The Great Discourse on the Wheel of Dhamma

You shall remain alive on that." Then it came to the Bodhisatta:- "If I claim to be completely fasting, and these deities should instil heavenly nourishments through my pores and I should thus be sustained, that would be for me a lie." The Bodhisatta rejected the deities saying that he refused to be injected with divine nourishments.

Then he decided to take less and less nourishment, only as much as will go into the hollow of a hand of bean soup. Living, thus, on about five or six spoonfuls of bean soup each day, the body reached the state of extreme emaciation. The limbs withered, only skin, sinews and bones remained. The vertebrae became exposed in uneven lumps and protruberances. The widely dispersed bones jutted out, presenting an ungainely, ghastly appearance just as in the paintings of the Bodhisatta undergoing extreme austerity. The gleam of the eyes, shrunk down in their sockets, looked like the reflection from water sunk deep in a well. The scalp had shrivelled up like a green, soft gourd withered in the sun. The emaciation was so extreme that if he attempted to feel the belly skin, he encountered the spinal column; if he felt for the spmal column, he touched the belly skin. When he attempted to evacuate the bowel or to make water, the effort was so painful that he fell forward on the face, so weakened was he through this extremely scanty diet.

Seeing this extremely emaciated body of the Bodhisatta, people said, "The monk Gotama is a black man." Others said, "The monk Gotama has a brown complexion." Again others said, "The monk Gotama has the brown blue colour of the torpedo fish."So much had the clear, bright, golden colour of his skin had deteriorated.

MARA'S PERSUASION

While the Bodhisatta strove hard and practised extreme austerity to subdue himself, Mara came and addressed the Bodhisatta persuasively in beguiling words of pity. "Friend Gotama, you have gone very thin and assumed an ungainly appearance. You are now

in the presence of death. There is only one chance left in a thousand for you "to live. Oh Friend Gotama! try to reamin alive. Life is better than death. If you live, you can do good deeds and gain merits."

The mertiorious deeds mentioned here by Mara have no reference whatsoever to the merits accruing from acts of charity and observance of precepts, practices which lead to the path of liberation; nor to merits which result form development of Vipassana Insight and attainment of the path.

Mara knew of only merits gained by leading a holy life dabstaining from sexual intercourse and by worshipping the holy fires, These practices. were believed in those times to lead to noble, prosperous life in future existences. But the Bodhisatta was not enamoured of the blessings of existences and he replied to Mara. "I do not need even an iota of the merits you speak of You should go and talk of the ment to those who stand in need of it." , A misconception has arisen conceming this uttreance of the Bodhisatta that he was not in need of any merits. It is that "meritorious deeds are to be abandoned, not to be sought for nor carried out by one seeking release from the rounds of existence like the Bodhisatta." A person once approached me and sought elucidation on this point. I explained him that when Mara was talking about merit, he did not gave in mind the merits which accrued from acts of charity, observance of precepts, development of insight through meditation or attainment of the Path He could not know of them. Nor was the Bodhisatta in possession then of precise knowledge of these meritorious pracitces; only that the Bodhisatta was then engaged in austrity exercises taking them to be noble ones. Thus when Bodhisatta said to Mara, "I do not need any merit," he was not referring to the meritorious practices that lead to Nibbana but only to such deeds as were believed then to assure one of pleasurable existences. The Commentary also supports our view. It states that; in saying "I donot need any meni" the Bodhisatta meant only the merit which Mara spoke of, namely, acts of merit which are productive of future existences. It can thus be concluded

that no question arises of abandonment of meritorious practices which will lead to Nibbana.

At that time the Bodhisatta was still working under the delusion that austerity exercises were the means of attaining higher knowledge. Thus he said, "This wind that blows, can dry up the waters of the river. So while I strive strenuously why should it not dry up my blood? And when the blood dries up, bile and phlegm will run dry. As the flesh gets wasted too, my mind will become clearer: mindfulness, concentration and wisdom will be more firmly established."

Mara was also under the wrong impression that abstention from food would lead to liberation and higher knowledge. It was this anxiety that motivated him to coax the Bodhisatta away from following the path of starvation. With the same wrong notion, a group of five ascetics waited upon him, attending to all his needs, hoping that this abstemious practices will lead to the Buddhahood and intending to be the first recipients of the sermon on liberation. It is clear therefore that it was a universal belief in those days that extreme self-mortification was the right path which would lead to Enlightenment.

RIGHT REASONING

After leading the life of extreme self-motification for six years without any beneficial results, the Bodhisatta began to reason thus: Whatever .ascetics or brahmins im the past had felt painful, racking, piercing feeling through practicing self-torture, it may equal this, my suffering, not exceed it.

_"Wherever ascetics or brahmins in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feeling through practice of self-torture, it may equal this, my suffering, not exceed it; what ever ascetics or brahmins in the present feel painful, racking piercing feeling through practice of self-torture, it may equal this, my suffering, not exceed it. But by this gruelling asceticism I have not attained any distinction higher than the ordinary human achievement; I have not gained

the Noble One's knowledge and visibn which could uproot the defile. ments. Might there be another way to enlightenment apart from this path of torture and mortification ?

Then the Bodhisatta thought of the time when, as an infant, he sat alone under the shade of a rose-apple tree, entering and absorbed in the first Jhanic stage of meditationl, while his royal father King Suddhodhana was busily engaged in ceremonial ‘ploughing of the fields nearby. He wondered whether this first Jhanic method would be the right way to Truth!

ABNSORPTION IN FIRST JHANA WHILE AN INFANT

The Bodhisatta was bom on the full moon of Kason (April). It appeared that the royal ploughing ceremony was held sometime in Nayon or Waso (May or June) a month or two later. The infant child was laid down on a couch of magnificent clothes, under the shade of a rose-apple tree. An enclosure was then formed by setting up curtams round the temporary nursery, with royal attendants respectfully watching over the royal infant. As the royal ploughing ceremony progressed in magnificent pomp and splendour, with the king himself partaking in the festivities, the royal attendents were drawn to the splendid scene of activities going on in the nearby fields. Thinking that the royal baby had fallen asleep, they left him lying secure in the enclosure and went away to enjoy themselves at the ceremony. The infant Bodhisatta, on looking around and not seeing any attendant, rolled up from the couch and remained seated with dhis legs crossed. By virtue of habit-forining practices through many lives, he instinctively started contemplation of the incoming, outgoing breath. He was soon established in the first Jhanic absorption charactarised by five features, namely, thought conception, discursive thinking, rapture, joy and concentration.

The attendants had been gone for sometime now. Lost in the festivities of the occasion, they were delayed in retuming, When they came back, the shadows thrown by the trees had moved with the passage of time. But the shade of the rose-apple tree under

which the infant was left lying was found to have remained steadfast on the same spot without shifting. And they saw the infant Bodhisatta sitting motionless on the couch. King Suddhodana, when informed, was struck by the spectacle of the unmoving tree shadow and the still, sitting posture of the child and in great awe, made obeisance to his son. ; The Bodhisatta recalled the experience of absorption in the respiration Jhana he had gained in childhood and he thought, "Might that be the way to Truth?” Following up that memory, there came the recognition that respiration Jhana practice was indeed the right way to Englightenment.

The Jhanic experiences were so pleasurable that the Bodhisatta thought to himself."Am I afraid of (trying for) the pleasures of Shana?" Then he thought: "No,I am not afraid of (trying for) such pleasures."

RESUMPTION OF MEALS

Then it occurred to the Bodhisatta: "It is not possible to attain the Jhanic absorption with abody so emaciated. What if I take some solid food I used to take. Thus nourished and strengthened in body, Ill be able to work for the Jhanic state." Seeing him partaking of solid food, the group of five Bhikkhus misunderstood his action. They were formerly royal astrologers and Counsellors who had predicted, at the time of his birth, that he would become an Enlightened Noble One, a Buddha.

There were eight royal astrologers at the court then When asked to predict what the future held for the royal mfant, thre of them raised two fingers each and made double pronouncements that the infant would grow up to be a Universal Monarch or an Omniscient Buddha. The remaining five raised only one finger each to give a single interpretation that the child would most undoubtedly become a Buddha.

According to the Mula Pannasa Commentary (Vol 2. p. 92), these five court astrologers forsook the world before they got

enchained to the household life and took to the forest to lead a holy life. But the Buddhavamsa Commentary and some other texts stated that seven astrologers raised two fingers each giving double interpretations while the youngest Brahmin, who would in time become the Venerable Kondanna, raised only one finger and made the definite prediction that the child was a future Buddha.

This young Brahmin together with the sons of four other Brahmins had gone forth from the world and banded together to form "The Group of Five Ascetics", awaiting the Great Renunciation of the Bodhisatta. When news reached them later that the Bodhisatta was practicing extreme austerities in the Uruvela Grove, they joumeyed there and became his attendants, hoping “when he has achieved Supreme Knowledge, he will share it with us; we will be the first to hear the message.”

When the five Bhikkhus saw the Bodhisatta partaking of solid food, they misunderstood his action and became disapponted. They thought: "If living on a handful of pea soup had not led him to higher knowledge, how could he expect to attain that by eating solid food again” They misjudged him that he had abandoned the struggle and reverted back to the luxurious way of life to gam riches and personal glory. Thus they left him in disgust and went to stay inthe deer sanctuary in the township of Benares.

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

The departure of the five Bhikkhus afforded the Bodhisatta the opportunity to struggle for final liberation in complete solitude. The Mula Pannasa (Vol 2. P.192) gives a description of how, working alone with no one near him, for a full fortnight, seated on the throne of Wisdom (under the tree of Enlightenment), he attained Omniscience, the Enlightenment of a Buddha.

The Bodhisatta had gone forth at the age of twenty-nine and spent six years practising extreme austerity. Now at the age of thirty five. still youthful and in good health, within fifteen days of resumption of regular meals, his body had filled up as before and regained the thirty-two physical characteristics of a Great Being.

Having thus built up strength and energy again through normal nourishment, the Bodhisatta practised the in-breathing, out-breathing meditation and remained absorbed in the bliss of the first Jhana, which was characterized by thought-conception, discursive thinking, rapture, joy and one-pointedness of mind. Then he entered the second state of the Jhana, which was accompanied by rapture, joy and concentration. At the third stage of the Jhana, he enjoyed only joy and one-pointedness of mind and at the fourth stage, equanimity and clear mindfulness (one-pointedness).

Early on the full moon day of Kason (April) in the year 103 of the Great Era i.e. 2551 years ago counting back from this year 1324 of the Burmese Era, he sat down under the Bo Tree (the Bodhi Tree), near the big village of Senanigama awaiting the hour of going for alms food. At that time, Sujata, the daughter of a rich man from the village, was making preparations to give an offering to the gree-spirit of the Bo tree. She sent her maid ahead to tidy up the area under the spread of the holy tree. At the sight of the Bodhisatta seated under the tree, the maid thought the deity had made himself visible to receive- their offering in person. She ran back in great excitement to inform her mistress.

Sujata put the milk rice which she had cooked early in the moming in a golden bowl worth a hundred thousand pieces of money. She covered the same with another golden bowl. She then proceeded with the bowls to the foot of the Banyan tree where the Bodhisatta remained seated and put the bowls in the hand of the Bodhisatta saying, "May your wishes prosper like mine has", So saying she departed.

Sujata, on becoming a maiden, had made a prayer at the banyan tree; "If I get a husband of equal rank and same caste with myself and my first bom is a son, I will make an offering". Her prayer had been fulfilled and her offering of milk rice that day was intended for the tree deity in fulfilment of her pledge But later when she leamt that the Bodhisatta had gained Enlightenment after taking the milk rice offered by her, she was overjoyed with the

thought that she had made a noble deed of the greatest ment _ The Bodhisatta then went down to the nver Neranjara and had a bath. After bathing, he made the milk nce offered by Sujata into forty nine pellets and ate it. The meal over, he discarded the golden bowl into the river saying, "If I were to become a Buddha today, let the bowl go upstream". The bowl drifted upstream for a consierable distance against the swift flowing current, and on reaching the abode of the snake-king Kala, sank into the nver to he at the bottom of the bowls of the three previous Buddhas.

Then Bodhisatta rested the whole day in the forest glade near the bank of the nver. As evening fell, he went towards the Bo tree meeting on the way a grass-cutter named Sotthiya who gave him eight handfuls of grass. In India holymen used to prepare a place to sit and sleep on by spreading sheafs of grass. The Bodhisatta spread the grass under the tree on the eastern side. Then with the solemn resolution "Never from this seat will I stir, until I have attained the supreme and absolute wisdom", he sat down cross-legged on the grass cover facing east.

At this poit Mara made his appearance and contested for the seat under the Bo tree with a view to oppose his resolution and prevent him from attaming Buddhahood. By invoking the virtues he had accumulated through ages, fulfilling the Ten Perfections such as Charity etc., he overcame the molestations set up by Mara before the sun had set. After thus vanquishing Mara, the Bodhisatta acquired through Jhanic meditations, in the first watch of the night. the knowledge of previous existences; in the middle watch of the night, the divine eye; and in the last watch of the night he contemplated on the law of Dependent Ongination followed by development of Insight into the arising and ceasing of the five aggregates of grasping. This Insight gave him in succession the knowledge partaming to the four Holy Paths, resulting finally in full Enlightenment or Omniscience.

Having become a fully Enlightened One, he spent seven days on the Throne of Wisdom under the Bo tree and seven days