7. The Coming of Buddhism

In ancient India there were many small states with different lan- guages and traditions. South of the Himalayas, in the southern part of present-day Nepal, there was a state ruled by the Sakya clan. One year in the sixth century BC, the king of the state, who had been longing for a child for many years, happily got a son. The king named the boy Siddhartha, which meant "every wish fulfilled." Near the king's castle there lived a prophet. He came and begged to see the child. On seeing him, he predicted that the prince might give up the court life and become a buddha'(the awakened one) to save the world. One day when he was seven, the prince went out of the palace with his father. They were watching a farmer plowing a field when he noticed a bird come down to the ground and carry off a small worm turned up by the farmer's plow, He asked himself, "Do all liv- ing creatures kill one another like this?" He grew up to be a quiet young man, often lost in thought, tak- ing no interest in the luxurious life of the palace. The king was wor- ried, and tried in every possible way to cheer his son up. When he was 19, the king arranged his marriage. The king also gave orders that the prince be entertained with all kinds of nice things and that he should be prevented from seeing any suffering of the people outside the palace. But still he saw some suffering that accompanied life, such as an old man who could not walk properly, a sick man about to die, and a

dead man being carried to his grave. These sights made him think all
the more deeply, and urged him to try to understand the true mean-
ing of life.
When he was 29, his only son was born. Then one night he left
the palace to become a homeless mendicant, determined to find a so-
lution to his spiritual unrest. This was called the "great renuncia-
tion."
He wandered from place to place and talked with many hermits
and wise, learned men. While practising asceticism rigorously, he
had long mediations. Six years passed. Finally, he came to a forest
and continued to meditate there, though he was very weak and was
in danger of losing his life. One morning, the struggle was over. His
mind was clear and bright like the day. He had at last found the path
to Enlightenment. He became the Buddha at the age of 35.
From then on he went all over the states to teach men the truth
he had found. More and more people accepted it and became his dis-
ciples or followers. He was respectfully called Sakyamuni (the sage of
the Sakyas) ~
He preached for 45 years until he was 80 years old. He was very
ill and knew he would be passing into Nirvana, but he continued
teaching his disciples in his last moments. After he died, his body
was cremated. Several states wanted to have his relics, so they were
divided into eight parts, each of which was given to a state. One of
his teeth was later brought to China and has been kept in a pagoda in
a temple near Beijing.
According to Buddhism, everything in the world is brought
about by causes and conditions, and everything disappears when its
causes and conditions disappear or change. Rains fall, plants grow,
flowers blossom--all these natural phenomena are the results of cer-
tain causes, and they change when the causes change.
The life of a person is also the result of causes and conditions.
His parents give birth to him; he is nourished by food; his mind is
developed by education and, experience. So one's flesh and spirit are.
related to conditions, and they change as conditions change.
A cause produces an effect, and the effect is the cause of another
effect. In other words, all the things and phenomena in the world are
connected with, dependent on and conditioned by one another. So it
is said in one Buddhist scripture, "There is this, so there is that;this
arises, so that arises; when this is not, that is not; this ceases, so
that ceases." Causes and effects go on for ever--there is no beginning
and there is no end. This is where Buddhism is different from some
other religions. It does not hold that the universe was created by a
god.
As the world is made up of causes and effects, it follows that
nothing in the world is permanent. Everything is transient. Just as
pictures are drawn by artists, real, stable things and their surround-
ings are created by the mind. The mind considers this good and that
bad, but in fact there is no such distinction. For instance, the pro-
cess of life and the process of death are the same. What is called the
east is also the west.
Similarly, a person is not something permanent or stable either.
A person is only a combination of ever-changing physical and mental
elements or forces. Every moment something is born, grows, decays
or dies in him. What a person is today is not what he or she was yes-
terday. It is only ignorance that makes people believe that there is a
permanent "self" or "individual."
In connection with human life, Sakyamuni preached the "Four
1. The truth of suffering. Life is suffering. Birth, old age,
sickness, and death are all sufferings. To meet a person whom one
hates, to be separated from a person whom one loves, to seek some-
thing that cannot be obtained, and physical and mental pains are all
sufferings.
Sakyamuni came to the conclusion that life is suffering perhaps
because in his time the common people and the slaves in India had a
bad lot and really suffered a great deal, and he had deep sympathy for
them.
2. The truth of the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering is
desire, or thirst, or greed. The body and the mind desire pleasures;
they desire existence and becoming. Because man is ignorant, he does
not know that life and man himself are both impermanent. Therefore
he is filled with worldly passions and always tries to seek what he
feels is desirable. This gives rise to all sufferings.
3. The 'truth of the cessation of suffering. If desire can be re-
moved, all human suffering will come to an end. The ideal state
where there is no desire, no passion and no suffering is called nir-
vana, which means freedom from the endless cycle of personal rein-
carnations.
4. The truth of the right path. To attain nirvana, one has to
follow the right path. It consists of the following: right view, right
thought, right speech, right behavior, right livelihood, right effort,
right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Reincarnation is an important tenet of Buddhism. Whatever one
thinks, says or does is his karma. The effect of one's karma cannot
be removed. It leads to corresponding reward or retribution in his
present life and will decide his fate in his next existence. It is possible
for a man to be reborn as a man, and it is also possible for him to be
reborn as a ghost or an animal. Such reincarnation goes on until a
person attains nirvana.
Buddhism was first introduced into China at the beginning of the
Eastern Hah, or about 2,000 years ago. This had something to do
with the opening of the Western Regions, which made travel be-
tween China and India easier than before. In 67 AD, two Indian
monks came to Luoyang, the capital. Emperor Mingdi ordered the
building of a temple, which was named White Horse Temple, and
asked the Indian monks to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese
there. They were followed by other monks from India and West
Asia. At first, Buddhism was known only to members of the upper
classes. It was during the period of the Southern and Northern Dy-
nasties that it was spread among the ordinary people.