Buddha and his eight fold path

Lately my wife and myself have started to observe the Buddha statues in houses and how people have been using those. While this piqued my interest, it also gave way too many questions – some of which we had read in the history books and possibly forgotten by now.

Buddhism as we know today is mainly a religion followed in the Eastern Asia, though originated in India. Today there are approx. 500+ Million Buddhist followers across the globe – thus making it one of the major religions of the day.

As most of us know, Buddhism is following the teachings of Gautam Buddha, who was born as Prince Siddhartha of Kaushambi. When Siddhartha was born to his parents Mahamaya and King Shudhodhana, Mahamaya had a dream of a white elephant. The elephant gave her a flower and circumambulated her three times before entering her womb. The learned scholars of the time explained the dream as the mark of the birth of a great prince who shall be very wise and very powerful. However, the prince shall be highly emotional and in such a case, he may even renounce everything in search of higher wisdom. Mahamaya passed away just after the birth of the great prince. King Shudhodhana made every effort in his capacity to keep the prince engulfed in the fun and frolic and kept him away from the sorrows and suffering faced by the humans. Yet, one day, Siddhartha went out of the palace to see the people living out there and saw the three scenes – a sick person crying in pain, a dead person being carried for the final rites and an ascetic who had given up all the worldly relations. Siddhartha then realized that the life is more than what he has led in the palace. And he must make amends to understand the true meaning or purpose of life and escape the suffering of the three scenes he saw. Siddhartha gave up his family – wife Yashodhara, son Rahul, father Shudhodhana and the kingdom of Kaushambi to meditate and find the truth.

At one point in his search for the truth, he was fatally ill and hungry. At that time a girl offered him food. With this he realized that most of the suffering we face is a result of our own desires. Desires give rise to expectations and they cause grief when they are not met.

Prince Siddhartha meditated and looked for the answers within. Having been born at a time when the Hinduism and Jainism were already prevalent, Siddhartha looked for a path that is acceptable to both yet was different. And with this he gained nirvana and became Gautama Buddha ~ one who destroys darkness with the bright light of his mind.

Buddha’s teachings were later adopted as the middle path (Neither rigid as Jainism and nor fluid as Hinduism) and were widely known as the eight-fold path –

1.     Right view – The first of the eight-fold path, relates to the view about karma and rebirth and a belief in the importance of the four noble truths (Dukkha – the pain from the incapability of satisfaction, Samudaya – arising of Dukkha, Niroda – cessation of dukkha and Magga – the path leading to the cessation of dukkha) and the true realities.

2.     Right resolve – Also considered as “right thought”, “right intention” or “right aspiration”, this path tells the practitioner to have a resolve to dedicate himself to the spiritual pursuit.

3.     Right speech – Abstaining from lying, divisive or abusive speeches and idle chatter have been suggested to be the way of right speech. In a Pali canonical scripture, Buddha says that never speaking something that is not beneficial, and only speaking what is true and beneficial – when the circumstances are right and whether they are welcome or not – are all the signs of right speech.

4.     Right action – Abstaining from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct were stated as parts of right action.

5.     Right livelihood – Earning of livelihood by following the noble path and not by any wrong doings to anyone. Also, the Buddhist monks always preached not to earn more than necessary to lead the life.

6.     Right effort – The right effort is by putting forth your effort to generate energy and strive to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen and to keep them free of delusion.

7.     Right mindfulness – This path leads the practitioner to cultivate complete and constant awareness of the nature of reality as impermanent, suffering. The most important learning in this path is to be able to separate self from the surroundings – be an observer.

8.     Right concentration – Right Samadhi – state in which the practitioner is detached from all senses or desires and enters the state of dhyana in which there is applied and sustained thinking.

The eight-fold path have a lot more to explain and lay wonderful guidelines for a practitioner. My knowledge is too limited to be able to comment and decipher them all. Yet, I found a pattern –

·      The first two paths relate to Wisdom. (Prana)

·      The next three paths relate to Moral Virtues. (Sheel)

·      And finally the last three paths relate to Meditation. (Samadhi)

If one is able to follow the paths or even resolve to follow the paths to an extent, I am sure there is a great difference one can make to their life and all those around them.

Believe in yourself

Mahabharata is a great collection of short stories. The stories are all connected with each other to display a central theme. Yet the stories convey a powerful message in themselves. They showcase the thought process and the behavior of people subjected to various scenarios. Many of the scenarios have never outdated themselves, in fact, have turned around and presented themselves before us many a times. A good understanding of the stories helps us brace ourselves to deal with our situations better. 

I would like to talk about one such story that has always evoked emotions of awe and despair everytime I read it. It’s the story of Karna. The story of Karna has moved many. It was unjust for him to have been brought up in a charioteer’s home. It was unjust for his teachers to have abandoned him in the moments he needed them most. It was unjust of Bhishma to have kept Karna outside of the war till he was the general. His own charioteer – King Shalya, disobeyed him and caused his death. It was unfair of the earth to hold the wheels of his chariot when he was dueling with Arjun. It was unjust of Draupadi to reject his bid in the swayamvara citing his birth. Karna who always longed for Draupadi, supported his friend Duryodhana, gave away generously – was eventually known as one of the villains in Mahabharata.

Let us understand this shift in Karna’s position by contrasting him with Sri Krishna. Both have so many commonalities – 

• Both were abandoned by their biological parents
• Both were raised by their foster parents
• The foster parents for both belonged to the lower strata of the society 
• Cowherds for Sri Krishna
• Charioteer for Karna
• Both were highly capable compared to the ally they supported

At the same time there were glaring differences –

• Krishna resembles peace and sports an everlasting smile while Karna is always seen as amidst a contest – of thoughts, of weapons
• Krishna uses every tact possible, while Karna tries to stick to the principles
• Krishna cares nothing for acceptance, while Karna yearns for acceptance

In my understanding, it was Karna’s yearning for acceptance that led to his downfall. Karna never believed in himself. Though he had all the qualities to be great, he was ashamed of his birth. He was never confident of what he had. Unlike Krishna, he never liked to be known as a charioteer’s son. He wanted to be par as the Pandavas and Kauravas. He drew confidence from the fact that Duryodhana accepted him and made him the king of Anga. His birth is frowned upon today as illegitimate, just as he was ashamed of himself. 

Krishna always believed in himself and made others believe in him too. He never drew power or confidence from others but gave it to them. He helped others to rise up and achieve their goals. We call him God and believ in him. His birth is celebrated today as he always shown pride in himself.

Just like my last post - Durga or Shakti?, the central idea for me to bring this topic was to realize your inner potential as compared to depending on others. It is your inner strength that helps you move forward. Believe in yourself, so that others can believe in you.

As if to drive the point home, I would like to quote this verse from SriMadBhagvad Gita (Chapter 4, shloka 40) as said by Sri Krishna himself -

In this shloka, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna -  One who is ignorant, one without faith in knowledge, and one afflicted by inner doubt and uncertainety is ruined, and for one afflicted by doubt and uncertainty there is no happiness in this world nor the next.

Durga or Shakti ?

Taking the cue from my previous article – Insurance, I wanted to lament upon the different goddesses mentioned in the Hindu Mythology – Durga and Shakti. Though the two goddesses have often been mentioned synonymously or interchangeably in many stories, the scriptures hold them as different.

Those who are familiar with the Shaktas, would know that Shakti represents supreme power or energy who replicated herself in many forms to bring them to life. She represents the life force. In a way she represents the power within oneself. The scriptures have been pretty much silent where Shakti herself has engaged in a war. She represents power, but does not exerts herself. She is always represented as an epitome of peace. 

Maa Shakti

Durga was invoked by the gods when they needed to kill a demon – Mahishasura. They joined together, provided their own weapons to the form of Goddess to make her all powerful and provide protection to them from Mahishasura.  Incidentally, the word Durga is also related to hindi word – “Durg” meaning fortress or a citadel. The forts or buildings were built to provide protection to the dwellers from the forces outside the boundary. One may deduce that Durga represents power to protect. She represents the power that is exchanged or is seen from outside. In one of my previous posts – Trinity, I also mentioned her as the goddess of the emotional quotient. Exchanges of compliments can also boost one’s sentiments or thought processes. Thus even an exchange of emotions is an exchange of power.

Maa Durga

While Durga represents the power on the outside, Shakti represents the power in the inside. Importantly, we all have a part of Shakti in ourselves. However, we are always searching for Durga all the time. We are all searching for Durga to feel powerful. As the human mind is capable of imagination, it is also open to the fear. It can imagine if it looses what it has today? Its this fear of loss that invigorates the search for power in the humans. It is the search for Durga in us, that leads us to do some inhumane acts as well.

One must understand that the life force is sustained by the power from within and not from outside. At the same time, the mental peace and the sense of achievement are all triggered from one’s self and not from outside yet again.

Understand and realize your Durga and Shakti appropriately. Be sure to nurture them and respect them. Mismanaging the power has never been fruitful for anyone.

Insurance

A friend of mine is recently looking to purchase an insurance policy for himself and his family. We were debating upon the merits of such a policy and he argued the security for the family. In case of any untoward incident, his family shall be taken care of monetarily. The other day I met the same friend partying hard and later driving. He was lucky to have reached his home unharmed. Later, one day I sat thinking of him and his situation and a story came to my mind.

When the Pandavas formed their kingdom of Indraprastha, representatives from various kingdoms all across India were invited. Many kings and princes came to Indraprastha to pay their regards to the glory of Pandavas and also to satiate their curiosity on what kind of kingdom have Pandavas built, without the support from Hastinapur? Pandavas chose Sri Krishna to be their chief guest. This decision of theirs did not go well with many invited guests. Amongst them was Shishupal – the king of Chedi. Shishupal happened to be a cousin of Sri Krishna but was jealous of him. At the same time, Bheem had killed Jarasandha at the instigation and technique suggested by Krishna. Consumed by his jealousy and the idea to teach Krishna a lesson, Shishupal publicly opposed the decision of Pandavas. He called Krishna names and questioned his lineage. He went on to hurl insults and obscenities at Krishna. Pandavas and a few others got agitated with Shishupal’s behavior, but were calmed down by the ever smiling Krishna. Shishupal, sensing no objection to his insults, kept on with his offenses. 

When he spoke the 100^th abuse, Sri Krishna warned him to watch for his tongue as it could be fatal for him. Ignoring Krishna’s warning, Shishupal’s foul mouth committed the 101^st offense towards Krishna. Just then Sri Krishna used his sudarshana chakra to cut off Shishupal’s head.

When Shishupal was born, bad omens occurred. Some say that he was born with the head of a donkey. It was said that at the sight of Shishupal’s slayer, the donkey head would disappear. So when Krishna visited his aunt and saw the new born baby, the donkey head miraculously gave way to a handsome boy. Knowing the fate, Shishupal’s mother realized that her son would be killed by Krishna. To protect her son, she begged Krishna to forgive 100 sins of Shishupal. Sri Krishna smiled at her request and granted her wish. Assured of her son’s long life, Shishupal’s mother lived happily. So did Shishupal as he knew no one could touch him. However, in the happy days, Shishupal’s mother forgot to warn him of the 100 sins condition. Had he known so, he would have paid heed to Sri Krishna’s advise and would have lived longer. Had he known that he is allowed only 100 sins, he would have been more careful in committing those. Had his mother taught him to be a better human being, he would not have required the 100 sins limit!

In a way we all behave like Shishupal’s mother. Looking for a solution outside without searching for the same inside of ourselves. Be it organizations who look at external factors or latera hires or even consultants to fix their issues. Or be it individuals, who find it easier to blame others for what they could not achieve. To compensate for our own shortcomings, we almost every time blame others who support us or are with us all the time. We forget that even the best of support we have got has an expiry date attached to it. Instead of looking at the external factors, if only we can focus on the internal factors, we may be able to find a self sustaining path that shall lead to success in both – short and long terms.

At the same time, this story draws my thought process towards the parenting and teaching issues we are all grappling with today. We expect our children to do extremely well. We expect our schools to take care of our children. We expect the teachers to teach well and transform our kids into a super genius who is great at everything that he does. What we often forget is the inherent capability of the child and his or hers view of life. We often miss out focusing on the purpose of one’s life and are too busy building the safety nets than to make them better person.

If only we focus upon our strengths and weaknesses instead of looking for externa forces as security, more than half of the issues can be resolved easily.