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Buddhism derives its name from its founder Sakyamuni Buddha. Sakyamuni means 'sage of the sakya clan'. He was the son of the King of the Sakya clan. Buddha however is a title, meaning 'one who is enlightened and will enlighten others'. This title may be applied to any historical or even present day enlightened person. Here Buddhism differs from Christianity familiar no doubt, even if a little vaguely, to many readers. There is and can be only one Christ, but their have been and may be many Buddhas. Christianity is also distinguished in that it has a clearly defined relatively small Scripture, which has remained unchanged for 1,500 years or more. Buddhism, by contrast, has a huge and ever expanding range of scriptural literature, as any visit to any Gompa on the Annapurna circuit will demonstrate. Like Christianity, Buddhism includes the life story of its founder within its literature.
Sakyamuni Buddha touching the earth, calling it to witness his achievement Before we move on to Buddha's life story, a little explanation of some of the concepts of Buddhism may be needed. Buddhists believe in a cycle of birth and rebirth, extinguished only by 'enlightenment'. Sakyamuni's previous lives as a 'Boddhisattva' are part of his lifestory. A Boddhisattva is someone who has reached the point where his advance in wisdom means that enlightenment is inevitable. There is a lot of technical jargon to master. It's a bit like computers.
Statuette of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Sakyamuni began his progress towards enlightenment in a previous life when he was a monk called Megha. Megha sought out Dipankara, a Buddha alive at they time. Dipankara with the supreme knowledge of a Buddha, told Megha that he, Megha, would be the future founder of the Buddhist religion. Now you may be wondering, and indeed you should be wondering, how do we know about Sakyamuni Buddha's past lives? Simple. Buddhas have supreme knowledge. When they become enlightened they can remember all their past lives.
Dipankara Buddha In another past life, Sakyamuni in compassion, offered his own body as food to a tigress exhausted after giving birth to her cubs. More to western tastes is the story of another life where he was perfecting the gift of patience. He had remained motionless for so long that a bird had nested in his hair. He remain perfectly still neither eating nor drinking until the chicks hatched and flew away. When Sakyamuni Buddha was born in his final lifetime, his father the king was told by Asita, a great seer, of Sakyamuni's enlightened future. The king then isolated the young Sakyamuni from the real world. His plan was to prevent him gaining any real knowledge of the human condition. However Sakyamuni stole away from his confined though luxurious quarters in the palace, in order to visit the forest. On the way, he became aware, for the first time, of such things as old age, illness and suffering. Later he met a religious mendicant (which is a sophisticated term for a beggar) who told him that his aim in life was to seek salvation. Eventually Sakyamuni resolved to become a monk and seek enlightenment himself. He left the palace and his inheritance behind forever. Sakyamuni studied and practised religious austerities. He sought freedom though withdrawal from the usual needs of the world. He starved himself by eating meals of a single grain of rice. Eventually, however, he realised that starvation would leave him too weak to achieve enlightenment. Sakyamuni saw that he needed to follow a middle path to his goal. To break his long fast he ate a bowl of rice pudding, and then sat down beneath a great fig tree, resolving not to move until he had gained enlightenment. Despite opposition from the spirit Mara, the inveterate foe of the true dharma, Sakyamuni continued his quest. (Dharma is the ultimate reality). Once Sakyamuni had overcome Mara and was ready for enlightenment the whole earth rejoiced. '…the moon, like a maidens gentle smile, lit up the heavens, while a rain of sweet scented flowers, filled with moisture, fell down on the earth from the heavens above.' Sitting under the sacred fig tree Sakyaminu entered a trance, seeking the ultimate reality and the reason for our life's' existence. He found that which he sought during the night. First he remembered all his previous thousands of lives. Secondly he saw that there was no security in this samsaric world of birth and death. Thirdly he saw that we wear ourselves out in the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth in which we are blinded by ignorance, lust, greed and other such delusions. Sakyamuni saw that when there is no ignorance, the accumulation of karma merit and demerit stops. At this point he had become a Buddha. He knew that he had achieved enlightenment. The Buddha realised that he had found true freedom. The world saw this and expressed its happiness and satisfaction with his achievement. The sky shone bright, pleasant breezes blew, and even out of season fruits fell from the trees. No one was sad or unhappy, the influence of the dharma increased and the whole world rose a little from the darkness of ignorance. Buddha remained in his trance for 7 days. When he emerged from this trance he was at first determined to show the rest of the world the path to peace. Yet he hesitated, for he saw the deep ignorance of the world and knew that it would reject the subtlety of his dharma. Seeing this, the two senior Hindu gods Brahma and Indra came and pleaded with him to share the path to enlightenment with the world. Buddha was persuaded by them and so resolved to free the world. With this in mind, he departed for Varansi in India, to preach the dharma to five mendicants whom he had known during his period of austerities. Finding them there, he taught them about the path to enlightenment from his own direct experience. He taught the four holy truths: The world is full of suffering, that suffering is cause by desire, that suffering can cease, and that there is a path to freedom, or Nirvana. This path is the eightfold path of right views, right intentions, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Buddha went on to preach the dharma to his father, who was then finally reconciled to his son's chosen path. He rose miraculously to heaven to preach the dharma to his mother. He then travelled the earth teaching those whose minds were ready for freedom. Eventually after many years of teaching the buddha left this world to enter Nirvana. At this time the world showed great sadness, like the sky without the moon, like withered flowers. After his passing, the 500 followers of the Buddha gathered and recited his teachings so that the whole dharma could be written down and passed to the whole world. The doctrines of Buddhism are so comprehensive that they rival the methodologies of the computer industry. Indeed Buddhism itself might be said to be a methodology, or a collection of methods. The fundamental precepts of Buddhism are:
The first precept includes the life of any living being. Theoretically therefore, Buddhists should be vegetarian. Indeed many are. However in Tibet, yak meat is a popular food. The Tibetan Buddhists (including the one living around Annapurna) eat only 'fallen' yak. Many Yaks fall in Tibet and Nepal! Below Thorung Phedi I saw some yak herders butchering a yak carcass. Did it fall or was it pushed? Whichever, they did not wish to be photographed. For more details on the five precepts I recommend Edward Conze's book 'Buddhist Scriptures' which gives more details. Popular buddhist morality for the layperson is best read in an eighteenth century Tibetan poem entitled 'The Buddhas Law among Birds' which can be found in p86-p93 of Edward Conze's book 'Buddhist Scriptures'. Meditation is the tool of the pathway to enlightenment. Sakyamuni Buddha achieved enlightenment through meditation as did the other Buddhas. Meditation is practised by lay Buddhists as well as lamas and other holy people. The meditator benefits by achieving heightened spiritual awareness, which facilitates knowledge of the dharma. Buddhists who are well advanced along the path to enlightenment may be blessed with extraordinary supernatural powers endowed by meditation. These powers may include:
Popular powers attributed to lamas in the Annapurna region are:
Life beyond death preoccupies many religions. Buddhism believes in cyclical birth and death and rebirth. Rebirth may take place in a different world, such as one of the many heavens or back on earth. Rebirth may be in one of many forms. One may be reborn as a god in heaven, or conversely, as an animal on earth, depending upon the accumulation of karma merit from deeds in past lives. Many Buddhists desire rebirth in the Tushita heaven where Maitreya, the future Buddha, is awaiting his final rebirth in 3,000 years time. Rebirth in Amitabha heaven is the aspiration of many Japanese Buddhists. Amitabha heaven lies in another world system which lies at an immense distance to the far west, outside this galaxy. It is a beautiful perfect world inhabited only by gods and people, where low rebirth is impossible.
Maitreya Buddha In the Tibetan area of influence, which includes the Annapurna circuit from Chamje to Khobang, the lamas teach that after death we wait for 49 days in an intermediate state until we are reborn. The Tibetan Book of the dead describes the process of dying and rebirth. This book, the Bardo, is read to the dying person to guide them on their way to their future life. The book's title may seem a little bizarre to western minds, yet the book itself is very peaceful. There are many versions, a brief version may be found in Edward Conze's Buddhist Scriptures. Buddhism in Tibet and northern NepalThe arrival of Buddhism in northern Nepal is really the story of how it arose in Tibet. Buddhism first arrived in Tibet when Princess Wencheng of China married King Songtsen Gompa of Tibet (died 649 AD). Princess Wengcheng is also known as the 'White Tara'. She brought with her a Buddhist priest. After this period Buddhism, if it had ever really become established, declined until the arrival of the legendary guru Padma Samba. Around 747 AD Padma Samba was invited to Tibet by King Thi Srong Detsan. The King was building a Gompa at Samye, but was experiencing difficulties. Evil spirits on the site could not be subdued. His lamas told him that only Padma Samba was strong enough for the job. Padma samba consecrated the site, appointed Indra and Brahma as directors in chief of building. He appointed the local spirits, the naga, as labourers. Men worked by day and the spirits by night. Once the monastery was built it's consecration was accompanied by many miracles.
Padma Sambhava statue Padma Samba went on to defeat the Bon-Po at Mount Kailas, starting the domination of Buddhism in Tibet which was to continue until 1959. Padma Samba founded the Nyingmapa red hat sect of Buddhist lamas. Red hat lamas may be found in the mountain regions of northern Nepal, such as Praken Gompa near Manang. Padma Samba remained in Tibet for 111 years. Although undoubtedly a historical figure, he is difficult to distinguish from the legends which grew up around him. There are a number of Padma Samba sites on the Annapurna circuit in the Kali Gandaki region, including his cave on Dhauligiri.
Padma Sambhava portrait on rock in Khumbu The next major personality in Tibetan Buddhism was Atisha ( 982 AD - 1054 AD). King Lha Lama Yeshe Wo invited him to Tibet to revitalise Buddhism. Atisha's contribution to Tibet was to finally establish Buddhism. He created a chronological system for the Tibetans, and for them wrote his manual 'A Lamp on the Path to Enlightenment'. This book clarified the myriad teachings of Buddhism, to make Buddhism accessible for the ordinary people of Tibet. This same book translated into English together with a modern commentary is one of the best ways to understand Tibetan Buddhism today. Marpa (1012 - 1097) was the teacher of Milarepa (1040 - 1123). Milarepa was a saint and poet who spent many years in the mountains. He spent some of this time in a cave in Nyeshang on the Annapurna Circuit. This cave is still the site of pilgrimage by the locals. His book of a 100,000 songs is well known in Nepal and Tibet. Tsong-kha-pa (1327 - 1419) built on the work of Atisha and founded the Dgelugs-pa, the Yellow Hat church which ruled Tibet until 1959.
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