Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part C

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Chapter 15: The Doctrine of Arata Kalama

Siddhartha enters the tutelage of the holy monk Arata Kalama. Soon Kalama approached Siddhartha and told him that Siddhartha had learned all that he could from Arata and suggested that the disciple become a teacher with Arata and they could split the duties of teaching. Siddhartha considered the penitence and austerity that the monk and his disciple practiced. He determined that, despite their holy regime, they would never offer humanity a higher place spiritually. For this he decided to not join Arata and rather left to meditate on a mountain.

Chapter 16: Siddhartha and King Vimbasara

Siddhartha wondered into the city of Rajagriha to beg for food. While walking through the city, all of the people noticed how handsome he was. News spread to the king. King Vimbasara, who reigned from Rajagriha, heard the news and had Siddhartha followed to see where he resided. Then the king rode out on his chariot to Siddhartha’s place of meditation on the mountainside and offered him a place in his palace. Siddhartha declined. The Kin, after learning where Siddhartha came from, asked the hero to teach him how to reach enlightenment once the hero had learned. Siddhartha agreed. The the hero sought the lesson of the monk Rudraka and found that his teachings where no better than Kamala’s. Siddhartha left Rudraka when several of the disciples now following him.

Chapter 17: Siddhartha Deserted by His First Disciples

Siddhartha meditated beside a lake for many years. His contemplation was so deep, many thought he was dead. He became thin, gaunt, and frail. Nearly withering away he choose to seek nourishment and began to eat more. Because he choose to eat, his disciples assumed he was no longer seeking austerity so they abandoned him.

Chapter 18: Siddhartha under the Tree of Knowledge

Siddhartha is offered a milk in a golden bowl by a girl who was helping him. Recognizing that all Buddhas before him had been given a gold bowl on the day they where to become a Buddha, he tossed the bowl into the river and declared that, if the bowl moves upstream he will become a Buddha that very day. The bowl moved upstream and then fell into the underworld where it made a sound as it fell into all the other gold bowls that had been thrown away by other Buddhas. Siddhartha went to the tree of knowledge, threw grass on the ground that turned into a comfortable chair and declared that he would not leave until he had gained enlightenment.

Chapter 19: Mara’s Defeat

Mara attempted all measures possible to attack and impose fear on Siddhartha, but all efforts were repeal. Eventually Mother Earth proclaimed that Buddha was greater in strength and generosity than Mara and so Mara was defeated.

Chapter 20: Siddhartha becomes the Buddha

 Siddhartha contemplated before the tree of knowledge and came to this conclusion. Ignorance lie at the root of death, of old age, of suffering, of despair. To suppress ignorance is to suppress impression. To suppress impression is to suppress perception. To suppress perception is to suppress name and form. To suppress name and form is to suppress the six senses. To suppress the six senses is to suppress contact. To suppress contact is to suppress sensation. To suppress sensation is to suppress desire. To suppress desire is to suppress ties. To suppress ties is to suppress existence. To suppress existence is to suppress birth. To suppress birth is to suppress old age and death. To exist is to suffer. Desire leads from birth to rebirth, from suffering to further suffering. By stifling desire, we prevent birth, we prevent suffering. By leading a life of holiness, desire is stifled, and we cease to endure birth and suffering.

With that realization, Siddhartha became Buddha and the world rejoiced.

Bibliography:

Andre Ferdinand Herold, The Life of Buddha, http://sacred-texts.com/bud/lob/lob03.htm#page_3