WESAK – The full moon of May – celebrating Lord Buddha’s birth anniversary

May 23, 2021 Consumer Concerns, Features / Columnists

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By Pat Dial
Kaieteur News-From time to time this column and the media in general have given much notice to the festivals of the various religious communities in Guyana but Buddhism, a religion associated with the Chinese community had never been given such notice. China regards Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism as its three national religions and there have always been much interchange between these Chinese faiths.
On the full of May, that is the next three days, the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha would be celebrated worldwide. In this offering, constrained by the limitations of space, we will try to recount the story of Lord Buddha’s life and a few of his teachings.
Some 500 years before the birth of Lord Jesus, King Sudhodana, who ruled a kingdom in what is now Nepal, was blessed with the birth of a son and heir. 108 Brahmins were invited to the naming ceremony of the Prince who was named Siddhartha Gautama. The King then asked the most expert of them to foretell what would be the future of the young prince. They unanimously foretold that he would be a great world Emperor or a great religious teacher. He would only become a great World Emperor if he were kept away from seeing aging, sickness, death and a monk before he succeeded to the throne.
The King was determined that his son would become a World Emperor and never a religious teacher and decided to immerse him in a life of pleasure. He built three palaces for him to reflect the seasons and furnished them most luxuriously and provided entertainment for him and his companions including the most beautiful dancing girls and the best musicians. At the age of 16 he was married to Yasodhra, the most beautiful and well-endowed lady in the kingdom. He never saw any aged, sick, or dead person nor any monk.
He was trained in the military arts and performed excellently in all the tournaments. He tamed a wild horse, Kantakha, and was given the best charioteer available, Channa, who became his friend. He was a perfect monarch and his father’s plans were succeeding.
Then suddenly one day, he was seized with an irresistible urge to see beyond the palace walls and the King had to allow him to visit the City which he had spruced up and all aging, sick or dead persons removed. He started his tour with his charioteer Channa and his horse Kantakha and as he drove along, he miraculously saw an aged man grey and bent with the pains of old age. He ordered Channa to stop and asked him what that was? Channa explained to him that was an aging man and all human beings, including the prince himself, would eventually become aged. He similarly encountered a sick person and a corpse and received the same reply from Channa. The prince became extremely disturbed and in great mental pain and ordered Channa to return to the palace. As he was about to enter the walls, he saw a monk in meditation who exuded a peace and calm which Siddhartha had never before experienced. Channa explained to him it was a monk.
Siddhartha suffered great pain at the plight of humanity and decided to leave home and search for an answer. He arranged with Channa to escape from the palace and eluded the guards and rode on to the river Anoma which was the boundary of his kingdom. There he stopped, cut his locks and exchanged his royal vestments and jewels with that of a beggar and ordered Channa to return and tell his father that he had left and had become a wandering monk. He then crossed the river Anoma and wandered through the forests, suffering great privations as he went in search of teachers. He met several teachers who all recommended extreme asceticism, which he practised until he had become very weak and reduced to skin and bones. He finally saw the two most famous teachers at the time, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, but they could not give him the answers he was seeking. He did this search for six years and then realised that he was at death’s door and began to eat again. He decided he would make his own effort or die in the process if he failed.
He went to the river, bathed himself, changed into clean clothes, chose a high spot under a peepal tree (ficus religiosa) and began a meditation which some accounts say was for nine hours, others for nine days. During his meditation, he was attacked by Mara – the Devil, with terror and violence and then with every temptation imaginable including the offer of food, sensual pleasures and power. Lord Jesus suffered only three temptations. Siddhartha overcame them all and went on to achieve Enlightenment or Nirvana. He had become one with the Universe and beyond pain and pleasure. He had become a Buddha. Mara carried his last temptation – Egotism. He told the Buddha that now that he has achieved everything, he should leave the world and enjoy his new achievement. Lord Buddha resisted this and returned to the world and taught for many years. He had discovered the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path which would take too much space to explain. Briefly, however, the Four Noble Truths are that Suffering is universal, that there is a cause of Suffering and there is a way to end Suffering. In ending Suffering, one must practice Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
We will give a few examples of Lord Buddha’s teaching:
*Do not believe in anything or any doctrine only if one could experience it.
*The Past does not exist; the Future does not exist, live and act only in the present.
*Everything in existence is changing; nothing is permanent.
*All that we are is the result of what we have thought it is founded on our thought and if a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain will follow him as the cart follows the horse that draws it.
*Avoid useless and time wasting discussion: If a man is wounded with an arrow, he does not ask who made it, how long is it, where was it made and numerous other questions; what he does is draw the arrow out and staunch the blood.
The full moon of May is a memorable day for Buddhists, for it was on this day the Buddha was born, he left his palace to seek Enlightenment and the day on which he achieved Enlightenment or Nirvana.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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