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Since this past Tuesday kicked off the first of the 2014 'Buddha Days' (in Japan) with Vesak/Saga Dawa to follow in May and June (these are all the various spring celebrations to celebrate the Buddha's life) I thought I would start a thread sharing some thoughts on the inspiration we can glean from the Buddha's life. There are multiple versions of his life, although the basic structure is the same for all of them. Here's an overview of the basic story if you are not familiar with it:

Buddhas Life - Part 1 of 2

Buddha's Life - Part 2 of 2

I think one of the most interesting things about the Buddha's life story is his father's attempts to create the perfect life for him. Because he is afraid he will leave home to pursue a spiritual life, his father tries to give him the perfect existence inside the kingdom so he will never have any cause to leave. His life is filled with pleasure, beauty, comfort, and fun. But it is not enough. Ultimately, it feels empty to him.

Often we turn to spirituality in times of pain, loss, or grief. It is natural to reach for help on another level when we are suffering. But then we are often looking mostly for comfort.

The Buddha's quest begins very differently - he is looking for truth, and for a way to exist in both pain and pleasure that does not hinge upon external circumstances for happiness, because he sees very young that everything is transience. This is such a deep insight, and really is the heart of the Buddhist path, and this aspect of the Buddha's story seems to be very unique as compared to other religious traditions. This one aspect of the Buddha's life - that he begins his spiritual quest not seeking comfort but because he seeks truth - really says it all in some ways.


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The next aspect of the Buddha's life story that I find very illuminating are how he comes to the realization that he wants to embark upon the spiritual life. He is sheltered in the kingdom his father has set up for him, with all sorts of pleasurable diversions, but eventually has a desire to visit outside the gates. His father sets up the visit (this part of the story varies a bit depending on the version), hiding everyone who is aging, ill, or dying, so that Buddha will not come across any painful aspects of human existence.

But he does catch glimpses of all three - an old man, an ill person, and a funeral pyre for someone who has died. He asks his friend about each and is shocked to discover that no human beings escape these experiences. He confronts the limitations of his own body, and the reality of mortality for the first time.

I think for most of us, we confront these truths at many different points in our lives. I have young children, and when my grandmother died, they confronted the reality of death for the first time. As an adult, I know that different events in my life have brought it more into focus for me - whenever someone known to me has died, when a friend or family member has had to battle cancer or some other life-threatening illness, certain birthdays, even events in the news. We all have moments in our lives when we confront these truths about human life very directly, and I think that each time, there is an opportunity for us to go inward, and really contemplate what our lives are about, and what matters to us.

This is what happened to Buddha at this stage of his life. Everything was thrown into focus for him, and his priorities shifted. Suddenly he felt he could not waste anymore time on idle pleasures, he needed to get to the truth of the matter.

I'll talk about renunciation next, because that is a tricky subject for many of us Westerners...


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I just finished a very moving book that brought this theme of facing our mortality as a spiritual motivator very much to the fore again. It's a novel called The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It's very sad, as it's about 2 teenagers with cancer. But the way they learn to face truth, and live in the moment, loving deeply without sugarcoating their situation, is very beautiful.

Although it's not explicitly spiritual (and in fact the main character considers herself atheist), it's very spiritual in it's tone and lessons. That is my favorite kind of book - one in which the character's growth really feels organic and moving, without an agenda.

Last edited by Lisa - Buddhism; 04/20/14 04:28 PM.

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Since it is Earth Day, thought I would talk about the wonderful moment in the Buddha's story when he calls upon the earth as witness. While Buddha is meditating under the bodhi tree, having vowed not to get up until he has seen through all delusion and suffering, Mara, the king of delusion attempts to lure him away from his spiritual quest through both scary and alluring visions. He promises and threatens Buddha with all sorts of powers and experiences. But Buddha is undeterred, fueled by his commitment to truth and to find the way out of suffering for all beings.

Finally, Mara claims he himself is enlightened, and all his soldiers cry out that they are his witnesses. Mara then says to Buddha, "Who will bear witness for you?"

Buddha simply reaches his right hand towards the earth, and the earth itself roars "I bear you witness!" And with that, Mara dissolves.

This hand position of the right hand reaching towards the earth, is called the Bhumi-sparsha, or "gesture of touching the earth", mudra (mudras are sacred hand positions.) It represents steadfastness and unshakability.

It says a lot about Buddhism that Buddha did not call upon angels or spirit deities for help. He called upon the earth in his moment of greatest need. Buddhism recognizes humanity as part and parcel with the earth. Our relationship to the earth is fundamental to our lives and spiritual quest.


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Hi Lisa,

This is all so interesting - thank you for your writing. I need to read it again a few times I think ... and each time I expect I will learn something new about the way I think.

Very often we are judged by what we do not do as opposed to what we do do. It is like reading between the lines of action I think, for what a person does and what a person does not do are of equal importance.

Your comment above about Buddha calling on the earth as his witness is interesting - how true too when you say "Our relationship to the earth is fundamental to our lives and spiritual quest."

Cheers


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Originally Posted By: Lestie4containergardens

Very often we are judged by what we do not do as opposed to what we do do. It is like reading between the lines of action I think, for what a person does and what a person does not do are of equal importance.


How true. Both action and inaction have an intention behind them, and that's what ripples out into the world. This is definitely a key part of the Buddhist idea of karma.

I'm glad you like these insights on Buddha's life story, I'm looking forward to sharing more. I really view it as a symbolic story - each phase of it has a teaching lesson, just like the life stories of many great masters.


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I think part of how I view the Buddha's story is in relationship with the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Someone who is at one of the lower levels - let's say they are starving and cold - is often just seeking to end those immediately critical issues. They can't have the luxury of pondering higher esoteric issues. They pray for food. They pray for a home. Their desire from spirituality is to keep themselves alive.

Someone like the Buddha is up at the top of the Maslow pyramid. They have ample food. Ample shelter. Family. Friends. Respect. They have the luxury of being able to ponder higher issues while they nibble on their grapes and relax on their soft fabrics. And if they choose to divest themselves of things, that is within their control, which is a far different situation than someone who is scrabbling to find food or die.


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Hi Lisa, that is a very good point. As a whole, we here in the West are mostly not scrambling for food on a daily basis. Of course there are some who are, and we all have life crises at times, but most of us are dealing with needs higher up on Maslow's hierarchy. This can become a trap though, where we become so caught up in thinking we need more and more that we put all of our energy into this, instead of using the relative luxury that we have to go inward. Then at some point, often near death, our lives feel empty.

In Tibetan Buddhism it is often said that human life is the perfect kind of incarnation for pursuing awakening, because the 'hell worlds' are so dark that there is not enough glimmer of light for someone to find a spiritual path, and the 'heavenly worlds' are so pleasurable that beings there get trapped in hedonism, and compassion for others never arises. The human world is right in between - we experience both pain and pleasure, love and hate, greed and compassion - the full spectrum and this creates the right conditions for us to move inward.

I view both the hell realms and the heavenly realms in these teachings as symbolic, as realms that we see people here on earth in all of the time, and that we all can get trapped in. So the Buddha was in a heavenly realm in a way, but his trip outside the castle grounds awoke his compassion for the human condition, and that drove him to dive deeper.

I do think though that anyone can benefit from Buddhism on any level of the hierarchy. So many Tibetan monks demonstrated this when imprisoned - they had nothing, were regularly beaten and starved, and credit their practice with helping them to survive.


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Dear Lisa -

Absolutely, I agree that many who have ample food and shelter then seek out other things to lust after. They want fancier food. Nicer shelter. More bling for their shelter. It can go on and on.

I'm currently in a stage where I am trying to rid myself of stuff. So I'm the opposite in many ways. I try daily to get stuff OUT of the house.

I like the idea that we are in a right balance place.

And definitely I agree that all of us, in all of our stages, have an opportunity to grow and learn.


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