Simple Buddhism. C. Alexander Simpkins, Ph.D.

      Buddha. China, Northern Wei dynasty, Limestone, 500-525. Gift of the Asian Arts Committee, San Diego Museum of Art

      Four of the five ascetics reluctantly sat around him to listen, yet after he expressed his realization to them, they were all converted. They joined him and began teaching his path, thus marking the birth of Buddhism.

      Buddha and his small band of disciples walked from place to place, spreading the message and gathering followers. Their days were spent traveling, begging for food, eating, bathing, and then listening to talks from Buddha before traveling on.

      On the journey from Benares to Rajagriha, another large city in northern India, Buddha met Kasyapa. Kasyapa and his two brothers were leaders of a large fire-worshiping sect of over a thousand ascetics. At first, Kasyapa did not believe that Buddha held any special knowledge. Buddha convinced him with a discourse that has come to be known as the Fire Sermon. The entire group sat together in an area called Elephant Rock overlooking Rajagriha valley. Just then, a fire broke out in the jungle on a nearby hill. Buddha seized upon this natural occurrence to teach.

      Like the fire that was consuming the trees, plants, and animals, so our passions consume us, he said. Whenever we see something, it ignites an inward reaction of either pleasure or pain. Our sensations fuel these inner fires, consuming us in a never-ending inferno of desire for pleasure and fear of pain. Buddha taught that the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path free us from these fires. Then we can see without craving, free to be happy. This sermon convinced Kasyapa that Buddhism offered a true path for him.

      Kasyapa, along with his two brothers and many of his followers, joined Buddha in his travels. Kasyapa became Mahakasyapa, one of the primary disciples who organized the Order after Buddha’s death. Through his travels, Buddha continued to gather followers and supporters from all levels of society. His willingness to accept anyone, no matter what their caste, was a radical departure from traditional Hindu protocol. Usually religion had been taught in Vedic Sanskrit, a language used only by the upper castes. Buddha felt that teaching in Vedic Sanskrit would make it impossible for anyone from lower castes to understand his sermons. Thus he always used the common language.

      When the group arrived in Rajagriha, they were met by the ruler of the area, King Bimbisara. On hearing Buddha lecture, the king offered Buddha a residence in one of his nearby bamboo groves. Buddha and his disciples spent many rainy seasons in this grove, and it was here that Buddha delivered some of his most complex speeches. During his first year there, Buddha converted Sariputra, who was later involved in many conversations with Buddha, recorded in the sermons. Sariputra joined the community, called the sangha.

      Buddha’s father had kept track of his son’s progress through the years, and eventually he sent a message asking Buddha to make a visit. Buddha decided to return to his home with his entire company. They arrived in a local park and, as was their custom, went from house to house begging for food. The town watched, somewhat horrified to see their prince dressed in simple robes, extending his begging bowl. Suddhodana walked up to his son and confronted him, “Why do you disgrace the family?”

      Buddha replied, “Your lineage is of princes; my lineage now is from buddhas who have always begged for their food.” Still, Buddha did not want to hurt his father, nor did he wish to show him disrespect. He continued, “When someone finds a treasure it is his duty to give it to his father. And so, I offer to you, Father, my most precious treasure: my doctrines.”

      After listening carefully, Suddhodana could see that his son was following an honorable path. Without uttering a word, Suddhodana took his son’s bowl and gestured for him to enter the palace. The entire household honored him, solidifying their bonds in a new way. Eventually, many of them joined Buddha’s group.

      For forty-five years Buddha preached, traveled by foot around the area of northern India, and returned during each rainy season to the bamboo grove. Although many people accepted his teachings without question, some voiced objections. Devadatta, Buddha’s childhood companion, tried to convince Buddha to become stricter. He believed monks should be required to live outdoors, wear rags, eat no meat, and never accept invitations to join people for a meal. Buddha said this was unnecessary. As long as people were not overindulgent, it was not important where they slept, how or where they ate, or what they wore. Dissatisfied with Buddha’s answer, Devadatta founded his own conservative order, and gathered many supporters. Throughout Buddha’s career he encountered people who objected to aspects of his message. These dissenters were the precursors to the divisions that would take place years after Buddha’s death.

      BUDDHA’S FINAL DAYS

      During the rainy season of his eightieth year, Buddha became ill and realized that his life was drawing to a close. He gathered all his followers around him. Speaking earnestly, he directed them to continue following the way he had set out so that the teachings could live on. He told his disciples, “Mendicants, I now impress upon you, decay is inherent in all component things; work out your salvation with diligence!” (Rhys Davids 1890, 83). These were the last words he spoke before he slipped away, peacefully. The year was recorded as 483 B.C.

      CHAPTER 2

      Buddhism Takes Root

      The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their mind day and night always delights in meditation.

       —Dhammapada

      THE FIRST COUNCIL

      The funeral ceremonies began, but the monks in attendance agreed to wait for Mahakasyapa to return from his travels before they performed the cremation. Meanwhile, Mahakasyapa met a group of monks in the village of Pava who informed him that Buddha had died. One of them remarked, “Don’t be unhappy. We are finally free to do as we wish without being reprimanded and corrected all the time!” Concerned about the rebellious sentiment, Mahakasyapa hurried back to the funeral site to complete the rites.

      Following Buddha’s death, many members of the Order dispersed. There was nothing to keep them together. Mahakasyapa recognized that something had to be done to formally set out the rules and teachings of Buddha to keep the Order gathered. Three months after Buddha’s death, Mahakasyapa called together the five hundred who remained. They gathered at a place near Rajagriha into what has come to be called the First Buddhist Council.

      All who gathered had reached enlightenment except Ananda. Ananda had been continually at Buddha’s side for the past twenty-five years and knew all of Buddha’s sermons by heart. Therefore, the monks agreed that Ananda should be included at the council.

      Ananda desperately wanted to become enlightened. According to legend, the night before the council convened he stayed up all night trying to reach enlightenment. Unsuccessful, he finally decided to give up and go to bed. When he lay down on his bed, so the legend goes, his head mysteriously lifted off the pillow and his feet raised from the bed. He became enlightened.

      The five hundred monks spent the three months of the rainy season gathering Buddha’s teachings, preserving them in three sections: the words of the Buddha, called the Doctrines of the Elders (Thera Vada), the rules of the Order (Vinaya), and the general precepts for both the monks and the laity (Dharma). Ananda recited the sermons as he remembered them, beginning each one with the words: “Thus have I heard,” which is how the earliest sermons, later known as sutras, begin.

      The entire council recited all the information together to commit it to memory. According to the custom of the time, nothing was written down. Our respect for the written word was not shared by early civilizations. Originally, people believed that sacred words would be trivialized, their deeper intent lost, if they were written down. Important information was best preserved when learned by heart. As a result of this belief, for several centuries Buddha’s lectures were perpetuated solely in the memory of the monks.

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