Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part B

 Notes for The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold

(Left) King Suddhodana, with Queen Maha-Maya on his left, asks brahmins to interpret the Queen's dream. They predict that the child conceived will become either a Universal Monarch or a Buddha. (Right) Ten lunar months after conception Queen Maha-Maya, escorted by noblemen and woman sets out on the road to her home, Devadaha, to have the child from the Wellcome Collection Gallery (source: Wikimedia). 

• Kanthaka
• Siddhartha's horse 
• Siddhartha's exodus
• Search for eternal beatitude (supreme blessedness) 
•  Vows not to return until he has "seen the end of life and of death"
• "I can no longer live in a world that is but a dream."
• "...tell them to forget their affection for me, and tell them also that they will see me again, soon, the conquerer of old age and death, unless I should fail miserably and die."
• Gives most of his belongings to Chandaka, his sword to the Gods, and his robe to a traveling hunter (who was presented by the Gods)
• Chandaka 
• Friend of Siddhartha 
• Accompanies him on his journey, leaving him when they reach the wood with pious hermits 
• Implores Siddhartha not to leave his city, father, foster-mother, wife, and child behind 
• Gopa 
• Mourns Siddhartha's leaving 
• "Hereafter, I will drink only to quench my thirst, I will eat only to still my hunger. I will sleep on the bare ground, for crown I will wear a hermit's braid, no more sweet-scented baths will I take, I will mortify my flesh. The gardens are bare of flowers and of fruit; the faded garlands are heavy with dust. The palace is deserted. No longer will it ring with the happy songs of yesterday."
• Arata
• Holy teacher 
• Offers Siddharta the role of co-teacher 
• Siddharta refuses because he believes the doctrine to teach vanity 
• Causes Siddharta to leave the hermitage and travel to Magadha 
• Vimbasara 
• King of Rajagriha, a city in Magadha  
• Searches out Siddharta and offers him a palace 
• Asks Siddharta to teach him once the Buddha has reached enlightenment 
• Maya goes to Siddharta when he is believed to be dead (from passing out during meditation) 
• He continued meditating in this spot for 6 years 
• He starved himself, then indulged on everything, which caused his 5 disciples to leave 
• Siddharta becomes enlightened after a series of dreams 
• He vows not to leave his grass seat until attaining supreme knowledge 
• Mara 
• An evil spirit 
• Sends an army to defeat Siddhartha 
• All attacks were futile, and weapons turned to flowers 
• Nothing disrupted his meditation 
• Siddharta becomes the Buddha 
• "Twelve times the earth shook; the world was like a great flower. The Gods sang: 'He has come, he who brings light into the world; he has come, he who protects the world! Long blinded, the eye of the world has opened, and the eye of the world is dazzled by the light. O conqueror, you will give all beings that which they hunger after. Guided by the sublime light of the law, all creatures will reach the shores of deliverance. You hold the lamp; go now and dispel the darkness!'"