Chapter 3 Chapter One

For the benefit and happiness of millions of sentient beings, out of compassion for the world; for the benefit and happiness of humans and gods, rare saints should appear in the world.Why is this the Supreme Enlightened One?Tathagata, World Honored One, the fully enlightened one. "Branches" In 623 BC (1) on the full moon day in May (2), a noble prince was born in Lanpini (4) of the ancient Bharat Vastu state (3) at the junction of Nepal and India today. Will be the greatest religious teacher in the world. His father was the King of Pure Rice (6) of the Shakya tribe (5). His biological mother, Mrs. Maya, died unfortunately on the seventh day after giving birth to him. Dami adopted him, and she entrusted her own son, Nanda, to the care of others.

The miraculous birth brought great happiness to people.Venerable Ashita is the national teacher of King Jingfan, who has achieved profound enlightenment in practice. He was very happy when he heard the news, and immediately came to the palace to visit the prince.But, much to the surprise of the people, the baby stretched out a calf and touched the bun on the top of the fakir's head.The ascetic monk immediately stood up, looked at the baby's future with his heavenly eyes, predicted his future, folded his hands together and bowed (7), and the King of Pure Food followed suit. The ascetic monk smiled at first, but after a while, he became sad again.The onlookers were all at a loss by his weird expression.He explained that he was smiling because the Dauphin must surely become a Buddha; he was sad because he himself was shortly to be reborn in the formless world (arupaloka)(8), so that he would not be able to benefit from the superhuman wisdom of the Enlightened One.

On the fifth day after the prince was born, he was named Siddhartha, which means all wishes come true, and his family name was Gautama. (9) According to the ancient traditions and habits of India, many Brahmins full of scriptures were invited to the palace to participate in the naming ceremony, and eight of them were the most famous.They carefully observed the prince's appearance, and seven of them stretched out two fingers, indicating that there were two possibilities.The prince, they said, would become the wheel-turning king or Buddha.But the youngest Brahmin, Chen Ru (10), is extremely intelligent.He noticed that the hair on the baby's forehead was curly to the right, and only stretched out one finger, affirming in an affirmative tone that the prince decided to become a monk and become a Buddha.

During his childhood, an incredible thing happened.It was an unprecedented mental experience.This experience of pursuing truth after him played a crucial role in his enlightenment. (11) In order to improve agricultural production, the king organized and arranged the Wang Geng Festival, which is a festival for the people of the whole country.Whether members of the nobility or ordinary people, they all put on costumes and participated in farming celebrations.On this day, the king, accompanied by civil and military officials, took the prince and maids to a farmland. The king asked the prince to be placed on a bed, protected with a curtain and covered, and placed on a quiet and cool tree. Under the Luo tree.He asked the court ladies to take care of him, and went to attend Wang Geng himself.When the joyful celebration reached its climax, the maids couldn't hold back, and sneaked away to watch Wang Geng's grand scene.

The quiet and peaceful atmosphere under the vipal tree is in stark contrast to the joyful entertainment of the celebration.Everything here can make people calm down. The prince who is good at thinking, who is young and intelligent, sits in the lotus position, concentrates on one place, and breathes with his mind. At that moment, he can achieve the undisturbed one-modhi and obtain the first Zen joy. (12).Those irresponsible court ladies who walked away quietly to watch Wang Geng suddenly realized their negligence and hurried back. They were surprised to find the prince sitting in lotus position, immersed in meditation.As soon as the king heard about this, he hurried to the scene. Seeing the prince meditating, he couldn't help saluting him, saying, "My dear child, this is the second time I salute you."

Although there are no detailed records in the scriptures, as the prince of the royal family, Siddhartha must have received all the good education he should have.As a descendant of the Kshatriya caste, he received special training in martial arts. At the age of 16, he married his beautiful cousin Yasodhara (13), who was the same age as him.In nearly 13 years of happy married life, he enjoyed all the splendor and wealth in the world, but he knew nothing about the world outside the palace.He once described his life as a prince in this way: "I was spoiled and spoiled. In my father's palace, there are three lotus ponds specially built for me. Blue lotus, red lotus and white lotus grow in each. All I use is sandalwood from Kashi (14). From Kashi."

"Day and night, I am always under the protection of a white canopy from dust, heat, leaves, and even dew." "I have three palaces, one for winter, one for summer, and one for the rainy season. During the four-month rainy season, I live in the palace during the rainy season, staying at home and accompanied by maids all day long. Entertainment. The servants or servants of ordinary people eat rice bran and spoiled porridge, but in my father’s palace, the servants and maids eat rice and delicacies (15).” As time went by, he gradually understood the truth.His thoughtful personality and infinite compassion did not allow him to waste time and enjoy the fleeting joy of being a prince.Although he is not sad and suffering himself, he does, however, reach out to empathize with human beings in pain.Living in bliss, he recognizes the ubiquity of suffering.

Prince Siddhartha thought this way: "I am bound by birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, and distress, but why should I pursue things with the same impermanent nature? I am bound by things whose essence is like a beard, how should I understand their interests. So as to pursue Unrealized, supreme and perfect peace and happiness Nirvana. (16) Family life makes people bound and restricted, and it is a pit of endless struggle, but the life of a monk is as vast as the sky. It is very difficult to practice the holy life in a perfect, pure and untainted way.(17)” One day, the weather was fine and the sun was shining brightly. The prince went out of the palace to the amusement park to see with his own eyes—to see the outside world.He thus came into contact with the living real life.In the narrow palace factor, what he saw was only the beautiful side of life, but the dark side of human destiny was consciously covered up; it was the first time he saw the real life outside the palace. What he saw coincided with what he had guessed in the past.On the way to the Amusement Park, his observant eye caught many unusual sightings of the world: aging old people, sick people, dead people, and dignified monks. (18) The first, second, and third phases strongly confirm the impermanent nature of life and the universality of human suffering, and the fourth phase symbolizes the victory over the pain of life and the attainment of peace and happiness.These four unexpected aspects of the world increased his sense of urgency to dislike the world.

He realized that it is meaningless to pursue the material comforts cherished by the world, and that wise men take pleasure in giving up, and this has real value.Therefore, he decided to abandon worldly life and pursue truth and eternal happiness. After intense deliberation, he finally made his final decision.As he was about to leave the amusement park, he learned that his son had been born.Contrary to what one might imagine, he was not happy, seeing this first and only offspring as a stumbling block.Generally, fathers would be very excited when they heard the news, but Prince Siddhartha, the extraordinary father, shouted: "The bondage (Rahu) is born, and the chains are born." Name the child Rahula. (19) The Royal Court is no longer a comfortable place for the thinking Prince Siddhartha. ?Whether it is a young and beautiful wife or the lovely son, he can't change his idea of ​​becoming a monk. He decides to shoulder a more important and beneficial mission than the husband, father and even the king of kings.The temptation of the palace is no longer his cherished pleasure, and the time has come to run away from home.

He ordered his good friend Channa to prepare the steed Kantha, and he came to the palace where the princess lived for the last time.He opened the door, stood on the threshold, and calmly looked at his sleeping wife and son. At this moment of separation, his heart was filled with infinite compassion and sentimentality for these two relatives.However, he has even greater compassion for human beings who are struggling in pain.He no longer worries about the future life of the mother and son, because they have everything they need and will be well protected.His exodus is not a diminution of his love for them, but an increase of his love for mankind.

At midnight, he left everything behind and quietly left the palace with a relaxed mood.Accompanied by his loyal Channa, he mounts his steed and rushes into the dark night, then alone and penniless, he embarks on the path of seeking truth and happiness.He is a monk.This is not the renunciation of an old man who has experienced the vicissitudes of the world, nor is it the renunciation of a poor man with nothing.This is a monk who is in full bloom and enjoys the prosperity and wealth in the world.This is the most unmatched in history.This year, Prince Siddhartha was 29 years old.From then on, he started a historic journey. He walked farther and farther, crossed the Anam River, and then took a short rest on the bank.Here, he shaved off his beard and hair, took off his gorgeous clothes and jewelry, and gave them to Channa to take back to the palace. He put on the simple yellow cassock of an ascetic monk, and began a begging life willing to be poor. Prince Siddhartha, who was used to a prosperous life, is now a penniless vagabond, living on the little alms he gets from those who do good. Without a fixed place to live, he spent days and nights under the shade of trees and in a lonely cave, barefoot and headless, walking around under the scorching sun and freezing cold, except for Except for a begging rice bowl and a cassock that can only cover the body, there is nothing else.He focused all his energies on the search for truth. In this way, as a wandering monk, a seeker seeking the highest happiness and beauty, he came to the place where the ascetic monk Alarabian Rama lived to practice the holy life.After the two met, he said: "My friend, Alara Kalama, I hope to practice the holy life under your teaching." I live with you, and my teachings are such that the wise will soon be able to realize the teachings of their masters through truthful knowledge, and live with the realized Dhamma." Soon he became proficient in the method, but this did not make him realize the highest truth. He thought: "When the sage Alara Kalama said that one can understand the teachings through inner wisdom and enjoy the Dharma that has been realized, it is not just because people believe it. The sage Alara Kalama must have understood this. One Dharma teaching, and live on it.” Therefore, he came to the sage Alara Kalama and said, “My friend, the sage Alara Kalama, what is the Dharma that you know and prove with your inner wisdom? How deep is it?" Therefore, Alara greeted Rama Rishi and taught him a higher level of meditation, namely Akincannayatana. He thought again: "It is not only the sage Alara Kalama who has faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom, I also have the same merit. If I practice diligently now, realize what the sage has proved, and live in this way, then what will happen to me?" What will happen?" Not only that, he realized the Dharma teachings of the sages through his inner wisdom, and he lived in the Dharma of the realization.However, this also did not make him aware of the highest truth. Therefore, he came again to the rishi Alara Kalama.Said: "My friend, Alara Kalama, is this the whole content of what you said, the Dharma of living through the realization of truthful knowledge?" "However, my friend, my enlightenment has surpassed this method, and I can rest in the witness." The open-minded teacher was very happy to hear that his outstanding student had succeeded, and made him his equal as a show of respect.He praised: "Come on my friend, we are very happy to see such respectable fellow practitioners like you and me. The same Dhamma that I have realized and preached through wisdom, you have also achieved through your wisdom. You have realized through wisdom And abide in the Dhamma, which I have realized and proclaimed through wisdom. In this way, what I know, you also know, and what you know, I also know. What I am, you are also what you are , me too. Come on, friend, let the two of us lead this group of ascetics together." Siddhartha was not satisfied with this, which only leads to higher states of thought, but not to disenchantment, cessation of suffering, silence, wisdom, enlightenment and Nirvana.He is also not enthusiastic about leading this group of ascetic monks. Before he first awakened, even if he cooperated with a teacher who had the same level of cultivation as himself and was open-minded, there would still be blind people guiding the blind.This method cannot meet his requirements.Therefore, he took his leave politely. In that particular historical era, there was no political turmoil.Intellectuals in India at that time devoted themselves to the study and interpretation of various religious systems.According to their respective personalities, people provide all conveniences to the hermits who live in holy deeds.Most of these religious teachers have large followings of their own.Therefore, the ascetic Siddhartha could easily find a more suitable religious master than the former.This time, he came to the residence of Udaka Rama and expressed his wish to practice the holy life under his seat.Udaka Ramozi readily accepted his request. Soon, Siddhartha, an ascetic monk with superhuman intelligence, mastered the method taught by his teacher and obtained the highest state of concentration of thinking, that is, the realm of neither thinking nor non-thinking (n' evasannanasannayatana) (20), which is the highest state in the world.When the consciousness is so subtle and pure, there is no question of the existence of consciousness. In the field of spiritual development, the sages of India in the past could not go further. The noble teacher was very happy when he heard that his outstanding student had succeeded again. Unlike the previous teacher, this time, Udakaramakra asked him to be the teacher of his students and guide the public, so as to show his respect for him. He said, "Come on, my friend, it's a pleasure to see fellow practitioners like you. What Udakaramakura knew, you know; what you know, Udakaramakya too What. Come, my friend, from now on, you guide this group of ascetics." However, he still feels that the highest truth he is pursuing has not yet been realized. Although his consciousness can be completely free, it is still far away from the final day.What he pursues is the supreme nirvana, the complete cessation of suffering, and the extinction of all kinds of greed.He is also not satisfied in this Dhamma.Therefore, he took his leave. He finally realized that his spiritual quest was far beyond those he had studied, and that no one could impart the highest truth he sought.At the same time, he also realized that people can only discover the highest truth by diving into the heart, so he no longer seeks help from outside. [Note] (1) Unlike the Christian era, the Buddhist era is calculated from the date of Buddha's parinirvana (ie 543 BC), not the date of his birth. (The date of the Buddha's parinirvana has been debated in academic circles. Most people believe it is 486 BC. The Sri Lankan tradition provides the basis for the Buddhist era). (2) Pali-Vesakha, Sanskrit Vaisakha, Sinhala Vesak. (3) The ruins of Kapilavatthu have been discovered. It is located in Postipon, about three miles from the Bengal and Bhabhu railway stations. (4) In order to commemorate this sacred occasion, Ashoka set up a stone pillar here, which has been preserved to this day. (5) Please see the family tree table. (6) Gautama is a family name, and Sakyamuni is a family name to which Buddha belongs. Tradition holds that Okako's son was exiled due to the conspiracy of his stepmother.During their exile, these princes came to the Himalayas.Here they met the hermit Kapila.Under his persuasion, they built a city here, named after the hermit, and named it Kapilavatthu.After the king said this, he was very happy, and said: "The noble princes are really capable of sakya vata bhorajakumara." Therefore, the family name and kingdom of the princes were named Sakyamuni.The Shakya kingdom was located in southern Nepal and extended into the modern Oda region. (See Thomas's Biography of Buddha, p. 6.) (7) See Huo Lun, "Buddhism in Interpretation", p. 49, and "Commentary to <Jakata Stories>". At the suggestion of Ashita, his brother Naraka abandoned the worldly life.As expected, when the prince attained enlightenment, he listened to the teachings of the Buddha and became an Arahant. See "Sutras", the third product, "Naraga Sutra".Page 131. (8) The formless realm is a non-material world, and those who have achieved meditation in the formless realm will be reborn in this realm. (9) Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit. (10) After hearing that Prince Siddhartha became a monk, Chen, like the four sons of the other seven Brahmins, abandoned the secular life and followed him.They are the first five monks.See Chapter VI below. (11) "Central".Volume I, Sutra Thirty-Sixth, "Mahasattha Sutra", p. 237. (12) Zen is a state of consciousness obtained by highly concentrated thinking. (13) She is also known as Bhadhachana, Bimba, or the mother of Rahula. (14) A province of Central India famous for its silk, with modern Poros as its capital. (15) "Additional Branch".The first volume, the third, and the fourth classics.English translation of "Augmented Branches", Vol. 1, p. 128. (16) "Central".Volume I, Sutra Twenty-Sixth, The Rama Sutra, p. 163. (17) "Central".Volume I, Sutra Thirty-Sixth, "Mahasattha Sutra", p. 237. (18) "When you see the four signs, you will leave on a horse..." "Buddha Caste".Page 65. (19) The original meaning is to be bound by Kasuo (rahu), or to grasp. (20) The third colorless meditation. (21) The fourth colorless meditation.