The Bodhisatta in Theravada Buddhism, Nico Moonen [christmas read aloud .txt] 📗

    During the time of the Buddha Konāgamana the great king Dhammarājā reigned in the city of Campā. He had five sons. The Bodhisatta, formerly the elephant Dhanapāla, was reborn there as the eldest son Dhammasena. All the sons studied at Takkasilā.[350] After their studies they went in different directions. The four younger sons died, and Dhammasena was anointed as the new king. One day he went with his wife and his two children to a river to enjoy themselves. Then a demon, wishing to eat the children, took the guise of a brahmin and begged for the children. The Bodhisatta was delighted and, thinking him to be a true brahmin, gave him his children. Then he made an aspiration to become a Buddha in the future. The demon ate the children and went back to the forest.

    Returning to the city the king reached the city-gate and saw a miserable old man. He asked: “What is the problem?” The old man replied that he had no wife and no son. Then the king wanted to give his queen. But the old man said that he could not take care of her as she was used to a rich royal lifestyle. Then the king gave his whole kingdom to the old man, again making the aspiration: “May I become a Buddha in the future by this gift.”

    The king became an ascetic and travelled through the sky to the Himālayas, to the sages with whom he lived after his study in Takkasila. At that period the Exalted One Konāgamana appeared in the world. Once a disciple of that Buddha went to the sages and spoke about the Buddha. The ascetic Dhammasena, leaving the Himālayas, came to the Buddha Konāgamana. Seeing the Tathāgata he was filled with joy and he begged for a Dhamma-talk. Then the Exalted One taught the Dhamma in detail, leading to Nibbāna. And the Bodhisatta Dhammasena thought: “The teachings of the Tathāgata are to be venerated exceedingly. Only the offering of the head is suitable.”

    Thinking so, he bowed down and cut his neck with his nails.[351] Immediately the head separated from the body and fell off. He was reborn in the Tusita heaven. In the future he will be the Buddha Tissa.[349]

    In the same manda aeon the elephant-king Pārileyya will be the Buddha Sumangala. In the past that elephant Pārileyya was the wheel-turning Emperor Panāda and ruled the whole of Jambudīpa. Afterwards, the Exalted One Kakusandha appeared in the world.

    A householder saw the Exalted One and, not knowing that he was a Buddha, asked the Exalted One: “O young man, what is your name?” The Buddha Kakusandha said: “I am called Satthā (teacher).”- “Why are you called Satthā?” – “I am the teacher of the thirty-one planes.” Thereafter the Buddha spoke about other qualities of a Buddha.

    The householder went to the Emperor Mahāpanāda and explained him the virtues of the Buddha. The Emperor asked the chaplain: “Are these virtues of the Buddha correct?” The chaplain said: “O king, no one else has such virtues, certainly these are correct.”

    The Emperor then decided he would like to pay homage to the Buddha but before doing so he established the householder in supremacy over himself. Then he went alone on foot in the direction of the Exalted One. At the foot of a tree he sat down, bowed and made an asseveration of truth: “If my confidence regarding the triple gem is unshakeable, may an ascetic’s requisites suitable for a bhikkhu appear.”

    The Exalted One Kakusandha, surveying the world, saw the intention of the Emperor and out of compassion he resolved: “May the eight requisites go through the sky and appear before him.” The Emperor, taking the requisites, said: “With these eight requisites I shall be freed from the suffering of samsāra. May I attain noble Nibbāna.”[353] He became an ascetic, developed the meditation about the 32 parts of the body,[354] and through the power of that concentration he travelled through the sky to the presence of the Exalted One.

    Then the Emperor Mahāpanāda, seated in midst of the bhikkhu-sangha, saw the Exalted One and offered him roots and fruits. At the end of the meal he begged the teacher: “Teach me one dhamma.” And the Buddha Kakusandha preached a Dhamma-discourse connected with Nibbāna.

    Then the Emperor Mahāpanāda, having heard the Dhamma to this extent, said: “Exalted One, please stop teaching Dhamma. It is better that I sacrifice my life for the Dhamma. By my gift of life, may I become a Buddha in the future.” And he cut his neck with his nails. Immediately the head broke away from the neck.[355] Having died there, he was reborn in the Tusita heaven.

    Through the fruit of the gift of offering his life the Bodhisatta Pārileyya will, in the future, become the Buddha Sumangala.[352]

    If the foregoing stories are true, then the predictions, made by the living Buddhas, must have been confirmations of predictions made aeons earlier. And there are several inconsistencies. They will be discussed here briefly.

    In story 2 the young man Nārada burnt himself. The Buddha would not have approved this. This is not the correct way. Killing oneself as a sacrifice for the Buddha or his Dhamma will be discussed later.

    The young man Suddha (story 3) was visited by the Buddha Konāgamana who foretold that he would be a Buddha in the future. Yet, in that story nowhere is it mentioned that Suddha made an aspiration for Buddhahood.

    The minister Bodhi (story 4) presented a gift to the Buddha Kassapa, which gift was created earlier by the supernormal power of that Exalted One. Is there any merit in a gift provided by the supernormal power of a Buddha? And can this gift be called a perfection? What special deed was done by the minister to get the offerings? It is also mentioned that he offered rice and robes. But who presented the robes to him? According to the story, he got only the rice from the Buddha Kassapa. This story also doesn’t make clear why he is suitable to be a Bodhisatta. And if he made the aspiration for the first time in the time of the Buddha Kassapa, it is not possible that he, after such a short period, will be reborn as a Buddha. At least 100,000 aeons are needed to fulfil the perfections.

    In story 5 we are told that Dīghasona, chief of the asuras, will be a future Buddha. But only human beings, and of them only men, can become Perfect Enlightened Ones. It is not possible that an asura will become a Buddha. And there is a prediction made by the demon Yanta to the king Sirigutta; but that prediction has no value at all.

    In story 6 the aspiration is made in the presence of a Chief Disciple and not in the presence of a living Buddha. That aspiration cannot possibly succeed because according to the Theravāda tradition it will have success only if made in the presence of a living Buddha!

    The elephant-king Chaddanta (story 7) wished for Buddhahood. Are animals able to have such high aspirations? And the rest of this story is unbelievable as well.

    In story 8 the youth Nanda offered gifts to a Paccekabuddha who lived in the period between the Buddha Kassapa and the Buddha Gotama. How did Nanda know about a Buddha, when he was living in a time in which no Buddhas appear?! And Nanda made an aspiration for Buddhahood. But that aspiration will not succeed because it was not made in the presence of a living Buddha.

    King Dhammarājā (story 9) gave his children to a demon disguised as a brahmin. As argued earlier the giving of the children may perhaps be useful for the father, but not for the children. And the king also wanted to give his wife to an old man showing he had no respect for the feelings of his wife and children. The aspiration of the king was not made in the presence of a living Buddha so it cannot have Buddhahood as a result.

    In story 10 it is stated that the elephant-king Pārileyya will be the future Buddha Sumangala. But in the Theravāda teachings only human beings can become Perfect Enlightened Ones and it would not be possible for an elephant to become a Buddha. Compare also story 5.

    In story 10 we find also that the emperor Mahāpanāda became an ascetic and developed the meditation about the 32 parts of the body. Was this kind of meditation already known before the time of the Buddha, or is it a specific Buddhist meditation? If the last is correct, then who taught him that meditation? Further he had confidence in the Triple Gem and asked for the requisites suitable for a bhikkhu. How did he know about the Dhamma and the Sangha? So far he had only heard about the Buddha.

    In the foregoing stories 2, 9, 10, and in the story about Ajita we find the giving of the life for the Buddha. In all those stories that giving was useless. The Buddha was not saved by the gift of offering the life. And he was not honoured by it either. Surely it is much better to spend one’s whole life, day by day, practising the Dhamma and being a good example for others, even in difficult circumstances.

    Self-immolation or burning oneself is not sanctioned in Pāli literature as a means to sanctification or as a kind of heroism or meritorious deed. The appearance of stories like this probably shows the influence of popular Mahāyāna and other folk-lore of the times. The Buddha denounced extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification as ignoble and unworthy practices. Offering amputated parts of the body to the Dhamma is not in keeping with the original teaching of the Buddha. The Dhamma is not merely to be worshipped but practised and for this one requires the body as healthy and complete as