February 15, 2023
 
Under the morning sun, amidst the bustling and joyful atmosphere of the spring farming festival, people became excited and burst into laughter upon seeing the King join them in plowing the farmland. Children bounced around happily, laughing and chasing each other through the fields. However, the little Prince was not pleased to see small creatures writhing in pain from the plowshares of the farmers during the ceremony. Indeed, instead of playing like the other young boys in the festive crowd, he quietly went to a tree on a deserted mound, sat in stillness, and achieved a first stage of meditative state.
 
The Prince’s mother had died soon after his birth, leaving him to be raised by his stepmother, who was also his aunt. As she cared for him like her son, the Prince grew up in the magnificent palace surrounded by many beautiful servant women. The palace changed continually according to the seasons, with singing, dancing, and music day and night, but deep in the Prince’s mind, there was always a sensation of restlessness with vague thoughts and an indistinct feeling of sadness.
 
To distract the Prince from his deep emotions, the King arranged for him to marry a wonderful young woman who seemed like a perfect match. In addition to her otherworldly beauty, the Princess was adorned with noble virtues cultivated over countless lifetimes.
 
As days passed, the Prince became increasingly bored with life in the golden palace. Seeing the palace concubines with their flashy makeup and unkempt clothing only intensified the Prince’s fears of death and rebirth.
 
The voice within the Prince’s heart grew more intense each day. The Prince asked his father, the King, for permission to leave the palace and explore the four gates of the city. The Father-king was deeply worried, knowing he could not stop the Prince. He silently ordered soldiers to arrange everything to ensure the Prince would not see anything he was not supposed to.
 
Despite the Father-king’s efforts to hide the truth, it eventually came to light. No matter how hard the King tried, the bare truths inherent to existence itself were exposed to the Prince at the right time and place. Scenes of birth, old age, sickness, and death appeared one by one before the Prince’s eyes, filling him with fear of death and rebirth. He wanted to find a way to liberate himself and to help others who have kammic ties with him be liberated in the same way.
 
At the same time, the Prince received news that he had become a father. The Princess had just given birth to a handsome Prince. Instead of feeling happy, the Prince grew concerned and saw this as yet another tie binding him to the worldly life he sought to escape. In the dead of night, while everyone else was fast asleep, the Prince returned to the palace to bid his wife and son a farewell before quietly leaving to follow the call of the vow that he had worked so hard to cultivate across thousands upon thousands of lifetimes.
 
The Princess pretended to be asleep so that the Prince would not know she was awake. Tears welled in her eyes, and she lay still, listening to her husband’s last heartbeats and breaths. The Princess knew this was her husband’s wish and did not want to stop or cause him trouble. She only wanted to help him achieve his goal at any cost; his joy was her happiness. This moment was the last they would share, it was the moment where he would leave forever. She held their child close to her chest as tears streamed down her face.
 
In the end, only the mother and son remained in the palace, left with a profound sense of missing the Prince. He rode away from the palace on a white horse with a servant. Gradually, his shadow disappeared into the night, and the sound of the horse’s hooves faded away, leaving behind only a cold palace amid a rainy night.
 
The above story is familiar to all Buddhists, as it revolves around Prince Siddhattha, who lived for twenty-nine years in the magnificent palace of the Sakya clan in Kapilavatthu City. However, nothing could hold him back in the end. The Prince (Bodhisatta) left to follow the voice of his heart and find a way to liberation from the cycle of birth and death. He departed from the East Gate, leaving everything behind except his clothes, his dear friend, the horse Kanthaka, born on the same day as him, and his servant Channa.
 
The foot-traveling Sangha arrived after a long journey at the East Gate, where the Prince rode his horse out of the city. Kapilavatthu, which was once rich and luxurious, now lay in ruins. Only the remnants of centuries past remained, such as moss-covered brick floors, wild overgrown groves, and many pits that had endured the test of time. Today, rice paddies and shacks surround the ruins of Kapilavatthu.
 
Amidst the wilderness of Kapilavatthu, bright orange-yellow flowers were scattered here and there. On the ground, covered with yellow leaves from the last days of winter, were flowers that basked in the sun’s bright rays filtering through the leaves and branches. I placed my bag on the ground, picked up the flowers, and put them in the alms bowl to save them for offerings to the Buddha. In an instant, the whole bowl was filled with flowers. Following the way the Sangha went, holding the bowl of flowers in front of me, I felt extraordinarily joyful. I brought a bowl of flowers to make offerings to the statue of Buddha. All these flowers represent each of the Buddha’s children, especially the devotees of Hương Đạo Temple and the donors who have supported me on this trip, and we are wholeheartedly paying homage to the Buddha. May you be blessed with five fortunes: good health, long life, happiness, beauty, and wisdom; may your qualities of enlightenment increase, may you practice diligently and soon attain liberation.

#chuahuongdao #chuahuongdaotemple #sbsstupas
#buddha #buddhism #Dhutanga #dhammajourney
 
Source: Dhammacetiya