The Buddha to his family: Money and Happiness

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly based on initial translation by Ven. Thanissaro (Geoffrey DeGraff), Sakka Sutra: "To the Shakyans" (AN 10.46); Wiki; Sirimunasiha

Golden face of Afghan Buddha excavated from 2,600-year-old Mes Aynak ("Copper Well") temple complex, one of the first and possibly the largest monastic complexes in the world.

Bamiyan, Afghanistan (ancient Sakka, Scythia), at the Himalayan foothills of the Hindu Kush, was a wealthy East-West crossroads on the Silk Route beyond India into Central Asia (wiki).

 

On one occasion the Blessed One [the Buddha] was staying near Kapilavatthu [Kapilavastu, likely in the region of modern Bamiyan and Kabul (Kapil?), Afghanistan, beyond the ancient northwest frontier of India] at the Banyan Park.
 

First anthropomorphic images of the Buddha

Then many Shakyan lay followers, on the lunar observance day (uposatha), went to see the Blessed One, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. As they were sitting there, the Blessed One said to them, "Shakyans, do you observe the eightfold lunar observance?"
 
"Sometimes we do, venerable sir, and sometimes we do not." 

• [The weekly lunar observance days (full moon, new moon, first and last quarter moons), call uposatha days, are a time of intensive effort and rededication to the Buddha's Dharma. Its eight factors or limbs (anga) are the Eight Precepts observed for that day and night.]

"It is no gain for you, Shakyans. It is ill-gotten, that in this life so threatened by grief, in this life so threatened by death, you only sometimes observe the eight-factored lunar observance and sometimes do not.
 
"What do you think, Shakyans. Suppose a person, by some profession or other, without encountering an unprofitable (akusalam, unskillful, wasted) day, were to earn half a gold coin.

• [See Wisdom Quarterly discussion of the gold, silver, and copper kahapana below.]

The first Buddhas were Indo-Greco (Boonlieng/flickr)

"Would that person deserve to be called a capable person, full of initiative?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

 

"Suppose a person, by some profession or other, without encountering an unprofitable day, were to earn a whole coin... two coins... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten... 20...30 ... 40... 50... 100 coins. Would that person deserve to be called a capable person, full of initiative?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

 

"Now what do you think: Earning 100 or 1,000 coins a day, and saving up one's gains, and living for 100 years, would a person arrive at a great mass of wealth?"

 

"Yes, venerable sir."

  

Massive Bamiyan Buddha, Kapilavastu (grand-bazaar)

"Now what do you think: Would that person, because of that wealth, on account of that wealth, with that wealth as the cause, live enjoying unalloyed bliss for a day, a night, half a day, or half a night?"
 
"No, venerable sir. And why is that? Sensual pleasures are inconstant (unstable, undependable, fickle, impermanent), hollow, false, deceptive by nature."

"Now, Shakyans, there is the case where a disciple of mine, spending ten years practicing as I have instructed, would live enjoying unalloyed bliss for 100 years, 100 centuries, 100 millennia.

• [One reason for this is jhana (meditative absorption) and its astounding karmic aftereffects. It is on account of attaining to one of the eight jhanas, re-entering it frequently, or mastering it completely that one, going no further to cultivate liberating insight in this life, is reborn in superior planes of existence, heavens (worlds in space or other dimensions), with lifespans that last aeons. See Large Chart in 31 Planes of Existence.]

"And that person would be a once-returner, a non-returner, or at the very least a stream-winner.

  

Kapilavastu? Sakastan (SCMP.com)

"Let alone ten years, there is the case where a disciple of mine, spending nine years... eight years... seven... six... five... four... three... two years... one year practicing as I have instructed, would live enjoying unalloyed bliss for 100 years, 100 centuries, 100 millennia. And that person would be a once-returner, a non-returner, or at the very least a stream-winner.

• [In a more famous sutra (MN 10), the Buddha uses this cascading description of time to emphasize that while it might take as many as seven years to reach enlightenment, it might actually only take as few as seven days of mindful application (on a foundation of powerful concentration). See the Greater Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse.]

Gandhara-style Buddha, Bactria (Boonlieng/flickr)

"Let alone one year, there is the case where a disciple of mine, spending ten months... nine months... eight months... seven... six... five... four... three... two months... one month... half a month practicing as I have instructed, would live enjoying unalloyed bliss for 100 years, 100 centuries, 100 millennia. And that person would be a once-returner, a non-returner, or at the very least a stream-winner.
 
"Let alone half a month, there is the case where a disciple of mine, spending ten days and nights... nine days and nights... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two days and nights... one day and night [this expression "one day and night" suggests one uposatha day] practicing as I have instructed, would live enjoying unalloyed bliss for 100 years, 100 centuries, 100 millennia. And that person would be a once-returner, a non-returner, or at the very least a stream-winner.
 

Did the Shakyans listen and benefit?

"It is no gain for you, Shakyans. It is ill-gotten, that in this life so threatened by grief, in this life so threatened by death, you only sometimes observe the eightfold lunar observance and sometimes do not."
 
"Then from this day forward, venerable sir, we will observe the eightfold lunar observance!"
 

Gold kahapanas, ancient coins used in Central Asia (Afghanistan), India, Sri Lanka (Siri)

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Later kahapana with the Buddha

• NOTES: India did not have anthropomorphic (human-like) representations of the Buddha or the "gods" (devas, brahmas) until Buddhists outside of India -- in Hellenized Afghanistan, Gandhara, and Central Asia (Bactria, Scythia, Sodgdia, etc.) -- made the first images.
• Isn't it interesting that maps of the area in ancient times show a Sakastan right in the vicinity of modern Afghanistan? And isn't it more interesting that the main "god" (deva) of earthly relevance in Buddhism and of the Buddha's time -- the "King of the Gods/Devas" -- is called Sakka?



Greco-Buddhist art (Bimaran casket)

• This discourse, "Sutra to the Shakyans" (Sakka Sutta) is not called the Sakya or Shakya Sutra but the Sakka Sutta, suggesting that they were called the Sakkas -- Scythians, one of any far wandering "tribes" (family clans) relying on horses (like Siddhartha's famed white pony Kanthaka), rich with gold from controlling commerce and land along the Silk Route of traveling merchants taking riches between East and West? See discussion in Pali Encyclopedia.
• See also AN 3.70; AN 8.43; Ud 2.10; MN 10

Ancient Money (the kahapana)

Wisdom Quarterly English translation from German-Wiki

Modern minor excavation at Mes Aynak, Afghanistan shows gold and jewellery treasure. This hoard was dated from 500 AD to 700 AD (Kadir Salamviking)

 

Kahapana was the name of an ancient Indian coin. It was either copper, silver, or gold. Its shape was round or rectangular. In Sanskrit it was called purana, in English "elding." Kahapanas are mentioned in early Buddhist literature, where their role was as a means of payment on the Indian subcontinent of antiquity. It is also in evidence in excavations. More

Set of kalandas of corresponding weight -Type I -Chank over Vase or Pot (Sirimunasiha).

Warding off "evil" spirits (sutra)

Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; G.P. Malalasekera (DN 32)

Covered in oil and ash with horns in San Martin Tilcajete, March 2011. The paint is used to ward off evil spirits before Lent instead of protective chants (Jorge Luis Plata/Reuters).

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VULTURE'S PEAK, ancient India - The Four Great Space Kings having set a guard over the four quarters of the Earth's sky, visited the Buddha, saluted him, and sat down respectfully to one side with hosts of ogres (yakkhas).

King Vessavana told the Buddha that the ogres did not, for the most part, believe in the Buddha for the reason that they did not find it pleasant or agreeable to abstain from the things which he declared to be "evil" -- such as the taking of life, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, intoxication, and so on.

 

And in order that the Buddha's disciples, retreating to lonesome and remote parts of the forest where the ogres dwell, might find protection from them, King Vessavana suggested that the Buddha might learn the ātānātiya word-rune (rakkha).

The "Four Great Kings" guard the skies of Earth as Sakka's regents in the deva world.

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The Buddha consenting by his silence, Vessavana proceeded to recite it. It opens with a salutation to the seven buddhas, beginning with Vipassī Buddha. The remainder contains a list of the devas and other superhuman beings, the Four Great Kings heading the list, who are described at length. Forty-one other devas are mentioned as a kind of appendix or afterthought, all mentioned one after another with no attempt at group division and without any details, in what are, apparently, mnemonic doggerels.

 

A part of the Mahāsamaya Sutra (Sections 10-20) appears to be an improved and enlarged edition of this list of bare names.

The Buddha learned the word-rune (spell, mantra) and taught it to the monastics (wandering ascetics, recluses, hermits, Buddhist monks and nuns).

 

The Atānātiya Sutra is now regarded as a protective chant, and its influence is said to pervade a hundred million world systems (VibhA.430). And DA.iii.969 gives a long description of the ritual followed when reciting it.

 

In Buddhist Sri Lanka, for instance, it is recited with great fervor at the conclusion of ceremonies, particularly in times of illness, in order to ward off evil spirits.

 

It is included in the list of protections found in the Questions of King Milinda (p.151). On the importance of this sutra in the history of India, see Rhys Davids, Buddhist India (pp.219-37).

The Anger-Eating Demon

Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, retelling of ancient Buddhist story from the Sakka Samyutta (SN 22)

The hot demon Kim Kardashian absorbs our hate and grows stronger (animalnewyork.com)

 

Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: He fed on the anger of others. And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food. He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, or national and racial hatred, fanning the fire of racist hatred.
 
Even to stir up a war was not very difficult for him. And whenever he succeeded in bringing about a war, he could gorge himself. After all, once a war starts, hate multiplies exponentially by its own momentum and affects even normally kind, compassionate, and friendly people.
 

The demon!

The demon's food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to keep himself from overeating, being content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment found close by.
 
But as often happens with successful people, he became overbearing. One day, feeling bored, he thought, "Shouldn't I try it with the devas?" On reflection he chose the space world of the Thirty-Three, ruled by Sakka, King of the Devas (literally, "shining ones").

He knew that only a few of these devas had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will and aversion and fear, even though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels. So by magic power he transferred himself from Earth to that nearby celestial realm. He was lucky enough to arrive at a time when Sakka the divine king was absent.

There was none in the large audience hall, and soon the demon seated himself on Sakka's empty throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a tasty feast.

Soon some of the devas came to the hall. First they could hardly believe their divine eyes when they saw the ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning. Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament: "Oh, ugly demon, how can you dare sit on the throne of our king? What gall! What disrespect! What a crime! You should be thrown headlong into some hell, straight into a boiling cauldron of oil! You should be quartered alive! Get out! Get out!"
 
While the devas grew more and more angry and incensed, the demon was pleased: From moment to moment he grew in size, in strength, and in power -- gorging on their hate. The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. And this evil aura kept the devas at a distance, and due to their own anger, their own natural radiance dimmed.
 
Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall, and it grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka, the King of Devas, emerged. As a stream enterer (one entered upon the first stage of enlightenment), the undeflectible stream that leads to nirvana, was unshaken by what he saw.

The smoke-screen created by the devas' anger parted when Sakka slowly and politely approached the demon on his throne. "Welcome, friend! Please, stay seated. I can use another seat. May I offer you a drink of hospitality? Our Amrita nectar is good. Or do you prefer a stronger brew, some Soma perhaps?"
 
While Sakka spoke these kind and friendly words, the demon rapidly began to shrink to a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke which soon dissolved.

The New Hate (Goldwag)

The gist of this story dates back to the discourses of the Buddha. But even now over 2,600 years later, our world looks as if large hordes of Anger-Eating Demons were haunting it. And we are keeping them well nourished all over the Earth. Fires of hatred, greed, delusion, intolerance, and wide-traveling waves of violence threaten to engulf humankind. 

The grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord, manifesting in angry thoughts and words and in violent deeds. There was a time to end our self-destructive slavery to our habitual impulses of hate and aggression. They better serve demonic forces than us.

The story reveals how these demons of hate can be exorcised -- not by more hate but by the power of gentleness and love, compassion and equanimity. If this power of loving-kindness can be developed and displayed at a grass-root level, in the widely spread net of our personal relationships, nations at large, and world at large, we will all be benefited by it.

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Moon Rabbit: Buddhist Birth-Stories (Ask Maya)

Amber Larson, Maya, Xochitl, Wisdom Quarterly

NS writes in: Buddhist cave temples found in Grand Canyon is an interesting find! The "Birth Stories" (the Jatakas, tales that, according to Prof. Rhys Davids, inspired Aesops Fables) actually mention the Bodhisat (the Buddha-to-be) guiding men across the seven seas in a ship in the Supparaka-Jataka.
 
We also have the English translator always mentioning corn in the Jatakas. [This is more likely a reference to grain in general, but possibly maize from the Americas.] If his translation is correct and literal, that means corn was found in India due to trade with the Americas long before 1492 [when Afghan and Chinese Buddhist missionaries arrived in what is now Mexico/California and was then Mesoamerica].
 
Another birth story, the Sasa Jataka, is about how the rabbit got on the Moon; we find a similar story among Native American Indians.

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The Selfless Hare (Sasa Jataka)

Ken and Visakha Kawasaki, Jataka Tales of the Buddha: An Anthology, Buddhist Publication Society (BPS.lk) via Brelief.org edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson

All of Asia can see it: the rabbit or hare on the Moon (makiepencollector)

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Clarke, you don't have a chance! (hiltonbarbour)

It was while staying at Jeta's Grove that the Buddha told this story about a gift of all the ascetic requisites.

 
Once, a landowner in Savatthi invited the Buddha and all of the monastics to his house every day for a week. Every day, he sat them on elegant seats in a pavilion in front of his house and offered them a delicious meal of almsfood. On the seventh day, he presented the Buddha and the many monks and nuns with all of their requisites. The Buddha said, "You have done well to give these gifts. This is a tradition of the wise. Once, a being even offered to sacrifice his life to give his own flesh to a beggar." At the request of his host, he told this story of the past. 

Long, long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Varanasi [how did Brahmadatta reign so long? He was almost certainly not human but an overlord descended from the sky like one of the Catu-maha-rajika of old], the Bodhisatta was reborn as a rabbit living in a forest. On one side of this forest was a mountain; on another side, a river; and on a third side, a village.

The rabbit had three friends -- a monkey, a jackal, and an otter. These four good creatures lived together in harmony. Every day, each one gathered his food in his own way, and in the evening they gathered together to talk.

The rabbit, being the wisest, regularly preached the Truth to his three companions. He taught that alms should be given, that the precepts should be scrupulously kept, and that the lunar observance days should be observed. The three listened carefully. Then each went to his own part of the forest to sleep.
 
One evening, the rabbit looked at the sky and realized that the next day was the full moon.
 

Bhutanese Jataka thangka, 18th-19th cent., Phajoding (wiki)

"Tomorrow is the full moon day," he said to his three companions. "Let all of us observe it and keep the precepts. Remember that alms-giving brings a great reward. Offer food from your own table to any beggars who come to you tomorrow." The friends agreed, and each went to his own home.

Early the next morning, the otter went to the bank of the Ganges river to look for fish. It so happened that a fisherman had caught seven red fish, strung them together, and buried them in the wet sand before going downstream to fish some more.

Smelling the fish, the otter dug them up and called out three times, "Does anyone own these fish?"

When no one answered, he took the fish in his teeth and carried them back to his den, intending to eat them at the proper time. Then he lay down, thinking how virtuous he was.

The jackal, too, went to look for food. In the empty hut of a field-watcher, he found a roasted lizard on a skewer and a pot of curd. He called out three times, "Does anyone own this food?" When no one answered, he claimed it as his own. He hung the pot of curd around his neck with its string, took the skewer with the lizard in his teeth, and carried everything back to his den, intending to eat it at the proper time. Then he lay down, thinking how virtuous he was.
 
The monkey went to a mango grove and [innocently] gathered a number of ripe yellow mangoes. He carried them home, intending to eat them at the proper time. Then he, too, lay down, thinking how virtuous he was.

At the same time, the rabbit came out and began grazing on kusa grass as usual. While he was eating, he thought, "I cannot possibly offer grass to a wandering ascetic! I don't have any rice, oil, or anything else to give. If a beggar comes seeking food, I will have to give him my own flesh!"
 

Naga power: Shark vs. Croc, who wins in the wilds of savage Australia? (ABC News)

 
As soon as this splendid idea came to the rabbit, Sakka King of the Devas's white marble throne became hot. Sakka realized that the reason for this was the rabbit's virtue, and he decided to test him.
 
First, however, Sakka thought it would be a good idea to test the other animals. He disguised himself as an old Brahmin and stood outside the otter's den. When the otter asked why he was standing there, Sakka answered, "Wise sir, if I could get something to eat, I would perform my priestly duties."

The otter quickly said, "Very well, I will give you some food. I have seven red fish, honestly obtained. Eat your fill, Brahmin. You are welcome to stay in this forest."
 
The Brahmin thanked him and said, "I may come back later." Finally, he went to the rabbit's warren. The rabbit asked why he was standing there. "Wise sir," Sakka answered, "if I could get something to eat, I would perform my priestly duties."

Everybody knows different animals can't talk or become friends! Wait, what in the world? What are this weasel and warthog up to? Animals really can communicate! (lolthis.com)

 
The rabbit was thoroughly delighted and replied, "Brahmin, you have done well in coming to me for food. I have no rice, oil, or beans to give but, today, I will give you a gift that I have never given before. I will give what is freely mine to give! Go, friend, pile up some wood, and kindle a fire. When it is burning well, call me. I will gladly sacrifice myself by jumping into the flames. When my body is roasted, you may eat my flesh. Then you can perform your priestly duties."

Sakka used his supernormal powers to create a heap of burning coals. Then he called the rabbit, who rose from his bed of kusa grass and approached the fire. Three times, he shook himself so that any insects in his fur would be spared. Then without hesitation, he leaped directly into the center of the burning coals. Despite the flames, which flared up from the embers, not a single hair on his body was singed. Instead, it was as if he had jumped into a snowdrift, Amazed, he addressed Sakka, "Brahmin, the fire you have kindled is ice-cold. It doesn't even warm the hair on my body. What does this mean?"
 
"Wise sir, I am no Brahmin. I am Sakka [King of the Devas], and I came to put your virtue to the test."
 
The rabbit declared, "Even if all the inhabitants of this Earth were to test my alms-giving, they would not find in me any unwillingness to give!"
 
Pleased with this resounding answer, Sakka said, "Wise rabbit, I will make your virtue known throughout this whole aeon!" Then he squeezed the mountain, extracting its very essence [oozing Himalayan shilajit], which he used to draw the image of the rabbit on the face of the full moon.
 
After gently placing the rabbit on a bed of young kusa grass, Sakka returned to the World of the Thirty-Three (Tavatimsa Deva World).
 
The four creatures lived together happily and harmoniously, keeping the precepts and observing the lunar days for the rest of their lives until they passed away to fare according to their just deserts. AUDIO 

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Mother's Day: The Buddha's Three Mothers

Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly (AN 2.32)

Mother's Day in America in 12 comics from The New Yorker (newyorker.com)

 

The birth of Siddhartha with Mother Maya

The historical Buddha had three mothers in that final rebirth when he made an end of all suffering.

Most people will have heard of Siddhartha's second mother, his birth-mother, Maha Maya Devi ("Great Queen Maya"). She was a queen, the wife of his father a [rich Afghan Chieftain] King Suddhodana, whose riches derived from the Silk Road that brought wealth, merchants, and spiritual travelers to the faraway capital of Kapilavastu, the Buddha's hometown.

Birth mother: Queen Maha Maya Devi

Maya's beauty was like a "dream," and in fact the name maya derives from the Sanskrit and Pali word for "illusion" (taken in Mahayana-Hinduism as māyā, two religions that so influenced one another as to be the same thing with different deities, one buddhas the other avatars]. An illusion, of course, is fleeting. She passed away seven days after giving birth to Prince Siddhartha. There are reasons given for this -- the most spiritual being that she only took a human birth as a volunteer to give birth to him. We enter life knowing on some level those individuals who play the role of parents, partners, relatives, friends, and enemies. But that is a truth bigger than most can digest.

• 

  The Maya of Mesoamerica are related

  The words "Maya" -- the name of Native Americans from Mexico and Central America with that famous "calendar" -- and "Gautemala" in Mesoamerica derive from the name of the Buddha's mother and his surname Gautama and mala (garland). See Rick Fields' How the Swan Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America in which these and many more connections are drawn showing Buddhism's arrival in the Americas long before the Conquistadors and Catholicism.

Maya, Mariah (Mary), a queen in heaven

And she was reborn as a devaputra (born-among-devas) in Sakka King of the Devas' celestial realm, the World of the Thirty-Three in space. There her former son Siddhartha, after becoming the Buddha, thanked and repaid her for her help in this life by teaching her the liberating-Dharma. The other devas of that world also benefited, although Sakka their ruler was already a stream-enterer and therefore a devoted follower of the Buddha.

Our parents do so much for us that, according to the Buddha, the only way we can ever repay them is by teaching or leading them to the ennobling Dharma.

 

Repaying our Parents (sutra)

Wisdom Quarterly translation (AN 2.32)

Shravana Kumar carries his aged and poor blind parents on his shoulders (Ramayana) More

 

Come on, dad. You, too, mom. Get on up here!

"Truly I say, meditators, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Who? Mother and father. Even if one were to carry one's mother on one shoulder and one's father on the other for a century, and one were to look after them by anointing, massaging, bathing, and rubbing their limbs, even as they defecated and urinated where they sat [the shoulders], one would not by that pay or repay one's parents. Moreover, if one were to establish mother and father in absolute sovereignty over this great Earth, which abounds in the seven treasures, one would not by that pay or repay one's parents. Why is that? Mother and father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world.

 

"But anyone who rouses one's unbelieving mother and father, settles and establishes them in conviction (saddhā); rouses one's unvirtuous mother and father, settles and establishes them in virtue (sīla); rouses one's stingy mother and father, settles and establishes them in generosity (danā); rouses one's foolish mother and father, settles and establishes them in wisdom (paññā): To this extent one pays and repays one's mother and father."

Ven. Thanissaro (Geoffrey DeGraff) summarizes: This sutra (AN 2.32) shows that the only way to repay parents is to strengthen them in four qualities: confidence (faith), virtue (morality), unselfishness (generosity), and wisdom (discernment). To do so, of course, we have to develop these qualities in ourselves, as well as learning how to tactfully employ them in being an example to our parents. As it happens, these four qualities are also those of a kalyana-mitta or "noble friend" (AN 8.54), which means that in repaying our parents in this way we become the sort of person who would be a noble friend to others as well.

The Other Mothers

Foster mother: Maha Pajapati Gotami

Many will also have heard of the Buddha's foster or stepmother related by blood, Queen Mahā Pajāpatī Gotami (Sanskrit Gautami). As Mother Number 3, she was Queen Maya's sister and co-wife. 

Both were married to King Suddhodana. She stepped forward to care for the newborn Siddhhartha to the detriment of her own son, Nanda, the Buddha's brother (they shared a father, their mothers were sisters, and she nursed and adopted him at age 7 days, which would seem to make her a little more than a stepmother or Nanda a half-brother; she also had a daughter, the Buddha's rarely mentioned half-sister, Sundari Nanda) -- She was the mother of Nanda, but it is said that she gave her own son to nurses and herself nursed the Buddha.

 

Not his mother: Princess Bimba (Yasodhara)

She is much more famous in this world than Maya because Pajapati (Sanskrit Prajapati) went on to become the first Buddhist nun. The Buddha's brother and sister also ordained and became enlightened.

This was in addition to Siddhartha's wife, Rahulamata ("Rahula's mother"), Princess Bimba Devi, much more popularly known as Yasodhara.

Rahula, Bimba, Siddhartha

What we are never told as we hear the story of the Buddha's life repeated is the fact that he did not "abandon" his family. Far from becoming a deadbeat father, having a good old time in the wilderness as an extreme ascetic, he saved his family: He came back enlightened and led his mother, father, wife, son, brother, sister, foster mother, cousins, and extended family members to liberation, to enlightenment and nirvana. He even remembered his birth mother and visited her where she was reborn. Such was the reverence of the Buddha for his parents, and many monastics followed suit. For example, there is the famous case of one of the Buddha's chief male disciples, Maha Moggallana, visiting his mother in hell to help her.

Of course, the Buddha's former wife, now the Buddhist nun and famous disputant Ven. Bhaddakaccānā, is not the Buddha's mother. How could she be the Buddha's mother? She was their son Ven. Rahula's mother.

First Mother

Questionable quote (Lotusing/flickr)

No, the Buddha's "first mother" is a stranger story of rebirth. In brief, it runs as follows. One day the Buddha was walking down a road with his monastic disciples when he passed an elderly couple. The man called out to him, "Son! Your mother and I have been missing you! It has been a long time since you visited us!"

The monastics thought this was very strange. Stranger still, the Buddha approached them and spoke to them in a very kindly way with gratitude. The monastics were confused, Why is the teacher letting these strangers talk to him this way and addressing him as "son"?

The Buddha later explained that for many (500) lives this couple had been his parents. Over and over, the karma of the three being such, they were born together. She raised him over and again. And here she was in that last life running into him apparently out of the blue but not really by accident. The nuns and monks may have been surprised to hear it but, in fact, the Buddha taught something far more surprising:

So long is this samsara -- this "continued wandering on" through births and deaths -- that it is difficult to ever meet anyone with whom one has not already shared all relationships. Look around; those people have already been one's mother, father... How much gratitude do we owe them? While this seems preposterous, it seems so only because we do not know how long an aeon (kalpa) is, how many there have been, or how many times we have already been reborn, how many existences we have already lived, how much we have already suffered. We have little to no idea. For if we knew, we would not be so eager to continue to cycle and revolve in ignorance again and again.
 

Kwan Yin as Mother Goddess (D)

In that final existence, the Bodhisattva (the Buddha-to-be) had taken rebirth in a special way to accomplish his goal of becoming a world-teacher Supremely Enlightened Teaching Buddha, and Maya had volunteered to serve the world-system in the capacity of giving birth to such a great being.

But here in the world, already existing, was the Bodhisattva's long time mother, his mother many times over, and now she had again found him. Our mothers, even when they do not give birth to us this time, are all around (fathers too). Our nurturers are here, and still they nurture us -- sometimes they attack us perhaps due to our lack of gratitude or their lack of understanding -- and stranger still we, too, are former mothers and fathers of others. Such is the incomprehensible working out of karma, an imponderable (acinteyya) thing.
 
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms -- and we mean ALL of them including you -- from Wisdom Quarterly.