The last months of the Buddha's life
Vomiting Buddhab and grieving disciples: wall painting from the Isan
In the last months of his life, Mr Buddha retreated to the less populated areas of northern India. He knew his death was near. Here's what we know about it.
Buddhism emphasizes the transience of everything. The Buddha was confronted with old age, suffering and death and devoted the rest of his life to the question of why this and the way out of that suffering.
Yet we never see an image of an old Buddha, he always resembles a healthy young man. We also hardly ever see a sick Buddha. I know of a wall painting on the exterior of a temple in Isan that depicts a surrendering Buddha just before his death. We know the statues called 'the Reclining Buddha'. They represent 'the Dying Buddha', but it is rarely worded that way. Maybe because his death feels like a victory.
Two old men: the Buddha and King Easteredi
A follower of the Buddha, King Easteredi of the Kosala Empire, was worried. He saw that there was an increasing hunger for power and violence between the rich in the Ganges area. When he heard during a trip that the Buddha was in that area, he went to see him. Easteredi praised the tranquility and peace emanating from the Buddha and the Sangha and they also joked together about their age, both were eighty years old.
After Easteredi took his leave he found that his retinue had disappeared except for a lady-in-waiting who told him that there had been a palace revolution that had enthroned the crown prince Vidudabha and that his life was in danger if he returned there. The king decided to go to the capital Rajagaha of the neighboring kingdom of Magadha where relatives lived. However, the gate was already closed and the king spent the night outside the walls. The next morning he was found dead in a shelter for the poor.
De Buddha was very interested in the politics of the time. He often spoke to kings or their deputies. He saw and heard the ambitions of the kings who wanted to take over the smaller kingdoms in their area. It wouldn't be long before Easteredi's son would defeat and massacre the Sakyans, the Buddha's people.
Ananda, the Buddha's most beloved disciple, was horrified to see the Buddha's aging. He was wrinkled, his limbs were limp, his body bent, and his senses seemed to be failing more and more. "So it is, Ananda," said the Buddha. Old age is sometimes cruel, especially because of the increased fragility, and that fragility was also evident in the signs of the times.
Young ambitious men rebelled against their parents, sons killed their fathers. In those last years of the Buddha's life, the scriptures speak of the horrors of a world where all awe and sanctity seemed to be lost. Selfishness, hatred, envy, greed and ambition predominated. People who stood in the way of the pursuit of power were ruthlessly eliminated. The Buddha's message of selflessness and loving kindness seemed to have been forgotten.
The Buddha's Journey to the North
The Buddha wanted the rain retreat, the vassa, spend in Vesali. He traveled there with a large number of monks. He spent the night in a mango orchard belonging to the courtesan (note 1) Ambapali who received and invited him to a meal. When a later group of visitors also invited the Buddha to a meal, and the Buddha told them that he had already accepted an invitation from the courtesan Ambapali, they mocked, "Of course the Buddha prefers a courtesan to us!"
The Buddha continued his journey after sending away a large number of monks. He was ill for a few days and Ananda asked how the Sangha, monasticism, should be governed after his death. Did the Buddha appoint monks as leaders? The Buddha replied that the Sangha needed no leadership except the Dhamma, and only the Dhamma. People should rely on their own inner strength fed by meditation and concentration and not on authority.
The dying Buddha, relief from the Gandhara period, 2nd-3rd century AD. (Northwest Pakistan, Northeast Afghanistan)
After the Buddha had endured a final temptation from Mara, his shadow-self, and had given up the will to live on, he gave a farewell speech to a number of monks. “I have only taught you things that I have experienced myself,” he said, asking them not to assume anything based solely on trust. But, he said, the most important thing is to live for others. Attaining Enlightenment is not a prize to keep for yourself, but an incentive to work for the well-being and happiness of all, out of compassion for others and the whole world.
In a place called Pava, the Buddha ate a meal with Cunda, the son of a goldsmith. The following night, the Buddha became seriously ill with severe abdominal pain and bloody vomiting. All kinds of theories have been woven into this that speculate whether Cunda poisoned the Buddha.
After a few days the Buddha recovered and he continued the journey with a number of monks to Kusinara where he would die.
Parinibbana
The death of the Buddha, of any Buddha, of anyone who is already enlightened, who has attained nibbana, is called parinibbana (parinirvana in Sanskrit). It is the letting go of the last remnants of earthly existence, and the complete abandonment of the cycle of rebirths to a place of rest and peace.
The Buddha left many descriptions of what nibbana, enlightenment, is. It is freedom from selfishness, greed, jealousy, hatred and revenge. It is 'extinguishing' desires and it is detachment. But what is parinibbana, the state after death, has been the subject of much controversy between different Buddhist denominations and accusations of heresy. Parinibbana is All or Nothing.
The Buddha dies
On the way to Kusinara was a grove of sala trees. The Buddha was tired and in pain. He lay down under some trees which then dropped their petals on him. Later in the village, he called Ananda and told him how he wanted the funeral. Ananda listened and went out and wept for a long time. "My Teacher now enters parinibbana, my Teacher who showed so much compassion and was always so kind to me."
Sensing Ananda's tears, the Buddha said, 'This is enough, Ananda. Do not be sad. Didn't I say that nothing lasts and everything passes?' “And, Ananda,” the Buddha continued, “you have cared for me with love and kindness for many years. You supported me with all your words and thoughts. You helped me with joy and with full conviction. You have gained much merit, Ananda. Keep going and you too will soon be enlightened.'
But Ananda couldn't let it go. "Why do you have to die here, in this jungle, in a mud hut, in this backward place?" The Sangha also later turned out to be embarrassed by this choice of the Buddha.
The Buddha turned back to Ananda. “Perhaps you think that the Teacher's words are a thing of the past, and that there will be no more Teacher. It's not like that. Let the Dhamma and the Discipline be your Teacher from now on." He had always told his students that it was not himself, but the Dhamma, the Teaching, that was important.
He turned to all his disciples for the last time and said: 'Everything must go. Seek with diligence your enlightenment'. The Buddha lost consciousness and died.
Like a flame blown out by the wind
Goes to rest and can no longer be interpreted
In the same way, the enlightened man also becomes free from selfishness
rest and can no longer be interpreted
Beyond all imagination
beyond the power of words….
Main Source
Karen Armstrong, Buddha, 2000
Note 1 a courtesan is a woman of easy virtue who resides in high circles
About this blogger
-
Born in 1944 in Delfzijl as the son of a simple shopkeeper. Studied in Groningen and Curacao. Worked as a doctor in Tanzania for three years, then as a general practitioner in Vlaardingen. A few years before my retirement I married a Thai lady, we had a son who speaks three languages well.
Lived in Thailand for almost 20 years, first in Chiang Kham (Phayao province) then in Chiang Mai where I liked to bother all kinds of Thai with all kinds of questions. Followed Thai extracurricular education after which a diploma of primary school and three years of secondary school. Did a lot of volunteer work. Interested in the Thai language, history and culture. Have been living in the Netherlands for 5 years now together with my son and often with his Thai girlfriend.
Read the latest articles here
BackgroundJanuary 15 2025Prejudices fuel uproar over Myanmar border births
BackgroundJanuary 11 2025How much does the Thai Royal Family cost per year?
OpinionsDecember 30 2024Twenty Wasted Years in Thai Politics
BackgroundDecember 25 2024What does our DNA say? A few cases from the Netherlands and Thailand
Thank you for this beautiful story. I have read it several times and now understand a little more about Buddha's life and what he is trying to convey to his disciples.
Very good and instructive.
Beautiful Tina. Read with great pleasure.
Tino, thank you also for this beautiful piece.
It is a pity that Buddha (Gautam) is always referred to as an image in the West. So The Buddha and not just Buddha.
I don't think it's appropriate to talk about The Jesus. Or Allah.
In Sanskrit He is called Bodh, pronounced Bodhā. This ā sounds like e in the word de.
In the West this ā is translated as a.
There are many examples where the ā is written in a regular a, which changes the sound.
Examples:
Yoga has become Yoga.
Dharmā has become Dharma (in Thai Dhamma).
Rama has become Rama.
Whether the ā should be written as ă I leave in the middle.
Tino, please excuse my notes. I just wanted to clarify the statements.
Please do not take this as a criticism of this wonderful piece of work.
I would like to see more such stories.