The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 23

Angulimala/garland of the finger was a notorious murderer who kills the passersby in the Jalini forest and adorns the garland made of their finger bones.  Buddha, who was in deep meditation envisaged that Angulimala is going to commit matricide very soon, which will bring the severest sin to him.  This sin would stop Angulimala in achieving the path of Dharma and Nirvana, all these years he was committing the sin out of ignorance, and it was not intentional.  Buddha thought Angulimala is wandering in the darkness of ignorance, he is lacking the guidance of a preceptor, he still has the right to attain the path of Dharma and Nirvana.  Buddha decided to help Angulimala from the deadly snare of killing his own mother.

Angulimala while wandering through the woods of Jalini, was proud of himself for collecting finger bones of 999 people.  He wanted to follow the instruction of his master to complete the killing of 1000 people and make a garland of their finger bones.  While he was wandering through the pathways, he saw Buddha was walking away all alone.  Angulimala rushed behind Buddha, but he could not chase Buddha.  He felt deeply exhausted, finding the same distance between them always, he could not get closer to Buddha.  Angulimala screamed “ Oh! Ascetic, stop there.” Buddha said, “ I have already stopped, it is you did not stop yet.”  Angulimala could not understand anything of Buddha’s speech.  He shouted “ Holy man should speak only the truth, you are still moving forward.  I am standing still, but you did not stop.”  Buddha said “ I am following non-violence/Ahimsa, I have stopped killing,  stopped harming and stopped pursuing the wrong livelihood, I have stopped all kinds of misconduct.  It is you have not yet stopped doing all the above I have mentioned.  How can you say that you have already stopped harming? You are still running with the sword behind me.”  Angulimala threw away his sword and fallen at the feet of Lord Buddha with the folded hand said “ You have spoken the truth.  I have not heard, not even in my master’s hermitage.” Buddha spoke “Everything arises and cease, the sword you were carrying laid down now.  Therefore leave all those thoughts associated with your wrong actions, don’t carry those thoughts in your mind that will spoil you,  focus your mind on good actions, your heart becomes cheerful and radiant.  Always be enthusiastic to earn merit by performing pious deeds,  follow good discipline, and morality that would brighten your mind.”  Angulimala attained wisdom by listening to the passionate speeches of Buddha. He took a vow to follow Buddhism and practice the same.  He was taken to Jetavana Monastery, later he was ordained as a monk, finally attained Nirvana.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 22

The villagers were talking about the unexpected death of a young courtesan Sirima, who has become a staunch devotee of Lord Buddha.  She was gorgeous with a lovely appearance; everyone remarked she is too young to die.  Once she had the opportunity to listen to the lecture of Lord Buddha, after that she gave up her duty as a courtesan and became an ardent follower of Buddha.  Thus she has attained an abundance of merit with the grace of Lord Buddha.    The villagers were in a hurry to cremate the dead body, but they were not able to perform their task, Buddha requested King Shudhodhana to order to keep the corpse for three days.  As per the order of the King, the body was kept for three days.  When Sirima came into the village Rajagir as a courtesan, all the villagers were expressed their desire to spend the night with her and spend pleasurable time in the association of her, now she is dead no one wants to keep her corpse, everyone wants to get rid of her corpse.

The King arrived at the place where the corpse of Sirima was kept in the wooden box.   The King announced, “I would like to sell the corpse of the courtesan for the highest price, I will start from the price she began to sell her body, who wants to buy for 1000 Kahapanas, who wants to start bidding?”  The villagers were shocked after hearing the announcement of the King; they whispered to each other, who is going to buy a corpse? Who is going to bid a lifeless body? Who is going to spend this much money on a corpse? She is dead for three days and her corpse started spreading foul smell, fluids are flowing out of the body, the smell of the corpse is intolerable, spreading all over the symmetry, who would buy the corpse with the foul smell?.  The King started to reduce the bidding price for the rotten corpse, no one in the crowd moved an inch further showing interest in it, finally, the King announced if no one wants to pay, ready to offer the corpse for free.  It was pitiful to note that none of the gentlemen came forward from the crowd, while Sirima was alive all these men were fighting to own her for a night.  Finally, her body was cremated under the instruction of the King, following the prescribed rite.

King Shudhdhodhana and the people assembled in the symmetry listened to the teachings of Buddha “ It is the nature of all the things to arise, persist for a while and pass away.  It is the nature of all the living beings in the Samsara.  It is sobering to understand that the soul keeps taking several countless births on this Earth.  The person who is too attached to sound, taste, smell,  and physical sensations, cannot find liberation from this worldly existence.”

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 21

There was a  pious woman Uttara who was a staunch devotee of Lord Buddha, she had a conversation with her husband, he said “ Uttara, why did you ask for a large sum of money from your father.  I am your wedded husband; you could have asked me for that.  There was no need to bother your father.”  Uttara said “ Dear husband, since after the marriage I had little opportunity to perform religious and spiritual tasks, my father is a staunch devotee of Lord Buddha, I asked money to offer a meal for Buddha and his disciples for fifteen days.  It is not that I was intentionally refusing to take money from you.  My father shares the belief of Lord Buddha with me.” her husband replied, “ In that case, let it be as you wish.”  Uttara continued “ I wish to cook meals for Lord Buddha and his disciples for fifteen days all by myself.  I want to invite them to our house and serve meals.  I am afraid during that time I won’t be able to perform wifely tasks for you. Please excuse me for that.” Her husband said, “ In that case, let it be as you wish”.  Uttara resumed “ I have heard about a courtesan girl  Sirima who is charming and expensive, living in Rajgir, a few men got an opportunity to enjoy her beauty.  In these fifteen days, I am thinking of hiring Sirima to perform all the wifely duties to you.” Husband replied “ In that case, let it be as you wish.”  As per the conversion of the couple, the courtesan girl Sirima was brought to their house for living.

Uttara and her maidservant engaged in the preparation for inviting Lord Buddha and his disciples, they spend hours and hours in the kitchen preparing a sumptuous meal for Lord Buddha and his disciples. One day her husband arrived in the kitchen with the courtesan girl Sirima and asked: “ Uththara are you exhausted?” The husband thought, look at her, she is not letting others do the work, though she has enough employees in the kitchen, her face is murky and clothes are dirty, in fact, she should relax, instead, she is finding a way to get herself worn out of the kitchen tasks.  Uttara thought how heedless and pleasure-seeking is my husband, he is immensely wealthy so he is not thinking of earning piousness, and he is really foolish.  Sirima thought, Uththara is looking at me with a contemptuous smile as if she is scolding me, it is sickening to stick on here.  Sirima approached Uththara vehemently, seized the ladle from her hand and took a ladle full of boiling soup to pour on her face.  Uttara said “ Sirima I am grateful to you for taking up my place and serving my husband for these fifteen days.  It provided me a chance to earn some merit by serving Buddha and his disciples for fifteen days.  I will not get angry with you for the way you treat me.”  Sirima poured the boiling soup on Uththara’s face, but it did no harm on her face.  Soon all the employees of the Bungalow rushed into the kitchen saying “ How dare this prostitute attack our employer? Let us teach her a lesson so that she won’t forget. Come on.”  Soon Uththara came in the middle and said “ Do not hurt her, Sirima is like a friend to me, I owe her debt of gratitude, I am not angry on her,”  Sirima felt ashamed of her actions and fallen at the feet of Uththara.  Sirima said “ I am a courtesan girl employed by you, I have made a mistake, I have started assuming your husband like mine, that’s why I attacked you.  You are a noble person.  You have not shown any anger against my wickedness; your heart is filled with compassion and love. Kindly forgive me Uththara.”  Uttara said “ If you want to ask forgiveness, please do that to Lord Buddha. Tomorrow I will be completing fifteen days of offerings to Lord Buddha and his disciples.  Please come and attend the offering ceremony and listen to the speech about Dharma.”

The next day morning Lord Buddha arrived with his disciples.  He gave a lecture about anger “A person should overcome his hatred with kindness,  evil with goodness, stinginess with generosity, deceit with integrity,  and carelessness of speech with the words of wisdom.  People who are absorbed in worldly matters and pleasures, wrapped in sensual pleasures, intoxicated by immense wealth, luxuries, status, power and fame, cannot realize the beauty of nobility and truthfulness.”  Uttara and Sirima attained wisdom and earned abundance piousness with the grace of the Lord Buddha.  Later Sirima became the staunch devotee of Lord Buddha.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 20

Once Buddha was walking for begging alms, one saintly old man approached Buddha and said: “ Monk, why are you here in  my hermitage?” Buddha said “ Venerable Uruvela Kasappa, I have come to ask permission to stay in your hermitage.” Kasappa said, “ Venerable Buddha, here we do fire worship.”  The saintly man thought Buddha does not follow our practices of worship, then why did he want to stay in this hermitage.  The saintly old Kasappa said “ Sorry Monk, I have no place to offer you here. Therefore please look elsewhere.  I would suggest you travel in a different direction from here.  This bank of river Neranjera is occupied by us, three Jatila brothers.  I am Uruvela Kasappa, the surrounding areas belong to myself and my five hundred followers.  Further down the river, there is a hermitage of my younger brother Nadi Kasappa and his three hundred followers.  The area beyond is occupied by Gayakasappa who is my youngest brother with his two hundred followers.  These three riverside hermitages are fully occupied and there is no room for you to stay.”  Buddha said “ I can see a place available in your fire worshiping shrine. Kindly give me permission to stay there.” Uruvela Kassappa said “ Monk, I do not mind you stay in the shrine, but I must warn you, there is a fierce venomous serpent king in the shrine, If you spend a night in there your life will be in danger,”  Buddha said, “ Uruvela Kassapa, kindly give me permission, the serpent King will not do any harm to me.”  Uruvela Kassapa said, “ If you say so, please make yourself comfortable in the fire worshipping shrine.”

On that night Buddha took shelter in the fire worshipping shrine, seated before the huge blazing fire and engaged in dee[ meditation.  There was loud hissing and crawling sound of the huge serpent King that went near the fireplace and emitted fire in all directions,  Buddha did not open his eyes.  Uruvela Kassappa was overlooking the shrine from his chamber window thinking that Buddha must have burned into ashes by the serpent King.   Uruvela Kassappa rushed near the shrine and wondered to see the serpent inside a covered small wooden bowl; he thought Buddha must have supernatural powers.  His mind was not willing to accept the powers of Buddha.  One night he could witness a brilliant ray entered inside the shrine and spreading light all over the place, he thought this ascetic must have great might.  While Buddha was living inside the shrine there were deities who assumed the form of brilliant rays from all the abodes were the regular visitors to listen to the teachings of him.  Still, Uruvela Kassapa was not willing to accept the supremacy of Buddha.

One night there were thunderstorms followed with lightning and heavy downpour, eventually, it flooded the whole area.   Uruvela Kassappa was traveling in a ferry to his hermitage thought definitely Buddha must have washed off in the heavy rain.  Suddenly, the ferryman said “Master, look over there, the ascetic is untouched by the water,” Uruvela Kassapa saw Buddha was standing in the middle of flooded water leaving a circular space for him. Uruvela Kassapa understood that Buddha has immense supernatural powers, but his mind was not willing to accept the fact.

Buddha understood Uruvela Kassappa is arrogant and stubborn, he is proud of his ascetic powers.  Buddha spoke to him “Venerable Kasappa, your fire worship is not going to help you to achieve liberation, you are proud of yourself with the divine powers, you are deceiving yourself and others too.   If you give up your pride and follow and practice my teachings, in a short time you will become a true ascetic with supernatural powers.”  Uruvela Kassappa understood his misconception and fallen at the feet of Lord Buddha and requested to accept him as his disciple.  Later he was ordained as a Monk and taught the path of Dharma and Nirvana.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 19

Once Buddha’s disciple was under meditation, a few youngsters arrived to meet him and a few of them were childhood mates from the village.  Buddha’s disciple instantly recognized them and asked “ I still remember the childhood days we have spent together,  I have moved forward, I do not concern myself, I left all the worldly bondage, you have gone in search of worldly affairs, What’s  the reason you all came to meet me?”  One of them said, “We heard you have gone forth, and sure there must be good reasons to do so, therefore we came to see you.” Buddha’s disciple said “ If that is the case, I will take you all to meet the Lord Buddha who enlightened me from the darkness of ignorance. I will request Lord Buddha to guide you as well.”  The Monk took all the village mates to Lord Buddha who was seated under the tree.   Lord Buddha began to speak “Once you know about the causes of displeasure and what are the displeasures, which causes destruction and death, should know the techniques for the cessation of destruction and death.  If you know the sufferings and its causes, you can adopt the path for the cessation of the same.” The monk while sending off the villagers said: “The fifty of you all are my friends from the same village if you need any help; I am ready to do whatever help I can.”  One of them said, “We heard you have ordained as Monk under the guidance of Lord Buddha, we want to follow your footsteps, we want to ordain as Monk as well.”  The Monk said, “You have to request Lord Buddha to get ordain as Monk.”

These villagers attended the lectures of Lord Buddha regularly. “ A Bikshu was taught to be humble and kind, he was taught the lessons of Dharma, he learns to know the state of human being, he realizes the pleasant and unpleasant feelings, and the neutral feelings, he realizes the impermanent nature of the feelings.  He realizes the arising, persistence and passing away of feelings, ultimately seeing the impermanence nature he grows weary of feelings.  Finally, he grows disinterested in feelings and letting go.  He meditates to things that let it go, pleasant as well as unpleasant; he is not grasping or not clinging on to the feelings.  This leads to contemplation and realization of cessation.”  The youngsters listen to the teachings of Buddha with fold hands with extreme reverence.  Buddha announced “ Bhikshus, You have attained sublime of Dharma.  Therefore go place to place and spread the inspiring Dharma, make known the philosophies of Buddhism for the benefit of the people.  But do not travel two on the same route.”  All the villagers were ordained as Monks and traveled to different places to spread the teachings of Lord Buddha, the essence of Dharma/righteousness.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 18

Once a few young men and the chief of the tribal clan were sitting under the tree, surrounded by lush green land and streams in the dense wood, there came Buddha with the wooden bowl for alms in his hand.  The old man said in disapproval “ He is Gauthama, who embraced asceticism, a hermit who lives in solitude.” The young man expressed his criticism “If he comes, we won’t get up or greet him or welcome him, and we will put a seat if he wants to take the seat.”  Though these people expressed their disapproval about Buddha, as soon as he approached, when they made eye contact with Buddha, the villagers went near him and greeted him with respect, one took hold the bowl for alms,  and the other one fanned him.  Suddenly, the villagers realized that even though they were decided to show no respect, as soon as they saw Buddha they could not resist getting up and greeting him.  The chief of the tribal clan asked “ Oh!  Buddha, what was the purpose of your visit to this forest?”  Buddha said, “ Pay attention to my words, if you follow my words, you will realize Dharma.” The chief spoke, “ after practicing austerities for a long time you did not attain enlightenment, so how could you attain liberation after giving up all efforts, causing us to abandon you.”  Buddha said “An ascetic should not follow entangling with the sensual pleasures and tormenting body with hardship and pain,  these will not lead to the path of enlightenment.  The Noble Eightfold Path is the practice that leads to Nirvana.  There is four noble truth such as suffering, physical illnesses, mental illnesses, and desire, should be abandoned, cessation of suffering should be the prime goal and the techniques should be realized and practiced.”  This was the first teaching of Buddha about the Dharma to the tribal clan, the chief of the tribal clan venerable Kondanna attained the spiritual wisdom.  Soon he requested Buddha to ordain him as Buddhist Monk.  Buddha said “ You are Bhikshu who has profound knowledge in Dharma.”  Later, on the first day of the waning of moon venerable Vappa ordained as Monk, venerable Bhaddiya  on the second day, and third day venerable Mahanama and venerable Assaji on the fourth day.  On the fifth day of  the waning moon, of the eighth lunar month Buddha, gave lessons on the ‘self’, that are body, feeling, pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, perception and memory, mental formations, sense consciousness, awareness of mental impressions, are not connected with the soul.  All these are impermanent and insubstantial,  it is their nature to arise, persist for a while and pass away.”  After listening to the speeches of Buddha, these monks attained enlightenment which leads to Nirvana.

The Life of Lord Buddha

Pranams at the lotus feet of Lord Buddha!

Chapter – 17

The King of Kapilavasthu Sudhdhodhana was on death, he remembered the teachings of Buddha, human life on earth are subject to aging, sickness, and death.   Life is full of struggle, striving, conceit, greatness, and suffering.  Suddenly he could hear the announcement of his attendant “ Your Majesty, the Buddha has arrived in the royal palace.”  Sudhdhodhana seated from his bed and reverentially greeted Buddha who was arrived with his a few disciples.  Suddhodhana said “ Oh! Lord, my life is ending, I cannot bear the suffering anymore." Buddha consoled saying “ Oh! Father, do not worry, every condition in human life is predestined, having to come into being and persist for a while, after that it has to pass away, it is the nature of life on Earth.  It is the suffering that is arising, existing and passing, nothing but sufferings.  There is no woman, man, us or them, it is all-pervading illusion.”  Thus, Buddha passionately continued to speak about life on Earth and its nature while his father was waiting for his death.  The day and night have passed, Buddha affectionately watching his father’s transit to the world of celestials, seating near to his death bed he continued giving teachings on Dharma.  In this way, Buddha continued to preach for seven days and his father was sincerely listening to his lectures.  On the seventh day, his father spoke “Oh! Lord Buddha, you have taught me elaborately on Dharma for seven days to attain the Nirvana from the cycles of rebirth.  I have very little time left, therefore I want to venerate you and attain Nirvana.  Kindly forgive me for whatever sins committed with the body, mind, and words.  Kindly shower your compassion upon me.  I ask your permission to take my final leave and let me pass to Nirvana.”  Thus, Shudhdhodhana left his mortal coil and attained liberation from repeated births.