Breaking Dawn - Awakening

 

In previous posts I looked at the early part of Shakyamuni's journey in "The Prince and The Pipal", and the temptations he faced under the Pipal tree (which later became known as a Bodhi tree) in "The Devil and The Buddha" . Here, Daisaku Ikeda continues the story of Gautama's enlightenment:

“After overcoming the onslaught of devilish forces, Shakyamuni's mind was left fresh and invigorated, his spirit as clear as a cloudless blue sky.

Having secured an impervious inner state, Shakyamuni now focused on his past. No sooner had he looked back over his present life, than images of his immediately preceding life began to appear. As he continued this inner quest, memories of countless former existences came back to him vividly one after another. And further beyond that still, he recalled countless formations and destructions of the universe.

Shakyamuni realized that his present existence as he sat meditating under the pipal tree was part of an endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth, which had continued since time without beginning. He thus awakened to the eternal nature of life that spans past, present and future.

At that moment, all fears and doubts which had resided in the depths of his life like a heavy sediment since birth evaporated. He had arrived at last at the deep, unshakable roots of his own existence. He felt the darkness of illusion that shrouded him fall away as the brilliant light of wisdom illuminated his life. He had unlocked within himself a state of being akin to commanding a clear, unhindered view in all directions from atop a lofty mountain peak.

With this sharply focused inner vision, Shakyamuni turned his attention to the karma of all living beings. Images of all kinds of people undergoing endless cycles of birth and death passed through his mind. Some were born into misery while others, into fortunate circumstances. With single-minded concentration, Shakyamuni traced the cause of this discrepancy.

"Those burdened by the karma to be unhappy," he observed silently, "have in some past lifetime, through their actions, words or thoughts, committed evil deeds and slandered the practitioners of the Buddhist Law. Their attachment to erroneous views formed the basis for mistaken actions.

In contrast, those who were good and virtuous in their actions, words and thoughts, who did not slander practitioners of the Buddhist Law and conducted themselves correctly based on correct views, enjoyed happiness in later existences.

"The present life is determined by karma accumulated from past existences, while future existences are determined by our actions in this life."

Shakyamuni now clearly understood this. He plainly discerned the uncompromising law of cause and effect operating in people's lives throughout the unending cycle of life and death.

Dawn was drawing near. At the very moment the morning star began to shine in the eastern sky, something happened....

Like a limitless, penetrating beam of light, Shakyamuni's wisdom suddenly broke through to illuminate the eternal, immutable truth of life.

In that instant, Shakyamuni attained a profound awakening. He had finally become a Buddha--one enlightened to the supreme truth. It was as if a door within his life had been thrown open to the entire universe, and he was released from all illusion. He felt he could now move and act freely based upon the Law of life. It was a state he had never experienced before in this lifetime.

Now Shakyamuni understood:   The entire universe is subject to the same constant rhythm of creation and change. This applies equally to human beings. Those now in infancy are destined to grow old and eventually die and then to be reborn again. Nothing, either in the world of nature or human society, knows even a moment of stillness or rest. All phenomena in the universe emerge and pass into extinction through the influence of some external cause. Nothing exists in isolation; all things are linked together over space and time, originating in response to shared causal relationships. Moreover, a Law of life permeates the entire process."

Shakyamuni had grasped the wondrous truth of existence. He was convinced that he could develop himself limitlessly through this Law he had awakened to. All criticism, obstacles and hardships would be nothing more than dust before the wind.

Shakyamuni thought:  "Unaware of this absolute truth, people live under the illusion that they exist independently of one another. This ultimately makes them prisoners of their desires, estranging them from the Law of life, the eternal and unchanging truth of existence. They wander about in darkness and sink into unhappiness and suffering.  But such darkness stems from delusions in one's own life. Not only is such spiritual darkness the source of all evils, but also the essential cause of people's suffering over the realities of birth, aging, sickness and death. By confronting this delusion and ignorance in our own lives, we can open the way to true humanity and indestructible happiness."

As the sun rose over the horizon, its bright light began to dispel the morning mist. It was truly a radiant dawn of happiness and peace for all humankind.
Bathed in the joy of his awakening to the Law, Shakyamuni watched the light of a new morning spread across the land.”

(These extracts come form the website http://www.sgi.org/sgi-president/writings-by-sgi-president-ikeda/on-shakyamuni.html and are from Daisaku Ikeda's history of the SGI "The New Human Revolution: Vol. 3" (SGI-USA, 1996).  The picture "Exploding Sun" is credited to schnuffibossi1 and comes from http://magicpineapples.wordpress.com/.)

Once enlightened, Siddhartha Gautama became more commonly known as Shakyamuni  (meaning "Sage of the Shakyas") and Shakyamuni Buddha.  But now that he had awakened to the Law, would he teach it to others?  And if so, how would he teach it so they could fully understand this profound wisdom?   (To be continued ...)