3.1.3 The Buddha's Ascetic Life Flashcards
What did Siddhartha decide to do after he left the palace and why?
He had been impressed by the sense of peace he felt coming from the holy man - an ascetic - that he met before he left the palace, so he decided to follow ascetic practices for 6 years.
What does ascetic mean?
Living a simple and strict lifestyle with few pleasures or possessions; someone who follows ascetic practices.
What is Siddhartha believed to have done whilst following the ascetic practices? (6)
- Rejected anything that would give him pleasure
- Practiced extreme self-discipline
- Began to practice meditation
- Began to ignore his appetite - fasted for long periods of time, becoming increasingly hungry + weak
- Lived in dangerous + hostile forests, which were too hot during day and freezing at night - frightened when animals came but never ran away
- Slept on a bed of thorns
What is meditation?
A practice of calming and focusing the mind, and reflecting deeply on specific teachings to penetrate their true meaning.
Who did the Buddha begin to practice meditation with and what did they do?
- Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta
- They used pain and hardship to discipline their minds
- It’s said that meditation gave Siddhartha a feeling of bliss, but did not offer him a permanent solution to the suffering people experienced
What do stories say happened to Siddhartha when he began to ignore his appetite?(5)
- He became so thin his legs were like bamboo sticks
- His backbone was like a rope
- His chest was like an incomplete roof of a house
- His eyes sank right inside his skull, like stones in a deep well
- He looked like a living skeleton, and suffered from terrible pain and hunger
What happened to Siddhartha one day when he 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 him a bowl of milk and rice. He accepted the food because he had by this point become too weak to even meditate.
What happened when Siddhartha ate the food?
His strength was restored by the food and he decided to stop his ascetic practices, because he was no closer to the truth of why people suffer or how to get rid of this suffering.
Why do you think Siddhartha chose to follow ascetic practices?(3)
- The holy man’s sense of peace impressed him - he was peaceful even though he was aware of suffering
- His life of luxury had resulted in ignorance about suffering
- It was an attempt to overcome suffering by exposing himself to suffering
What realisation came to Siddhartha after he had eaten the bowl of milk and rice offered by the cowgirl?(3)
- He learned his extravagant life could not protect him from suffering but his ascetic life had brought him no closer to spiritual fulfilment
- His ascetic practices taught him discipline and willpower, but neither extreme had helped him overcome suffering
- He realised that he would only become enlightened by living a Middle Way, between the two extremes of luxury and hardship
Why hadn’t ascetism lead to answers about suffering?(2)
- Just as the life of luxury had been a distraction, so was ascetism
- The Buddha was too weak to be able to focus the mind - his physical state distracted him
