the eight steps of the hero’s journey -...
TRANSCRIPT
The Eight Steps of The Hero’s Journey 1.) Call to Adventure
The initiate feels compelled to leave to find something or fulfill something that is lacking in his life.
2.) Crossing the Threshold
Threshold guardians (parents, spouses) may try to hold back the initiate, but the initiate crosses over from the Known World to the Unknown World, anyway.
A mentor and helpers may assist with the entrance into the Unknown. 3.) Challenges and Temptations
In the Unknown World, all the rules change. The initiate is faced with physical and psychological challenges. Challenges may strike his weaknesses, forcing change and growth. Refusing the Call usually happens here (if the initiate cannot go on).
4.) Abyss
The initiate must face the greatest challenges or fears, alone. Must fully surrender to the quest. A sort of “death and rebirth” takes place.
5.) Revelation
There is a sudden, dramatic change in the way the initiate views life. Like an epiphany, the revelation may help the initiate get through the abyss. The revelation may take place before, during, or after the abyss.
6.) Transformation
The initiate is now transformed and begins to act like a “hero.” The transformation may be physical or mental.
7.) Atonement
The newly transformed hero must accept his new persona. He must be “at one” with himself. Now the initiate is truly a “hero.”
8.) Return Home
The hero must return to the Known World, as a wiser and stronger person. The hero may “give back” to the homeland (gifts, knowledge). He may or may not be understood or accepted.
The Hero’s Journey: A Summary based upon the work of Joseph Campbell
Key Terms Initiate: The young, inexperienced person who is about to embark upon
an adventure (not yet a hero). Rite of Passage: A time period or experience a young person must go through to
mature into adulthood or responsibility. Mentor: An advisor, who is usually older and wiser. May guide, protect,
or help the initiate during the journey. Quest: The challenge, journey, or object the initiate is seeking.
Talisman: An object given to the initiate that may offer protection or give
special powers. Threshold: An entering point; beginning of something new.
Abyss: A bottomless pit; lowest depth; hell.
Anti-Hero: A person who goes on a journey, but is motivated by evil rather
than good. Call Refused: The initiate either does not accept the call or turns back before
completing the cycle. Monomyth: Another name for “The Hero’s Journey.”
Threshold Guardian(s): Figures that protect the initiate from taking a journey
before he /she is ready; or push the initiate into taking a journey they are ready for.
Gawain and the Green Knight A Classic Legend from England Retold by Susan Thompson King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table had enjoyed many years of peace. Tales of their honor and bravery had spread far and wide. No one dared to challenge the borders of the kingdom, so the knights’ days were often spent engaged in jousting and other games, especially at Christmas. King Arthur particularly enjoyed such merrymaking. His love of fine tales of quests was legendary. It was said that the king would not sit down to feast until he was promised the tale of a great adventure. One year, the New Year’s Eve feast had just begun when the great doors to the hall were flung wide by a huge green knight on a powerful green horse. The knight was perfectly proportioned, and many of the women in the hall thought him uncommonly handsome. He wore no armor, helmet, or hauberk [a long shirt of chain mail]. In his great hands he carried only a sprig of holly and an ax of monumental size. He wore a beautiful mantle lined with white fur and embroidered with green jewels and gold thread. His handsome features and fine silk garments dazzled the revelers [people at the party]. The Green Knight gave no greeting, but, instead, rode to the center of the hall. “Who is lord of this castle?” he asked in a voice deep and fierce. “I would speak with him!” “I am the one you seek,” Arthur replied, his hand falling unconsciously to the hilt [handle] of this sword. “I do not come to wage war,” said the Knight, stopping his horse before the dais [a raised platform] where Arthur feasted with his greatest knights. “I propose only a game.” “Come, sit, join us in our feast,” said Arthur. “We will talk of this game after we eat.” “I do not wish to feast with you,” said the Knight. He turned toward the knights in the hall. “I propose a challenge. I will give this fine ax, which has no equal, to any man who
will strike one blow against me unchallenged. If I survive the blow, this man will agree to meet me twelve months and one day hence [from this time] to receive the same from me. Who among you will accept my challenge?” King Arthur laughed. Surely, he thought, this was a joke. The Knights of the Round Table chuckled with their king, but no one answered the challenge. A look of scorn darkened the Green Knight’s face, and Arthur and his knights became uneasy. The Green Knight spurred his horse round the room, his horse’s hoof beats echoing throughout the now silent hall. “I have heard much talk of the Knights of the Round Table, of their bravery and chivalry. I see now that it is only legend. Not one of you is brave enough to strike this blow.” “Had I thought you were serious about this game, I would have been the first to accept your challenge,” Arthur replied, his face red with shame and anger. “Uncle...let me stand in your stead
[place] and strike the blow,” said Arthur’s young nephew, Gawain. Gawain was not yet a knight, but Arthur, seeing the conviction on the boy’s face and the embarrassment of the other knights, commanded his nephew to kneel before him. Arthur knighted him, and Gawain
turned to the Green Knight. “I accept your challenge!” Gawain’s voice rang throughout the hall. The other Knights of the Round Table admired this young knight, who had shown more bravery than they who had more experience. The Green Knight dismounted and bent so that his neck was clearly exposed. Gawain took up the ax, raised it high and brought it down with such force that the Green Knight’s bones and tendons were cleanly severed. His head rolled to the foot of the dais [platform] where King Arthur was seated. The knight’s headless body straightened and strode to the dais where he lifted his severed head by its glittering green hair, and tucked it beneath his
arm. His eyes opened and gazed forth at Gawain. “A fine blow, indeed,” his lips spoke. “Take heed of our agreement, Sir Knight. I am known as the Green Knight of the Green Chapel. When you ride out to meet me twelve months hence to receive the reward you surely deserve, you will find me there.” The Green Knight mounted his horse and rode so swiftly from the hall that sparks flew from his horse’s hooves. The hall was silent for a stunned moment before those gathered returned to their merry-making, congratulating Gawain on his bravery. The months of the year flew by swiftly, and soon it came time for Gawain to set out to find the Green Knight. On All Saint’s Day, Arthur gathered his knights and the ladies of the court together for feasting and fellowship. No one talked of the seriousness of Gawain’s quest, but teased and laughed with him, all the while fearing that they would never see the young knight again. After eating, Gawain formally asked the King if he might leave Camelot to go in search of the Green Knight. With a heavy heart, Arthur gave his permission. Gawain prepared himself, dressing in his finest garments. He heard mass [a Catholic church service], bid the members of the court goody-bye, and then galloped away on his horse, Gringolet. For seven weeks, Gawain rode through unknown lands searching for the Green Chapel. The road was not easy, and he encountered great hardship. He fought many fierce challengers, several who might have slain him if he had not been such a brave and noble knight. He traversed [crossed] rugged terrain and saw wondrous sights. He slept where he could find little comfort, in his armor, in caves, even on solid rock. The winter weather was merciless, hammering him with sleet and rain. Thus Gawain wandered, searching, in pain and alone. On Christmas Eve, disheartened and nearly
exhausted, he stopped by the side of a lonely trail, knelt down and prayed for shelter and a place to hear mass. No sooner had he risen from his prayers than he saw a castle in the distance. Encouraged, Gawain remounted Gringolet and rode to the castle. The man who greeted Gawain at the door was fierce of face but gracious and cultured in his speech. He invited Gawain to join his family for Christmas, and Gawain gratefully accepted. They feasted and made merry that day and the next. On the third day, the lord of the castle asked Gawain what dark deed had driven him to wander alone with such courage when he could have been feasting with the King. “I am searching for the Green Chapel and the Green Knight who abides [lives] there. I have agreed ot meet him there on New Year's, but I do not know where to find him. Do you know of this Green Chapel?” “Aye. It is not more than a half day’s ride from here. Stay with us a little longer, rest, and on New Year’s Day, ride out to meet this Green Knight.” “This is good news you have given me!” laughed Gawain in relief. “My quest is at an end. I will gladly stay, and I thank you for your hospitality.” “Wonderful! Tomorrow you must rest, sleep late, and, after you eat, amuse yourself by keeping my wife company until I return to the castle.” The lord paused a moment, thinking. “Sir Knight,” he said, smiling, “let us make an agreement. Whatever I bring back from hunting in the woods shall be yours, and whatever good fortune befalls you during the day, shall be mine in exchange. Let us strike this bargain, whatever good or bad happens to either of us, we will honestly exchange.” “I agree happily for it sounds like a pleasant way to pass the time,” said Gawain. The next day, Gawain spent the day in the company of the lady of the castle. That afternoon, while they sat before the fire, he was startled when the lady asked, “My lord, Gawain, do you not find me attractive?” “My lady, your beauty is beyond compare,” replied Gawain honestly.
“Then why have you not tried to win my heart?” “You are indeed beautiful, my lady, and if you were not married to my gracious host, I would most certainly woo you for myself,” Gawain replied. “My lord has made everything in his castle available to you, Sir Knight,” said the lady. Gawain did not wish to anger or insult his host by making amorous [loving] advances toward his wife, but neither did he wish to hurt the lady’s feelings. “One kiss then,” he said, and the lady was satisfied. When the lord of the castle returned home, he presented Gawain with a deer, and Gawain gave the lord a kiss. The lord laughed. “Indeed, that is good fortune, Sir Gawain.” The second day went much as the first. The lord returned with a fox, and Gawain gave the lord the two kisses that he had received that day. Again the lord laughed at Gawain’s good fortune. On the third day, New Year’s Eve, Gawain sat before the fire with the lady of the castle. Her beauty pleased him, and, as she rose to kiss him, he felt nothing but joy in her presence. “I have enjoyed our time together, Gawain. I shall miss your conversation and handsome presence. Do you not have a token that you might give me to remember you by?” Gawain replied that he did not. The lady offered him a ring to remember her by, but Gawain refused it. At last she brought forth a finely sewn girdle [undergarment] of green silk. Seeing that he was about to refuse this gift also, she made light of its importance. “This is but a mere scrap of cloth of little value. It’s the feeling that went into its making that makes it special, for no man who wears it will ever be cut down by another of this world.” Gawain realized that such a garment would be valuable protection for him when he went to face the Green Knight. The lady pressured him to accept the girdle, and he consented. She asked that he always keep it concealed [hidden], especially from her husband, and that he never tell anyone about its
existence. Gawain agreed that no one would know of it ever. That night the lord returned with the spoils of his day’s hunting, and Gawain bestowed upon him three of the sweetest kisses a man could give. He said nothing of the green girdle. “By God, you have had happiness this day,” laughed the lord. They all sat down to dinner, and Gawain graciously thanked his hosts for making his stay such a pleasant one. He asked the lord if he could provide a guide to show him the way to the Green Chapel, and the lord agreed. The world was swept with brewing storms that night as Gawain lay awake worrying over the confrontation to come. At dawn he rose and asked for his horse and his armor. He donned [put on] the green girdle beneath his mantle, not for its rich color or fine cloth, but for the protection it would provide when he was unable to take up his sword to defend himself. The morning was gloomy with mist as Gawain and his guide rode forth to the Green Chapel. Deep in the forest, at the edge of a dark glade, the guide stopped. “I have brought you as far as I dare,” said the guide. “Ahead lies the Green Chapel. As one who knows you and has come to love you, I warn you to be careful, for the knight who dwells here is fierce and quick to strike. Take a different road, Sir Gawain, and ride safely away from this place. I swear that I will tell no one that you fled from this confrontation.” “Thank you for your help and your good wishes,” said Gawain, “but I cannot turn back, for that would make me a coward. Such an act would be unforgivable. This is my fate, and I will not evade it.” After saying good-bye, Gawain rode into the clearing and saw the Green Chapel. It sat at the back of the glade, in the shelter of two large oak trees. A tangle of ivy laced its rough stone walls, and its courtyard was overgrown with herbs. It appeared deserted. “Such a gloomy, ugly place befits its master,” he thought. “But I have agreed to this meeting, and God’s will be
done. No matter what happens, I will show no fear.” “Who is the master here?” Gawain called out. “Where is the one who agreed to meet me on this day?” “I am here!” called a voice from the slope above Gawain. Gawain looked up, and there stood the Green Knight. “Shortly you will get what you deserve,” said the Green Knight before turning to continue sharpening his ax with long, powerful strokes. Gawain had never seen a knight take such care or joy in the labor of sharpening a weapon. While the rhythmic whirring of the ax stroking the whetstone clearly brought pleasure to the Green Knight, the high-pitched sound sent a shiver down Gawain’s spine. Yet, no sign of fear showed upon his face. Soon the Green Knight emerged from a cavern carrying a great Danish ax with which to return Gawain’s blow. So great in size was the ax that when Gawain saw it, he could not conceive of any mortal man being able to lift it. The back of this neck began to tingle as he anticipated the blow to come. “Gawain,” said the Green Knight, “you are a man of your word and I am pleased to see you. You have timed your arrival perfectly, as I knew you would. Now, you remember our agreement. Take as little time to prepare as I did when you gave your single blow that took my head. Remove your helmet.” “Yes, you may strike your one blow, and rest assured it will meet with no resistance from me,” said Gawain. Gawain the Good removed his helmet and calmly bent forward, exposing this neck for the knight. The Green Knight swiftly raised his ax and brought it down with such strength and ferocity that, had it met with Gawain’s vulnerable neck, his life would surely have been forfeit. But, as the ax came down, Gawain looked from the corner of his eye to see the shining blade descending and turned his shoulder at the last minute in fear. The Green Knight, seeing Gawain flinch, stayed the blow.
“Gawain the Good, who is known for his great courage, who has never shown fear when confronted by a host of foes, you are flinching in fear! Never would I have thought it of you. When I stood for your blow, no fear did I show, never did I flinch. When it comes to courage, I believe that I am the better man,” said the Green Knight. “I will not flinch again, Sir Knight!” promised Gawain savagely. “You can be sure of that even though I know that if you separate my head from my body, I cannot retrieve it and put it on again.” Gawain bent again and no move did he make in any part of his body as he waited for the Green Knight’s blow to descend. The Green Knight noted Gawain’s determined stillness. “In truth, I believe it is your own fear that you fear most,” he said, almost gently. “Therefore, I will delay this no longer.” The Green Knight again raised his ax and brought it down quickly. Gawain did not flinch, even when the cold blade of the ax just grazed the skin of his neck. When he felt his blood trickle over his shoulders and saw it dribbling to the ground, Gawain moved swiftly, jumping out of the reach of the Green Knight and his ax. He quickly replaced his helmet, and held his shield before him. “You have had your one blow, sir!” he said. “If you attempt another, I promise that it shall be returned in full measure!” The Green Knight laughed. “Come, Gawain, do not be so fierce. No one here has given you anything that you did not deserve. The taunting I gave you when I sharpened my ax...was for the kiss you took from my wife on the first day of our agreement. The blow from which you flinched was for the day you took two kisses. The blow that wounded you was for the third day, when your honor failed, Gawain the Good. You returned the three kisses, but the girdle you kept for yourself was none other than my own, made for me by my beautiful wife. I know of every moment you spent in my castle while I was hunting, for I devised these tests for you. I sent my wife to try you, and I must say, you did well.”
Gawain slowly lowered his sword and bent his head in deep shame. Suddenly he ripped off the offending girdle and flung it at the knight. “I have failed!” Gawain cried. “I have been a coward and have coveted [shown envy]. Fear of your stroke has caused me to forsake in myself all that a knight should be: loyal and giving. I confess to being false and afraid. Only your good will has let me win this day.” “I assure you that any harm that I have suffered has quickly healed,” said the Green Knight, offering the girdle back to Gawain. “Your sins are forgiven. You are indeed Gawain the Good, and I give to you this green girdle. Wear it in good faith, Sir Knight, as a reminder of the challenge you faced at the Green Chapel.” “I will wear it not for its beauty but to remind me of my fears and my deceit,” said Gawain, taking the girdle. “When I feel proud of my accomplishments in battle, I will look upon this girdle and it will humble me.” “Indeed, that is why I was sent to Camelot, to try your pride and to see if the tales that people told of the Knights of the Round Table were true,” explained the Green Knight. “What is your name, noble knight, so that when I tell this tale, I may tell them of you?” asked Gawain. “That I will gladly tell you,” the Green Knight said. “I am Bercilak de Hautdesert.” The two knights embraced, and then parted there in the cold. The Green Knight returned to his wife and his castle, and Gawain ventured into the forest to begin the long journey back to Camelot. Along the way, Gawain met with many adventures and won many victories. He slept in lodges or out in the open. The wound on his neck healed quickly, and he took to wearing the green girdle as a baldric [belt worn across the chest] tied under his left arm. He arrived safely at Camelot where the King and Queen greeted him joyously and listened to his tales of adventure. Gawain gave an honest account of all that had befallen him, including showing everyone present the scar on the back of his neck from the blow the Green Knight had given him because of his deceit.
“I must wear this badge always,” Gawain told the King, “for nothing good befalls a man who hides from his fears.” The King offered words of solace [comfort] to his nephew. Members of the court also offered comfort and agreed that henceforth the lords and ladies of the Brotherhood of the Round Table would wear bright green baldrics in honor of Gawain the Good and his great quest.
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The Legend of BuddhaRetold by Reg Harris
The Divine ChildThe legend of
Buddha begins more than 2,500 years ago in a region of northern India. Buddha was a historical figure, the son of a regional king, but as happens with many heroes and saviors, the facts of his life were enhanced with myth and symbol to make his life more meaningful to his followers.
Buddha was born in 560 B.C.E. According to tradition, he was conceived in his mother by the gods and born of a “virgin” birth. He walked immediately, and wherever he stepped, a lotus flower grew. Buddha was not called Buddha until much later in his life. His real name was Gautama, but he was better known as Siddhartha, or “he who will achieve.”
Powerful King or World SaviorWhen Siddhartha was a child, his father
wished to know his son’s fate. The king summoned the Brahmans, the highest order of Hindu priests, to foretell the future. The Brahmans told the king that Siddhartha’s life would take one of two directions. If he remained attached to the world, he would unify India and become the country’s greatest king. However, if he abandoned the world, he would become not a king but a world savior.
Siddhartha’s father wanted his son to become a great ruler, so he spared no effort to keep the Prince attached to worldly things. Three palaces and forty thousand dance girls were placed at the prince’s disposal. The king commanded that no ugliness intrude upon the boy’s world of beauty and pleasure. In particular, he wanted the prince shielded from old age, sickness, and death. Even the use of the words “death” and “grief” were forbidden.
Thus Siddhartha was raised in a world of luxury and pleasure, unaware of pain, suffering, and death. He was an extremely handsome young man, and he married a neighboring princess at age sixteen with whom he had a son.
Siddhartha had everything: wealth, power, and a beautiful family. In addition, as heir to his father’s throne, he was destined for power and fame. Despite all this, however, Siddhartha began to feel a deep dissatisfaction. He yearned for a life with deeper meaning.
The Four Passing SightsOne day, many years later, the prince decided
to visit the town. His father ordered servants to go ahead to clean and decorate the road and to remove any ugly or sad sights from his son’s path. The servants did as they were told. Somehow, however, they overlooked an old man.
The man was crooked and trembling with age, and when Siddhartha rode by and saw him leaning on his staff, he was astonished. He had never seen what years could do, and he realized that feebleness was the fate of all who lived to old age.
On the prince’s next ride, the king extended his guard, but again his efforts failed. Siddhartha met an incurable invalid, and he learned the suffering of pain and disease. On a third ride, the young prince encountered a funeral procession, and he saw the impermanence of all life.
Finally, on a fourth ride, Siddhartha saw a Hindu monk with a shaven head, wearing a yellow robe and carrying a beggar’s bowl. The monk told the prince that he had abandoned worldly concerns to pass beyond suffering and joy. On that day, Siddhartha learned the possibility of freedom from the suffering of life.
The Impermanence of All ThingsFrom these four passing sights, Siddhartha
realized that impermanence and suffering were conditions of all life. He realized that he could never find peace in physical pleasure and material objects. The music, the dancing, the feasts, the royal processions and elaborate festivals only increased his discontent. The bright flowers, the fragile butterflies, and the melting snows reminded himof the impermanence of all things.
Finally, Siddhartha decided to break free of sensual distractions, so he went to his father. “Everything in the world is changing and transitory [temporary],” he said. “Let me leave to follow the call of the truth seeker.”
His father refused. “You hold all of my hopes for the royal line,” he said. “I cannot let you throw that away.”
“How can I continue to live here knowing that others are suffering?” Siddhartha said. “I must go.”
The Great Going ForthTo keep the prince from leaving, the king
doubled the guards on the palace walls and brought in even more distractions to convince his son to abandon all thoughts of leaving.
But the prince would not change his mind, and one night in his twenty-ninth year, Siddhartha made his break, a break now known as “The Great Going Forth.”
In the early-morning hours he went to where his wife and son were sleeping and bade them both a silent good-bye. Then he ordered the gatekeeper to bridle his great white horse, and the two escaped from the castle and rode off toward the forest.
Reaching its edge by daybreak, Siddhartha changed clothes with the gatekeeper, who returned to break the news to the family. The prince, dressed as a pauper [poor person], shaved his head and plunged into the forest in search of truth and enlightenment.
The SearchSiddhartha was no longer a young prince.
Now he wandered through India as Gautama, a monk and beggar. During these years, he mastered yoga, meditation, and studied at a religious hermitage [monastery], but religious studies did not teach him what he wanted to know. He left the hermitage and lived alone for six more years. During that time he pushed poverty to the extreme.
One day, starving and near death, Gautama sat down to rest on the bank of a broad river. As he sat, a young village girl named Sujata saw him and offered him a bowl of rice. Gautama accepted. That meal saved his life.
Gautama ate the rice slowly, thinking about his experiences. He had not found happiness as a rich prince, and he had almost died as a pauper. What, he wondered, had he failed to understand?
Then, as he sat, he heard voices. Looking up, he saw a raft floating by him on the river. On the raft an old man was teaching a boy how to tune a stringed instrument.
“If you tighten the string too much, it will break under the strain,” he was saying. “If you don’t tighten it enough, it will not make music.”
When he heard those words, Gautama realized that living at life’s extremes would not bring peace or enlightenment. He saw that fulfillment in life was to be found only on the path of moderation.
The Immovable SpotWith that realization, Gautama knew that he
was near to the enlightenment he sought, so he set off for the town of Gaya in northeastern India, where he would find the tree of wisdom. The exhausting trip took many days, but finally, one evening, he reached the sacred fig tree.
He spread fresh grass under the tree, seated himself, and vowed, “Here, on this seat, may my body wither, my skin and flesh dissolve, if I rise before I have obtained enlightenment.”
The Battle with MaraTo achieve enlightenment, Gautama had to
master the desires and impulses which chain the human spirit to the material world. The struggle was not easy, for he had to battle Mara, the Evil One, god of death, desire, and illusion.
Mara knew that if Gautama attained enlightenment, his own power over people would be broken, so he went immediately to the sacred tree. He appeared before Gautama mounted on an elephant and carrying weapons in his thousand hands.
He was surrounded by his terrifying army, which stretched around him as far as the eye could see. Gautama, however, remained unmoved. Then Mara attacked him, seeking to break his concentration.
First, the Evil One tried sensual temptation. He displayed his beautiful daughters--Desire, Longing, and Lust--surrounded by their attendants. They sang and danced before Gautama, but the mind of the Great Being was not distracted. The daughters of Mara withdrew.
Then Mara attacked with fear. He hurled whirlwinds, rocks, thunder and flame, boiling mud, blistering sands, and utter darkness against the Savior, but the missiles were transformed into flowers by the power of Gautama’s perfection.
Finally, the Evil One challenged Gautama’s right to be on the Immovable Spot. “You are a prince. You have a social duty to your people,” Mara challenged. “You have no right to seek liberation.”
But Gautama was not swayed. He simply touched the ground with his fingertips, asking the
mother goddess Earth to confirm his right to be where he was. She did so with a hundred thousand roars. At the sound, Mara’s elephant fell to its knees in reverence, and Mara’s army disappeared.
EnlightenmentAfter defeating Mara, Gautama worked
through the night, meditating on life and death, rebirth, and on karma (the chain of cause and effect). Then, as the sun rose, he experienced perfect enlightenment.
Gautama now became the Buddha, the “awakened” or “enlightened” one. For seven weeks he meditated on his experience, on life, and on nirvana, the state of freedom from pain, worry, and the impermanence of the physical world.
Near the end of his meditation, a great storm raged for seven days. Naga Mucilinda, a giant cobra who was King of Serpents, emerged from the roots of the tree to protect him. The serpent made a seat with his body and a canopy of his outspread hood to shelter the Buddha from the storm.
Knowing that Buddha had achieved enlightenment, Mara tried one more temptation. This time he appealed to reason.
“Who will understand truth as complex as that which you have discovered?” he asked Buddha. “What you have experienced goes beyond words and human understanding. Why bother to spread this message before uncomprehending eyes? Why not leave mankind to the devil and slip at once into nirvana?”
Buddha saw the truth in these words. People were slow to accept wisdom. Why sacrifice nirvana to preach his message to those who could not understand or appreciate it?
As he considered, the Hindu gods approached, begging him to remain. “You must save humanity from the hell of attachment and the sin of ignorance,” they said. “You hold the path to peace and spiritual liberation.”
Buddha was persuaded to remain and preach, and Mara, seeing that he had lost, left Buddha’s life forever.
Buddha’s PreachingBuddha gave his first sermon at Benares, in
the Deer Park. He taught life’s middle path as the way to liberation.
“Avoid the unworthy life of pleasure and the useless life of fasting and poverty,” he told his monks. “Perfection avoids life’s extremes. Follow the middle path.”
After that sermon, Buddha took his message throughout India. For forty-four years he preached moderation and liberation, converting those who heard him to his new philosophy. He founded a religious order and maintained a rigorous schedule of preaching and counseling.
Buddha Passes to NirvanaOne evening about 480 B.C.E., in the town
of Kusinagara, Buddha ate dinner at the home of Cunda, a village blacksmith and one of his disciples. Somehow, poison mushrooms got into his dish, and the Buddha fell mortally ill.
Near death, he was taken to a grove of trees where his disciples had prepared a couch for him. Even as he was dying, Buddha thought of others. In the midst of his pain he realized that Cunda might feel responsible for his death.
“Tell Cunda,” he directed his companions, “that of all the meals I have eaten during my life, only two stand out as exceptional blessings. One was the meal which enabled me to regain my strength so that I could attain enlightenment. The other was Cunda’s meal, which is now opening for me the gates to nirvana.”
As their master suffered his last agony, many of the disciples wept, but Buddha comforted them.
“Do not say you have lost your master,” he said. “The doctrine that I have preached will guide you when I have disappeared. Remember, all created things are impermanent. Work diligently for liberation.”
With these words, the Buddha’s journey ended, and he passed into eternal bliss.
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