The “Historical” Buddha
Siddhattha
Gotama
(c.
566-486 BCE)
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The early texts
clearly see the conception and the other key events of Gotama’s life,
such as his birth, enlightenment, first sermon, and death, as events of
cosmic importance; for at all of them they say that light spread
throughout the world and the earth shook. The Nidanakatha relates that at the
time of the conception, Mahamaya, his mother, dreamt that she was
transported to the Himalayas where a being in the form of an auspicious
white elephant entered her right side. On recounting this dream
to her husband, Suddhodana, he had it interpreted by sixty-four
Brahmins. They explained that it indicated that his wife had
conceived a son with a great destiny ahead of him. Either he
would stay at home with his father and go on to become a Cakkavatti, a universal emperor—which
the Suttas say that he had
been six times in previous lives—or he would
become a wandering ascetic and become a great religious teach, a
Buddha. [An Introduction to Buddhism,
16]
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The
Great Renunciation
 One day, the
young prince, longing to see the outside world, went out for a chariot
ride through the capital city. There, for the first time, he saw
a
decrepit old man. Shocked, he asked his charioteer about the
man’s
condition; the charioteer replied that such is the destiny of all human
beings. The prince turned back to the palace and brooded in
melancholy,
taking no relish in the gaiety around him. On a second ride, he
saw his
first diseased man and reflected that people are foolish to revel under
the constant shadow of illness. On the third trip, he saw his
first
corpse. Dismayed, he marveled that people could live heedlessly,
forgetting the certainty of death....While
meditating on the truth of suffering, he saw a religious mendicant and
made up his mind to leave the household life, for only as a renunciate
would he have the chance to follow rigorously the Path of mental
training to see if it led to the impeccable happiness—beyond the reach
of aging, illness, and death—that he sought. [Richard H. Robinson and
Willard L. Johnson, The Buddhist
Religion: A Historical Introduction, Fourth Edition (Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997), p. 12; cf. An Introduction to Buddhism, 17-18]
 The new mendicant, then 29 years old,
went first to an ascetic teacher named Arada Kalama, who taught a form
of meditation leading to the “attainment of the state of
nothingness.” Gautma practiced the method and quickly attained
the
goal....He then studied under another ascetic leader, Udraka Ramaputra,
who taught the way to a higher state, the “attainment
of neither perception nor non-perception.” Gautama mastered this
state
and was proclaimed a teacher, but abandoned the method because it was
inadequate for attaining his goal of “disenchantment,
dispassion, cessation, tranquillity, superknowledge, Awakening, and
nirvana.” [BR, 13; cf.
ITB, 18-19]
 Leaving
Udraka Ramaputra and the path
of formless absorptions, the Bodhisattva then went eastward to Uruvela
near Bodhgaya, where he found a pleasant spot and settled down to try
the path of austerities. He practiced holding his breath in order
to
induce trances and was not deterred by the resulting violent
headaches.
Fasting, he came as close as he could to eating nothing at all,
becoming utterly emaciated....Then, seeing that severe mortification
had not led to liberating knowledge, and having exhausted the various
forms of ascetic practice current in his day, he tried to think of
another way.... [BR, 13-4; cf. ITB, 19]
 As
the full moon rose over the river before him, the Bodhisattva focused
on his in-and-out breathing and ascended the four stages of
dhyana. The
first stage is a meditative absorption produced by detaching from
sensual thoughts and unskillful attitudes. The mind attains a
state of
unity while evaluating the object to which it consciously directs its
thoughts, giving rise to a sense of rapture and ease born of
seclusion.
The second stage is an absorption free from the activity of evaluation
and directed thought. There is singleness of mind and internal
assurance, in addition to rapture and ease born of composure. The
third
stage—dispassionate rather than rapturous—is mindful and fully
aware, with a feeling of bodily ease. The fourth stage is a state
of
pure equanimity and mindfulness, free of elation and sorrow, pleasure
and pain. [BR, 15; cf. ITB,
21-22]
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...And he truly realized: “This
is the Noble Truth of Suffering; this is the Origination of Suffering;
this is the Cessation of Suffering; this is the Noble Truth of the Way
leading to the Cessation of Suffering.” Knowing that and seeing
that,
he was then released from thoughts inclined to sensual desire, he was
released from thoughts inclined to rebirth, he was released from
thoughts inclined to ignorance. And released, he had a
realization of
his liberation: “Destroyed
is my birth; consumed is my striving; done is what had to be done; I
will not be born into another existence!” Thus the Blessed One
attained
the highest enlightenment. [John S. Strong, The Experience of Buddhism, Second
Edition (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2002), p. 17; cf. ITB, 22]
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