I. Introduction
II. Learning is Like Walking a Distance
A. Well-Known Places
B. Jatakas Tales and Other Figures
III. Turning the Wheel
IV. Conclusion
The Life of Buddha
I. Introduction
Buddha was an enlightenment person who not oly become enlightened himself, but also led the sentient beings toward a path of enlightenment. The teachings of Buddha are very simples. Most of the focus is on daily life. Later on, Buddhism spread to two places. One was the south and Southeort, including Sri Lanks, Burma, Thailand, and the Cambodia. This area developed school is called “Theravada Buddhism”, meaning “the small vehicle “. Theravada Buddhism emphasizes individual practice and uses the Pali Language. Buddhism also spread to the North of the area, growing in China and later spreading to Japan, Tibet, and Korea where it is named “Mahayana Buddhism,” or “The Great Vehicle”, which emphasizes universal salvation. This school of Buddhism uses Sanskrit for its scriptures. Most Mahayana Buddhists think that their teachings are much better than Theravada’s teachings, and claim that Theravada is not the perfect Dharma to learn. However, all Dharma was taught by Buddha, and all Dharma are essentially the same. Dharma does not distinguish between the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. Dharma is a tool like a key to open a door in order to enter a room. In other words, Dharma are like lights to illuminate a path for us towards enlightenment. The main teachings are to enable us to remove obstacles, delusion, and suffering.
II. Learning is like Walking A Distance
A. Well-known Places
As one attends this Institude of Buddhist Studies (IBS) class, one learns more about Buddha’s teachings. For example, although one has not personally been to India, one learn about some important places where the Buddha lived his whole life. For instance, the Lumbini Park, the place where the Buddha Sakymmuni was born. It is one of the great holy places and is now situated in Rummindei, Nepal. Two thousand and five hundred years ago it was the most beautiful public garden of that time of the Sakya clan in Kapilavastu. In later times, Buddhists established a great and magnificent stupa there as commemoration of Buddha. A famous place is called the Stone Pillar with an inscription carved on it by order of king Asoka. In the third century B.C. after twenty years of ascendancy to the throne, king Asoka went to the birth place of the Buddha to pay homage and erected there a stone pillar as commemoration.
The text inscribed on the stone pillar is translated as below: “When Kin Asoka twenty year after his ascendancy to the throne went in person to this place to pay homage because this place is the Holy place of birth of the Buddha, he ordered a stone pillar to be erected which had at its top the image of a horse standing there in order to commemorate that the Buddha was born here. He also decreed that the village of Lumbini be exempted from taxation and were but only to pay an eighth of its produce.” Another Memorial Hall of Queen Maya and the pond is at the rear of the stone pillar of King Asoka, there is a white colored building that is the commemoration hall of Queen Maya. On its walls there are painted pictures of the birth of the Buddha amongst other things. In front of the stone pillar and the commemoration hall, there is a great pond from which it is said that water had been taken from it to rinse and bathe the Buddha at the time of his birth. Moreover, the Bodhi Tree, six miles south of the town of Gaya. The Buddha attended there full illumination under the Bodhi Tree. This place is the most important center for Buddhists going on pilgrimage. 5. On the place where the Buddha attained to the full illumination under the Bodhi tree, there has been erected a Vajrasana to commemorate it. According to what is said, two hundred and fifty years after the Buddha’s passing away King Asoka went to pay homage at the holy remains and erected a temple beside the tree. At the same time, he erected a diamond seat to illustrate the diamond like firmness and sharpness of the Buddha’s meditative contemplation and wisdom practiced under the Bodhi tree which could cut off all defilement and attain to the full illumination. 6. The Deer Park is eight miles north of Benares and is the place where the Buddha gave the first exposition of the Dharma to the five Bhiksus. 7. The King Bimbisara requested the Buddha to come to Rajagra to expond the Dharma and had the Venuvana Vihara Constructed to offer it to the Buddha. This is the earliest monastery of the Buddhist teaching and was the basis for the development of the Buddhist teaching. 8. The Jetavana Vihara is the ancient Sravasti. The Jetavana Vihara was built by the elder Anathapindika and offered by him to the Buddha. 9. Kusinagara is approximately fifty-five miles east of Gorahpur in present day India. It is the place where Buddha entered into Parinirvana at the age of eighty. It is called the Nirvana Stupa. It is one of the four holy places of the Buddhist teaching. After the Buddha passed away into Nirvana, a stupa was built here to honor the remains of the Buddha. The Nirvana stupa was rebuilt by Burmese Buddhists in 1927. 10. The impression of the Buddha’s Foot. In the early Buddhist tradition, offering to the Buddha image were forbidden and the Bodhi tree, the wheel of the Dharma, the Buddha’s seat, the Buddha’s footprint and symbols were taken as the symbols to be worshipped instead. This went right up to the first, or second century A. D. when Buddha images were made.
B. Jataka Tales and Other Figures
In Buddhism school taught many Jataka tales. The school has been focused on studying sutras. For instance, I have learned the Loyus Sutra, Wisdom Sutra, Impermanent Sutra, Dharmapada Sutra, and Nirvana Sutra. When I was given an assignments by the instructor, I spent a lot of time researching in the library about the Jatakas stories. Sometime I was frustrated by the assignment because it was difficlut to find the Jataka illustrations. One day, through a classmate’s resource, I found my picture. At that moment, I was so excited that I could use her resource to show in class. I also learned from other classmates’ presentation each meeting. For example, Herry brought a colorful picture book, which was painted in Thailand and depicted traditional figures. I not only learned the Jataks tales, I also learned about Thailand’s culture. Although Thailand is in Asia, Thai culture is different from others cultures, like China.
I have learned some Jatakas. The Jatakas are the tales of the previous existences of Buddha. The Jatakas tales are very interesting. For example, the Mahasattva Jataka (story of the Tigress) described Buddha’s previous life in which he was a Bodhisattva who fed his body to a hungry tigress and cub. The other is the Mahakapi Jataka, which describes the death of the Monkey King, who also gave his life for others. Numerous tales of the unlimited altruism of the good King Sibi are known to us from literary accounts and monuments in Asia. All Jatakas described the offering of the Buddha’s own body so that others might thrive, he is the model of perfect charity and selflessness. These stories show a Bodhisattva’s compassion and merit. They emphasizes the spirit of Mahayana Buddhism.
Although I have been attended the Buddhism school in Taiwan, I usually do not pay attention to Buddhist art. While I was attended this class, I found that Buddhist art is very important and useful to Buddhists. There is a proverb which says, “Seeing is believing.” As we visited the Asian Museum at San Francisco, we were able to really visualize the life of Buddha that we had learned about in class. We saw the history of Buddha in India and her culture. The Buddhist school I attended in Taiwan emphasize much about the three Kassapas. The story is that there are three brothers, namely Gaya, kumara, and Nadi. At Uruvela lived a matted-haired ascetic known as Uruvela Kassapa with five hundred disciples. Further down the river lived his brothers, Nadi Kassapa with three hundred disciples, Gaya Kassapa loved in the village of Gaya with two hundred disciples. Buddha, by his magical powers, overxame two nagas that vomited smoke and flame, received visits from various gods, read the thoughts of Uruvels Kassapa, split wood, created stoves for them to use after bathing in the cold weather, and worked 3,5oo miracles. Still Kassapa persisted in his thought, “the great ascetic is of great magic and of great power, but he is not an arahat like me.” Finallly Buddha decided to startle him, and said, “You are not ar arahat, Kassapa, you have not attained the path of arahatshio; nor is this the way by which you will become an arahat or attain arahatship.” Thereupon Kassapa bowed with his head at the feet of the Lord and asked for ordination. Buddha told him to consult his pupils, and they cut off their matted hair, threw it with their sacrifical utensils into the river, and were all ordained. The pupiles of Nada Kassapa, seeing the things floating down the river came, to inquire of some misfortune had happended. On finding out the truth, they all did the same and were ordained. Exactly the same thing happened to Gaya Kassapa and his pupils. On the hill at Gaya, Buddha preached to them the Fire-sermon, and they all attained arahatship. From this story, we see that was Buddha a great educator and had a great method of cultivating the sentient beings.
III. Turning the Wheel
Buddhist scriptures are extensive, and come many different sects. Even if I spend my whole life studying. I will never finish as a classmate, Favis, even if we study Buddhism for our whole life, we still can not completely study those sutras because the Buddha’s teaching later on became more and more complicated. However, according to Theravada Buddhism, Buddha’s teachings are very simple. He taught Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Noble Paths, Thirty-seven Wings of Enlightenment, Dependent Co-arising, Three Characteristics of Buddhism, and Chain of Causation. Buddha taught many years and cultivated different sentient beings by different methods in different places until he passes away at sighty years of age in the city of Kusinagara between two Sala trees.
After Buddha attained enlightenment, he began teaching. His first teaching is the Four Noble Truths at Deer Park with five men who following Buddha from the palace. The Four Noble Truth are suffering, gathering the suffering, delusion, and the path. After that, Buddha taught the five men who attended Arahatship. They become the first five Arhats in the world. Then Buddha went to another place to teach others. Later on, more and more people become his disciples, and Buddha’s mother, Maha-Prajapati, requested to follow him to learn and practice his teaching as other monks did. But Buddha did not allow her mother and other ladies to do so. When Ananda requested it, Buddha finally allowed his mother, wife and other women to be nuns, However, Buddha told the nuns that they must obey “the Eight precepts”, so that the nuns’ precepts are kept two hundred precepts more than monks have. Now in Mahayana Buddhist countries such as China and Japan. Hence, at that time there were women who joined with the Buddha’s teachings and received his cultivation. The Sangha was started with monks, nuns, and laity, and later on was to get disciples, for Buddhism accepted seven kinds of disciples.
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