3.1.4 The Buddha's Enlightenment Flashcards
After rejecting his ascetic life, what did Siddhartha wonder?
After rejecting his ascetic life, Siddhartha wondered if meditation might be a way of attaining the wisdom and compassion of enlightenment.
What is enlightenment?
The gaining of true knowledge about God, self or the nature of reality, usually through meditation and self discipline; In Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh traditions, gaining freedom from the cycle of rebirth.
What do traditional stories say the Buddha did to meditate?
Made himself a cushion of grass and found a suitable place to sit down and meditate under a peepul tree. He sat with his face to the east and thought: (quote on next fc).
What does ‘The Buddha in the Jataka, vol. 1, p. 71’ state the Buddha thought?
“ Let only my sin, sinews and bone remain and let the flesh and blood in my body dry up; but not until I attain the supreme Enlightenment will I give up this seat of meditation. “
Whilst the Buddha began to meditate, traditional stories say Mara, the evil one, appeared and did what to attempt to distract him?(5)
- He sent his daughters to seduce Siddhartha
- He sent his armies to attack Siddhartha
- He offered Siddhartha control of his kingdom
- Mara himself tried to attack Siddhartha
- Towards end of his meditation, Mara claimed only he had the right to sit in the place of enlightenment and his soldiers were witness to this. He claimed that without anyone to witness his enlightenment, Siddhartha would not be believed
Throughout all the distraction, Siddhartha stayed focused on his meditation, how?(3)
- Ignored temptations of Mara’s daughters
- Arrows directed at him from the armies turned to flowers before they could hit him
- Siddhartha touched the earth and called upon the earth to witness his right to sit under the peepul tree in meditation, the earth shook to acknowledge his right
During the night Siddhartha became enlightened, what happened and what is it known as?
He experienced three important realisations, which became known as the Three Watches of The Night.
What were the Three watches of the Night?
- Firstly, knowledge of previous lives.
- Secondly, understood cycle of life, death and rebirth. Understood beings were born depending on their Karma (actions), and realised importance of Anatta (no permanent self).
- Thirdly, came to understand why suffering happens and how to overcome it.
After his enlightenment, what did Siddhartha become known as?
The Buddha, which means The Enlightened One, or The Full Awakened One.
What happened after The Buddha left the peepul tree?(3)
- He wandered back to the place he had left the 5 ascetics, his first students.
- It’s said Mara still tried to tempt him further to keep his realisations to himself, but the Buddha was determined to teach about suffering and how to overcome it, to help others achieve enlightenment.
- He asked anyone who would follow him to reject a life of extremism, which meant not having too many luxuries or living a very ascetic life.
What do you think Mara might symbolise?(2)
- Mara represents the spiritual obstacles (such as temptation, fear, distractions and negative emotions) that the Buddha had to overcome to achieve enlightenment.
- Despite these obstacles the Buddha remained focused and continued to meditate, eventually achieving enlightenment.
Why do you think enlightenment is impossible to describe? (3)
- It is an experience of the true nature of reality which is beyond normal human experience, it is unlike anything humans have encountered.
- Human language cannot explain something which is so different to normal experience.
- It has to be experienced to be understood.
Why do you think the stories of the Buddha’s enlightenment are important to Buddhists?(3)
- It shows that through effort they too can become enlightened.
- It shows that not all practices (e.g. asceticism) will help them to achieve enlightenment and they should abandon those that do not work.
- It shows that the Buddha had to overcome spiritual obstacles and persevere to achieve enlightenment.
