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The Eight Guidelines of The Buddhist Text Translation Society 1. A volunteer must free him / herself from the motives of personal fame and profit. 2. A volunteer must cultivate a respectful and sincere attitude free from arrogrance and conceit. 3. A volunteer must refrian from aggrandizing his / her work and denigrating that of others. 4. A volunteer must not establish him / herself as the standard of correctness and suprress the work of others with his or her fault-finding. 5. A volunteer must take the Buddha-mind as his / her own mind. 6. A volunteer must use wisdom of Dharma-Selecting Vision to determine true principles. 7. A volunteer must request Virtuous Elders in the ten directions to certify his / her translations. 8. A volunteer must endeavour to propagate the teachings by printing Sutras, Shastra texts, and Vinaya texts when the translations are certified as being correct. Contents The Buddha-To-Be 3 Queen Maya Has A Dream 9 The Birth of A Prince 11 The Wise Asita 13 Prince Siddhartha’s Childhood 15 Education 17 The wounded Swan 19 Prince Siddhartha Chooses A bride 21 The Royal Contest 23 A Rude Awakening 25 The First Journey 27 The Second Journey 27 The Third Journey 28 The Last Journey 29 Leaving The Palace 31 In The Snow Mountains 33 An Offering of Rice-milk 35 An Offering of Kusa Grass 37 Under The Bodhi Tree 39 Enlightenment 41 The Deer Park 43 Saving A Lamb 45 The Return To The Palace 47 Yashodhara Tells The Truth 49 The Buddha Teaches Rahula A Lesson 51 The First Nun 53 A Beauty That Never Fades 55 The Last Words 57 A Day in the Life of The Buddha 59 Glossary 61 Under the Bodhi Tree Published and Translated by: Buddhist Text Translation Society Dharma Realm Buddhist University Dharma Realm Buddhist Association Burlingame, California, U.S.A. Under the Bodhi Tree 2 The Buddha-To-Be ong ago, in a life before now, the Buddha-to-be was a wise hermit named Sumedha. He lived in the forest and ate wild food and wore clothing made from bark. For Ldays upon days, he would sit in meditation absorbed in bliss. One day he was roused from bliss by the distant sound of music and by the vibra- tion of thousands of fearless feet. Sitting with his legs folded, he rose high into the air and flew over the forest until he came to a road. Workers dotted the road as far as the eye could see. Sumedha called down to them. Whats happening? Why do you work so hard like bees? Why is the road being strewn with golden sand and perfumes? Why the cart of flowers of every kind and color? O Wise Sumedha, havent you heard? Burning Lamp Buddha is visiting our city, answered the road workers, leaning on their shovels and looking into the brilliant blue sky where Sumedha was hovering. Speechless with joy, Sumedha descended, grabbed a shovel, and set to work on the muddy road. A Buddha is coming, he thought. A real live Buddha! Then faintly, then louder came music drums! And flutes! And strings! And voices! And there up ahead, Sumedha saw Burning lamp Buddha moving slowly forward, wreathed in ever-changing colors of dazzling lightnow blue, now orange, now green, now pink. I want to become a Buddha and help all living beings, said Sumedha, and he spread his cape over a mud hole in the road and lay upon it. Then letting down his long, long hair, he stretched it out making a bridge. Let the Buddha walk on my hair to keep from soiling his feet. The music stopped. The voices and the laughter of the children stopped. Sumedha slowly opened his eyes. Light surrounded him, and he could faintly hear a voice say, The hermit, Sumedha, lying here in the mud has made a great vow. And standing there among the thousands of monks and nuns, men and women, and children, Burning Lamp Buddha made a prediction for Sumedha. Far, far in the future, you will become a Buddha! Your name will be Siddhartha. You will be born in the city of Kapilavastu. Your mother will be Queen Maya and your father, King Suddhodana. You will leave the palace and sit under the Bodhi tree. When the morning star appears, you will become enlightened. With tears of joy, Sumedha knotted his hair on the top of his head and quietly folded up his legs. He flew back into the forest from whence he came. I, too, will become a Buddha! I, too, will become a Buddha! he sang out into the starlight as he soared over the sleeping trees. 3 Under the Bodhi Tree 4 Then, in life after life, he was reborn with many different names and in many different places. Joyfully, he worked hard towards his goal until he was reborn in the Tushita Heaven, the Heaven of the Happy. This is where a Buddha-to-be lives before his last birth. After a time, the Four Heavenly Kings came to summon him. The moment has come for you to appear in the world and purify the people. Your name will be Siddhartha. You will be born in the city of Kapilavastu. Your mother will be Queen Maya and your father, King Suddhodana. You will leave the palace and sit under the Bodhi tree. When the morning star appears, you will become enlightened. In a radiant light of brilliant colors, the Buddha-to-be descended to earth as a white elephant with six golden tusks. The light shone in the nighttime sky like a blazing star. From a mountaintop far below on earth, the wise Asita gazed at the blazing star. A Buddha will soon be born in the world, he said. More than 2,000 years ago in India, where the Snow Mountains rise high above the clouds, there was a small kingdom of the Shakya clan. Although the kingdom was small, it was known for its great wealth, its rich and fertile land, and its just and goodly King Suddhodana and his gentle wife, Queen Maya. Far and wide, because of the vast fields of rice and storehouses of grain, the just and goodly king was known as the White Rice King throughout the land. 5 6 7 Under the Bodhi Tree 8 Queen Maya has a Dream ong, long after Sumedha vowed to become a Buddha, on the night of the Summer Moon Festival, Queen Maya had a dream. In her dream, she was carried through Lthe air by the Four Heavenly Kings to Lake Anavatapta high in the Snow Mountains. The queens of the four kings came and bathed her and dressed her in heavenly clothing. Then she was led to a golden palace on top of a silver mountain. There, as she lay upon a soft, splendid couch, she was anointed with the finest perfumes and adorned with jewels and garlands of the most brilliant flowers ever seen. Suddenly a comet brighter than the brightest star streaked across the sky, falling silently behind the great mountain. Then into the goldenpalace where Queen Maya lay, came a magnificent white elephant holding a lotus flower in its great silvery trunk. It trumpeted joyfully. Once! Twice! Three times and circled the queen thrice. Then it touched her right side with the white lotus. When the queen awoke, she told the king her dream. The White Rice King More than 2,000 years ago in India, where the Snow Mountains rise high above the clouds, there was a small kingdom of the Shakya clan. The Shakyan kingdom was a small kingdom, but it was known for its great wealth, its rich and fertile land, and its just and goodly King Suddhodana and his gentle wife, Queen Maya. Far and wide, because of the vast fields of rice and storehouses of grain, the just and goodly king was known as the White Rice King throughout the land. On the day Queen Maya told the king about her dream, the goodly king summoned sixty-four holy persons, the wisest in the land. He honored them with a grand and glorious rice feast in the grand and glorious palace. They were served from silver and golden bowls filled with rice, honey, curries of all flavors, and so on. Thereupon the king gave them wonderful and glorious gifts of gold and silver and herds of tawny cattle. Then the beautiful Queen Maya told the holy persons about her dream. She told of the jeweled flowers and the thousand-petal white lotus and of the brilliant light. She told of the magnificent white elephant and how it trumpeted. Her voice was gentle and peaceful and light poured from her face as she spoke. The king closed his eyes and listened once again to the queens dream. The holy persons sat in rapt attention, taking in each and every word. After the queen had finished speaking, the holy persons nodded their heads in knowing wonder. The oldest rose quietly and smiled, Rejoice! O King! Rejoice! Your beloved queen will bear a sona son destined for the greatest greatness! The sixty-four holy persons bowed and took their leave, keeping what they heard a secret that only they could know. The king was delighted with the good news, May the music play! May the dancers dance! May the drummers drum! May gifts be gifted to everyone in the land, to the poor and rich alike! 9 Under the Bodhi Tree 10 The Birth of a Prince ll winter long, the king and queen awaited the birth of their son.
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