Mindfulness Mondays 9: The Middle Way
July 27, 2009 by dr. lam
The life of Buddha has always held fascination with me and has lessons for all of us who want to achieve a peaceful, joyful life. I am not espousing Buddhism, as I am not a Buddhist. But I am a fan of learning from as many cultural traditions and great men/thinkers as possible.
Gautama Siddhārtha, also known as Śākyamuni, or “sage of the Shakyas”, was born of nobility to the King Suddhodana and the Queen Maya in the region of modern Nepal. On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side. When the baby was born, he was named Siddhārtha meaning “he who achieves his aim”. During his birth celebrations, the hermit Asita, prophesied that he would become either a great ruler or a great sage based on the birthmarks he observed on his feet (I have been told that my birthmark under my foot is the same as Buddha’s!). Siddhartha got married at the age of sixteen to a girl named Yashodhara and had a son named Rahula. Siddhārtha was protected from viewing human suffering and lived in three palaces according to the wishes of his father King Suddhodana who wanted him to be a great ruler rather than a holy man, as it was foretold that if he saw four signs: old crippled man, a diseased man, a corpse and a monk that Siddhārtha would become a monk, or religious leader. Until the age of 29, Siddhārtha was protected behind palace gates so that he would never see these four signs.
At 29, Siddhārtha ventured out with his charioteer Channa, despite his father’s attempts to shield his son from viewing any of the four signs. When Siddhārtha encountered the old man, he asked his charioteer, “What is that person?” His charioteer replied, “An old man who is about to die.” Siddhārtha then asked what death meant. Upon hearing the reply he queried, “How can any of us be joyful if we are all going to die?” When he saw the holy man, the fourth of the four signs, he decided that his life would be better served in a similar vein by becoming a monk.
He wandered the streets giving alms and rejected all his worldly possessions. He sought enlightenment from one great spiritual master then another. He practiced extreme forms of Yogic austerities to attain inner bliss. He stopped taking food entirely and became very weak by this constant torture.
One day, a girl Sujata offered him some milk to aid his emaciated frame, and Siddhārtha then rested under a pipal tree, today known famously as the Bodhi Tree, or tree of wisdom. After 49 days of meditating at the age of 35, under this tree he finally arrived at enlightenment and thereby attained the moniker the Buddha, or “The Enlightened One”. Buddha espoused that to escape human suffering, we must strive to achieve “the Middle Way” between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. He danced in a trance for 7 days when he was able to achieve this wonderful state.
This week as we set our intention and hopefully for the remainder of our life, look at the extreme gestures in your life and rid yourself of these extreme lustful yearnings or on the opposite pole, austere self-abnegation. Through balance and attaining the Middle Way, we can have a chance at a happier, more peaceful existence.
namaste,
sml
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5 Responses to “Mindfulness Mondays 9: The Middle Way”
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Wow, Dr. Lam, that birthmark on your foot really must mean something there!…lol
Like I always say, you ROCK!! And I mean it!
Wow, didn’t know the story behind Buddha. Cool!
Yes, this is preaching at me. I’m typically the all or nothing type…lol I’m working on it! My new goal this next month is going to be taking a middle road with my PC. That’s going to be a hard one!
Thanks for all the wisdom, Dr. Lam!
thanks heather. really tired now. was supposed to fly in last night but spent 4 hours on the runway then the flight was canceled. just got in. check out my flikr photos.
Oh, poor you! Okay! Get some rest!
Great pix!! Bailey keeps getting cuter!! Glad you are back, Dr. Lam!! We kind of missed you around here!
Nice pic nice summary about Buddha’s life.