Buddha's Enlightment
After asceticism and concentrating on meditation
or Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha
is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle
Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes
of self-indulgence and self-mortification. He accepted
a little milk and rice pudding from a village girl named
Sujata, who wrongly believed him to be the spirit that
had granted her a wish, such was his emaciated appearance.
Then, sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi
tree in Bodh Gaya, he vowed never to arise until he had
found the Truth. Kaundinya and the other four companions,
believing that he had abandoned his search and become
indisciplined, left. After 49 days meditating, at the
age of 35, he attained Enlightenment; according to some
traditions, this occurred approximately in the fifth lunar
month, and according to others in the twelfth. Gautama,
from then on, was known as the Buddha or "Awakened
One." Buddha is also sometimes translated as "The
Enlightened One." Often, he is referred to in Buddhism
as Shakyamuni Buddha or "The Awakened One of the
Shakya Clan."
At this point, he is believed to have stated that he
had realized complete awakening and insight into the
nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance,
along with steps necessary to eliminate it. These truths
were then categorized into the Four Noble Truths; the
state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was
called Nirvana. He then came to possess the Nine Characteristics,
which are said to belong to every Buddha.
According to one of the stories in the Ayacana Sutta
(Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the Pali
and other canons, immediately after his Enlightenment,
the Buddha was wondering whether or not he should teach
the Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as
human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion,
they would not be able to see the true dharma, which
was subtle, deep and hard to understand. However, a
divine spirit, Brahma Sahampati, interceded and asked
that he teach the dharma to the world, as "there
will be those who will understand the Dharma".
With his great compassion to all beings in the universe,
the Buddha agreed to become a teacher.
|
