The Buddha Reached Enlightenment...or did he?
The following short history of Buddhism is from Wikipedia;
According to the Buddhist tradition, the historical Buddha Siddharta Gautama was born to the Shakya clan, at the beginning of the Magadha period (546–324 BCE), in the plains of Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. He is also known as the Shakyamuni (literally "The sage of the Shakya clan").
After an early life of luxury under the protection of his father, Śuddhodana, the ruler of Kapilavastu (later to be incorporated into the state of Magadha), Siddharta entered into contact with the realities of the world and concluded that real life was about inescapable suffering and sorrow. Siddharta renounced his meaningless life of luxury to become an ascetic. He ultimately decided that asceticism was also meaningless, and instead chose a middle way, a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Under a fig tree, now known as the Bodhi tree, he vowed never to leave the position until he found Truth. At the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment. He was then known as Gautama Buddha, or simply "The Buddha", which means "the enlightened one".
For the remaining 45 years of his life, he travelled the Gangetic Plain of central India (region of the Ganges/Ganga river and its tributaries), teaching his doctrine and discipline to an extremely diverse range of people.
Let's just stop for a moment and reflect...if Siddharta vowed to sit under the Bodhi tree until he found the truth...then this means at the time when he sat down he didn't yet know what 'that' truth looked like...right?
But we are told that he did find or reach this truth...that he was 'enlightened'...Wikipedia gives us a definition of 'enlightenment'... click on 'Enlightenment' above.
So here is my question...if Siddharta didn't know what ultimate reality was before he began his search for truth...then how did he know that he actually found this ultimate reality?
What standard or gauge would he use to test if he really reached full enlightenment...partial enlightenment or even no enlightenment at all...how could he know that he wasn't duped?
Wouldn't you have to first know the fullness of truth and reality to know if you actually reached that marker?
If you didn't first know what ultimate truth was then you could be deceived by any number of counterfeits...and only think that you found "the truth."
This is exactly what happened to Siddharta...he was deceived.
posted by Dale Callahan at 1:43 PM
2 Comments:
Buddha is another example of, as you say, self-deception. Self-deception is, in the final analysis, proof of man's corrupt nature. Why are we as fallen humans so prone to deception? Romans 1 gives us the answer- "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."
In other words they deceived themselves so sucessfully that they even began to worship themselves. Which is what Buddhism really is in the end - worship of self.
Yes. Coincidentally, I just happen to be reading something on it too.
The Buddha apparently 'discovered' some truth; but, he had a hard time, and usually did not elucidate this truth to his followers.
Further,
"It is not the Buddha who brings enlightenment to his followers; enlightenment comes from following the 'Dharma.' It is for this reason that the renowned Buddhist scholar, Lamotte, contrasts the person of the Buddha with Jesus Christ:'[Christ] is not only the author of the gospel teaching, but is Himself the life, the truth, the way: He is one with the truth and the life, and is Himself salvation.' The Buddha in contrast claimed no more than to have discovered and preached the 'Dharma', defining himself as the sign that shows the path to follow." - Burnett, The Spirit of Buddhism, rev.ed., p.25.
And, obviously, this path was not the 'narrow' way that leads to ultimate reality and truth!@
Harry
ludwigsh@telusplanet.net
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