Download What did Siddhartha realise when he became enlightened?

How did Siddhartha become enlightened?
Siddhartha left the aesthetics and began to follow the ‘Middle Way’, a life between luxury
and self-denial. He sat beneath a fig (Bodhi) tree and decided that he would not move until
he had reached enlightenment. Whilst meditating he struggled against Mara, eventually
overcoming him. He avoided temptation and distraction and achieved enlightenment. Some
sources say that it took 12 hours of meditation to achieve enlightenment; others say it took
49 days. Regardless of how long it took, Siddhartha achieved enlightenment, becoming
known as Buddha ‘The awakened one’. The Buddha shared his insight with others, so that
they too could follow his path and become enlightened like him.
Who was Mara and what role did he play in Siddhartha’s enlightenment?
Whilst Siddhartha was meditating, Mara, the chief of all the demons tried to disturb
Siddhartha’s concentration by conjuring up many fearful apparitions and visions. He
manifested terrifying demons, some throwing spears, some firing arrows, some trying to
burn him with fire, and some hurling boulders and even mountains at him. Through the
force of Siddhartha’s concentration, the weapons, rocks, and mountains appeared to him as
a rain of fragrant flowers, and the raging fires became like offerings of rainbow lights.
Mara tried instead to distract and seduce Siddhartha by summoning his beautiful daughters,
but Siddhartha responded by developing even deeper concentration. In this way he
triumphed over all the demons of this world, avoiding all distraction, craving and temptation
and became enlightened.
Mara claimed that the enlightenment rightfully belonged to him and not to the mortal-man
Siddhartha. Mara's monstrous soldiers cried out together, "I am his witness!" Mara
challenged Siddhartha, who will speak for you? Then Siddhartha reached out his right hand
to touch the earth, and the earth itself spoke: "I bear you witness!", and Mara disappeared.
He overcame Mara and reached enlightenment.
In the life of Buddha, Mara plays an important part. He forms an obstacle to the attainment
of Buddhahood (a state/rank of perfect enlightenment in Buddhism) and highlights the
obstacles which hinder someone's ability to become enlightened. In Buddhist cosmology,
Mara personifies unwholesome impulses, unskillfulness, the "death” of the spiritual life. He
is a tempter, distracting humans from practising the spiritual life by making mundane things
alluring, or the negative seem positive. Buddhism uses the concept of Mara to represent
and personify negative qualities found in the human ego and psyche. The stories associated
with Mara remind Buddhists that such demonic forces can be tamed by controlling one's
mind, cravings and attachments.
Mara can be understood to represent humans and the negative qualities and emotions we
possess such as:
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Greed
Craving
Lust/ Desire
Anger/Hatred/ Violence
Mara is a manifestation of one’s own mind and so Buddhists believe that Mara has power
only to the extent that our minds give it to him. In this sense Mara is used as a tool to teach
Buddhists about physical and/or psychological obstacles they will confront in their
meditation practice and on their journeys towards attaining enlightenment.
What did Siddhartha realise when he became enlightened?
Buddhists would say that it is difficult to convey exactly what Siddhartha realised when he
became enlightened, because understanding it is enlightenment. You would have to be
enlightened yourself to fully understand it. It is thought that he gained knowledge of his
previous lives, which means that he had lived before in different forms (reincarnation). He
understood how his past lives related to his present lives and that our actions in our present
lives have an impact on our next lives (kamma/ karma). He understood that everything we
know constantly changes and nothing is permanent, everything is ever changing and
impermanent (Anicca). He saw how negative feelings and craving make people suffer. And
finally, he realised that if we let go of craving and attachment, we could become
enlightened and reach the highest state of enlightenment (Nibbana).
What is enlightenment?
It is difficult to describe enlightenment, as to describe it you would need to understand it,
meaning that you would need to be enlightened yourself. Some describe it as a feeling of
peace, security and contentment. It’s not about understanding the facts of life, but it is a
new way of seeing and relating to life.
Enlightenment is often compared to waking up, because a person suddenly experiences a
complete transformation of body and mind when they wake up, they become
more conscious and aware. For this reason, some people will instead refer to the Buddha’s
enlightenment as his 'spiritual awakening'. Enlightenment it is a waking
of one’s consciousness which leads to a realisation and deep understanding of
reality. Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard describes enlightenment as ' a state of perfect
knowledge or wisdom, combined with infinite compassion.' It is not perfect knowledge of
data or facts but an understanding and knowledge of existence. The concept
of enlightenment is difficult to explain as only by becoming enlightened can one understand
what it means to be enlightened.
When the Buddha became enlightened he reached the state of Nibbana. He overcame the
three root poisons - desire, hatred and ignorance. These three poisons fuel suffering and by
overcoming these poisons, the Buddha was able to reach the state of Nibbana and be freed
from the cycle of constant rebirth. In Pali, Nibbana means 'to extiguish', it is the
extinguishing of the the three root poisons and of suffering. It is the state of liberation from
suffering. Nibbana is not a place like some sort of heaven or paradise and is not achieved in
an afterlife but is achieved in the current life.