3.2.2 Buddha's Ascetic Life & Enlightenment

Key term definitions:

• After leaving the palace, Siddhartha tried various methods to learn how to overcome the problem of suffering
• He had been impressed by the sense of peace that he felt coming from the holy man – the ascetic – that he met before he left the palace, so he decided to follow ascetic practices for the following six years
• He rejected anything that would give him pleasure and practiced extreme self- discipline. He fasted for long periods of time, becoming increasingly hungry and weak. Stories say that his body became so thin that his legs were like bamboo sticks, his backbone was like a rope, his chest was like an incomplete roof of a house, and his eyes sank right into his skull, like stones in a well.
• He looked like a living skeleton and suffered from terrible pain and hunger. Traditional stories also say that Siddhartha lived in dangerous and hostile forests, which were too hot during the day and freezing at night
• He slept on a bed of thorns as part of his ascetic practices and was frightened when the animals came but never ran away.

The middle way – turning away from the ascetic life

• One day Siddhartha was bathing in the river Nairanjana. When he got out of the water he saw a girl who was looking after a herd of cows for her father
• The girl offered Siddhartha a bowl of milk and rice. He accepted the food as he had by this point become too weak to even meditate
• Siddhartha's strength was restored by the food and he decided to stop his ascetic practices, as he was no closer to the truth of why people suffer and how to get rid of this suffering
• His ascetic practices had taught him discipline and willpower, but they did not provide a cure for suffering Neither luxury nor an ascetic lifestyle had given Siddhartha any real answers. This led him to develop a 'middle way' between the two extremes he had experienced

The Buddha's enlightenment

Learning check

1. In your own words, explain what an ascetic is
2. Give three methods that Siddhartha tried in order to resolve the problem of suffering
3. According to the Jataka tales, what was Siddhartha only eating?
4. Explain how Siddhartha came up with the idea of the 'middle way'.
5. Explain what the middle way means to Buddhists today.

Traditional stories say that he made himself a cushion of grass and found a suitable place to sit down and meditate, underneath a Bodhi tree. He sat with his face to the east and thought: "Though my skin, my nerves and my bones shall waste away and my life blood go dry I will not leave this seat until I have attained the highest wisdom, the supreme enlightenment, that leads to everlasting happiness"

The demon Mara:

Then Siddhartha began to meditate..... Traditional stories tell how Mara – the evil one – appeared to try to stop him from achieving enlightenment. Mara tried a number of different tactics:

• He sent his daughters to seduce Siddhartha
• He sent his armies to attack Siddhartha
• He offered Siddhartha control of his kingdom o Mara himself tried to attack Siddhartha
• Throughout it all, Siddhartha stayed focused on his meditation. He ignored the temptations of Mara's daughters. Arrows directed at him from the armies turned into flowers before they could hit him.
• Towards the end of his meditation, Mara claimed that only he had the right to sit in the place of enlightenment and his solders were witness to this. He claimed that without anyone to witness his enlightenment, Siddhartha would not be believed
• Siddhartha then touched the earth and called upon the earth to witness his right to sit under the Bodhi tree – the earth shook in acknowledgement to his right

Becoming enlightened

During the night that Siddhartha became enlightened, he experienced three different realisations. These realisations happened over three different periods – or 'watches' – during the night, and so they are known as 'the three watches of the night'

The three watches of the night:

1. Firstly, Siddhartha gained knowledge of all his past lives.
2. Secondly, he came to understand the repeating cycle of birth, death and re-birth. He realised that when someone died, their karmic energy transfers into a new body, and the quality of their rebirth depends on their actions in their previous life.
3. Thirdly, he came to understand why suffering happens and how to overcome it.

The Buddha:

• After his enlightenment, Siddhartha became known as 'the Buddha' – which means 'enlightened one' or 'the fully awakened one'.
• The Buddha then devoted his life to teaching others how to overcome suffering and to achieve enlightenment.
• His first students were the five ascetics he left behind in the forest.