Prince Siddhattha’s contemplative nature and boundless compassion did not permit him to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of a royal household. He knew no woe, but he felt deep pity for sorrowing humanity. Amidst comfort and prosperity he realized the universality of sorrow. One day, Prince Siddhattha wished to see the world outside, and asked Channa, his charioteer, to prepare a chariot for him. He came into direct contact with the stark realities of life. His observant eyes met the strange sights of an old man, a diseased person, a corpse, and a dignified hermit. The first three sights convinced him of the inexorable nature of life and the universal sickness of humanity. The fourth signified the means to overcome the ills of life and attain calm and peace.

Realizing the worthlessness of sensual pleasures, and the value of renunciation in which the wise seek delight, he decided to leave the world in search of Truth and Peace.

When his final decision was made after much deliberation, the seemingly happy news of the birth of a son was conveyed to him. Contrary to expectation, he was not overjoyed but regarded the first and only offspring as an impediment (rahu).

When Prince Siddhattha entered the city with a great retunue, Kisa Gotami, a maiden of the warrior caste, seeing the beauty of the Prince, was full of zest and happiness and she gave an utterance praising the beauty of the Prince. Hearing this, the Prince thought: ‘When the Fire of Lust, Hatred and Delusion is extinguished (nibbuta), then only is the heart truly happy (nibbuta). I must renounce the world and seek after true Happiness (nibbãna).’ So he took from his neck a fine pearl necklace and asked Channa to send it to Kisa Gotami as teacher’s fee for reminding him to go in search of nibbuta. But Kisa Gotami thought that Prince Siddattha had sent it out of love for her.

Returning to his palace, troops of dancing-girls came in and began to dance and sing. But the Prince no more took pleasure in them and fell asleep. Waking up in the night, he was disgusted by the loathsome appearance of those who had earlier been entertaining him, now lying around deep in slumber. The palace was no longer a congenial place for the destined Buddha-to-be, the time was ripe for him to make the Great Renunciation immediately. He ordered Channa to saddle his favourite horse Kanthaka.

He went to the suite of apartments occupied by the Princess wanting to take a look of his son. Seeing that Yasodhara was sleeping with her hand placed over the body of the son, Prince Siddhattha fearing that if he moved his wife’s hand, so as to look at the child’s face, she might wake up and prevent him from leaving, so he closed the door again and departed without seeing his son.

Leaving all behind with a light heart, he stole away from the palace at midnight and rode into the darkness on his horse, attended only by his loyal charioteer. Prince Siddhattha passed out of the city gate, a deva at the gate opened for them. Mara, the Evil One, offered him Universal Monarch if he would abandon his purpose, but the Prince rebuked the Tempter and rode on. As a penniless wanderer he went forth in search of Truth and Peace. It was in his twenty-ninth year, the turning of his career, that Prince Siddattha made his Great Renunciation.

After his Enlightenment, the Buddha fasted for seven weeks and spent a quiet time in deep concentration under the Bodhi tree and its neighbourhood :-

1st week – Throughout the 1st week, the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree in one posture experiencing the Bliss of Emancipation. After the 7 days had passed, the Buddha emerged from His state of concentration, and in the 1st watch of the night thoroughly reflected on the Law of Dependent Origination (Paticca Samuppãda) in direct order. In the middle watch of the night, He reflected on the Law of Dependent Origination in reverse order. In the 3rd watch of the night, He reflected on the Law of Dependent Origination in direct and reverse order.

2nd week – He silently taught a great moral lesson to the world during this week. As a mark of gratitude to the inanimate Bodhi tree that sheltered Him during His struggle for Enlightenment, the Buddha stood at a certain distance gazing at the Bodhi tree with motionless eyes throughout the week.

3rd week – Knowing that the Devas doubted His attainment to Buddhahood, the Buddha by His psychic powers created a jewelled promenade near the Bodhi tree where he pace up and down.

4th week – He spent the week in a jewelled chamber meditating on the Abhidhamma near the Bodhi tree. Books state that six coloured rays emitted from His body.

5th week – The Buddha having arisen from that state of concentration, went to the foot of the Ajapala banyan tree and sit there. He was seated cross-legged in one posture, enjoying the Bliss of Emancipation. During this week, the three daughters of Mãra – Tanha, Arati and Ragã came to tempt the Buddha.

6th week – The Buddha went up to the foot of the Mucalinda tree, where for one week he was seated cross-legged in one posture and was enjoying the Bliss of Emancipation. During this week, there arose a great untimely shower with a cold storm. Then the Naga King Mucalinda came out of his abode and coiled round the body of the Buddha in seven tiers of coils, and kept his wide hood over the head of the Buddha, hoping that neither cold nor heat should afflict Him, and that flies, mosquitoes and reptiles be warded off. At the end of the week, with the disappearance of the cloud and rain, the Naga King loosened his coils round the body of the Buddha. He then gave up his form and appeared before the Buddha as a young man with clasped hands.

7th week – The Buddha sat peacefully at the foot of the Rajãyatana tree in one posture for one week enjoying the Bliss of Emancipation.

In the first Discourse by the Buddha, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Buddha expounds the Middle Path which he himself discovered and which became of the salient features of his Teaching. He opens the discourse by advising the monks to avoid the two extremes.

One extreme was the constant attachment to sensual pleasures as it was base, vulgar, worldly, ignoble and profitless which retards one’s spiritual progress. The other extreme to be avoided is the constant addiction to self-mortification as it is painful, ignoble and profitless which weakens one’s intellect. Both extremes do not lead to perfect peace and Enlightenment.

Speaking of worldly happiness, the Buddha says that the acquisition of wealth and the enjoyment of possessions are two sources of pleasures for a layman. An understanding recluse would not however seek delight in the pursuit of these fleeting pleasures. What constitutes pleasure to the former is a source of alarm to the latter to whom renunciation alone is pleasure.

Though self-mortification is not practiced by the ordinary man, it is the sincere recluse who has renounced his attachment to sensual pleasures that resorts to this painful method, mainly with the object of gaining his deliverance from the ills of life. The Buddha has had painful experience of this profitless course during the six years when he engaged in prolonged fasts and other austerities.

Having realized the error of both these two extremes through personal experience, the Buddha taught the most practicable, rational, beneficial path – the Middle Path – discovered by Himself and which alone leads to perfect purity and perfect Deliverance to Nibbana.

What is the Middle Path? The Buddha replies : It is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of eight factors arranged in three groups, namely:

Wisdom group (Pañña).

1. Right Understanding (Sammá Ditthi)
2. Right Thoughts (Sammá Sankappa)

Virtue group (Síla)

3. Right Speech (Sammá Vácá)
4. Right Action (Sammá Kammanata)
5. Right Livelihood (Sammá Ájiva)

Concentration group (Samádhi)

6. Right Effort (Sammá Váyáma)
7. Right Mindfulness (Sammá Sati)
8. Right Concentration (Sammá Samádhi)

In the tenth year of King Kalasoka’s reign, 100 years after the Parinibbána of the Buddha, the Second Buddhist Council was held at Vesáli.

At that time in Vesáli many shameless Bhikkhus of the Vajji clan claimed that the following ten points were not unlawful:

1. It is fit to use salt in horns etc. in order to season unsalted foods.
2. It is fit to eat food as long as the sun’s shadow has not passed the meridian by more than two fingers’ breadth.
3. It is fit for a Bhikkhu who has already finished his meal to eat another meal without going through the due Vinaya rite if he intends to enter a village.
4. It is fit to perform the Uposatha ceremony in separate buildings in the case of a large Simá (jurisdiction).
5. It is fit to perform any Vinaya ceremony first and then take the consent of the absent Bhikkhus.
6. It is fit to conform to the practice of teachers and preceptors.
7. It is fit for a Bhikkhu who has finished his meal to drink that milk which has changed its original state but has not yet become curd, without getting the due Vinaya rite done.
8. It is fit to drink unfermented palm-wine.
9. It is fit to use mats without fringes.
10. It is fit to accept gold and silver.

The Venerable Yasa, who came to hear of these heretical teachings, resolved even at the cost of his life to nip them in the bud.

He succeeded. The Venerable Revata who questioned about them pronounced that they were all unlawful.

Ultimately, in the presence of eight distinguished Arahants who had assembled at Vesáli, the Ven. Sabbakámi, the most senior Arahant, being 120 years from his Upasampadá, questioned by the Ven. Revata, adjudged that they were all unlawful according to the Vinaya.

After which the Ven. Revata chose 700 distinguished Arahants to hold a Council in order to protect the Dhamma. This Second Council lasted eight months. King Kálásoka acted as the Royal Patron. The Ven. Sabbakámi was the presiding Thera.

The ten perfections (Parami) that every Bodhisatta practises in order to gain Enlightenment and their respective Jataka story are as follows:-

Parami Jataka story

1. Generosity (Dána) ~ Sasa Jataka (316)
2. Morality (Síla) ~ Samkhapala Jataka (524)
3. Renunciation (Nekkhamma) ~ Makhadeva Jataka (9)
4. Wisdom (Paññá) ~ Sattubhasta Jataka (402)
5. Energy (Viriya) ~ Maha Janaka Jataka (539)
6. Patience (Khanti) ~ Khantivadi Jataka (313)
7. Truthfulness (Sacca) ~ Maha Sutasoma Jataka (537)
8. Determination (Adhitthána) ~ Mugapakkha Jataka (538)
9. Loving kindness (metta) ~ Culladhammapala Jataka (358)
10. Equanimity (Upekkhá) ~ Lomahamsa Jataka (94)

1. Sammaditthi ~

or Right Understanding, the first factor in the Noble Eight-fold Path. It is the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In other words, it is the understanding of oneself as one really is. The keynote of Buddhism is this Right Understanding. Buddhism as such is based on knowledge not on unreasonable belief. (J 2003)

2. Isipatana ~

An open space near Benares, the site of the famous Deer Park (Migadáya). It was 18 leagues from Uruvelá. When Bodhisatta Gotama gave up his austere penances, his five friends (pañcavaggiya – 5 monks) left him and went to Isipatana. After his enlightenment, the Buddha, leaving Uruvelá, joined them in Isipatana and it was there that he preached His first discourse. The Discourse on the Establishment of the Wheel of Truth (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta) on the full moon day of Ásálha (July). Its modern name of Sarnath is taken from the Bodhisatta who was in one ancient birth, named as Sáranganátha, protector of the deer. (J 2003, J 1999)

3. Ratana Sutta ~

or Discourse on Jewels. Ratana means a precious jewel. Here the term is applied to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This Sutta explains the highest qualities of the Triple Gem and at the end of every stanza the Buddha blessed everyone by saying ‘By this truth may all beings be happy and blissful.’ The Buddha instructed Ven. Ananda to recite this powerful discourse during His visit to the epidemic-stricken township of Vesali to bless victims to protect them from famine, sickness, evil spirits, pestilence. Ven. Ananda followed the instructions. As a consequence, the evil spirits were exorcised, the pestilence subsided. (J 2003)

4. Samudaya Sacca ~

Or the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering, commonly known as the second noble-truth of the Four Noble Truths. It is the craving which produces rebirth, accompanied by passionate clinging, desiring for this and that in life. It is the craving for sensual pleasures (kámatanhá), craving for existence (bhavatanhá) and craving for annihilation (vibhavatanhá). Thus, according to this second Truth which indirectly deals with the past, present and future births, it is this powerful invisible mental force – craving – the cause of the ills of life. (J 2003)

 

5. Anibbisa-locana ~

or animisa-locana, which means motionless eye. Throughout the second week after Enlightenment, the Buddha, as a mark of profound gratitude to the inanimate Bodhi tree that sheltered Him during His struggle for Enlightenment, stood gazing at the Bodhi tree with motionless-eye (animisa-locana). In this way, the Buddha silently taught a great moral lesson to the world. (J 2003, J 1998)

6. Upaka ~

The naked ascetic whom the Buddha met on his way between Gayá and the Bodhi Tree, after He set out for Isipatana for the preaching of the First Sermon to the five monks. Upaka questioned the Buddhaon his attainments, and when the Buddha told him what he had accomplished, Upaka asked the Buddha if He were an Arahant, a limitless Conqueror. When the Buddha acknowledged it, Upaka shook his head saying "It may be so, friend" and went along by another road.

7. Sujata ~

Sujátá was the daughter of the village chief of Senání near Uruvela. She had made a vow at a banyan tree to the effect that if she were to marry a husband of equal status, and have a son as the first child she would make offer a meal of milk-rice to the deity there. Her wish was fulfilled. Early in the morning of the Fullmoon day of Visákhá, Sujátá prepared to perform the vow. When she came near the Banyan tree and saw the ascetic Gotama, Sujátá mistook him to be the tree deity and perceived that He was a holy man. She offered the bowl of milk-rice in a golden bowl to him with great joy and said: "just as my desire was fulfilled, may your wish also be fulfilled." Gotama took the bowl to the river bank, bathed and ate the milk-rice which he had made into forty-nine lumps. This was his only meal for forty-nine days. Sujátá’s meal was considered one of the most important of those offered to the Buddha. (J 2002).

8. Bimbisára ~

Bimbisára was the King of Magadha and first royal patron of the Buddha. He ascended the throne at the age of fifteen and reigned in Rájagaha for 52 years. When Prince Siddhattha renounced the world and was seeking alms in the streets of Rájagaha as a humble ascetic, the King saw him from his palace and was highly impressed by his majectic appearance and dignified deportment. The King offered him half of his kingdom but the ascetic refused his offer, declaring that he had renounced all for the sake of attaining Supreme Enlightenment. King Bimbisára then requested him, as soon as he should attain Enlightenment, to visit his kingdom first, and the ascetic Gotama gave him his promise to do so. (J 2002)

9. Tapassu, Bhalluka ~

The night before the Enlightenment, the Bodhisatta had following five dreams, indicating that he would become Buddha.

1. The world appeared as a great couch, and the Himalayas as the pillow. His left hand was plunged into the eastern ocean, his right in the western, and his feet in the southern. This meant that he would attain supreme Enlightenment.
2. A plant called tiriya grew out from his navel, and rose and touched the sky. This meant that he would discover the Noble Eightfold Path which he would proclaim to human as well as heavenly beings.
3. White worms with black heads crept up as far as his knees and covered them. These were white robed laypeople who found lifelong refuge in the Buddha.
4. Four birds of different colors came from the four quarters, and falling at his feet became entirely white. These were the four castes, who leaving the household life became the Buddha’s disciples and realized the highest freedom.
5. He was walking to and fro on a mountain of dung but was not smeared by it. This meant that the Buddha, who receives the requisites of a monk, enjoys them without being attached to them.

1. This sentence means there is nothing like concentration – That pure path the SupremeBuddha praised as "concentration without interruption". It is an extract from a part of the Ratana Sutta.
2. It refers to the Jhana with perfect one-pointedness of the mind. In such Jhana state, thoughts are transquilized, purified, cleansed and free from lust and impurity.
3. On the night of his Enlightenment, the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and developed Jhanas. His mind was like a polished mirror where everything was reflected in its true perspective.
4. In the Ratana Sutta, the Buddha says that whatever treasure there be in this world and the world beyond, yet there is none comparable to the precious jewel of ‘concetration withour interruption’ and this precious jewel is found in the Dhamma. (Ratana Sutta).

(v) Vicíkiccha.