The Life Of Buddha Essay Research Paper — страница 4

  • Просмотров 510
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 21
    Кб

and became the first members of the sangha (community or order). A few days later this sermon was followed by another, the Anatalakkhana-sutta, which dealt with the doctrine of no self. At the conclusion of which all five monks became arhats, or Buddha’s themselves. The Buddha spent about three months in the same region and in this course of time a wealthy and influential young man named Yasa became a member of his order. His father and mother as well as his wife were also converted. Soon after, four of Yasa’s close friends followed his example and entered the order. Enthusiasm for this new order was growing quickly and soon fifty of their friends entered the order. All of these people attained enlightenment in a short amount of time and Buddha soon had 60 disciples who were

had attained enlightenment. The Buddha addressed his followers in the following manner: “Bhikkhus, I am freed from all fetters, both divine and human. You, too, are free from all fetters both divine and human. Wander forth, for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world .Let not two of you go by the same road. Teach the Dhamma, which is good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end .. There are people who will understand the Dharmma. I, too, will go to Uruvela to teach the Dhamma. From this point the Buddha set out to Urvela. On the way he converted thirty young men, who entered the order. In the region of Urvela he also converted three leading mystics as well as their followers. To these mystics he delivered the

famous,” Fire Sermon.” This sermon states that a man’s life is burning with the fire of lust, the fire of hate, and the fire of delusion. From Uruvela the Buddha went on to Rajagaha, to fulfill his promise to King Bimbisara. Many people, including the king, became his disciples. From there the Buddha went back to Kapilavatthu, the city of his birth, at the request of his father, with a large number of his disciples. In this city which he had at one time reigned over as a prince and lived in great splendor and wealth, he now went from house to house begging for food. This upset his father, the king, quite a bit, but he was somewhat relieved when he learned that this was the custom of all Buddha’s. He then hosted the Buddha and all his monks to come and eat a meal at the

palace. A large number of people, including his father and aunt as well as many people in the same clan, became his followers. All of the women in the palace came to pay homage to him except his wife. She said that he would come and visit her if she had any virtue, and then she would fall down and worship him. The Buddha came to visit her, at which point she fell on her knees and clasped his ankles with her hands. Many years pass and the Buddha’s message is embraced wherever he goes. His cousin, Devadetta, was one of the Buddha’s rivals from the early days. He joined the order but was never sincerely devoted to the Buddha. He became quite popular and influential in the order. About eight years before the Buddha’s death he suggested the idea that, in light of the Buddha’s

advancing years, that the leadership of the order should be handed over to him . The Buddha rejected the idea, however, saying that he would not pass the leadership of the order over to anyone. Instead he wanted the order to be run according to democratic principles. He himself wrote a constitution which laid down the rules to guide the spiritual and material life of the monks and nuns and to regulate the structure and dynamics of monastic life. After Devadetta had been rejected like this he crafted in his mind three elaborate attempts on Buddha’s life, all of which failed. After his failures he tried to break up the order into different sects, one of which he tried to lead. All of these newly ordained monks who were misled by Devadetta were later on brought back to the Buddha.

After this final and ultimate failure Devadetta became seriously ill and died after nine months of illness.At the age of 80, after he had accomplished his everything he had set out to do, including establishing Buddism as a major discipline, he set out with a group of monks on his last journey, to Rajagaha to the north. Here he became seriously sick. He thought dying without preparing his monks for his passing was the wrong thing to do. So therefore he fought his illness and bore all the pain that came with it, and finally conquered what ailed him. His health, however, was still poor. The Buddha made it known that he was planning on dying in three months. He called for an assembly of all the monks in the area. He told them to follow the good that he had taught them and spread it