Psychology of Buddhism. Monograph

2) The language of Buddha’s life stories and dialogues with his followers, which shows Buddha as a guru and a role model for millions of monks. It consists of instructions and stories with moral content, commandments for those who have chosen the sadhana, the path of awakening.

3) The language of Buddhist philosophy and psychology, where Buddha is represented as a learned man seeking the truth. It gives the most profound description of

Buddha’s personality, as it consists of confidences he shared with his close friends. It is the language of Tantrayana, Mantrayana and Vajrayana. It is the language of the “Diamond Vehicle”.

Thus we can see that the three major images of Buddha are:

-The God

-The Great Guru

-A man searching for the truth

Now let us dwell on each of the three biographies, as all of them are considered to be vivid and credible by different groups of people.

1.1. The Story of Buddha-the-God

Prince Sidarta was born in the cultural environment where the ideas of Shaivism, Jainism and Brahmanism predominated. Brahmanism was the major element of spiritual culture. The privileged caste of Brahmins played the role of intermediaries between ordinary people and gods. It controlled religious ceremonies and was the bearer of accumulated knowledge in different spheres of life (philosophy, mythology, astrology, etc.) This religious tradition was preserved by the Aryans, a light-skinned race who invaded India in a thousand years BC. Their sacred writings were called “the Vedas”.

A few hundred years after the death of the real Buddha, his biography turned into a global mythologem, consisting of legends, tales, parables, mystical and religious myths, which always tend to turn a decent person first into a demigod with supernatural powers, and then into a transcendent God.

This transformation is the fruit of integration between the Hindu tradition and the

biography of the Buddha. More precisely, the fruit of the projection of Hindu tradition on

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Buddha’s personality, which makes Buddha’s biography a manifestation of his ontological and transcendent powers.

For many kalpas ( a kalpa is a period of time equal to 24,000 “divine” years or

8,640,000,000 human years) Buddha was reborn again and again, returning to Earth in the form of various creatures – 83 times he was a saint, 58 times he was a king, 24 times – a monk, 18 times – a monkey, 13 times – a merchant, 12 times – a chicken, 8 times – a goose, 6 times – an elephant; he was also a fish, a rat, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a frog, a pig, a rabbit, etc. In all, he was reborn 550 times.

According to the mythological beliefs, Buddha Shakyamuni is a revival of numerous previous Buddhas, embodying the traits of countless individuals. He is a result of millions of years of evolution and the fight against evil forces.

According to this doctrine, Buddhas have appeared from time immemorial. Some versions state that there had been six Buddhas before Buddha Shakyamuni was born. That is why we find seven “sacred” banyan trees and seven stupas erected in honor of the seven

Buddhas in some of the sacred Buddhist places, for example in Sanci and Bharhut (Central India). Other sources inform us that Gautama Buddha belonged to one of the twenty-four generations of Buddhas that appeared on Earth in different times. When a Buddha died, his religion flourished for some time and then was forgotten until the birth of the next one, who began to preach the same truth. The report about the twenty-four Buddhas who preceded Gautama Buddha is found in the so-called “Jataka Tales”. There is also a belief that there were thousands of generations of Buddhas. According to another mythological version, Buddha Shakyamuni was an earthly incarnation of Krishna, the supreme Hindu deity.

According to the latest teaching of Brahmins, Buddha was one of Vishnu’s reincarnations

(the ninth one).

Therefore, Buddha is not so much a man in the flesh, but rather a divine creature. His ability to be reincarnated is the result of his “Buddha-like” nature. It is believed

that “he” “it” or “the one” has three wonderful bodies at his disposal:

1.Nirmanakaya – the body he uses to appear on Earth (though it is not a

“real” body, but a magic creation serving his need to be compassionate).

2.Sambhogakaya, which he uses to appear in the heavenly realms in order to

teach Bodhisattvas and Arhats how to guide and to give advice

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(Bodhisattva means “enlightened existence” or “bound for enlightenment”). Bodhisattva is a man or some other being who made a decision to become Buddha. He is thought to be motivated by the desire to put an end to the eternal succession of rebirths and to save all living beings from suffering.

3.Dharmakaya, a cosmic body akin to the Absolute Dharma. It is the quintessential “Buddhahood”, the highest perfection of Sunyata.

The historical, real Buddha is now often referred to as the Tathagata (“the one who comes and goes”).

The teaching of the “Large Vehicle” produced a great number of celestial and cosmic Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. For example, Amitabha, the “Buddha of Infinite Light”, who dwells in the Western Paradise Sukhavati, or Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, whose diamond sword cuts down ignorance and misconceptions.

When the world plunged into the darkness of ignorance, this karma-free God decided that it was time for him to be born in human form, achieve enlightenment, become the Buddha, begin preaching and tell other people about the path of salvation.

He did it because of the Great Compassion (Mahakaruna) that filled his divine being, when he saw people living in the darkness of ignorance (Avidya) and suffering (Dukha).

It is believed that Buddha could choose for himself where to be born and what parents to have. He incarnated into a human body in Northern India, in Lumbini, a valley of astonishing beauty, in a mango grove by the lake, where lotuses were in full bloom.

He chose to be born into a human body in the Aryan tribe of the Shakya clan and to become a son of the king Shuddhodana and the queen Maya (Mahamaya, Mayadevi). It is believed that the queen had a prophetic dream: a white elephant entering her womb. According to a more sophisticated version, the white elephant entered her body through her right shoulder and settled in the middle of her chest, where the spiritual heart of a man (Anahata Chakra) is said to be.

According to the first prophetic myth, dream interpreters foretold her a birth of a great son with 32 unusual bodily features (which included golden skin, straight teeth, long fingers, long earlaps, etc.) and 80 lesser marks, including moles endowed with magical properties.

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The one who had these signs and marks could become either a Great Governor or a Great Guru.

Another myth tells us that a holy old man came to the place in the mango grove where the baby was born. Looking at the baby and seeing all the bodily marks of the Great Guru, the old man fell prostrate before him and foretold that he would become a Buddha and lead mankind to salvation.

According to another myth, a holy old man descended from the Himalayas to see the king Shuddhodana of Shakya clan. It had happened just before Maya gave birth to the baby. The man foretold that the king would have a son, and his son would become either the

“Emperor of the Universe”, the greatest governor of all times, or, if he witnesses such earthly phenomena as illness, old age and death, he would become Buddha, the Great Guru.

Being born, Shuddhodana’s son made three steps and proclaimed his greatness in a thunderous voice. According to other myths, having made three steps he gave his first sermon.

There is a sign in memory of this event in the Mayadevi temple in Lumbini. It is an imprint of the baby’s foot, the foot of the future enlightened in the form of an impression on a huge foot-shaped stone.

I went to that temple when I was in Lumbini. Noticing my undisguised curiosity, the guard told me that it was not just a stone. It was a foot imprint of Buddha’s 6-meter high (20 feet) energetic body, which began glowing as soon as he stepped on the ground. I remembered that owing to the continuous chain of reincarnations, Buddha’s body acquired unusual properties, hidden under the skin of an ordinary human being.

Legends say that only the true believers could see Buddha’s “spiritual body” (the energetic body, the “wonderful” body, or “pranamayakosha” in Vedanta), which was golden in color and measured about six meters (20 feet). The light it radiated was so bright that it could illuminate large spaces. This image reflects the ancient Indian belief that bodies of great people radiate light, which becomes more intense when the viewer starts meditating.

This way or another, he was born.

He was named Siddhartha, which means “the one who has reached the goal” in Pali, the language spoken by the Shakya clan.

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Once, when he was five months old, Siddhartha was lying under a tree. He was so deep in thought that he became completely oblivious of his surroundings.

Five wise men passed by the place where he was lying. They were so impressed by what they saw that they sang a hymn, in which they foretold that Siddhartha’s future teachings would flood away the sorrow of life like a wave washing the shore and purify the world like a fire.

There is another myth, no less beautiful, which tells us how Siddhartha learned to meditate. He was left alone under a tree during the Plowing Festival, which was celebrated each spring by the Shakya clan. He closed his eyes and quite naturally entered the state of meditation.

There is also a very beautiful myth about his childhood. Once, when Siddhartha was five years old, he was sitting under a tree, watching a farmer pulling a plow. He saw birds come and peck earthworms. Watching the scene, which was rather common for those places (he was born and raised in Northern India, where rice cultivation was what most people did for living), Siddhartha discovered the law of causality, i.e. relationship between actions (karma) and their results (vipaka). He realized that everything in the world was interconnected, that every action, either good, or bad, left traces and had results.

As Shuddhodana’s son grew older, the king thought about the old man’s warning more and more often. No doubt, it was important that Siddhartha should succeed him on the throne. His reign would be wiser and greater than his father’s. For fear that his son could face illness, old age and death, Shuddhodana built a palace (or a few palaces), where Siddhartha could live and grow up in ideal conditions, among sages, warriors, the beauty of learned life, music and dances.

When he was nineteen, Siddhartha married his cousin Yasodhara and gave himself up to the luxury and comfort of oriental life. There is a legend that says that once his relatives came to his father to complain about his son, who lived only for his own pleasure and did not want to study. They feared that he would not be able to rule the kingdom. When prince Siddhartha heard about it, he suggested to test his abilities and impressed everybody with his knowledge. This is the only story telling us about his youth.

Legends say that by the time he was 29 years he had become both a perfect warrior

and a Brahmin who had mastered Vedas, religious rituals, philosophy and astrology.

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Yasodhara was pregnant and Shuddhodana was already thinking about giving the throne to the crown prince and retire to raise his grandson.

But it happened so that at the age of twenty-nine Siddhartha had to think over his life and his predestination.

Although Shuddhodana prepared his son to be the king of all kings, he did not have the power to change Buddha’s choice. What was predestined had to happen.

According to the legend, charioteer Channa, who helped Siddhartha to escape from the palace several times, was sent to him by gods. He was the embodiment of Arjuna, a mythical hero.

Four symbolic meetings changed the life of Siddhartha.

He met a sick man, an old man and a dead man, which revealed to him the impermanence of samsara (the world people live in). The fourth symbolic meeting was the meeting with a monk who showed him the path he was to choose.

When the prince decided to become a hermit and left the palace, Mara, the great tempter, appeared in the sky and stopped Gautama, promising him power over all of the four continents in seven days, if he abandoned his decision. Mara’s words produced no effect on

Gautama, but the tempter comforted himself with the hope that he would finally win when a sinful thought crept into Siddhardha’s soul. “And from that moment”, reads the Burman chronicle, “he followed Gautama like a shadow, trying to create obstacles on his way to becoming the Buddha”.

However, his search for the truth was long. First, Siddhartha chose the road of asceticism, which he later had to renounce. He sat down under the Bo tree and plunged into the state of contemplation. He decided that he would not stop till he discovered the truth. In spite of Mara’s temptations, Siddhartha achieved nirvana on the very first day of meditation.

Myths say that Gautama’s awakening not only had an enormous impact on his personality and humanity as a whole, but also had a great cosmic significance. The most vivid and mythologically loaded illustrations of this moment tell us that the inhabitants of all of the six lokas (Gods, Asuras, Apsaras, Demons, bodhisattvas, animals, pretas and narakas) broke into thunderous applause when they watched this spectacular event, which took place in the center of the world stage. For at this moment the Dharma, the way to salvation, that

had been lost many epochs ago, was rediscovered. It was the end of the era of darkness.

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Light and hope came into the world again. Buddha Shakyamuni discovered the Dharma and decided to tell the world about it.

After the awakening Buddha sat under the Bo tree for forty-nine days and Brahma himself came to him to talk and instruct.

It is often mentioned that Gods, deities, demons and spirits appeared to Buddha, accompanied him or talked to him.

Buddha himself ascended to the world of gods where he read sermons, and Gods, in their turn, repeatedly visited him on earth during meditation.

Buddhist myths award Siddhartha with numerous paranormal qualities and abilities. In addition to the ordinary human sight, Buddha also had the “Eye of Wisdom”, which was set in his forehead and made him omniscient. His all-seeing was possible owing to the eye that saw the past, the present and the future, the Noble Eightfold Path, intentions and actions of all creatures in the Universe and everything that happened in the countless universes.

Mythological texts that consider Buddha to be a God say that he felt, sensed, saw and heard everything that was happening on earth and in other worlds. Buddha also had other magical abilities: he could descend into the underground world, ascend to the skies, fly in the air, summon firestorms, alter his physical appearance and take on any kind of shape.

Numerous epithets are used to describe Gautama Buddha. He is referred to as the master of the Universe, the God of gods, the king of kings, the almighty, the healer, etc. He is also described as Tathagata (the one who comes and goes), Arhat (the one who “laid down the burden”), Sugata (the one who does good), Buddha (the enlightened one), jina (conqueror or victor), bhagavat (the triumphant), and maha shramana (the great wondering monk). In all, there are about thirty such epithets, glorifying Buddha.

According to Vajrayana, there are five Buddhas (“pancha tathagata” in Sanskrit): the white Vairochana, the red Amitabha, the yellow Ratnasambhava, the blue Akshobya and the green Amoghasiddhi. The five Buddhas, often referred to as “Dhyani-Buddhas” in the

Diamond Vehicle, are considered to be the supreme Buddhas in the Buddhist hierarchy of Gods.

Each of them heads a certain clan of Buddhas and performs an important function: Vairochana is the head of the Tathaghata family; he transforms ignorance; Amitabha heads

the Lotus clan and transforms voluptuousness; Ratnasambhava – the Treasure clan, he

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transforms jealousy; Akshobya – the Vajra clan, transforming anger; Amoghasiddhi – the clan of Karma, transforming envy.

Thousands of the divine Buddhas of Vajrayana can be considered as emanations of the

“five tathagatas”. Being placed in the four different corners of the world ( Vairochana – in the center, Amitabha – in the West, Ratnasambhava – in the South, Akshobya – in the East, Amoghasiddhi – in the North), the five Tathagatas constitute the central symbol of all Vajrayana mandalas.

There have always been those who pray only to gods with super powers and super abilities. They have made a God out of Buddha.

For us it is more important that a real man, who was tortured by doubts and searched for the truth, sat under the Bo tree and became the Buddha. He told about the “path of Buddha” to other people, created his own monastic community, preached, and died at the age of 80, plunging into paranirvana.

1.2. Biography of the Perfect Teacher

The biography of Buddha Shakyamuni as a teacher is especially important to a particular section of people, to members of sanghas (monastic communities). They have been

Buddha’s devoted pupils since the very beginning. Buddhist monks are called Bhikkhus (or

Bhikshus), the majority of them lives in monasteries. Carrying on their lonely heroic struggle for nirvana, bhikkhus were in need of a model, of somebody who would show them the way to salvation.

Gautama, a monk and a preacher, who discovered the Dharma, is in the center of the Hindu trinity, or the Trimurti (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha).

No doubt, his origins played a great role in his future life. Gautama was a man of royal blood; he represented the caste of priests and rulers. He belonged to the tribe of Aryans, which had conquered India and seized the military, social and spiritual power in the country. The Aryans were soldiers by spirit, Brahmans by education and kings by status.

It was equally important that he was born near the densely populated city of Benares, which was considered to be a breeding ground for piety and a center of learning, like

Nazareth in Judea or Rome in Europe.

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In those days, in Kapilavastu, situated in a few days’ journey to the North of Benares,

Shuddhodana reigned over the Shakya tribe. The Shakyas lived in the middle of rice fields by the majestic Himalayas. They took water from the Rohini river. These peaceful people still cultivate rice and we can still find peasant houses, small wooden hovels good only for protection from rain and sun that have not changed in two and a half thousand years. Rice cultivation made it possible for the Shakya rulers to live in palaces and devote their life to music, dance, art, spiritual development and the search for the truth.

The neighboring tribe of Kolyan also took water from the Rohini river.

The two tribes lived in peace and harmony, and two daughters of the ruler of the tribe of Kolyan married Shuddhodana. Both of them were childless for a long time. To the great joy of the Shakya people, the elder wife Mahamaya told her husband that she was preparing to become a mother when she was forty-five years of age.

Keeping up the tradition of those times, she set off to her parents. On her way to them, in a mango grove, she gave birth to a son, the future Buddha. Sangha monks attached great importance to the fact that he had all the bodily and energy marks of the awakened.

His marriage to his cousin Yasodhara at the age of nineteen adds weight to the fullness of his social life. The luxurious, wealthy and carefree existence which he led till the age of twenty-nine made his choice of ascetic life even more significant in the eyes of Bhikkhus.

At the age of twenty-nine he became acquainted with the three earthy phenomena: disease, old age and death. For Buddhists, these are the most important moments of samsara, as they reveal the illusory and unstable nature of the ordinary world.

As you know, when Prince Siddhartha left his palace for the first time he was struck by the sight of a man who suffered from a hideous disease. He had a fever, he trembled and his body was covered with festering sores.

-Who is it, what is it? – he asked his charioteer Channa.

-This is a sick man.

-Does it happen to all people?

-Yes. All living people may fall ill and become exactly like that. Siddhartha was greatly disappointed; it was a stunning news for him.

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When he returned to the palace, he began to see all people, men and women, children and adults, with the eye of disease. He saw them feverish and covered with bleeding and festering sores.

Health lost all sense to him. It turned out to be impermanent, it could be destroyed by disease at any moment.

When Siddhartha left the palace for the second time, he met an old man. It was a toothless emaciated creature, whose skin was hanging from bones disfigured by old age and disease, it was covered with spots. The old man had wild-looking eyes which wandered pointlessly, ransacking his own reality. He walked on thick quivering sticks jutting out of his loins, his gait was unsteady and he looked as if he could collapse and fall apart. When one looked at him, one saw weakness, madness and fear.

-Who is it, what is it? – Siddhartha asked his charioteer Channa.

-It is an old man.

-And does it happen to all people?

-Yes, all people get older and turn into such a creature. Siddhartha was extremely disappointed with this discovery.

Returning to the palace, he began to see everybody with the eye of old age: men and

women; children and adults; kshatriyas, perfect soldiers full of immense will and strength; dancers, lithe like snakes, graceful like deer, with supple, smooth and soft skin, which was delicate like Chinese silk; wise men who had reached the ultimate knowledge and understanding of the world; children, full of joy and life-affirming energy; artisans, full of enthusiasm for work and inspired by its meaning.

He saw them bent and old, with hanging skin. He saw them in their age of weakness and senile insanity.

And so great was his sadness when the sense of a man’s vital force was lost for him.

Siddhartha realized that youth and maturity of energy, intelligence and beauty were temporary and subject to aging.

When Siddhartha left the palace for the third time, he stumbled upon a decaying

corpse.

-Who is it, what is it? – he asked his charioteer Channa.

-It is a dead man.

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