Week 14 Story : The Buddha
The Buddha sat there, unmoved and unbothered. Weeks went by through rain, wind, and freezing temperatures. However, the Buddha still sat there, unbothered under the Tree of Knowledge. On his fourth week under the tree, the evil Mara presented himself in front of the Buddha who had recently been defeated by him.
"Blessed One, why do you tarry, you who know the path to deliverance? Blow out the lamp, quench the flame; enter Nirvana, O Blessed One; the hour has come," says Mara to the Buddha.
"Mara, I must not enter Nirvana. I must now spread my word of supreme knowledge and let the world know of its beauty." says the Buddha. At that, Mara leaves the Buddha under the tree where he stays unmoving.
On the fifth week comes torrential rains and freezing temperatures. The Serpent King, Mucalinda, knows that he must venture out to protect the Buddha of the extreme climate. The serpent coiled himself seven times around the Buddha in order to protect him from the downpour, therefore the Buddha was protected from this week long storm.
On the seventh week, two brothers, Trapusha and Bhallika, who were two merchants were presented in front of the sublime Buddha. They noticed just how skinny the man was, but they assumed he was a divine monk, so at once the set out to present food to the famished man. Little did the two know, they were bringing a meal to the Buddha.
Upon presenting food to him, the gods began speaking, "The man before you has accomplished supreme knowledge. The meal you two merchants bring him is his first meal in a matter of seven weeks. Great fortune is coming to the two of you in the near future."
Upon being spoken to directly by the gods, Trapusha and Bhallika knew that they must profess their faith towards the Buddha, thus becoming the first to do so.
Statue of Buddha and Mucalinda. Wikimedia
Author's Note :
I wrote in my own words with one of the sections in The Life of Buddha. While I didn't create a week by week story as the original does, I talked about some of the key instances that built the Buddha up. Mainly of the interactions he had between other humans or animals.
Bibliography :
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Hi Preston!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful story! I am not super familiar with the Buddha and history of Buddhism, but your story gave me some insight into how the Buddha became the Buddha. Your retelling of this story was very well-done. You gave every character background and personality in what little bit they were present in the story. I am especially fond of the brothers.