Every year, the
fifteenth day of the fourth Bhutanese’s Lunar month (which falls tomorrow the 16th June) is observed as Lord Buddha’s Parinirvana, the passing day of lord Buddha.
Since in the same
corresponding month and period earlier, four important events took place in the
life of lord Buddha. Therefore, the Bhutanese, the Tibetan, the Dangzongpas and
Lhadapas observed the day as Duechen Ngazom, the most auspicious day of the
year.
Let us reflect one
by one.
FIRST DEED
When the Buddha was
teaching in the paradise of Tushita, which is a realm where the devas (gods)
reside and also a Sambhogakaya realm, the sound of his previous motivation
reminded him that it was necessary to take birth in our world and teach the
dharma.
He then considered
five things: the land where he ought to be born (which was Kapila in Nepal),
the caste he should be born into (which was a royal caste), the family in which
he should be born (which was the Shakya clan), who his mother was to be (she
was Mayadevi), and the time that was right for him to be born (which happened
to be when the five degenerations were on the increase, the present time).
After having made
these determinations, he decided to take birth in our world. This particular
deed of leaving Tushita was intended to teach us that somebody, who has
achieved enlightenment, is no longer a slave of his own karma, and has control
over anything he or she does.
The Buddha was
conceived into the womb of his mother, Mayadevi (by taking the form of a White
Elephant descending from Tushita and entering the womb immaculately). One may
wonder why he was conceived and then took birth. If he had complete control
over everything, then why wasn’t he born miraculously from a lotus flower, as
was Guru Rinpoche?
The Buddha had a
special reason for being born the normal way. He was thinking in the long term
of his future disciples, who would be inspired because the Buddha, who
practised and achieved enlightenment, started out like anyone else. He did this
to instil conviction and confidence in his future disciples.
SECOND DEEDS
Although the Buddha
took an ordinary human birth, there was still something special in his birth.
The Buddha came out of the body of his mother through her right side. Some
people might wonder how this was possible. They might think, “Well, what
exactly happened? Did the rib cage crack?” One doesn’t need to think in terms
of anatomical problems, because the Buddha was a miraculous being and he just
took birth through his mother’s right side without any pain or obstacle.
At the time of the
Buddha’s birth, there were many very special things happening where he was
born. All of a sudden, crops started growing. Trees appeared all over the area
of Lumbini and rare flowers, such as the Udumvara flower that had never grown
in this area started blooming everywhere. Due to these events, he was given the
name Siddhartha in Sanskrit, or Dhon Drup in Tibetan, which means, “the one
that makes everything possible”.
As a result of interdependent
origination, the presence of a highly accomplished individual produces changes
in the environment, such as the blossoming of flowers.
THIRD DEEDS
When the Buddha was
sitting under the Bodhi tree Papiyan, the leader of Maras, used forms related
to the three disturbing emotions (sometimes called kleshas) of ignorance,
desire, and aggression to try and lure the Buddha away from his pursuit of
enlightenment. The first deception, representing ignorance, was that the Buddha
was asked to abandon his meditation and return immediately to the kingdom,
because his father King Shuddhodana had died and the evil Devadatta had taken
over the kingdom.
Then Papiyan tried
to create an impediment using desire; his beautiful daughters tried to deceive
and seduce the Buddha. When this did not disturb the Buddha’s meditation, Mara
then used hatred by coming towards the Buddha surrounded by millions of
horribly frightening warriors, who were throwing weapons at the Buddha’s body.
But the Buddha wasn’t distracted or fooled by these three poisons. He remained
immersed in compassion and loving-kindness and therefore triumphed over this
display of the three poisons and was able to eventually achieve enlightenment.
(This deed of the Buddha is represented by the image of the Buddha “taking the
earth as witness,” gently touching the ground with his right hand and holding a
begging bowl in his left hand.
FOURTH DEEDS
Since the Buddha
developed all the qualities of meditation to the utmost stages, he was able to
reach enlightenment. He did this to demonstrate that we also can reach
enlightenment. As a matter of fact, one of the main points of the whole
Buddhist philosophy is to show us that Buddhahood is not something to be found
outside of us, but something we can achieve by looking inside ourselves.
FIFTH DEEDS
Although the Buddha
had the capacity to prolong his life, he had decided that the time had come to
leave his body. The contaminated meal provided the necessary causes for this to
occur.
From Pava, the
Buddha and his sangha proceeded slowly to a grove of sal trees near Kushinagar.
A simple bed was prepared beneath the shade of two unusually tall trees, upon
which the Buddha lay in the lion pose with his head facing north. It was at
this spot that he held a final audience with his disciples.
Basically there are
3 reasons behind Lord Buddha choosing to attain Parinirvana at Kusinagar.
· Because it was
the proper venue for the preaching of the Mahรก-Sudassana Sutta
· Because Subhadda
would visit him there and, after listening to his sermon, would develop
meditation and become an arahant while the Buddha was still alive
· Because the
brahman Doha would be there, to solve the problem of the distribution of
Buddha's relics after his death.
Informed of the
Buddha’s impending death, many people gathered to pay their respects, among
them a 120-year-old Brahmin named Subadra who requested to speak with the
Buddha.
Out of concern for
the master, Ananda initially refused to admit him. However, the Buddha beckoned
the Brahmin to come forward and the two spoke at length. With his mind
completely cleared of doubts, Subadra entered the Buddha’s sangha and so became
the last monk ordained by the Buddha. It is recorded that soon after this event
Subadra attained arhatship.
During the third
quarter of the night, the Buddha drew his disciples around him and three times
enquired whether they had any remaining queries concerning his teachings or the
rules of discipline. Everyone remained silent. The Buddha then offered one
final teaching: “Impermanence is inherent in all things. Diligently strive to
attain your own freedom.” Under the light of the full moon, he then passed
through the meditative absorptions and entered parinirvana.
On this day, it is
customary to undertake meritorious acts such as making offerings and receiving
blessings at monasteries. In addition to these traditional ways of
commemorating the Buddha’s parinivarna, it would also be of great benefit to
develop wisdom by reading about the Buddha’s life and contemplating his
teachings.
Have a great holy
day.
Image: At the feet
of Lord Buddha at Kusinagar, UP, India. The very place where Buddha entered
into nirvana.
