The Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BCE heir-apparent to a small but prosperous Indian kingdom whose capital lay in the Himalayan foothills. Kapilavastu is about 150 km from Kathmandu in modern Nepal. The prince found no comfort in his luxurious surroundings and no solace in the asceticism practised by the Hindu holy men. After a period of intense meditation he was able to look back over his previous innumerable lives and understand the process that led to his enlightenment. At this point he could have accepted nirvana, the ultimate object of every Buddhist, the extinction of self; but because of his compassion for mankind he chose to preach his message to all people which he did from the age of thirty five until he died at the age of eighty. He spent his life travelling about the north of India teaching and setting up communities of monks wherever he went. A number of stories are told of the Buddha's childhood which point to the fact that he was to be an extraordinary person with an understanding far deeper and a love for living things greater than that of anyone. The stories of his dealings with both the great and the humble are told to point morals and demonstrate quoted lines of his teaching .

The Buddha and the injured swan

There were many signs when the Buddha was young that he was not an ordinary child. When he was born as Prince Siddhartha, a holy man told his father the King that his son would either grow up to be a famous emperor or a great religious teacher. King Suddhodana wanted him to be a great emperor and trained him well in all the things that princes should know.

But one day in early spring the King began to wonder. It was the custom in that land for the King to hold a special ceremony in spring. The Kings and all his court would go out into the fields of the countryside and there the King would help to plough the first furrow. By doing this it was believed that the King would make the crops grow well that year.

The King with all his courtiers in their finest clothes went in procession out into the countryside. There a special golden plough with a team of fine horses was waiting for the King. The lords of the court had their own ploughs and horses too. With a great blowing of trumpets, and cheers from the people watching, the King slowly drove his horses forward and dug the earth ready for the seeds to be sown. Solemnly the lords followed.

Prince Siddhartha was sitting at the edge of the field watching all this. But he did not notice the King in all his rich clothes with his team of strong horses easily pulling the sharp golden plough, and he did not watch the noble lords with their strong oxen waving to the crowds as they followed behind. Siddhartha only noticed the poor farm workers, the people who worked this land every day. He watched as they ran about the field in front of the royal procession, sweating and groaning as they moved the heavy stones that might get in the way of the plough. He saw the horses and the oxen straining to pull along the great weights behind them. And in other fields he saw people ploughing their fields without the help of horses or oxen. Whether the crops grew well or badly that year Prince Siddhartha and the King would never grow hungry. This was not true for the poor farm workers . Siddhartha sat underneath an apple tree and watched all this. And gradually his mind was completely concentrated on the truth that he had understood, so that when the King's servants came for him, they thought that he had fallen asleep sitting there, and had a job to wake him up. The King was worried when he heard the tale. The next spring King Suddhodana was told another story about his son, Prince Siddhartha, that made him realise that he would never make a mighty emperor. Little could he know that his son was to be a religious leader followed by millions of people throughout the world.

As the weather grew warmer many wild birds began to fly back to their homes. It was a great time for the hunters. As the flocks of ducks and geese flew across the pale spring sky, the men had plenty to shoot at.

One day a flock of wild swans flapped slowly and gracefully over the palace gardens. They were on their way from the hot lands of the south of India to the north where the lakes of the Himalayan mountains were now unfrozen. As Prince Siddhartha watched the beautiful birds winging their way home an arrow shot up from somewhere nearby and hit the leader of one of the flocks. As the injured bird began to fall to the ground a cheer went up from not far away. Prince Siddhartha recognised one of the voices as that of his cousin, Devadatta.

Full of fear for the bird's life Siddhartha rushed through the gardens to the place where the swan was falling. And when he reached it he gently pulled out the arrow and took the great white bird in his arms to look after it.

Siddhartha took it back to the palace and put ointment on the wound. For the next few days he kept the bird in safety, keeping the wound clean and the bird well fed. When he thought the swan was a little better he set it free to swim on the palace lake until it should be strong enough to flyaway to the lakes of the Himalayas and join the rest of the flock.

But news of what Siddhartha had done reached the ears of his cousin, Devadatta. Devadatta sent a messenger to Siddhartha and demanded that the swan be given back to him. After all he had been the one to shoot the bird. Prince Siddhartha sent a message back, 'You did not kill the bird,' he said, 'only its flight. I will not give it to you.'

Devadatta was angry when he heard this reply and sent further messages ordering his cousin to let him have what was his.

King Suddhodana soon came to hear of the argument. He did not want it to become a family quarrel and ordered that a jury of his wise men should listen to what both Devadatta and Siddhartha had to say, and then decide who should have the swan.

The day came for the wise men to meet. Devadatta argued that he had been the one to shoot the swan and so it was clear that the bird should be his. But Siddhartha answered, 'My cousin Devadatta tried to take away the swan's life. I healed it and gave it back its life, and so the swan should belong to me.'

The wise men argued and argued. It seemed right that Devadatta should have the bird back. If he had killed it, it would clearly have belonged to him. But others said that Siddhartha should keep it because he had cared for it. At length the oldest of the wise men spoke up: 'Devadatta tried to take away the swan's life and he failed. Siddhartha gave the swan life by healing it and looking after it. Even the gods cannot give back life once it is taken away. I believe the swan should be given to Siddhartha.'

And so it was. Devadatta held a grudge for many years against this cousin, but this was not the last time that the Prince showed his kindness towards living things.

If you want to find everlasting peace, you must help the poor and the ill, you must have a calm mind and you must show loving kindness to all living things. By doing this the wise person will have no sorrow and will find peace.
(from the Itivuttaka 22)

If you understand peace, your hearts will be full of loving kindness. If you understand that you are no different from everybody else, then you will be ready to help other people. And if you succeed in helping other people you will find Me, and by finding Me you will yourself become Buddha.
(from the Hundred Thousand Songs by Jetsun-Milarepa)