Prince Siddhartha Gautama left his wife, newborn son, and his father's palace to live the life of an ascetic in hopes of discovering the basis of suffering (desire). He renounced all worldly pleasures eating only one grain of rice each day and drinking his own urine (the ultimate in a zero carbon footprint). Not discovering the source of suffering, he changed paths and indulged himself in every possible pleasure, but he still learned nothing. Finally, while sitting beneath a Bodhi tree, he saw all his past lives and understood that from which all desires stemmed......from within, and that the middle path b/w under- and over-indulgence is best. For this he became the Awakened One, the Buddha. I think Siddhartha the man was very selfish in leaving his family to go on a quest for enlightenment, but he believed that only by losing everything could everything be gained. I hear that! The Buddha believed that we all can achieve this Awakening, and each of us has Buddha within us.
I think this awakening happens every day. Each morning begins our youth as we feel strong and alert. The afternoon is our middle age when we fully apply ourselves, our skills, and our knowledge. The evening is when we rest our tired minds and bodies and reflect upon the joys and sorrows, successes and failures. Buddhism allows for failure as long as we continually strive to do better. I think if I'm a better person today than I was yesterday, and that I'll be an even better person tomorrow than I was today, then this lifetime in a day was a success. Finally, we sleep and rejuvenate ourselves to be reborn the next day, and the cycle continues, but w/o carrying over the baggage of the previous day/life. Yes, there will be both sadness and happiness, but as long as I learn from it and do not succumb to too much of either, the cycle won't spiral out of control. We must start each day naked and fresh and new, looking forward to all the possibilities w/ a glad, positive heart. Live a lifetime in each day, knowing that when I get to the end of it, I've done all I can do, and everything I need to do it is within me.
Beautiful!! It's that moderation,that "middle path" that I've been seeking in my own exploration. And I need to look at each day in this manner.
ReplyDeleteIronically, I was just speaking to one of my students today who is writing his research paper on Siddhartha. Discussing it inspired me to download Hesse's book onto my Kindle. Maybe I won't wait until this summer to reread it.