Scent of Buddha
Sakyamuni Buddha

Buddha

A Buddha is a person who has achieved a state of perfect spiritual enlightenment, developed all positive qualities and eliminated all negative qualities. Buddha was an "ordinary" human just like you and me before he became enlightened. Enlightenment is compared to awakening, as a person suddenly experiences a complete transformation of body and mind from sleeping to waking up. One could say that a Buddha represents the very peak of evolution, as he/she is omniscient or all-knowing.

Sakyamuni Buddha

Sakyamuni Buddha, who is also known as Gautama Buddha, is one among the thousand Buddhas of this aeon. They were not Buddhas from the beginning, but were once sentient beings like ourselves.

He is the Buddha of compassion who, having achieved the highest evolutionary perfection, turns suffering into happiness for all living beings. With his right hand, Buddha touches mother earth, indicating the subjugation of Mara, the evil god of desire who had tempted the Buddha, and who was his last obstacle in his attainment of perfection. His left hand is resting in his lap, the gesture of contemplation.This is one of his most significant and popular depictions; it represents the moment he attained the state of enlightenment. The ushnisa, the symbol which denotes wisdom, is depicted on top of his curly hair. He is dressed in a monk's robe with his right shoulder and arm bare. The elongated earlobes reflect his royal origins.

Buddha statues in all cultures are usually depicted as stern in stature, pose, and dress. The Buddha's ethereal features are emphasized, while its human features are de-emphasized. The Sakyamuni Buddha does not have a very defined body shape. Its clothes are draped over the body in a way, which does not reveal the Buddha's body. The face is extremely fat with no distinct features. The Buddha's features are unrealistic and very abstract. It is not the ideal Greek statue, and its purpose is not to look strong and muscular. These are all characteristics present in Buddha statues in various different cultures.

He lived in northeast India between 563 and 483 BC. As a bodhisattva, he had to pass through thousands of existences before coming to Earth for his ultimate transmigration. This last lifetime he began as a son of the King of the Sakya, Suddhodana, who ruled at Kapilavastu on the border of Nepal. The place of his birth was a grove known as Lumbini, near the city of Kapilavastu, at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan ranges within Nepal. This small city Kapilavastu stood on the bank of the little river Rohini, some hundred miles north-east of the city of Varnasi. The body bore at birth the thirty-two auspicious marks which indicated his future greatness, besides secondary marks in large numbers. Maya, his mother, died seven days after her son's birth. Thus, Sakyamuni Buddha was brought up by his mother's sister, Mahaprajapati, who became his foster-mother.

The king was afraid that the astrologer's prediction that his son would assume the robe of a monk and become a Buddha. Thus he was surrounded the palace with a triple enclosure and guard and proclaimed that the use of the words death and grief were forbidden. Most importantly, the king make sure that his son would not chance upon a decrepit old man, a diseased man, a dead man and a monk. Siddhartha proved himself in many tournaments calling for strength and prowess. When he was 16, he wed Yasodhara, the most beautiful princess in the land. They had a son named Rahula.

However, these precautions were in vain for while Siddhartha was travelling through the streets, an old wrinkled man appeared before him. In astonishment the young prince learned that decrepitude is the fate of those who live life through. Still later he met an incurable invalid and then a funeral procession. Finally heaven placed in his path an ascetic, a beggar, who told Siddhartha that he had left the world to pass beyond suffering and joy, to attain peace at heart.

Siddhartha left for his home, wealth, dominion, power, father, wife and his only child. He shaved his head and put on yellow robes. He marched towards Rajgriha, which is the capital of the kingdom of Magadha. There were many caves in the neighboring hills. Many hermits lived in those caves. Siddhartha took Alara Kalama, a hermit, as his first teacher. He was not satisfied with his instructions. Thus he left him and sought the help of another recluse named Uddaka Ramaputta for spiritual instructions. At last he was determined to undertake Yogic practices. He practiced severe Tapas, also known as, austerities and Pranayama, also known as, practice of breath control, for six years. He determined to attain the supreme peace by practicing self-mortification. He abstained almost entirely from taking food. He did not find much progress by adopting this method. He was reduced to a skeleton and became exceedingly weak.

Resolved to continue his quest, Siddharta made his way to a deer park at Isipatana. Here he sat beneath a tree meditating on death and rebirth. Alone and weak, he sat beneath the sacred Bodhi tree of wisdom, and swore to die before arising without the wisdom he sought. Just a short time later, he became a fully enlightened Buddha. This means that he actualised all positive potentials of a sentient being and rid himself of all negative qualities. With this, he realised the true nature of existence and suffering, and how suffering can be ended. The Buddha continued to teach during his life, until passing away at the age of 81.

The 4 Noble Truths are namely: