(Part
One) 16.
Striving for Enlightenment
In
the evening after Sujata's lovely meal, Gautama went
to Gaya and looked for a suitable place to sit down
and meditate. He found a banyan tree and sat on its
east side, the side that was believed to be stable
and free from trembles and quakes. After sitting cross-legged
with his back towards the tree, he made this resolution:
"Though my skin, my nerves and my bones shall
waste away and my life blood go dry, I will not leave
this seat until I have attained the highest wisdom,
called supreme enlightenment, that leads to everlasting
happiness."
He
meditated on his breathing in and breathing out. It
was the eve of the full moon. During the first part of the night
many evil thoughts, described as being like the evil
god Mara and his army, crept into his mind. Thoughts
of desire, craving, fear and attachment arose, yet
Gautama did not allow these thoughts to disturb his
concentration. He sat more firm than ever. He began
to feel calm and brave as he let these thoughts go
and so, in the first part of the night, he found the
power of seeing his own past lives.
In
the second part of the night Gautama realised the impermanence
of life and how living beings die only to be reborn
again. In the third part of the night he realised
the cause of all evil and suffering and how to be
released from it. He understood how to end sorrow,
unhappiness, suffering, old age and death.
