The Day of Enlightenment (Bodhi Day) (November/December )

This is a Mahayana Buddhist festival and as such is celebrated in Japan, Korea, China, and central Asia where this sect is dominant. Theravada Buddhists celebrate the attainment of buddhahood of Prince Siddhartha Gotama in the month of Vesakha (q. v. ). M Mahayana Buddhists accept later scriptures than those attributed to the Buddha himself and the practice of their faith has probably been influenced more than Theravada Buddhism by indigenous popular beliefs. Buddha was born the son of King Suddhodana whose small prosperous country lay in the Himalayan foothills, the capital Kapilavastu being about 150 km east of Kathmandu, Nepal. He was born 563 BCE, attained enlightenment at the age of 35 and died at 80 having established the basis for the spread of the faith he had developed. The Buddha attained nirvana, a state of extinction of the earthly desires that cause suffering; this would have been sufficient but out of compassion for all other living beings he chose to teach the way of salvation. Only by understanding the Four Noble Truths which set out the cause of suffering and by following the Eightfold Path of right thoughts and behaviour can the endless cycle of rebirth be escaped. This applies to all living beings including the gods.

The Young Prince Siddhartha

Prince Siddhartha had everything. His father was the king of a very rich little kingdom at the foot of the Himalayan mountains. At his birth King Suddhodana had called the wise man, Asita, to come and foretell the baby's future. Asita examined the child carefully and when he had finished tears filled his old eyes.

'Why are you crying?' asked the King. 'What is wrong?'

'This child will grow up to be either a great saint or a king of the world. My tears are because I shall not live to hear what he will have to say.'

As a young prince Siddhartha lived a life of ease and luxury. But he was shocked when he saw and understood that people grow ill, grow old, and die. He realised that there must be a way to overcome this suffering and set out into the world without a penny of his own and with only the yellow robe of a monk to wear.

He tried starving his body of food as many Indian monks do, in order to concentrate his mind on the problem of suffering. He became as thin as a skeleton but found hat this did not give him the answer. And so he decided that there must be a way between luxury and starvation, a middle way to the truth.

As he sat under a fig tree throughout the night of the full moon in May, he concentrated his thoughts until at last his mind became clear. He understood that suffering is caused by wanting and that it can only be overcome by not wanting. As he understood these truths he became the Buddha, the Enlightened One.

Buddha was perfectly at peace and could have remained sitting there calmly and quietly, free from suffering. But he felt such a love for the world that he knew he would have to preach his message to all people.

He travelled for many years in northern India preaching his message. He taught that by following a simple life, by loving all living things, by working hard and concentrating on the problem, one could at last come to see the truth as he had himself seen, and so be set free.

At last he decided to visit the royal palace of his father, King Suddhodana. He travelled through India northwards towards the Himalayas and finally approached the capital city, Kapilavastu. The news that he was coming travelled faster and messengers came to the King bringing news of his famous son's return. The King wanted very much to see Siddhartha. He was now an old man and, before he died, he wanted to hear what his son had learnt.

When Siddhartha, the Buddha, reached Kapilavastu he refused to stay in the palace because he had sworn to avoid luxury. His father came to the clearing in the forest where Buddha and his friends were camped.

'1 am old, Siddhartha. Won't you be king after I am dead?'

'No,' said Buddha. '1 have chosen to live of life of poverty and peace. I do not want the power and money that being a king brings.' The next day the King's messengers brought news that Buddha and his friends were going round the city asking for food, begging like poor people. The King went to his son : 'Siddhartha, you don't need to beg. I have everything you need at the royal palace.'

'But it is the custom of monks to beg, Father.'

'You are descended from an ancient line of noble kings!'

'You are descended from kings, Father; I am descended from Buddhas who have lived and died to show men the way to true happiness.'
After hearing Buddha 's teaching King Suddhodana became a follower of his son, and so did his cousin, his brother, and his nephew. Buddha went to see his wife, who was still upset after all these years that Buddha had left her to follow the path he had chosen. When Buddha came to her she would not talk to him, but sent her son, Rahula, to Buddha to claim his inheritance. As Buddha had been a royal prince she expected him to give Rahula money and land and power.

'You can have all I have to give,' answered Buddha. 'You can hear my teaching and you can become one of my followers.' Rahula did join the Buddha's disciples and is now remembered for being one of the most faithful.

Buddha said that it was no use praying to gods for help; every living thing must find the answer to its own problem of suffering by following the path that the Buddha had shown. So the following words are not prayers but promises which Buddhists make to themselves at least once a day:

Honour to the Blessed One, the Perfect One, the Enlightened Buddha !
I go to the Buddha for safety;
I go to the Teaching of the Buddha for safety; I go to the Buddhist Monks for safety. Again I go to the Buddha for safety;
Again I go to his Teaching for safety;
Again I go to the Monks for safety.
A third time I go to the Buddha for safety; A third time I go to the Teaching for safety; A third time I go to the Monks for safety.
(The Triple Gem or Refuge Formula)

I promise to hurt no living thing.
I promise not to steal.
I promise to be faithful to the one I married.
I promise not to tell lies.
I promise not to take drink, or drugs which will dull my brain.
(The Pancha Sila, The Five Precepts)