The Buddha is the Great Hero who Realised the Truth

http://Buddhism.2be.net/The_Buddha_is_the_Great_Hero_who_Realised_the_Truth

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

• From a chapter in the book - The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived by Ven. Weragoda Sarada Maha Thero

There have been heroes of many kinds in the world. Some became heroes by winning wars, by conquering lands, and by building empires. Some became heroes by inventing new things. Some became heroes by discovering new things. Some became heroes by traveling to planets and returning to earth. Still, others became heroes protecting their country from foreign attacks.

But the Buddha became a hero by sacrificing his life for an ideal of those others. The Buddha became a hero by realizing the absolute truth with the foremost intention of freeing the beings from suffering.

During thousands of births, he sacrificed eyes, heads, flesh, blood, wives, children and his own life in quest of truth. Even in his last birth, he suffered all possible mortifications, tried out all possible experiments, and finally discovered the absolute truth, the Four Noble Truth. In consequence, there is a great difference between the heroism of the Buddha and the heroism of the others. In the heroism of others there is an implicit selfishness. But, in the heroism of the Buddha there is implicit a universality and a supra-mundane quality.

Because of this he has been described by such other names as :

• Buddhavira (Buddha the hero)
• Mahavira (the Great hero)
• Sakya Sinha (the Lion of the Sakyas)
• Loka Natha (the Support of the World)
• Dasabala (the Person of Ten-fold Power)
• Sabbannu (the All-Knowing One)
• Jina (Conqueror)

He was described as Mahavira (the Great hero) even before he was born, not by human beings but by gods of the Tusita heaven.

In this context, the Buddha was addressed as hero by Maha Brahma Sahampati.

"O Great hero, it is high time you were in a mother’s womb".

"O hero, who won the battle against Mara (Death)".

"Caravan Leader, O Noble One who has no debt called sense desire, stand up".

Ref.: Ariyapariyesana Sutta.

Before the Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths, he went to various ascetics as a seeker after truth. He followed various methods under them. He realized that the truth they knew as not the absolute truth. He then gave up self-mortification and followed the Middle Path. He resolved, "I will get up only after I realized the truth".

At last, he realized the truth. Immediately on his realization of truth, a strange knowledge, a strange wisdom, a strange awareness, and a strange light occurred within him.

That change, that enlightenment, that wisdom which occurred to him that day, at the foot of the Bodhi tree, cannot be described by any other person than the Buddha himself. His joy was boundless. "I conquered. I won. I discovered. I discovered." He exulted.

He did not stop there. He set out, determined to place before the world this absolute truth, this strange status, this unique knowledge and this unparalleled awareness. He preached these views to them while they were still fresh. He expounded to them the results, of extreme luxury and extreme self-mortification, and the advantages of the Middle Path and the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Buddha’s new discovery became popular not only among the various ascetics of the day, but also among the ordinary folks. the Buddha began to travel in villages, market towns, cities and suburbs surround, like the moon by the stars, by the newly ordained monks.

From this great ascetic and his disciples who numbered about five-hundred, there emanated and ascetic grace, a tranquil, restrained and appealing demeanour, subduced postures of coming and going, sitting and standing, and a pleasant, wise and methodical organization. The news that the scion of the Sakyas, "Gautama the Ascetic" with a retinue of monks was traveling to such and such a village, or such and such a city, began to spread fast. Those who heard the news were quite keen to see him, to give him alms, to listen to his discourses, to question him and to have dicussions with him. His fame began to extend to various parts of India.

"A strange ascetic of the Sakya clan has discovered a strange phenomena". The brahmin chief Pokkharasati came to know the Buddha’s glory. "The brahmin Pokkharasati heard that the Ascetic Gautama, son of the Sakya, who has gone forth from the Sakya clan, is now traveling trough the Kosala kingdom with a retinue of a large number of monks numbering more than five-hundred."

Ref.: Ambutthagha Sutta

It would have been a very impressive sight to see the Buddha walking along serenely through villages, market towns and cities with about 500 Arahants following him in single file, in order of seniority, with mental picture even today in the mind of anyone who have seen about a hundred monks walking in line in single file.

He is described by such names as Buddha (the Englightened One), Sam-Buddha (Fully Enlightened One), Samma-Sambuddha (Fully and Supremely Englightened One), because he realized the absolute truth, the noble truth. Buddhism is the religion that follows the truth and the noble person who discovered it.

If there is something devoid of truth, it is not Buddhism. When we honour the Buddha, we do so not to his physical form, but for the Buddha prowess which he acquired after excruciating suffering. Buddhism is the religion that worships, that honours, that esteems wisdom. Buddhism is the religion that exalts wisdom. If anything is written about the Buddha, that is devoid of truth, it just cannot be Buddhism. It just could not be the word of the Buddha. The greatest duty of Buddhists is to follow the Buddha who is the hero of the truth, and establish one's self in truth, always. His duty is to honour the truth. Where there is no truth, there is no Buddhism - not even a Buddhistic trace. The main characteristic of Buddhism is being truthful. Even one's life has to be sacrificed to protect the truth. We must be determined to sacrifice it.

There is no greater heroism than being a Buddha. No one other than a great hero can ever become a Buddha. There are the ten perfections he should fulfill. These ten are :

1. Dana - Generosity, giving.
2. Sila - Virtue, morality, proper conduct.
3. Nekkhamma - Renunciation.
4. Prajna (Pali: pañña) - transcendental wisdom, insight.
5. Viriya - Energy, diligence, vigour, effort.
6. Khanti - Patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance.
7. Sacca - Truthfulness, honesty
8. Adhitthana - Determination, resolution
9. Metta - Loving-kindness.
10. Upekkha - Equanimity, serenity.

While fulfulling these ten, the person who aspires to Buddhahood must be ready to sacrifice his for each of these. Buddhahood has to be achieved by fulfilling each of these at the highest possible level. No one who does not possess these ten essental qualificationscan become a Buddha. One of these is the perfection of energy (Viriya). Viriya is the quality of a vira (hero).

A human mind first thought of becoming a Buddha, when a son was grappling with the sea, carrying his mother on his back. Every action of the Bodhisattva was a heroic act. Extending thoughts of loving-kindness to those who cut off his limbs; giving to those who asked all the things they wanted, finally even his life; spending six years in self-mortification without eating and drinking properly; not losing one's life; not harming a person or hurting a person; or not making a person suffer, even of one were to lose one's life; not uttering lies, even though one may lose one's life - the Buddha has done such acts not once, but tens of thousands of time, before he became a Buddha.

He did all these things not with a selfish motive - nor with the intention of enjoying luxuries. He did all this to find out the nature of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering.

He did all this to discover these truths and to place them ;before the world, with the intention of liberating the human kind from suffering. The Buddha endured vast suffering to discover these. He made a tremendous effort.

We cannot underestimate that tremendouseffort. We must constantly reflect upon this. HOnouring the Truth, and affirming the Truth are a way of respecting the Buddha. If you disregard truth, it amounts to disregarding the Buddha.

As a result of the passage of a long period of thime there could be found, even in Buddhism and in the Doctrine certain untruths that could have crept in due to blind devotion. If such things have crept in, we must set them aside without any hesitation. We must not accept these. Just like the husk around the coconut, there could be much exaggeration and hyperbole around the Truth. But, such exaggerated descriptions are not an obstacle to the discovery of Truth. In the true Word of the Buddha, o;ne finds hundred per cent truth. Such Teachings as the Four Noble Truths. Noble Eight-fold Path and Paticca Samuppada (Dependent Origination) are real Buddha Words. We can see the Buddha's wisdom and image through them.

All those who follow him should become seekers of the real truth in everything, and everyone. They must be respecters of Truth, who always speak the truth.