was unable to bear the sight of Siddhartha’s inevitable realization of ultimate truth. Mara came with his army to distract Siddhartha from his contemplation. They came in the form of beautiful maidens, and then in the form of fearful demons. They tried to break Siddhartha’s concentration through temptations and then through fear. The arrows sent by the demons only turned into flowers, and the torrential storms merely dispearsed. The Buddha-to-be remained impervious to the illusions and spells with which Mara tried to
undermine his efforts.
Mara then taunted Siddhartha, claiming that Siddhartha had not produced any good merit in the past.
Siddhartha stretched down his hand and touched the earth, calling it to bear witness to his eons of striving for virtuous ends. The earth quaked in all directions and miraculously testified that over countless lifetimes Siddhartha had practiced the perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. Mara and his army fled at the sight of defeat, each demon fleeing in a different direction.
During that night, Siddhartha entered into deeper and deeper states of meditative absorption. He realized the interdependence of all phenomena and directly perceived that nowhere was there even one atom that had even the slightest independent existence. He saw that every instant of suffering stemmed from the inability to understand the way in which all things exist.
The very subtle layers of obscuration that veiled the pure clear light nature of Siddharthaโs mind were removed and at dawn he arose as a fully awakened one, a Buddha. He had conquered sorrow and attained supreme bliss.
Sitting under that pipal tree Siddhartha had finally accomplished his goal by demonstrating to the world the path and attainment of Buddhahood. In this way, the Buddha was born in order to show that an ordinary man can become a Buddha.
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9. Narrate the events of the sixth week under Mucalinda tree and seventh week under Rajayatana tree.
MUCHALINDA LAKE (LOTUS TANK) Sixth Week
The Buddha spent the sixth week in this place in meditation. This place is situated to the South of the Mahabodhi Temple. While the Buddha was meditating near the lake, there broke out a severe thunder storm. Seeing that the Lord was getting drenched the snake king of the lake called ‘Muchalinda’ came out of his abode and encircling the body of the Lord several times, held his hood over Him as a protection against the violent wind and rain.
RAJAYATANA TREE Seventh Week
It is under this tree that the Buddha spent the seventh week in meditation. The place is situated in the south - east of the Mahabodhi Temple. It is said that two merchants from Burma, Tapassu and Bhallika, while passing that way, offered rice cake and honey to the Lord, and took refuge in the Buddha and the Law โBuddham Saranam Gachhami Dhammam Saranam Gachhamiโ (they could not take refuge as Sangham Saranam Gachhami, because, Sangha was not founded then).They were the first lay devotees in the Buddhist world. They took some hairs from the Buddha to be worshipped in their country. According to the Burmese tradition the hairs are preserved in the famous Shwedagon Pagoda of Burma and they worship that Pagoda with great reverence and devotion.
10. Write a brief account of-
i. Brahmaโs request to teach the Dhamma.
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly Self-awakened, he was staying at Uruvela on the bank of the Neraรฑjara River, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree. Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: “This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me.”
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching
what
only with difficulty
I reached.
This Dhamma is not easily realized
by those overcome
with aversion & passion.
What is abstruse, subtle,
deep,
hard to see,
going against the flow โ
those delighting in passion,
cloaked in the mass of darkness,
won't see.
As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One’s awareness, thought: “The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Rightly Self-awakened One inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!” Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahma Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: “Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.”
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
In the past
there appeared among the Magadhans
an impure Dhamma
devised by the stained.
Throw open the door to the Deathless!
Let them hear the Dhamma
realized by the Stainless One!
Just as one standing on a rocky crag
might see people
all around below,
So, O wise one, with all-around vision,
ascend the palace
fashioned of the Dhamma.
Free from sorrow, behold the people
submerged in sorrow,
oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle!
O Teacher, wander without debt in the world.
Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One:
There will be those who will understand.
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahma’s invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the world with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses โ born and growing in the water โ might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; while some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water โ so too, surveying the world with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace and danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahma Sahampati in verse:
Open are the doors to the Deathless
to those with ears.
Let them show their conviction.
Perceiving trouble, O Brahma,
I did not tell people the refined,
sublime Dhamma.
Then Brahma Sahampati, thinking, “The Blessed One has given his consent to teach the Dhamma,” bowed down to the Blessed One and, circling him on the right, disappeared right there.
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