In
this unit:
Even
enlightened beings don't live forever. In his eightieth
year, the Buddha returned to his birthplace to die. His
disciples were devastated, and pleaded with him not to
leave. They didn't think they could manage without their
teacher. But the Buddha explained that his teachings are
the teacher and practicing these is what keeps the Dharma
alive.
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| After
45 years of travelling and teaching all over India,
the Buddha had reached his eightieth year. Although
his mind was strong, he felt that his body was getting
weaker. He realised that his life was coming to an
end. So he decided to go north to the foothills of
the Himalayas, the region where he was born. He wished
to enter the final nirvana, or freedom from suffering.
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The
Buddha Speaks of His Death
On
the journey, the Buddha was offered a meal of mushrooms
by Cunda, the son of a goldsmith. He became ill after
the meal, but insisted on continuing as far as Kusinara.
Ananada, his faithful attendant, wept to see the Buddha
so ill. The Buddha comforted him saying, "Do not
grieve, Ananda. I am old and feeble and cannot live forever.
It is natural for everything that is born to die. In three
months I shall pass away into final Nirvana, a state of
ultimate peace and happiness. Call all the monks and nuns
together."
The
disciples wept and begged their teacher to remain in the
world. With tears in his eyes, Ananda asked, "When
the Buddha is no longer in the world, who is there to
teach us?"
"What
more is there to teach, Ananda?" The Buddha asked.
"I have taught you all I know, there is nothing that
I have kept hidden. My teachings are your teacher now.
Follow them and you will be true to me."
In
a sala grove near Kusinara, the Buddha humbly said, "I
can go no further Ananda, prepare a resting place for
me between these two large sala trees." He lied down
on his right side with his head to the north. The two
sala trees bloomed out of season and rained blossoms all
around him.
The
Last Respects
Hearing that the Buddha was dying, people came from afar
to pay their last visit. Even as he lay there in pain,
he continued to teach until his last moment.
At
dusk when the grove was cast in purple shadows, the Buddha
entered into final Nirvana. Before departing, he spoke
his last words. "Everything is subject to change.
Remember to practise the teachings earnestly."
All
his disciples and villages gathered around him and wept.
According to custom, his body was placed on a pyre and
burned. Shining, jewel-like relics were found in the ashes.
They were divided into eight parts and placed in monuments
called stupas.
The
Buddha passed away in 543 BC. Since then his teachings
of compassion and wisdom have been passed on from generation
to generation, from country to country, and from heart
to heart, right up to the present day.
The
Stupa
Stupas
are mounds that were built to hold relics of the Buddha
or his chief students. They were also built to mark important
events of the Buddha's life or lives of his disciples.
King Ashoka is said to have built 84,000 stupas all over
India, from the original relics of the Buddha. In Sri
Lanka stupas are called dagobas; in Myanmar, Thailand
and China they are know as pagodas and in Tibet they are
called chortens.
This
diagram shows the different shapes of stupas or pagodas,
while the coloured diagram explains the symbolic levels
in the stupas, representing the four primary elements:
earth, water, fire, wind and the space element.
