The Buddha

When the path is lost, there follows a period of spiritual darkness, a period which might last for hundreds of millions of years, even for many aeons. But eventually there will arise within samsara, a certain being, a man who by his own innate wisdom, by his own striving and energy, without any guide or teacher, rediscovers the lost path to deliverance. Then having rediscovered the path he follows it through to its end. He realizes the goal. He reaches nibbana then comes back to proclaim the path, to make it known again to the world. The man who accomplishes this two fold task of rediscovering the path to nibbana and making it known again to the world, this being is called Buddha.

At a single time or even in a single historical period, there can be only one Buddha. A Buddha does not arise in any universe as a deity of any kind, or as the incarnation of a God (Avatara), a prophet or a divinely inspired messenger. He comes as a human being. He begins as a man caught up like ourselves in the rounds of suffering and defilement in which all beings are caught.

However, he is not an ordinary man but an extraordinary man, (Acarya Purisa). He is an extraordinary man with an immense potential of intelligence, energy and compassion, which has developed over countless lifetimes of self-cultivation. Throughout countless lifetimes, he has prepared himself for his future role as a Buddha by perfecting in himself the required qualities, virtues called paramis , the power, the wisdom needed by a world teacher. In his last existence, he quickly discerns the fundamental inadequacy of human life through his inner sense of mission, and goes forward to seek a way out of bondage and suffering. Then out of compassion, after discovering the way, he comes back to teach the path to the world at large. We see this function of the Buddha illustrated for us in a discourse (sutta). In one sutta, the Buddha gave an analogy when he said: "Suppose there is a certain district where the people are living in great poverty and are looking for a way to escape their condition. Then from amongst their midst a certain man appears who goes into the forest seeking another land where he can bring his fellow countrymen. Suddenly he discovers a track running through the forest. He follows that track until he comes to an ancient city, a very beautiful city which is now deserted. Having found that city he then returns to his own city and leads his countrymen there. They revive the city until it becomes prosperous, successful and flourishing. In the same way," says the Buddha, "I have discovered this path leading out from the impoverished city of samsara, the round of birth and death. The round of suffering to the splendor of nibbana, the place of deliverance, and having found the path I make it known; the way to freedom from birth, aging and death."

It is the special function of the Buddha to rediscover the lost path to deliverance; to liberation which is ever present in the universe. "Loka dhata". Unseen by any sentient being, to make that path known to the world at large. By making it known to the world, the Buddha throws open the road to deliverance to all humanity, so that others can follow the path, and by following it, reach the same goal of liberation which the Buddha himself has reached.

Buddhas are not unique in achieving release from samsara. Once it is know, those who learn the teaching can follow through and reach the same goal as those who are called Arahat. As has been mentioned, at a specific time in a single historical period within the universe, there can be only one Buddha, but there can be many Arahats. Many disciples who learn the Buddha's teaching can follow it and reach enlightenment through the path he makes known. There are many levels to go through, beginning with development of a moral conduct, concentration and insight knowledge which firstly lead to attainment of the stream winner stage within enlightenment. Here, with the attainment of stream winner, all doubts concerning the reality of our nature are dispelled. This closes the door to be born in a lower plane of existence and ensures deliverance of no more than seven lifetimes.

Therefore the torch of light which dispels spiritual darkness on the cycle of existence within the creation and dissolution of the Universe has been lightened temporarily like a candle in a shrine to the benefit of all.

Every Buddha obtains high attainment through a career spanning many lives. During his career he is called Bodhisatta in Sanskrit Bodhisattva. A Bodhisatta is a being destined for complete enlightenment. In his successive lives as a Bodhisatta he works to perfect in himself certain virtues. These virtues are known in Pali as paramis, the sublime perfections, which achieve maturity with his attainment of Buddha-hood. According to Pali sources, The Boddhisatta of our own Buddha began countless kappas, hundreds and thousands of kappas, and many aeons in the past. In the dispensation of the Buddha named Dipankara, who is the 26th Buddha before The Buddha Gotama or Buddha Sakkyamuni, The Buddha of our era was at that time a wealthy young man named Sumada. When his parents died and left him great wealth, he reflected upon enjoyment before renouncing the household life and becoming a hermit living in the forest practicing meditation. One day he came into the town in order to gather supplies and learned that an enlightened being, the Buddha Dipankara, was coming to town. When the Buddha Dipankara entered the town, the hermit Sumada was so in awe of his majestic bearing, his presence and his serenity, that he bowed down right into the mud. He made an aspiration in his mind that he too wanted to become a Buddha at some time in the future. When the Buddha Dipankara saw this ascetic bow, lying down in the mud at his feet; he read his mind and saw that wish. He then looked into the future and saw that this person would become a Buddha named Gotama. From that time on and for hundreds and thousands of aeons into the future, this person had dedicated himself to the development of the sublime virtues (parami) that would mature with his Buddha-hood.

For countless lives, life after life, the Boddhisatta strived to perfect these qualities in himself. Sometimes he would dedicate several lives in succession to the development of one perfection (parami). Sometimes he would appear as an animal, sometimes as a human being, sometimes as a celestial being.

His victorious attainment as a Buddha is a complete accomplishment, an all embracing accomplishment, where all qualities enter into complete perfection. It is by this achievement that the Buddha's characteristics gunas manifest in this world through his perfect purity, his great wisdom and great compassion, giving him the right to be a world teacher. The three characteristics of a Buddha can be understood as follow:

Because all defilement's are eliminated, his actions of body, speech and mind are totally pure. The Buddha can never commit any impure statement, any statement that is false, malicious, harmful to others or frivolous. He can never think any impure thought or any thought motivated by greed, hatred, delusion, or any other defilement. That is the Buddha's complete purity; of body, mind and speech.

The second distinguishing characteristic of the Buddha is his wisdom or knowledge. In fact it is this quality which is signified by the term 'enlightenment'. The wisdom of the Buddha has depth, precision and range. The Buddha understands things with precision, exactly, truly as they are. His knowledge has vast range and can proceed unhindered to understand deeply and profoundly whatever he turns his attention to. The Buddha is called the lokavidu 'the knower of the worlds'. He is given this designation because his knowledge encompasses countless world systems with their many planes of existence. The Buddha's knowledge is a practical type of knowledge and he knows the minds and hearts of other living beings, the degrees of spiritual maturity and their capacity to understand. He knows the right way to present the teaching to them in order to awaken their understanding and bring them to deliverance.

The third characteristic of the Buddha is called in Pali Mahakaruna. His Great compassion and wisdom of the Buddha is guided by this compassion. Through compassion The Buddha empathizes with sentient beings caught up in the cycle of suffering. Through compassion he works to alleviate the suffering of beings by teaching the Dhamma, which had been rediscover, by making known to them the Dhamma that will lead them to liberation through the eradication of all suffering.

A feature which accounts for the rapid spread of Buddhism was his skilful means in finding exactly most appropriate way to teach the person, god, goddess through his special knowledge. He could read deeply into the hidden recesses of a person's heart; could see a person's mental tendencies, past accumulations, preference and capacities. Then he could adapt his teaching according to the needs of the listener. The Buddha taught his doctrine in a gradual and undemanding way; a way that led gradually upwards according to the capacity of the listener.

The historical Buddha of our era, the Buddha Gotama, has been the fourth Buddha of this aeon. He taught for forty five years, from his thirty-fifth year to his eightieth. Since then his doctrine had become widespread and he has established the order of monks and nuns or Sangha. There are now a large number of people, monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen who have mastered the teachings. They have opened up to the possibility of enlightenment and could see through the continued transmission of the Dhamma, keeping the light shining for the benefit of all beings.

Reference: Ashin Kunsal Kassapa; The Light of Mebegon Village