The Buddha renounced the world at his twenty-ninth year, at his Thirty-fifth year he obtained the exalted enlightenment, and he preached the Dhamma until his death in his eightieth year. Surrounded by his loving kindness, compassion and wisdom, this beautiful human walked some 2600 years ago across the dusty roads of northeast India and tirelessly set and unconditionally committed to the happiness and well-being of all sentient ones creatures.
These four events are the most important for every Buddhist. The the places mentioned are the most important pilgrimage places.
This verse that the Buddha spoke in his last hours says a lot about one's own responsibility for realizing liberation. It is one of the many characteristics that the Buddhism of other religions distinguishes.
"My life is over.
The rest of the life span is short.
I am leaving you;
I have made myself my own refuge.
Be tireless, monks, mindful
and of pure discipline!
Guard your own mind
with strong determination!
He who tirelessly observes the Dhamma and the Discipline,
will go beyond the rounds of births
and end suffering."
The last words of the Buddha were:
"Well then, monks, I urge you:
all composite things have the nature of decay in them!
Determined by mindfulness, effect your own liberation[1]!"
In the Theravada Archive is the Maha Parinibbana Sutta (The Great Departure) available depicting the last days of the Buddha. See D16.
Endnotes
[1] Handa dani bhikkhave amantayami vo: Vayadhamma sankhara appamadena sampadetha. See wbk: appamada.
| Auteur: Peter van Loosbroek -- Ananda Copyright: www.sleuteltotinzicht.nl/glb_copyright.htm |