Conception
Twelve years
after the marriage of the ruler of Kaplivastu, Suddhodhana to Mayadevi,
the future Buddha was conceived. This auspicious event is depicted in all art
forms as a dream Mayadevi had in which an elephant with six tusks entered her
womb.
The
archaeological remains of Tilarakot, which was the fortified capital of
Kapilvastu, was the seat of power for the ruler Suddhodhana. Tilaurakot is 28
km west of Lumbini near Taulihawa- the present day headquarters of Kapilvastu
district.
Birth at Lumbini
The sacre ground
where Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha is today marked by the Mayadevi temple;
which overlooks the scared Puskarini pond where he was given the first
purification bath.
City of the Prince
The first 29
years of the life of Siddhartha was spent living a life of luxury and learning
the skills of a future warrior and ruler. He was shielded from the outside
world with the hope that he would become a great ruler.
Ashoka renounced
violence and dedicated the rest of his life spreading the Buddha Dharma. To pay
respect to the Buddha, he visited Lumbini in 249 BC and installed the World
famous Ashoka Pillar.
Compassion in Saving the Crane
As a young boy,
Siddhartha rescued a wounded crane shot by his cousin and saved its life. This
act of compassion is recorded as an early sign of the path he would take later
in life
Today, cranes and other birds fly south
all the way from Russia each winter to rest and breed in Lumbini. The adjacent
wetlands rivers and grasslands are an ideal location for these tired birds, and
conserving them is inspired by young Siddhartha's act of Compassion.
Self Realization
One day
Siddhartha decided to step outside his world of luxury and was greatly
disturbed by the sights of a sick person, an ageing person, a dead body and the
peaceful look on the face of a person meditating. He decided to renounce his
worldly life to discover the end of human suffering.
Siddhartha let
his wife Yashodhara and newly born son Rahul in the dead of the night leaving the palace through the
eastern gate.
For six years, Siddhartha tried very hard,
sometimes too hard to find the answer to the key question of why people suffer.
He tried to save his body in order is to come up with the answer. When this torment
did not help he decided on a more moderate approach.
Middle Path
A girl name
Sujata from a nearby village saw Siddhartha punishing his body and decided to
offer him some rice pudding. As he ate this meal, Siddhartha realized that the
right effort was required; extremes did not help.
This led to the articulation
of the middle path which consist of the right view, right intention, right
speech, right action, right livelihood, right mindfulness and right
concentration.
Defeat of Mantra
As Siddhartha
attained enlightenment, the demon, Mara tried to tempt him away from goal. The
temptations and distractions included Mara’s beautiful daughters hurling of
stones, fire, flood and darkness.
Enlightenment
At the age of
35, Siddhartha become Buddha- the enlightened one. It is said that Buddha spent
seven weeks in seclusion contemplating on whether the world was ready for his
teaching. He then decided to share his insights with the world.
First Disclosure
Lord Buddha
spent the next 45 years of this life as a teacher sharing what he realized as
the four Noble Truths.
There is suffering there is a cure for the suffering and
finally there is a path to the cure.
It is said that
the deer in the forest were one of the first beings to hear the enlightened one
as he gave the first discourse, the Dharma Chakra Pravarttan Sutra.
Return to Kapilvathu
On invitation
from his father Sudhodhana, Buddha set out for Kapilvastu with 300 monks where
he spent forty days with his family. His seven year old son Rahula, following
his mother’s instructions, demanded his inheritance form Lord Buddha upon which
young Tahula received his teachings.
It is said that
Lord Buddha on his return to Kapilvastu did not want to enter the palace.
Therefore his father built a separate monastery for lord Buddha in Kudan, close
to Taulihawa.
Para nirvana
As lord Buddha
approached his final days, he spent time with his close disciple Ananda and a
few other followers and asked them if they had any doubts about his teachings. “Strive Forth Untiringly” were his final words.
In Lumbini, his
birthplace, one will come across numerous monuments that depict events in
Buddha’s life. One of them is his last discourse and the moment of his
para nirvana at the age of 80.
