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| Life of the Buddha : Middle Years Stories & Teachings |
This article is a continuation of -
Life of the Buddha : Pre-Enlightenment
Life of the Buddha : First Sermons
Life of the Buddha : First Years of Ministry
By the time of the founding of the Jetavana monastery at Shravasti the Buddha’s community numbered many thousands of bhikkhus. Around this time the Buddha made it obligatory for his monks to spend the rainy season in a vihara or retreat place and to not wander around the countryside. He went one step further than the other ascetics at the time, who also stayed in one place during the rains, in that he invented the monastic communal life. The Buddha ordered his followers to live together through the rainy season and not with members of other sects, which up until that point had been the common thing to do amongst all ascetics and seekers in North India.
This in turn led to the gradual evolving of community life. During the rains each vihara or retreat place had fixed boundaries and no monk could take leave for more than a week during this period unless it was for a very good reason. Simple ceremonies began to be devised which took place in the assembly hall of the settlement. In the mornings the monks would listen to instructions given either by the Buddha or by one of the senior monks. They would then set off on their alms round and then return to eat their main meal of the day, after a period of rest in the afternoon they would then continue with their meditation practice in the evening.
On top of all this of course the bhikkhus had to learn to live together in harmony and the inevitable difficulties which arise when living with people would have put their equanimity supposedly acquired in meditation to the test. At times we are given examples of the Buddha taking his monks to task over their selfishness and lack of sensitivity when it came to the needs of others. There is the example of a bhikkhu who had dysentery and who the Buddha found lying in his own filth in a room and looked after by nobody. The Buddha and Ananda had to wash and look after the monk in order for him to recover. This led to the Buddha instructing his monks on how they had to always look after members of their community when they became ill.
On another occasion when travelling, a group of monks took all the best lodgings for themselves when they went ahead of the rest of party, leaving Shariputra who had a bad cough at the time to spend the night in the open under a tree. The Buddha admonished them for their selfishness and pointed out that their actions undermined the whole mission of the sangha.
The founding of the order of Buddhist nuns arose when Queen Mahaprajapati conceived the idea to devote herself to the spiritual life. She had looked after the Buddha during the time of his youth in the palace in Kapilavastu and both her son, Nanda, and Rahula, the Buddha’s son who was like a grandson to her, had entered the life of homelessness under the Buddha. However at that time there was no such thing as a female member, bhikkshuni, a nun, of the community. Her first request for the Buddha to ordain her, during the time he was staying at Kapilavastu, ended in disappointment as he refused to do so on three separate occasions.
Nevertheless when the Buddha set off to wander by stages to Vesali he was followed by Mahaprajapati and a number of Sakyan women who had cut off their hair and put on yellow robes. When Ananda saw her in Vesali where she was waiting on the porch of the Buddha’s retreat place she was in a sad condition, blistered and covered in dust. Upon asking her the reason for this Ananda learnt of the Buddha’s refusal to ordain her and thus allow her to go forth into the life of homelessness. He resolved to do something and told her that he would ask the Buddha about it.
After Sariptura was also refused on three occasions when he asked the Buddha if women could become ordained, he then asked whether or not women would be capable of attaining the same level of realisation as men. When the Buddha told him that they would be able, Ananda again asked the Buddha to consider allowing them to become members of the Sangha. Faced with this reasoning from Ananda the Buddha relented and said that he would accept Mahaprajapati into the sangha is she was willing to accept eight special conditions.
Amongst other things these included the somewhat heavy stipulation that even if a bhikkhuni had been ordained for a hundred years she would still have to get up and pay homage to a monk who might have been ordained for only one day. Nevertheless Mahaprajapati accepted all the stipulations with great joy and she thus became the first bhikkhuni. The Buddha still declared however that with the admission of women his teaching would not last as long as it otherwise might have. This did not stop thousands of female disciples both lay and ordained attaining either enlightenment or high levels of realisation under the Buddha.
As the Buddha and his teachings became more well known throughout the Ganges valley region it came into competition for the favour of kings and householders with the other major orders of wandering mendicants at that time. There is an incident from this period which illustrates the Buddha’s attitude to the use of magical powers and which resulted in the Buddha establishing a monastic precept against the display of any supernormal powers by his followers. The story starts with Pindola, a disciple of the Buddha who, whilst in the town of Shravasti, had gratuitously used his magical powers in order to obtain a sandalwood begging bowl which had been hung from a high pole. He had done this in competition with ascetics from other sects in the region and the reasoning had been that such an act would rebound to the glory of the Buddhist sangha. Pindola however is reprimanded by the Buddha, hence the setting up of the monastic precept banning such acts.
The leaders of the other sects saw this event as an opportunity to best the Buddha and challenged him to a contest of magical powers, sure that he would refuse and therefore appear less powerful. Much to their surprise and dismay the Buddha accepts their challenge, explaining that the precept he propounded was meant to apply to his disciples but not to himself. The Buddha then declares that he will perform his miracle at the foot of a mango tree in Shravasti as that is the spot where all previous Buddhas have done it. The heretics, desperate to avoid the contest because they know they will lose, uproot all the mango trees in the region. However they are thwarted by the Buddha who performs a preliminary miracle by eating a ripe mango and having the seed of it planted by the city gate. He then washes his hands over this spot and immediately a mango tree springs up as a fully grown tree. The leaders of the other sects flee when they see this and the chief among them drowns himself in a river.
In the meantime the gods have built a pavilion of precious stones at the foot of the mango tree and the time has now come for the Buddha to perfrom his great miracle. The Buddha starts by creating a jewelled walkway in mid-air and stands upon it. He then performs the miracle of double appearances; from the upper part of his body flames shoot up and from the lower part of his body water pours forth. He then reverses things and waters appears from his upper body and flames from his lower parts. All the while the Buddha walks back and forth on the runway preaching the dharma to the multitude. He realises that he himself is the best qualified to ask the questions as well as to answer and therefore he creates a double of himself who asks whilst he responds. In this way it is said that two million people were brought to a comprehension of the dharma.
At the end of this fantastic spectacle the Buddha rises to the Heaven of the Thirty-three to teach the dharma to his mother who had been reborn there as a goddess. That is where he spent the seventh rainy season after his enlightenment.
During the course of this period we see how the Buddha was often subject to intrigues and plots by rivals of other sects to discredit him. There is the story of the woman Chincha who was induced to pay regular visits to listen to the Buddha preach at the Jeta Grove and who then appeared one day apparently heavily pregnant. She then requested the Buddha in public to provide for her as he was the father of the child. As she said the fastenings of her garments fell away and the pillows which she had been carrying were exposed.
Another more serious incident was the story of Sundari a wandering nun who belonged to another sect and who was instructed by her male colleagues to visit the Buddha frequently and attend his teachings. After she had done so for a while they killed her and buried her body in the grounds of the Jeta Grove. Not long after this they went to King Pasenadi and told him they could not find their colleague Sundari and that they wanted to organise a search for her. When permission was given they of course unearthed her body in the Jeta Grove and promptly accused the Buddha and his bhikkhus of murdering her.
When faced with these accusations and the hostility of the local people who believed this story to be true the Buddha told his followers that the trouble would not last long and he exhorted them with the stanza :
The liar goes to hell, like him who did
And afterwards declares “I did not”.
They both of them on dying fare alike
In life to come, as men whose acts are vile.
Sure enough the uproar soon subsided much to the wonder and relief of the bhikkhus. The Buddha then uttered the following exclamation :
Unguarded men provoke with words like darts
Let fly against an elephant in battle.
But when hard words are spoken to a bhikkhu,
Let him endure them with unruffled mind.
In this period a petty quarrel arose between two monks staying at Kosambi which grew out of all proportion and which threatened the unity of the Buddha’s sangha. It all began when a monk who was a specialist in the Buddha’s doctrinal discourses left some unused washing water in a bowl in the toilet. This was found by another monk who was a specialist in memorising and interpreting the rules, the Vinaya, made by the Buddha for the behaviour of the sangha. Upon seeing the bowl of unused water he asked the former monk whether or not he knew that he that he had infringed upon the rules of the order. When the discourse specialist said that he had not known about that particular rule, the interpreter of rules said that it was therefore not an infringement. The discourse specialist then went away thinking that the matter was settled and that he had not committed an infringement.
Not long after however the Vinaya specialist began telling other bhikkhus that the discourse specialist had indeed committed an infringement. The discourse specialist was therefore asked to acknowledge his infringement but now he refused to do so as he felt that the Vinaya specialist had behaved with deceit by telling the bhikkhus about the incident after it had apparently been settled. This led to the Vinaya specialist convoking an assembly, the result of which was the suspension of the discourse specialist from the order. The discourse specialist refused to accept this. As both bhikkhus were learned and respected teachers they each had a number of their own followers and students. Things therefore became heated as both parties began to squabble and tension and dissension grew.
In time the Buddha was informed of the situation and he said that if this was not resolved there would be a schism in the sangha. He therefore went to see both parties in order to try to make them understand the negative consequences to the sangha of their behaviour. The quarrelling continued however and in fact became worse. When the Buddha was again requested to resolve the situation the followers of both sides requested the Buddha not to interfere. The Buddha requested each side three times to mend their differences but each time they refused to listen to him. He then got up and went away.
The following morning the Buddha got up and went into Kosambi for alms and then after eating his meal he put his place in order and picked up his bowl and outer robe. He realised that the quarrelling monks were obsessed with their argument and that it was impossible to make them see sense. He then uttered the following stanza :
If you can find a trustworthy companion
With whom to walk, both virtuous and steadfast,
Then walk with him content and mindfully,
Overcoming any threat of danger.
If you can find no trustworthy companion
With whom to walk, both virtuous and steadfast,
Then, as a king who leaves a vanquished kingdom,
Walk like a tusker in the woods alone.
Better it is to walk alone:
There is no fellowship with fools.
Walk alone, harm none, and know no conflict;
Be like a tusker in the woods alone.
The Buddha then departed and after wandering for some days and meeting and instructing various disciples on the way he came to the Parileyyaka forest and there he entered the thick jungle and stayed for a time in solitary retreat. The Buddha’s only company in the jungle thicket was a tusker elephant who had left the herd, seeking peace from the other elephants who hustled and bustled him.
After staying at in the Parileyyaka forest as long as he chose, the Buddha wandered by stages to Shravasti where he went to live in the Jeta Grove. Meanwhile back in Kosambi the quarrelling found themselves rejected and without the support of the lay people due to the fact that they could no longer see the Buddha. Finally both the contending factions went to the Jeta Grove and sought to settle their dispute once and for all in the Buddha’s presence. Eventually the discourse specialist acknowledged having committed an infringement which then made it technically possible for the discipline specialist to reinstate him as a member of the community. The Buddha approved the act of settlement between the two sides and the procedure was laid down should it ever happen again in the future.
Other events during this time included the awakening of the Buddha’s son Rahula when he was twenty years of age, after receiving instruction from his father. Rahula received teachings on such practices as mindfulness of breathing, selflessness in relation to the five aggregates and practices to overcome obstacles due to negative mind states. There was also a period of famine in the region in which the Buddha and many of his bhikkhus were staying and for a long time he and his monks had nothing to eat but horse fodder. The Buddha exclaimed that it was wonderful that they could all make do with such fare and he lamented that future generations would look down on much better food.
In the twentieth year of his ministry the Buddha was fifty-five years old and decided that from that point onwards he would spend each rains retreat regularly at Savatthi instead of continually travelling from place to place. He also appointed his cousin Ananda as his personal attendant who only accepted under eight conditions which he devised and which he felt would make him less of a burden to the Buddha and enable him to perform his duties more effectively. Ananda was to be in nearly constant attendance on the Buddha for the next twenty five years, right up to the Buddha’s parinirvana.
It is also at this time that the Buddha converted the notorious and greatly feared robber and murderer Angulimala who lived in the Shravasti region. When Angulimala killed someone he would chop off one of their fingers and string them on a cord which he wore around his neck. Hence his name Angulimala which means “finger necklace”. One morning the Buddha went for alms in Shravasti. When he had returned and finished his meal he put his resting place in order and then took his robe and bowl and walked off in the direction of where Angulimala was then known to be staying. Many people beseeched the Buddha not to go by that route as they knew how deadly Angulimala was. The Buddha just proceeded on in silence.
When Angulimala saw the Buddha coming he was filled with joy as he thought he had a fresh victim, and seizing his sword and shield and buckling on his bow and quiver he went after the Buddha. Unbeknown to Angulimala the Buddha had performed a feat of supernatural power such that Angulimala, going as fast he could, was unable to catch up with the Buddha who continued at his normal walking pace. Eventually Angulimala tired of the chase and called out to the Buddha to stop to which the Buddha replied :
Angulimala, I have stopped for ever,
Forswearing violence to every living being,
But you have no restraint towards anything.
So that is why I have stopped and you have not.
When the robber heard these words he suddenly saw the situation just as the Buddha saw it. He vowed to renounce evil and he tore off his weapons and threw them away. Then he fell down at the Buddha’s feet and begged the Buddha to accept him into homelessness to which the Buddha agreed.
The taming of Angulimala and his going forth greatly impressed King Pasenadi and his subjects who had lived in fear and dread of Angulimala for a long time. When the king visited the Buddha and was shown Angulimala in robes he could hardly believe his eyes. At the time Angulimala was following a particularly strict practice under the guidance of the Buddha and he was only eating almsfood got by begging, wearing refuse rags and restricting himself to three robes. Therefore he was unable to accept the astonished king’s offer of robes, almsfood, lodging and medicine. It was not long before Angulimala retired to the forest to meditate and then in no time the former bandit and murderer became enlightened.
Thirty one years after the Buddha was enlightened he and his followers were donated the Eastern Monastery in Shravasti by the devoted lay woman Visakha. She had been instrumental in converting her wealthy father-in-law, Migara, to the Buddha’s teaching and hence she was known as “Migara’s Mother” such was his gratitude to her. Previously he had been a great patron of the Jain ascetics in the region led by Nigrantha Jnaniputra and had once refused to offer alms to bhikkhus when they came to his house. It was his daughter-in-law who apologised to the monks for his rude behaviour by telling them that it was better to go elsewhere because Migara was eating stale food.
As a proud wealthy merchant, this comment had enraged Migara who wanted throw his daughter-in-law out of the family home. Mediators had to be brought in on Viaskha’s insistence to settle the dispute (as for her to have been thrown out would have been a social disgrace) and when questioned, Visakha said that when she said Migara was eating stale she meant that he was living on the merits of previous lives, a store of positive energy which would soon be used up. This impressed the mediators who found in her favour and said that Migara had no right to throw her out. But now Visakha told them she no longer wished to remain and made ready to depart.
Migara now had a change of heart and pleaded with Visakha to remain so as not to upset the household. She said should only on certain conditions which included allowing her to act according to her spiritual convictions. When he Migara agreed to this she wasted no time in inviting the Buddha and his sangha to the house for a meal. At first Migara was too proud to attend the meal but after listening to the Buddha from behind a screen he became so touched by the Buddha’s discourse that he immediately attained the first level of realisation. After this his gratitude to his daughter-in-law knew no bounds and he proclaimed to all that henceforth Visakha was to be regarded as his mother.
Visakha was a great patron of the Buddha and his sangha. As well as donating the Eastern Monastery in Shravasti she also provided food, cloths and medicines for the samgha. She was also frequently called upon to mediate in disputes between bhikshunis and was nearly always present when the Buddha taught and on other important sangha occasions where she was she was known by all as “Migara’s Mother”.
The event which precipitated the Buddha proclaiming the pratimoksha, or monastic code of behaviour came about through the monk Sudinna, the son of a wealthy merchant and who entered the homeless life despite the intense opposition of his parents. One day he hit upon the idea of going to his parents house for alms and when he arrived they begged him to return to lay life and when he refused they pleaded with him to at least provide an heir. This he agreed to do and later his parents brought his former wife to him in the forest where he had intercourse with her at least three times. As a result of this she conceived, an event which sent the earth deities into a clamour, with them warning of the dangers of infection in the sangha by this act.
Later Sudinna became remorseful over his act and he grew so thin and wretched that other monks noticed and upon being questioned he confessed to them what he had done. They rebuked him and the matter was brought before the Buddha who told Sudinna that his actions were misguided but since no rule had been broken no action was taken against him. After this event however, the Buddha immediately convoked an assembly and announced the time had now come for the laying down of a formal code of behaviour, the first rule of which was that any monk who indulged in sexual intercourse was to be expelled from the community. It was also set down that the code was to be periodically recited rule by rule in a full assembly of monks and nuns.
Thirty seven years after the Buddha became enlightened a serious menace to his life arose in the form of his brother-in-law the monk Devadatta who had entered into homelessness when the Buddha had first returned to his home town of Kapilavastu after his enlightenment. Unlike many of the others Devadatta had not managed to attain any of the stages of realisation but he was nevertheless a friendly and charming bhikkhu who was well-liked and who enjoyed an extensive following within the community. He was also adept in the use of supernormal powers.
Once when Devadatta was alone in retreat the thought came to him of who he could win over and gain much honour and renown. He saw that he could approach Prince Ajatasatru the son of King Bimbisara a great patron of the Buddha and ruler of the powerful kingdom of Magadha. Devadatta set out for the city of Rajagaha, where upon his arrival he took on the terrifying form of a young boy with a girdle of snakes. When he appeared to the young prince sitting in his lap in this form the prince was fearful and pleaded with Devadatta to reveal his true identity. When Devadatta transformed himself back into his normal appearance the prince conceived a kind of worship for him and became his disciple. Devadatta’s fame soon grew among the people of Rajagaha. This led to even greater ambitions to enter Devadatta’s mind and he soon set about planning to displace the Buddha and take over the leadership of the sangha.
Not longer after this Devadatta told the Buddha in front of a large assembly of monks, nuns and lay persons including Bimbisara, the king of Maghada, that the Buddha was now old and that it was time for him to hand over the running of the sangha to him. Three times Devadatta requested this of the Buddha and three times the Buddha refused, pointing out on the final occasion that he no intention of handing over the running of things even to Sariputra and Moggallana, his two chief disciples, let alone a “clot of spittle” like Devadatta. Angry and indignant over being so disgraced in public Devadatta departed, nursing a serious grudge against the Buddha. Further to this the Buddha instructed Sariputra to denounce Devadatta in Rajagaha, making it clear to the people that whatever Devadatta did in relation to the Buddha’s teaching and sangha it was not with his blessing.
Next Devadatta went to Prince Ajatasatru and suggested that Ajatasatru kill his father, Bimbisara in order to become king whilst he, Devadatta, would kill the Buddha and thus take his place. The gullible young prince, still in awe of Devadatta agreed to this plan but upon trying to act out his part he was caught. When hearing of his son’s plan, Bimbisara who of course was a great patron and student of the Buddha, showed great leniency and simply told Ajatasatru that if he wanted the kingdom of Magadha so badly he could have it. Thus Ajatasatru became king and in time he imprisoned his father where the latter eventually starved to death.
Once Ajatasatru was king Devadatta induced him to send soldiers to go and kill the Buddha, but every one of them who was sent merely ended up paying homage to the Buddha and becoming one of the Buddha’s followers. Eventually Devadatta tired of so many soldiers failing in their task and he took it upon himself to go and kill the Buddha. He laid in wait at Vulture Peak and tried to kill the Buddha by throwing rocks down on him, he failed but he did manage to draw blood on the Buddha’s foot at which the Buddha said to Devadatta that he had now created much demerit by drawing the blood of a Perfect One. It was a deed of immediate effect on rebirth and the effect would not be a good one.
When the followers of the Buddha heard of the attempt on the Buddha’s life they became very worried for his safety and arranged for there to be a constant guard to ensure that it did not happen again. The Buddha reassured them however that he did not need their protection because it was impossible for anyone to take a Perfect One’s life by violence. So it was that not long after this Devadatta set lose a wild elephant by the name Nalagiri, however went it approached the Buddha it was encompassed by the Buddha’s loving kindness and merely lowered it’s trunk and went up and stood before him. Later it retreated back to the elephant stables fully tamed.
The next tactic Devadatta tried to use was to create a schism in the sangha and he did this by creating five strict new rules which he wanted all the sangha to follow and which he knew the Buddha would refuse to sanction once he presented them to him. When this did indeed happen Devadatta and the group of monks who were his followers went back to the city of Rajagaha and proclaimed that there teaching was purer than the Buddha’s. Many gullible people were taken in by this and believed that Devadatta and his monks were indeed following the true teaching.
The Buddha tried to point out the huge amounts of misery Devadatta was now surely going to reap in his attempts to create a schism and a breach of concord in the sangha. But this did not stop Devadatta from declaring that he and his monks would now practice apart from the Buddha and the rest of the sangha. Furthermore Devadatta succeeded in persuading 500 newly ordained bhikkhus from the city of Vesali to come and join him. With that he took himself and his followers away from the Buddha and the rest of the sangha and left for Gayasisa.
Out of compassion for the 500 newly ordained bhikkhus the Buddha sent Sariputra and Moggallana to Gayasisa in order for them to show the new bhikkhus the true teaching. At the time many bhikkhus were worried that Sariputra and Moggallana would also end up going over to Devadatta’s side, however the Buddha reassured them by saying that this was impossible. When Sariputra and Moggallana arrived in Gayasisa Devadatta was overjoyed, thinking he had now won two such important new adherents. He invited them both to sit down and listen to his instruction on the dharma which was due to go on for most of the night. They sat down and when after a few hours Devadatta became tired he invited Sariputra to continue in his place whilst he took a rest.
Unfortunately for Devadatta he soon lost his mindfulness when resting and fell fast asleep. Sariputra meanwhile advised and admonished the new bhikkhus with a talk on the dhamma using the marvel of reading minds. Then Moggallana advised and admonished the bhikkhus by using the marvel of supernormal power until an immaculate spotless vision of the Dhamma arose in them. When this occurred they all left to return to the Buddha. When Devadatta was told what had happened when he awoke hot blood gushed from his mouth. It was a blow from which he never recovered. Not long after this he became mortally ill and tried to reach the Buddha to beg his forgiveness but before reaching him he died.
It is worth noting that Prince Ajatasatru later experienced great remorse for his association with Devadatta and for the way he had treated his father. He begged the Buddha to be accepted as one of his followers and the Buddha gave him the triple refuge.
These are the main events from this period of the Buddha’s life and teaching. |
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