Gotama’s Attainment
Gotama's Attainment refers to the pivotal moment in the life of Siddhārtha Gotama, who later became known as the Buddha, when he achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in the fifth or sixth century BCE. Born in Lumbinī, present-day Nepal, to a noble family, Siddhārtha was initially sheltered from suffering but later embarked on a spiritual quest after witnessing human misery and a holy man. His journey involved extensive meditation and ascetic practices, including a six-year period of severe self-denial. Ultimately, he realized that neither extreme asceticism nor indulgent living could lead to enlightenment.
Siddhārtha settled on a middle path and meditated for an extended period, during which he faced challenges from the spirit Mārā, who sought to distract him. Through perseverance and deep meditation, he attained profound insight into the nature of existence, leading to his designation as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one." This event marks the foundation of Buddhist teachings, as following his enlightenment, he dedicated his life to sharing his insights and guiding others on their spiritual journeys. His teachings grew in influence, eventually establishing Buddhism as a major world religion.
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Gotama’s Attainment
Author: Traditional
Time Period: 1 CE–500 CE
Country or Culture: India
Genre: Myth
PLOT SUMMARY
In the fifth or sixth century BCE, a child is born in the village of Lumbinī, in present-day southern Nepal, to a local leader named Śuddhodana Gotama (sometimes spelled Gautama) and a noblewoman named Māyādevī, who dies shortly after the boy was born. A sage named Asita notices marks on the baby that indicate he is destined for greatness: he will become a great political leader or religious man. The boy is named Siddhārtha, meaning “one who has accomplished every goal.”
Śuddhodana prefers that Siddhārtha become a great leader instead of a religious thinker and shelters him from any misery that might inspire him to seek spiritual answers. On trips from the palace, however, Siddhārtha witnesses scenes that inspire spiritual curiosity, and when he sees a holy man meditating, he decides to become a spiritual seeker.
At sixteen, Siddhārtha marries a lovely young woman named Yasodharā. Although he deeply cares for her, he cannot forget his dream of becoming a holy man. When Yasodharā bears his first son, Siddhārtha has a vision that the baby is a fetter holding him back, and he determines to leave the palace and seek spiritual answers.
Siddhārtha sets out and finds a teacher named Ālāra Kālāma, who teaches him to meditate on nothingness. Siddhārtha soon surpasses his teacher, but he also finds the practice unsatisfying. He then meets a guru named Udraka Rāmaputra, who teaches him to live in a state that is neither perception nor nonperception. Again, Siddhārtha becomes adept at this but finds it unfulfilling. He then lives a deeply ascetic lifestyle for six years, starving himself nearly to death in the process.
One day he notices how emaciated he is and realizes that starving himself is not teaching him anything. He comes upon a village woman named Sujātā, who gives him food in a golden bowl. Afterward, he goes to bathe in the river, and when he places the golden bowl into the river, it floats away. Siddhārtha takes this as a sign that he is close to a spiritual awakening.
He sets out for a deer park to meditate. As he approaches the site, animals follow him to bear witness to the miracle about to happen. He sits down under a fig tree to contemplate a middle way between asceticism and worldly life. As he does so, the evil spirit Mārā, king of illusions, attempts to distract him.
Mārā first causes the ground to shake, which scares off the animals, but Siddhārtha ignores the threat. Mārā then tells Siddhārtha that his father’s kingdom has been taken by his cruel cousin and that he must save it, but Siddhārtha again ignores him. Enraged, Mārā commands his army of evil spirits to attack Siddhārtha with weapons, but they are unable to strike him.
Mārā grows exasperated and yells that this is his own place and that Siddhārtha must leave. In response, Siddhārtha touches the ground, and the earth bears witness to the fact that he has gained sufficient spiritual merit to remain in meditation. Mārā then tries to tempt Siddhārtha by commanding his beautiful daughters to dance and flirt around him. Siddhārtha simply sits and meditates on the middle path. At the twentieth hour of mediation, he comes to enlightenment. Rays of brilliant light emanate from his head. Thereafter Siddhārtha is known as the Buddha, “the awakened one.”
SIGNIFICANCE
The foundation myth of the Buddhist religion, this story describes the moment that Siddhārtha transcended ordinary human perception to attain spiritual enlightenment. In order to appreciate the significance of the myth, it is necessary to understand the socioreligious environment into which Siddhārtha was born. In the sixth century BCE, religious change was taking place throughout India, and perhaps prompted by a wave of urbanization and concurrent political upheaval, many thinkers began to question the supremacy of the established religion. Spiritual seekers explored a variety of philosophical and meditative techniques to uncover deeper truths about the nature of the universe. This new wave of spiritual exploration became known as the Upanishadic era, reflecting that teachings were passed orally from teacher to student. (Upanishads derives from the prefix upa, meaning “approach”; the word ni, meaning “near”; and the root verb shad, meaning “to sit.”) Around the time that the Buddha was born, some of these Upanishads were beginning to be written down. Siddhārtha Gotama’s quest for spiritual fulfillment outside the normal social order, then, was very much in keeping with his time.
According to the myth, the Buddha remained seated for seven days after his enlightenment, with the snakelike being Mucalinda providing him shelter from the elements. The Buddha’s first thought was that the knowledge of the essential truth of the universe could not be taught. At that point, the gods intervened and begged him to go forth and teach what he had learned for the betterment of all beings in the universe.
For the rest of his life, forty-five years according to some sources, the Buddha did just that. He wandered around northern India, preaching the insights he had gained through meditation and converting many men and women to his new sect. In the centuries after his death, the Buddha’s religion grew exponentially, even gaining the patronage of powerful emperors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bercholz, Samuel, and Sherab Chödzin Kohn, eds. The Buddha and His Teachings. Boston: Shambhala, 2003. Print.
Carrithers, Michael. The Buddha: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
Flood, Gavin D. The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism. Malden: Blackwell, 2003. Print.
Gowans, Christopher W. Philosophy of the Buddha. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Sullivan, Bruce. Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. London: Scarecrow, 1997. Print.