Is there a need for another ‘Life of the Buddha’?

Footprints in the Dust: The Life of the Buddha from the Most Ancient Sources’

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

Bhante Shravasti Dhammika of Australia, a prolific writer, who has authored many books, keeps us informed of various aspects of Buddhism by his regular contributions to The Island and Sunday Island. Thanks to an introduction by my good friend Tissa Devendra, I have been in regular touch with Bhante Dhammika and turn to him whenever I have a question on Buddhism. When he sent me a soft copy of his latest book, “Footprints in the Dust”, which carries the subtitle, “The Life of the Buddha from the Most Ancient Sources”, I asked myself, ‘Is there a need for yet another Life of the Buddha’? After all, there’s plenty to choose from!

My doubts regarding the need for another biography of the Buddha started to melt away, as soon as I started reading this absorbing book with very realistic analysis of events. In fact, the book deals with much more than the title suggests and is an analysis of the life and the times of the Buddha. Most books on Buddha’s life are written with a reverential than an analytical attitude and do not put the prevailing conditions in India in context. These are the two major differences and the great strength of this monograph. Though some traditional Buddhists may not agree with Bhante Dhammika’s interpretations, as he is not shy in pointing out exaggerations, I have no disagreements whatsoever and have come to know the Buddha better; as an extraordinary human being, far ahead of his time who led a very simple life, walking barefoot across India, disseminating His message.The book, laden with facts, references and explanations, appearing at the foot of each page, and chapters being devised very innovatively. After the first chapter titled ‘Introduction’ there are chapters on ‘An Era of Change’, ‘Gods, Brahmins and Ascetics’, ‘The Sakyans’, ‘Towards the light’, ‘A Teacher of Gods and Humans’, ‘A Day in Buddha’s Life’, ‘On the Road’, ‘Praise and Blame’, ‘Monastic and Lay Disciples’, ‘The Buddha on Worldly Matters’, ‘A Time of Crisis’, ‘The Last Days’ and ‘Aftermath’.

To get a feel for the world in which the Buddha lived and travelled, Bhante Dhammika had undertaken three walking tours in India, following the footsteps of the Buddha; from Bodh Gaya to Varanasi, from Bodh Gaya to Rajgir with return and from Rajgir to Kusinara, the longest, retracing the Buddha’s last journey. On page 136, there is a map with all the places referred to and Appendix I describes in detail the Towns and Cities Visited by the Buddha. Appendix II is an analytical essay on the Buddha and the Upanisads, which clearly dispels the widespread misunderstanding that the Buddha copied Kamma and rebirth from the Upanisads. The introduction itself is very informative and on page 2, Bhante Dhammika mentions: “By about the tenth century a confused and fragmentary account of the Buddha’s life had filtered into Europe and because it depicted him and as conspicuously holy it was assumed that he must therefore have been a Christian. Consequently, he was inducted into the Catholic Church as a saint under the name St. Josaphat, his feast day being the 27th of November.”

Till I read this, I was not aware of the recognition of Buddha as a saint by the Catholic Church. Though I presumed it was a little-known fact, apparently, it is a fairly well-known particularly by critics of the Catholic Church. The name St. Josaphat is likely to be a corruption of the term Bodhisattva or Bodhisat.Another interesting paragraph is: “Inspired by the new thinking of the Second Vatican Council, eminent theologian Karl Rahner informed Buddhists in the late 1950s that they were what he actually called “anonymous Christians” and presumably, that the Buddha was also a Christian without knowing it. As of today, no Buddhist thinker had returned the compliment by announcing that Christians are anonymous Buddhists and that Jesus was really a late comer to the Dhamma, despite not wearing a yellow robe.”

Perhaps, no one has cared to do so, as spatial distribution of events is fact enough!

As mentioned in the chapter ‘The Last Days’, in addition to the conflict at Kosambi as well as the rebellion by Devadatta demanding that monks should reside in the forest, get food only by going for alms, robes should only be from rags, live under trees not in huts and should not eat meat, the Buddha was aware of the deterioration in standards of the Sangha: maybe, due to their ‘basking in the glory of the Buddha’. Opulent lifestyles of some monks are in sharp contrast to how the Buddha lived. I will quote some paragraphs to illustrate:

“During a visit to Suṃsumarāgira, Prince Bodhi invited him to his Palace for a meal. In preparation for his arrival, the Prince had a white cloth spread over the stairs leading to the Palace entrance, a mark of considerable esteem, equivalent to today’s red-carpet treatment. When the Buddha arrived and saw the white cloth, he halted just short of it. Perplexed, the Prince asked what the problem was but the Buddha said nothing. When the Prince inquired for a third time and still received no response, Ananda explained to him that the Buddha would not walk on the cloth because he was “concerned about future generations”. By this he meant that the Buddha wanted to set an example for monks and nuns in the future who might become too fond of the esteem shown to them by devote lay people and fall prey to pride. Prince Bodhi had the white cloth taken up and the Buddha entered the Palace.”

What a difference between the Buddha and the modern-day Sangha!

“There were four offences for which a monk would be expelled from the Sangha and never be readmitted – sexual intercourse; theft; murder or abetment to murder; and falsely claiming to have attained an exalted spiritual state.”

The number of Bhikkhus in Sri Lanka who claim to have attained an exalted spiritual state is increasing by the day and they have websites referring to themselves as “Arahant”. However, their behaviour, extravagance in dress, etc., makes one greatly doubt these claims.

“What the Buddha precluded monks from doing, included palmistry, predicting good or bad rainfall or success or failure in war, selecting lucky sites for buildings, reading the future by means of the movement of the heavenly bodies or the occurrences of comets and eclipses, practicing black magic and quack medicine, casting spells and calling on various gods for help.”

Some Bhikkhus in Sri Lanka make a living out of all these!

“The Buddha even discouraged what might be considered harmless superstitions and folk beliefs. Once while giving a sermon, he sneezed and a loud chorus of ‘Live long!’ emanated from the audience. Ever the rationalist, he momentarily deviated from the gist of his sermon and asked whether a person’s lifespan is lengthened by saying ‘Live long!’ when they sneeze. The audience admitted that it is not and so he asked them to refrain from doing such a thing in the future.”

I was under the impression that ‘Bless you’ with sneezing was a western custom but this clearly shows it dates to the time of the Buddha. Fascinating how universal some of these customs are!

“The Buddha’s attitude to caste (vaṇṇa) was another area which put him at odds with many in his society, although other samaṇa sects, particularly Jainism, rejected caste too. The caste system as it existed in the fifth and sixth century was not as rigid or all-embracing as it later become but it still created barriers between people and relegated some to a lowly social position for no other reason than the accident of birth or the work they were compelled to do.”

Some of our Nikaya’s are caste-based, completely disregarding Buddha’s attitude!

“In India today marginalized castes are inspired by the Buddha’s attitude to the system to agitate for equality.”

Unfortunately, caste plays a major role in India even today in spite of legislation. Recently I read about the poet and lyricist Shailendra who wrote the lyrics of some of the most memorable songs in Hindi Cinema, especially Raj Kapoor films. Apparently, he did not get the recognition he deserved because he was a Dalit!

Bhante Dhammika questions some of the perceptions we have of the Buddha. One of the most disturbing events in Buddha’s life happened in Vesali. After conducting ‘Ashuba Bhavana’, which concentrates on ‘filthiness’ of bodily secretions, the Buddha retreated for a few weeks and learned on return that 30 young monks had committed suicide, after being disturbed by this meditation. Thus, the Buddha did not always foresee what was going to happen. We are told the Buddha had 32 distinguishing marks but, perplexingly, King Ajasattu could not identify the Buddha from among the monks on his first visit. Anyway, Buddha rejected the notion that physical attributes make one special, stating that what makes a person great is a liberated mind.The Buddha was ahead of His time on many issues, including caste, and stood against slavery by not allowing monks to accept slaves. Slavery was a common practice in India during Buddha’s time. When King Pasenadi of Kosala was breathless in front of the Buddha due to obesity, He advised on mindful eating to reduce weight which the king did successfully. This method is now used by dietitians. Buddha’s attitude towards marriage was also far ahead of time as illustrated by the following quote:

“Another type of happiness the Buddha frequently gave attention to was that associated with family life, the basis of which is marriage. Amongst higher castes at the time arranging with a girl’s parents to marry her off without consulting her and even buying a wife was not unusual. The Buddha criticized brahmans for doing this rather than “coming together in harmony and out of mutual affection”. (Sampiyena pi saṃvāsaṃ samaggatthāya sampavattenti), which he obviously considered to be a far better motive for marriage.”

For me, the most notable fact that comes out of this book is that the Buddha considered the role of the Upasaka and Upasikas in propagating and preserving His Dharma as important as that of the Sangha. This is very significant as the Buddha’s primary reason for establishing the Sangha was for propagating His message; not for sacerdotal duties like Brahmins or Christian priests or community leader role like in Judaism.Servant woman Khujjuttara remembered and transmitted Buddha’s sermons in Kosambi. Buddha recognised Citta and Hatthaka as lay teachers and considered Citta the most erudite lay Dhamma teacher. How Citta outclassed the Jain leader, Mahavira is described in detail in page 177 and is well worth a read.Unfortunately, with the passage of time, the Sangha reduced the status of Upasaka and Upasika’s to those who look after their needs!