I know, I know, there are no secret teachings of Buddha so let’s say “the less talked about facts of Buddha”
Like: Did you know Gautama Buddha was a spoiled brat?
Yup! It seems that our venerable teacher had a youth of incredible luxury.
His father – a minor king – offer him such a life that he was totally removed from any unpleasant facts of life, to the extreme that old people were forbidden to appear in his presence so the site of old age wouldn’t upset the little prince.
But of course as any spoiled brat he wanted more so one day - he was 29 – he disregarded his father wishes and ventured out of his palace.
To his surprise he discovered that people get old, get sick and die.
Imagine that; to be 29 and find out you are not going to live forever!
Did you know that at that time he was not at all interested in attaining enlightenment?
Nope! He was quite upset with the idea of getting old and dying, so he decided to go and find the secret to overcome old age, illness, and death.
So he and a couple of friends went around India to study with the finest and greatest teachers of the land.
Here’s another little known fact:
Gautama was the most horrible student ever.
He never agreed with his teachers, always asking questions, always getting into arguments, never following the holly scriptures.
A total pain in the ass student, he moved from one teacher to another, from one guru to another, from one discipline to another.
Never satisfied, never content until after six years of searching he ran out of teachers ;)
At the age of 35 Gautama realized that the knowledge he was seeking was no were to find in this world and departed from his scholar friends to meditate under a Bodhi tree.
Did you know that Buddha found his path to enlightenment only when he stopped following other gurus foot steps?
Did you know that Buddha found the answers he was looking for only when he stopped looking for answers in the outside world and start looking for answers inside him?
Did you know that after his awakening Buddha thought that the dharma can not and should not be taught and he accepted to become a teacher only because one of his friends insisted?
So maybe there is a lesson in Buddha’s life more valuable than the lessons in his teachings.
Maybe there is a secret teaching of Buddha after all :)
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7 comments:
This really underlines the fact that we're all on our individual paths to enlightment.
I don't think finding enlightenment is ever easy. For me it is often an internal muddle, often made a little clearer by some one else's experience or words, by sharing thoughts, but ultimately yes, as Talon said we are all on individual paths.
@ Talon – Absolutely – Like the fingerprints or color of our eyes, our life paths are unique, mysterious and beautiful!
@ Brigit – Don’t feel bad – I have the same problem.
I wake up, I do my 15 min meditation and I feel like I am ready to fly.
But then I have to face the world and I can take only so much until I drain out.
So, I have to protect myself from negativity - I stopped watching TV, I also cut off the dialog with all my negative friends and limited my dialog with my emotionally draining relatives.
It is an ongoing process :)
This is inpirational and it is true that one usually finds answers within himself or herself.
Btw, it's is nice to be back in the blogosphere.
Fab post, Buddha of Hollywood. Yeah, I think when we stop thinking someone else has all the answers we are on to something...
@ Charles – Welcome back! It is nice to hear from you again.
@ Molly – Yup, sooner or latter we all discover that :)
Buddha lies. Hey, you could be on to something there!
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