Download Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree - Unitarian Church of Harrisburg

Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
The Story of Buddha’s Enlightenment
(Version 2a)
A Sunday service led by the
Reverend Michael Walker, Interim Minister
Presented on Bodhi Day – December 6, 2015, at the
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
INVOCATION (SLT # 419)1
Look to this day!
May the kindling of this flame be like
For it is life, the very life of life.
the rising of the sun in your heart.
In its brief course lie all the verities
May it ever be so and blessed be you all!
And realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty;
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
1
By Kalidasa, 4th century Indian philosopher and contemporary of the Buddha.
December 6, 2015
Page 2
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
MEDITATION
believers whether Buddhist, Christian, Jewish,
Because we are talking about Buddhism today, for
Muslim, and so on. Basically, from the viewpoint
of real human value we are all the same.2
our meditation I would like to offer these words by the
present-day Dalai Lama, a Buddhist leader of the Tibetan
- His Holiness, The Dalai Lama
people. You are invited to find a comfortable spot in
your seat as we take time for meditation, followed by a
What do you do to find happiness?
moment of silence.
What do you do to rid yourself of suffering?
Human beings by nature want happiness
May it ever be so and blessed be you all!
and do not want suffering. With that feeling
everyone tries to achieve happiness and tries to get
rid of suffering, and everyone has the basic right to
do this. In this way, all here are the same, whether
rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Easterner
2
From H.H. The Dalai Lama, The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom, Snow
Lion Publications.
or Westerner, believer or non-believer, and with
December 6, 2015
Page 3
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
OFFERING
Rev. Michael Walker
If you are writing a check, please specify on the
This congregation offers a liberal spiritual home to
Memo line whether this is for your Pledge, an offering to
seekers from all walks of life. We are proud of the work
UCH, or for the Share-the-Plate recipient.
we do in the community, the classes we offer for children
Thank you, all, for your generosity. This
and adults, for the care and concern provided by this
morning’s offering will now be received.
community and it’s staff, and for these two beautiful
campuses that have each become a spiritual home for so
many.
If you are here for the first time, we invite you to
let the offering basket pass you by, because you are our
honored guest. And if you have made this your spiritual
home, we thank you for your continuing generosity.
Every month, we also collect donations during the
Offering to support a worthy cause. This month, our
Share-the-Plate Recipient is ____________________.
December 6, 2015
Page 4
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
Around 2,500 years ago, in a part of the world that
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
The Story of Buddha’s Enlightenment
we now know as northern India and Nepal, ruled the
Reverend Michael Walker
Shakya king, Sudhodana Gautama, and he had a son,
Prince Siddhartha Gautama. Like any prince, he lived a
This month, I’m going to give a series of sermons
privileged life in the palace. His tutors came to him, he
that are really stories, from various faith traditions. For
did not go out to go to school. He had all that he needed
today, I’m going to talk about the foundational myth of
or wanted, within the palace walls. As a boy, he had the
Buddhism, the story of the Buddha’s enlightenment. I
children of aristocracy as his playmates, also from
believe in the importance of stories, not as fiction but as a
privileged families. His childhood was a life of leisure
repository of cultural wisdom. I don’t believe that any of
and pleasure. The point is he had no experience of the
the stories I will share this month are 100% historically
outside world. He had not experienced life outside of the
accurate. But, I do believe that they contain a form of
palace, so he had no idea that other people’s lives might
Truth, in the sense that they teach us important lessons
be different than his.
about ourselves... about humanity.
December 6, 2015
There are many versions of this story, but they
Page 5
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
generally agree that in his youth, Siddhartha wanted to
asked, "You are powerful, father; can you make that old
see what was outside the palace. His father, the king,
man young again?" "No, my son, that is not in my
was opposed to this, but he finally relented, on the
power."
condition that the prince take guards with him, as he
On another day, they again went for a walk around
walked around the city. As they wandered around,
the city, and Siddhartha saw a woman, sitting on the side
seeing what there was to see, Siddhartha saw an elderly
of the road, with an empty wooden bowl in front of her.
man, stooped over and having difficulty walking. He
He had never seen an empty bowl, let alone one made out
asked his guards: “What is wrong with that man?”
of wood instead of gold or silver. He asked his guards,
“Nothing is wrong with him, he is just old. This happens
“Why is that woman sitting on the ground, with an empty
to all of us,” said a guard, realizing that young Siddhartha
bowl?” “She is poor and begging for alms so that she
had never seen old age. When the prince returned to the
may buy some food,” a guard said, realizing that the
palace, he sat and thought about this for a while, trying to
prince had never before seen poverty.
understand what happens to people after many long years
When he again returned to the palace, he sat for a
of life. The prince told his father what he had seen, and
December 6, 2015
long time, contemplating privilege and poverty. He
Page 6
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
finally went to his father, the king, and asked him how
Rev. Michael Walker
know all he could learn about his people.
they might be able to help poor people. “We have so
In a poor quarter of the city, he again saw elderly,
poor and hungry people. And, he also saw a boy, whose
much, father, and they have so little!” “Yes, son. But, if
eyes were clouded and white. The boy was held by his
we were to give all that was needed to every poor person,
mother, and he was listless, weak and sickly. “This boy is
they would be happy and we would now be poor.
not old, but he looks as if he cannot go and play with
Poverty is too big of a problem for us to solve.”
other children. What is wrong with him?” asked
Siddhartha went off to think about what his father had
said, but was still very disturbed that he was unable to do
Siddhartha. One of his guards said, “This boy is very
something to change the situation.
sick. Sometimes, children from families who are poor
and hungry become ill.” Siddhartha’s family had all the
Some days later, he again went for a walk with his
guards. They went all over the city, because Siddhartha
doctors they needed, all the food they needed, all they
had come to realize that that there was much about the
ever needed – and he had never before seen sickness. He
world he did not know, and he wanted to learn. If he was
was greatly disturbed by what he had seen, and he
to rule his father’s kingdom someday, he felt he should
December 6, 2015
decided to go home.
Page 7
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
On the way home, lost in thought, Siddhartha
Rev. Michael Walker
better that you know that life can be difficult, or painful,
contemplated how life was for himself, and how it was
or tragic. That life for the people is not like life as it is
for others. He was coming to understand poverty,
known by the rich and powerful.”
sickness and old age. Just as he was thinking this very
thing, he saw a sight that brought him to a halt. The
The years go by and Siddhartha, now a young
elderly man he had seen on a previous walk was lying
man, has married and had a young son of his own. But
before him, face down on the side of the road. “What has
he was forever affected by the things he had learned
happened to this man!” Siddhartha exclaimed. “Guards,
about life, and knew that life outside his father’s palace
help him!” With looks of sorrow, they said, “I’m sorry,
was so very different than his own. As a youth, he had
my prince. We cannot help this man. He is dead.” The
been disabused of the notion that his father, the king, had
within his power to change all the vagaries of life for his
guards knew that the prince had never before seen death.
people. Earthly power is limited. And, year after year,
The leader of the guards said, “I am sorry you have seen
watching his people struggle to deal with old age,
these things. These are the reason the King wished that
sickness, poverty and death, Prince Siddhartha decided
you would not walk around the city. But, perhaps, it is
December 6, 2015
Page 8
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
he must leave his father’s palace. He could not live in a
among people who preferred simplicity and quiet, and
place of privilege, anymore. At the age 29, Siddhartha
lived their lives with a sense of grace. When one among
renounced his title and inheritance, left his family, the
them became sick, the others cared for him. When he
palace and his privileged life, and he began walking...
died, they prayed for him, prepared his body, and sent
This time, alone. Just, walking... Walking, far into the
him off, reverently. Siddhartha remembered the man
wilderness, where he found a group of ascetic monks
lying on the side of the road, and began to think that he
who had given up on earthly pleasures. He found himself
needed to teach his people how to accept their lives as
among them, and he stopped walking. And so now, he
they were, and to live with a sense of awareness, but also
sat. And he sat. And he sat.
a sense of serenity. It seemed strange to him, to think of
people going on with life, without paying attention to the
For six years, he lived a simple, quiet life as he
then traveled to learn from various teachers, monks,
hardships experienced by others around them. It seemed
priests and philosophers. He sat meditating, studied
wrong to continue along on one’s business, ignoring a
philosophy and ascetic techniques, gathered food in the
dead body or a sick child or a hungry person, sitting...
forest, and begged for alms along the road. He lived
To learn about their lives, Siddhartha continued to sit.
December 6, 2015
Page 9
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
After these many years learning from many
enlightenment, and Buddha means the Enlightened One,
teachers, one day Siddhartha came upon a Pipal, or ficus
much in the same way that Christos (Christ) means the
tree, in a place now called Bodh Gaya. He decided to sit,
Anointed One. In both cases, these are not names; they
to meditate, to contemplate all he had learned of life and
are titles bestowed upon them by their students and
suffering. By some accounts, he sat there for forty days
followers. But understand, Siddhartha, who had given up
and forty nights (have you heard that time frame
his royal title, had acquired this new title because he had
somewhere, before?), deeply absorbed in a mental state
become a wise teacher. But he was the first to say, he
that brought clarity of thought and vision to him. So
needed no title, and wanted no title. But, 2,500 years
there he was, sitting under the tree, now known as the
later, you can see how that turned out.
Bodhi tree (because bodhi means enlightenment.) People
came to see this man who had sat for so long under this
At that time, sitting under the bodhi tree, the
tree, and they listened to him explain four truths, Four
essence of Gautama Buddha’s teachings, and such
Noble Truths, about the nature of life. They began to call
teachings are called dharma, was distilled into what is
him the Gautama Buddha, or the enlightened one from
now known as the Four Noble Truths.
the Gautama family. We understand that bodhi means
December 6, 2015
Page 10
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
The first truth is dukkha, life is suffering. This is
Rev. Michael Walker
The second truth in the Buddha’s dharma was
what the Buddha had learned, as a boy, walking outside
tanha, the origin of suffering, which is that we have
of his father’s palace. Though he did not want for
craving or desire, coming from a place of ignorance,
anything in his own life, he saw all around him suffering.
attachment or aversion, within each of us. We desire
Because any state or stage in life is not permanent, life is
happiness and pleasure, a comfortable home, power in
always changing, it is inevitable that one would
the world or in our work, good health, eternal youth, food
experience suffering sooner or later. We realize that life
on the table, and many more things. We crave... Oh, we
does not always live up to our own personal expectations,
crave so many things. And in their absence, in times
and this causes us heartache, if not worse. Buddha taught
when our cravings are unmet, we feel a sense of
his students that we may experience happiness in life, but
suffering. Sometimes, we even crave to have none of
that is a fleeting experience. This instability that is the
those pleasures, knowing that they cause suffering in
inherent nature of life creates within each of us, at some
their absence. Sometimes, we mentally and emotionally,
point in our lives, a sense of suffering. He also taught
live in a place of ignorance, attachment or aversion. By
that this is not a negative thing, it just is. This is life.
ignorance, the Buddha meant that we simply do not
December 6, 2015
Page 11
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
understand the nature of reality, the nature of life. And,
is ignored or abandoned. This is the basis for the
maybe, we don’t want to understand! By attachment, he
spiritual practices that arose from Buddha’s dharma.
meant that we hold onto those pleasures, when we have
Working to end suffering is the ultimate goal. By
them, trying so hard to never let go of that pleasure.
becoming aware of our cravings, by addressing our own
Never mind that life keeps changing, whether we want it
ignorance, by accepting what is, we learn to end our own
to or not. And by aversion, the Buddha meant that we
suffering. After many long years of such spiritual
fear we will have experiences in life that we don’t want,
practice, or maybe after only minutes of intense practice,
so we try to avoid them; or, that we fear that we will not
perhaps we, too, can achieve nirvana, which is a state of
attain our cravings, and so avoid living life, at all. These
being in which we are in balance, living in the space
cravings... these fears... this unwillingness to accept life
between suffering and joy, liberated from the fears of life
at face value, is what causes us suffering. In the
and death, forevermore walking on the middle road of all
existence.
Buddha’s teaching, it is all within us. But there is hope...
Still sitting under the bodhi tree, the Buddha taught
The third truth the Buddha taught was, nirodha,
his fourth Noble Truth, which is the Eightfold Path of
the end of suffering that comes when craving or desire
December 6, 2015
Page 12
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Buddhist life: the eight Rights, which are: Right
Rev. Michael Walker
tree for all those years. And he again began walking…
Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right
Walking… And this time, he was not alone. His
Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness,
followers, followed. Walking…
and Right Concentration, which brings us back around to
Right Understanding, again. This circular, Eightfold
So for years, the Buddha and his followers walked,
Path, is the Wheel of Dharma – the Buddha’s teachings in
teaching their dharma as they went, founding
an endless biofeedback loop! Our diligent efforts to live
communities of practitioners, called sanghas, everywhere
life by each one of those “rights” leads us next into our
they went. It was to this end that the Buddha dedicated
efforts to live life by each of the following “rights.” It is
the remainder of his life. He never sat upon his father’s
never ending… The Buddha taught that by living life by
throne, because his work as a teacher had far more
these precepts, one would not experience the cravings
importance than ruling a kingdom ever would. And I
and fears that cause suffering.
think he was right, because these thousands of years later,
Once he had taught these Four Noble Truths, the
most people have heard of the Buddha and his teachings,
Buddha could finally get up, from sitting under the bodhi
December 6, 2015
while I think unlikely that most people have any idea
Page 13
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
see that tree along the path ahead of us, and find
who King Sudhodana Gautama was… Nor do they care.
ourselves there… sitting under the bodhi tree, with a new
And so it came to be, some forty or so years later,
that the Buddha was sitting on the side of the road, in the
understanding of the nature of life.
shade of a tree, with an empty bowl in front of him,
May it ever be so and blessed be you all!
grown old, yet wise... He had spent a lifetime responding
to what he had seen as a boy: sickness, old age, poverty
and death. Although there are many kinds of suffering,
he would not have sought to learn about them, if he had
not walked outside of the walls of his father’s palace and
seen the things he saw. His realization of four simple
truths and his desire to teach them to anyone who would
listen has allowed half of the world, over many long
centuries, to follow a middle path. Perhaps it is time for
us to follow such a path? Walking… walking… until we
December 6, 2015
Page 14
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
v.2a
Rev. Michael Walker
BENEDICTION (SLT # 595)
In benediction, let’s close with these words adapted
from the Bodhisattva Vows:
May [you and] all sentient beings be well
and enjoy the root of happiness:
Free from suffering and the root of suffering.
May [you] not be separated from the joy
beyond sorrow.
May [you] dwell in spacious equanimity
Free from craving, fear, and ignorance.3
May it ever be so and blessed be you all!
3
These words adapted from the Bodhisattva Vows.
December 6, 2015
Page 15
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg