Doi Suthep- Part VIII: Buddha Day
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
18
33
Trip End
Mar 10, 2008
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Friday, February 8, 2008
If his mother had lived long enough, a young Gotama would have eventually have asked her every spring why there was a Mother's Day but not a Gotama Day, to which she would have tersely replied, "Because every day is Gotama Day!" Being an extremely bright child, Gotama would have realized that this was a giant load of crap. After six years of searching for the Truth and that revelationary night under the Bodhi tree, Gotama found enlightenment and became Buddha. While his first dhamma at Deer Lake is best remembered for his expository on the Four Noble Truths, the preamble to that sermon is not as well known:
"Gentlemen, welcome
VIDEO- Monks Chanting
. Before I begin to illuminate you on the Middle Way, I have a brief announcement. In recognition of my newfound enlightenment, I hereby declare that Buddha Day will be celebrated on the calendar with every passing of the lunar cycle. Four times a month....that's right. You will bring me gifts of flowers, incense, and candles. If anyone has a problem with that, why don't you get back to me when you've figured out how to rid yourself of suffering in this celestial plane, OK?"For those of you unfamiliar with Buddhism, it's a practice that's as much philosophy as it is religion, born out of self-discovery and exploration rather than worship of a deity. Buddha himself encouraged his followers to discover the Truth for themselves through their own experiences instead of just reading scripture. Buddhism rejected the Hindu caste system into which Prince Gotama was born and was the first religion to denounce slavery. Along with Judaism, Buddhism is the only major world religion in which people have not been tortured or killed in order to convert them. It's inclusive, nonjudgmental, and accepting of other faiths and belief systems. Even women, whose rights have been systematically oppressed by the patriarchal perversions of most faiths, were held in high esteem by Buddha.
Buddhism's mythology and lessons are steeped in numbers- in addition to the Four Noble Truths, there is the Eightfold Path, the Four Passing Sights, the Five Ascetics, the Thirty-One Levels of Heaven and Hell, and the Five Hindrances, to name a few
Doi Suthep at Night
. Don't think life is fair? Karma's a bitch, ain't it? After that first sermon at Deer Lake, Buddha delivered over 80,000 dhamma to his followers before he died - or passed into the realm of paranibbana - at the sprite age of 80.From where I sit, if there's one lesson in Buddhism that's worth learning, it's the Three Characteristics.
1) Anicca- That, both inside of ourselves and in the world, life is change. This is the concept of impermanence. Every day and every moment, we experience change. Our moods change for no apparent reason; the feeling of hunger ebbs and flows; pain enters your body where once there was none, and then goes away. Change is not good or bad - it simply is. No matter how much fleeting pleasure that piece of chocolate cake gives you, eventually you will lick the last bit of frosting off your fork. And no matter how badly your heart has been broken, the pain will eventually subside. Those in life who are able to recognize change, and accept it without judgment, can find contentment. The past, my friends, is dead. It's a corpse. Let it go.
2) Dukkha- That, both inside of ourselves and in the world, life is suffering. This doesn't mean that life is miserable, it simply means that human existence is inherently dissatisfying. We all get sick, we all get old, and we all die - these are unavoidable states. What makes us suffer is tanha, which is craving and attachment. We want a bicycle for our birthday, but we get tube socks instead. Suffering. We want a job promotion, but we're passed over for someone less qualified. Suffering. We want desperately for someone to love us, but they choose someone else
Buddha's Story- Gotama is Born
. Mucho suffering. The only way to escape suffering is to rid ourselves of desire and want. We can't avoid pain, but we don't have to suffer. Or, best captured in the immortal words of Patrick Swayze's character, Dalton, in the classic film noir, Roadhouse, "Pain don't hurt."3) Anatta- That, both inside of ourselves and in the world, life is uncontrollable. This is the concept of non-self. Simply put, shit happens. Friends who lead healthy lives have heart attacks and get cancer. The stock market takes a tumble. We get stuck in traffic. Somedays, our jobs just plain suck. Our children make decisions that we ourselves would not. People with borderline retardation get elected as President. No matter how hard we try to script our lives, things don't turn out the way we think they should. In the words of John Lennon, "Life is what happens when you're busy making plans." While this doesn't absolve ourselves of our responsibility to take care of ourselves, our families, and our communities, we are ultimately not in charge. Don't take it personally.
Almost every evening at Doi Suthep, I take an evening walk up to the temple and sit quietly by myself, staring at the golden chedi against the backdrop of a vast and starry sky. I listen to the monks chant and I think about anicca, dukkha, and anatta. If I had a rough day, I feel better knowing that tomorrow is another day. If I had a good day, I remind myself that things may change tomorrow, and that's OK too. Most evenings, after the monks have finished their prayers and the tourists have gone home, I go into the main temple and recite the Triple Gem:
I take refuge in the Buddha (his spirit and his example)
I take refuge in the Dhamma (the teachings and the Truth)
I take refuge in the Sanga (the community of seekers)
Coming Soon- Part IX: Tending the Garden
Comments
this made me laugh out loud at my desk...
People with borderline retardation get elected as President.
immoral wisdom
Glad to see someone else has recognized the healing properties of Patrick Swayze. I often meditate on the classic koan, 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner.'