Suffering and Enlightenment

The Buddha was born into a kshatriya (warrior caste) family near the Himalayas around 563 B.C.E. At the age of twenty-nine, he had four visions that made him question the value of his sheltered and comfortable life. He envisioned an old man, a sick person, a dead person, and a monk. Following in the path of the monk, he experimented with extreme forms of asceticism before developing the “Middle Path.” Through meditation he obtained Enlightenment, or the freedom from reincarnation and desire that results from understanding the reality of life, which the Buddha taught was based on suffering. He spent the rest of his life promoting his ideas throughout the Ganges Valley.

The following passage includes two selections from the “Pali Canon.” Theravada Buddhists believe that the “Pali Canon” contains the words of the Buddha, but the current text was not written down until 29 B.C.E., after having circulated orally for five centuries.

And the Future Buddha, thinking, “I will carry austerity to the uttermost,” tried various plans, such as living on one sesamum seed or on one grain of rice a day, and even ceased taking nourishment altogether, and moreover rebuffed the gods when they came and attempted to infuse nourishment through the pores of his skin. By this lack of nourishment his body became emaciated to the last degree, and lost its golden color, and became black, and his thirty-two physical characteristics as a great being became obscured. Now, one day, as he was deep in a trance of suppressed breathing, he was attacked by violent pains, and fell senseless to the ground, at one end of his walking-place. . . .

Now the six years which the Great Being thus spent in austerities were like time spent in endeavoring to tie the air into knots. And coming to the decision, “These austerities are not the way to enlightenment,” he went begging through villages and market-towns for ordinary material food, and lived upon it. And his thirty-two physical characteristics as a great being again appeared, and the color of his body became like unto gold. . . .

Then the Great Being, saying to himself, “This is the immovable spot on which all The Buddhas have planted themselves! This is the place for destroying passion’s net!” took hold of his handful of grass by one end, and shook it out there. And straightway the blades of grass formed themselves into a seat fourteen cubits long, of such symmetry of shape as not even the most skillful painter or carver could have designed.

Then the Future Buddha turned his back to the trunk of the Bo-tree and faced the east. And making the mighty resolution, “Let my skin, and sinews, and bones become dry, and welcome! and let all the flesh and blood in my body dry up! but never from this seat will I stir, until I have attained the supreme and absolute wisdom!” he sat himself down cross-legged in an unconquerable position, from which not even the descent of a hundred thunder-bolts at once could have dislodged him.

At this point the god Māra,1exclaiming, “Prince Siddhattha is desirous of passing beyond my control, but I will never allow it!” went and announced the news to his army, and sounding the Māra war-cry, drew out for battle. Now Māra’s army extended in front of him for twelve leagues, and to the right and to the left for twelve leagues, and in the rear as far as to the confines of the world, and it was nine leagues high. And when it shouted, it made an earthquake-like roaring and rumbling over a space of a thousand leagues. And the god Māra, mounting his elephant, which was a hundred and fifty leagues high, and had the name “Girded-with-mountains,” caused a thousand arms to appear on his body, and with these he grasped a variety of weapons. Also in the remainder of that army, no two persons carried the same weapon; and diverse also in their appearances and countenances, the host swept on like a flood to overwhelm the Great Being.

. . . [Buddha is attacked many times by the armies of Māra, but he resists them.]

And the followers of Māra fled away in all directions. No two went the same way, but leaving their head-ornaments and their cloaks behind, they fled straight before them.

Then the hosts of the gods, when they saw the army of Māra flee, cried out, “Māra is defeated! Prince Siddhattha has conquered! Let us go celebrate the victory!” And the snakes egging on the snakes, the birds the birds, the deities the deities, and the Brahma-angels the Brahma-angels, they came with perfumes, garlands, and other offerings in their hands to the Great Being on the throne of wisdom. And as they came —

274. “The victory now hath this illustrious Buddha won!

The Wicked One, the Slayer, hath defeated been!”

Thus round the throne of wisdom shouted joyously

The bands of snakes their songs of victory for the Sage; . . .

When thus he had attained to omniscience, and was the center of such unparalleled glory and homage, and so many prodigies were happening about him, he breathed forth that solemn utterance which has never been omitted by any of The Buddhas: —

278. “Through birth and rebirth’s endless round,

Seeking in vain, I hastened on,

To find who framed this edifice.

What misery! — birth incessantly!

279. “O builder! I’ve discovered thee!

This fabric thou shalt ne’er rebuild!

Thy rafters all are broken now,

And pointed roof demolished lies!

This mind has demolition reached,

And seen the last of all desire!”

At that time The Buddha, The Blessed One, was dwelling at Uruvelā at the foot of the Bo-tree on the banks of the river Nerañjarā, having just attained the Buddhaship. Then The Blessed One sat cross-legged for seven days together at the foot of the Bo-tree experiencing the bliss of emancipation.

Then The Blessed One, during the first watch of the night, thought over Dependent Origination both forward and back: —

On ignorance depends karma;

On karma depends consciousness;

On consciousness depend name and form;

On name and form depend the six organs of sense;

On the six organs of sense depends contact;

On contact depends sensation;

On sensation depends desire;

On desire depends attachment;

On attachment depends existence;

On existence depends birth;

On birth depend old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair.

Thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise. But on the complete fading out and cessation of ignorance ceases karma; on the cessation of karma ceases consciousness; on the cessation of consciousness cease name and form; on the cessation of name and form cease the six organs of sense; on the cessation of the six organs of sense ceases contact; on the cessation of contact ceases sensation; on the cessation of sensation ceases desire; on the cessation of desire ceases attachment; on the cessation of attachment ceases existence; on the cessation of existence ceases birth; on the cessation of birth cease old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of misery cease.

Henry C. Warrant, ed. and trans., Buddhism in Translation (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1909), 70–81.

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS