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Date Posted: 05:39:13 07/04/06 Tue
Author: d - 13 May 2006
Subject: Re: On the Full Moon in May
In reply to: ketch - 13 May 2006 's message, "On the Full Moon in May" on 05:38:06 07/04/06 Tue


From Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka.

Know that:
Helping Others helps Yourself!
Harmlessness is the prime Protection!
Meditation induces first Calm then Bliss!
Dhamma Study assures doubtless Certainty!
The Noble 8-fold Way makes Free & Deathless!

Remember:

At this Full Moon 2536 years ago the Blessed Buddha awakened
by completely perfect and unsurpassable self-Enlightenment!

At that time a girl named Sujata Senani lived in Uruvela. When adult,
she prayed before a certain Banyan tree, that she might get a husband
equal to herself in caste and that her firstborn may be a son. Her prayer
was successful, since so indeed did it happen. At the full moon day of the
Vesak month, she rose at early dawn & milked the cows. As soon as new
buckets were placed under the cows, their milk poured forth in streams
spontaneously all by itself. Seeing this miracle, she knew something special
was going on. Now at that very night the Future Buddha had 5 specific
dreams that made him conclude: Certainly, without doubt, today is the very
day, I will reach Enlightenment! His 5 colored radiance illuminated the
whole tree. Then Sujata came & offered the cooked milk rice in the hands
of the Great Being. After that a grass-cutter came going with a bundle of
grass just harvested from nearby. He offered the Great Being 8 handfuls
of Kusa grass, when he saw that this Sage was a Holy Man. The Future
Buddha accepted the grass and proceeded to the foot of the Bo-tree.
Reaching the imperturbable Eastern side, where all Buddhas take their seat,
he sat down saying to himself:
This is indeed the immovable spot where all the Buddhas have planted
themselves! This is the very place for destroying the net of desire!
Then the Future Buddha turned his back to the trunk and faced east.
Right there he then made this mighty decision:

Let just blood & flesh of this body dry up & let skin & sinews
fall from the bones. I will not leave this seat before having
attained the absolute supreme Enlightenment!

So determined did he seat himself in this unconquerable seat, which not
a 100 strikes of lightning could make him waver from.
At this very moment the rebel deity Mara -the Evil One- raised exclaiming:
Prince Siddhattha will pass beyond my power, but I will never allow it!
And sounding the Mara's war shout, he prepared his army & went out for
battle. Then Mara said to his militia: This Sakyamuni, son of Suddhodana,
is far greater than any other man, so we will never succeed to fight him
up front. We will therefore attack him from behind.
Frustrated, being unable even to touch the Wielder of power with 9 mighty
hurricanes of wind, rain, rocks, weapons, red coals, hot ashes, sand, mud,
& darkness Mara somewhat in panic commanded his army: Why do you stand
still? Seize, kill & drive away this prince. Mara yelled: Siddhattha, leave this
seat. It is not yours but mine! Hearing this the Well-gone One replied:
Mara, neither have you fulfilled the 10 perfections to the third degree
nor have you given the 5 great donations. Neither have you striven for insight,
nor for the welfare of the world, nor for enlightenment! Therefore does this
seat not belong to you, but indeed to me.
Suddenly overpowered by fear Mara's followers fled helter-skelter
in all directions. Not two went the same way, but leaving their weapons
in a chaos all behind, they fled terrified by panic. Seeing them flee, the
great assembly of deities triumphantly shouted: Mara is defeated. Prince
Siddhattha has Won! Let us celebrate the Victory! The deities then sang:

The Victory has this illustrious Buddha Won.
The Evil One, The End-maker is defeated & done.
Thus they jubilantly circled the wisdom throne,
the band of snakes singing their praises of the Seer,
the flocks of birds singing their praises of the Sage,
the assembly of Deities singing their praises of the Conqueror,
the group of Brahmas singing their praises of the Worthy One.

It was before the sun had set that the Tathagata thus conquered Mara &
defeated his army. Then at the same night, after having bathed, while the
Bo tree rained red sprigs on his robe, the Consummate One acquired
knowledge of previous existences in the first watch of the night:
With the mind thus concentrated, purified, bright, fixed, unified, focused,
tractable, compliant, steady & imperturbable, I directed it to remembrance
of my past lives. I recollected numerous past lives, i.e., one birth, two...five,
ten...fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, many eons of cosmic
contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion:
There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan & species, had such
a body. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain,
such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose there.
There I had such name, belonged to such a sort & family, had such a form.
Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the
end of my life. Passing away from that state, I re-arose here. Thus I
remembered my various past lives in all their various modes & details.
This was the first knowledge I attained in the first watch of the night.
Ignorance was destroyed; knowledge arose; darkness was destroyed;
light arose as happens in one who is alert, aware, & determined.
But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind
nor remain. With the mind thus still concentrated, purified, bright, intact,
pliant, malleable, steady, & imperturbable, I directed it to the knowledge
of the passing away & reappearance of beings. I saw by means of the divine
eye, purified & surpassing the human eye I saw beings passing away &
re-appearing, and I realized how & why they are high & low, beautiful &
ugly, fortunate & unfortunate all in accordance with the intentions of their
prior actions: 'These beings who were endowed with bad behaviour of
body, speech, & mind, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views and
acted under the influence of wrong views, with the break-up of the body,
after death, have re-appeared in the plane of misery, the bad destination,
the lower realms, even in hell.
But these beings who were gifted with good behaviour of body, speech &
mind, who did not revile the Noble Ones, who held right views and acted
under the influence of right views -- with the break-up of the body, after
death, have re-appeared in happy destinations, even in a divine world.'
Thus -- by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human --
I saw beings passing away & re-appearing, all in accordance with their
particular mixture of good & bad kamma.
But the satisfaction that arose in this way did not invade my mind nor
remain. With the mind thus concentrated, fully absorbed, I directed it
towards understanding the ending of the mental fermentations. I realized
how it actually comes to be, that:

Such is Misery...
Such is the cause of Misery...
Such is the end of Misery...
Such is the way to end Misery...

Such was the mental fermentations...
Such is the cause of fermentation...
Such is the end of fermentation...
Such is the way leading to the end of fermentation.'

When my mind saw that, realized that, it was freed of the fermentation of
sense-desire, released from the fermentation of becoming, unobstructed by
the fermentation of ignorance. Fully & perfectly Enlightened - The Buddha -
perceiving this immense glory, spoke these 2 solemn verses, which never has
been omitted by any of countless thousands of prior Buddhas:

Through this round of countless existences have I searched
yet failed to find 'the Creator', who framed this formation:
What Misery! is such Endless Birth, Ageing, Decay & Death!!

Now I see that 'the Constructor' of this structure is Craving...!!!
Never shall this construction be build again, as all the rafters
are shattered and the main beam is busted & broken...
At this stilling of all Craving, mind has finally calmed…

Then, friends, this vision of certainty arose in me: This release
is irreversible, this is the last birth, this endless reappearance is
finally ended...

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