February 16, 2023
 
On a light sunny day, a cool spring wind blew, and hundreds of flowers were in bloom everywhere. The Buddha, together with the Sangha of five hundred monks, traveled on foot from Rajagaha back to Kapilavatthu, heading northwest and crossing the Gaṅgā river in the town of Pāṭaligāma and then following the merchant route. The entire journey was about sixty yojana (an ancient measure of distance, each being about 12-15 km).
 
Venerable Kāḷudāyi and over ten monks of the Sakya clan, who had attained Arahantship, traveled ahead to meet the Buddha nine or ten days prior to his arrival. Upon Kāḷudāyi’s arrival at Kapilavatthu, the Buddha instructed him not to enter the city. Instead, Kāḷudāyi and the assembly of monks should temporarily stay in Nigrodhārāma, the ancient banyan forest in the southeast of the city, which used to be frequented by ascetics and wanderers and where there were many large shade trees.
 
When King Suddhodāna, the royal court, and descendants of the Sakya clan heard about the Sangha’s arrival, they went to Nigrodhārāma to receive the Buddha and the Sangha. However, due to their inherent conceit, the elders of the clan thought, ‘Even if he is a Buddha, a saint, that recluse is only a descendant of us!’ As a result, they remained standing or chose to sit at the back, instructing the young people to come forward and greet the Buddha. Turning his mind to them, the Buddha understood everything, but nevertheless he walked over to King Suddhodāna:
 
“Your Majesty, Father!”
 
“Prince!”
 
After handing the bowl to his attendant, Venerable Nāgita, the Buddha grasped his father’s dry and thin hands. Despite nearly eight years of separation, the king remained sharp and strong-minded but visibly aged. Watching tears flow silently down his father’s wrinkled cheeks, the Buddha was very sympathetic, but he had mastered his emotions – giving his father a tender and warm gaze. Meanwhile, King Suddhodāna realized that his son was no longer the Prince Siddhattha of the past but had become a great and noble recluse and spiritual leader who had surpassed, far above and beyond the human world, far beyond the mundane rituals of everyday life. Unconsciously, the king bowed his head and clasped his hands in the manner of a king meeting a master, guru, or spiritual leader with respect.
 
Upon seeing the wise attitude of his father, the Buddha felt delighted and sought to increase his faith while also attempting to soften the arrogance of the royal family. He ascended into the air, created a jade path running from east to west, and then walked back and forth upon it. Later, the Buddha worked a miracle that was unattainable to anyone: the yamaka pāṭihāriya, meaning “twin miracle” – he caused water and fire to arise simultaneously from his pores, and then two rays of blue and red light radiated like lightning bolts, blinding the assembly. After demonstrating the twin miracle, the Buddha landed on the prepared seat, sitting solemnly and quietly!
 
Upon seeing the miraculous powers of the Buddha, King Suddhodāna got goosebumps all over his body, and his faith arose. Once again, he felt confirmed in what he had thought: “Indeed, my son is no longer a crown prince, but rather possesses the majesty of a Buddha, a Perfectly Enlightened One, as everyone has praised and honored!” After thinking this, the king suddenly knelt to pay homage and exclaimed, “This is the third time your father pays homage to you!” The whole court, from the elders of the Sakya clan to the young, was filled with awe and bowed down in reverence!
 
Venerable Sārīputta stood beside the Buddha, while Venerable Moggallāna was at Veḷuvana Vihāra, which was sixty yojanas away. However, their minds were connected, and both wished to help the Blessed One convert the royal assembly. Almost instantaneously, in the blink of an eye, like two golden clouds, they rose into the air, journeyed swiftly, and landed on the right and the left of the Buddha. They prostrated their limbs and forehead to the ground, bowed to him, and asked together:
 
“Dear Venerable Master! How does one practice becoming a Self-enlightened Buddha (Sammasambuddha)? How long should one go through and cultivate the Perfections (Paramī)?”
 
Knowing the intentions of the two great disciples, the Buddha then raised his divine voice (Brahmassara) replete with eight excellent qualities and delivered a Dhamma talk about the Chronicle of Buddhas (Buddhavaṃsa), which is about the origins, virtues, and qualities of each Buddha. To attain the state of a Self-enlightened Buddha, He had to go through seven eons with vows in mind, nine eons with vows into words; four eons and one hundred thousand lives practiced the ten Perfections through twenty-four Buddhas. Then the Buddha also briefly but fully described the origin, virtues, and qualities of those twenty-four Buddhas: Buddha Dīpaṅkāra, Buddha Koṇḍañña, Buddha Maṅgala, Buddha Sumana, Buddha Revata, Buddha Sobhita, Buddha Anumodassī, Buddha Paduma, Buddha Nārada, Buddha Padumuttara, Buddha Sumedha, Buddha Sujāta, Buddha Piyadassī, Buddha Atthadassī, Buddha Dhammadassī, Buddha Siddhattha, Buddha Tissa, Buddha Phussa, Buddha Vipassī, Buddha Sikhī, Buddha Vessabhū, Buddha Kakusandha, Buddha Koṇāgamana, Buddha Kassapa. And He is the twenty-fifth Buddha, whose name is Sākya Gotama! In those countless births and deaths, He had lived five lives as a hermit, nine lives as a monk, five lives as a layman, two lives as a dragon king, one life as Sakka, king of the devas, one life as a great and powerful Yakkha general named Mahesakkha, and a life as a lion king. His eventual coming had been prophesied by the Buddhas clearly with name, hometown, lineage, virtues, and qualities. The prophecy was clear and transparent! Then there were countless lives of living with delusions as if walking in dense fog, going through the upper and lower realms, floating between the three spheres and the six paths; it was incalculable!
 
The Buddha’s Dhamma talk at the time was strange. So many deities had attained the Stream-entry level; for the human audience, the Dhamma talk opened up the horizon of extraordinary possibilities, yet none of the audience had reached even the lowest level of attainment. At that moment, a sudden rain poured down. The rainwater was red like blood. The rain held a strange property: the Buddha, the Arahant Sangha, and those who had begun to have faith remained dry, while those who were proud and arrogant were left soaking wet! Everyone discussed it excitedly. The Buddha gave another Dhamma talk, recounting his last previous human life as Crown Prince Vessantara who focused on selfless giving with the five great offerings. After twelve years of exile, he returned as king amid the familiar assembly, a strange rain also happened, but it was a rain of seven treasures that flooded the palace!
 
After his life as Vessantara, he was born as a deity named Setaketu in the Tusita heaven; after his lifespan there was over, he was born in the womb of his mother Mahāmāyā, king and father Suddhodāna, the Sakya clan, the capital Kapilavatthu… to perfect the deeds of a Fully Enlightened One!
 
Excerpted from Cuộc Đời Một Vầng Nhật Nguyệt 2
 
(See next journal…)
 
 

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