As I have pointed out, in the time of Shakyamuni few Brahmans and samanas were justly describable as men of religion in the truest sense. Though they were in charge of learning and ceremonies, the Brahmans were concerned most intently with formalities and were not the spiritual leaders of their age but merely habitual performers of empty rituals. Leading materially secure lives on land granted to them by royalty, they turned away from lofty spiritual ideals and concentrated on their own ease. Whereas some of them gained an independent livelihood by industriously tilling their land, others strove only for honor, wealth, and pleasure.

[T]he prince asked what conditions were necessary to enable an ascetic to attain his goal. Shakyamuni replied by relating what he had to say to the art of riding an elephant. Shakyamuni said that for success in elephant riding, the following things are needed: faith, good health, honesty, perseverance in striving to improve, and wisdom. In learning to ride an elephant and in learning Buddhism, absolute faith in and respect for the instructor are essential. The student cannot be frank and open unless he trusts his teacher. Health is needed because even a person with the greatest fervor is unable to carry out strenuous training if he is physically weak. Honesty is required: deceit and trickery may seem to produce good results at first, but they inevitably lead to failure. Constant striving is also important since perseverance and steadfastness are vital to any undertaking. Finally, the person must have deep and extensive experience and knowledge enabling him to view the total picture correctly.

When all of these conditions are present, a person does not require long periods to attain eminence or to become enlightened. If he is instructed in the truth in the morning, he will be able to reach his goal by the evening. (Page 146-147)

The use of images of the Buddha originated in northwestern India in the first and second centuries. This region received none of the relics that were divided up after Shakyamuni’s death. To take the place of these vital objects of veneration, the people of the northwest had Buddha statues made and, as models in their production, used Greek statues of the Greek gods. The Buddha and bodhisattva statues of the Gandhara style are excellent examples of Greek-influenced Buddhist sculpture. Once the custom of religious sculpture was accepted, it spread to the central parts of India, where art in the Mathura style was produced. Such statues influenced not only Buddhism but Jainism and Brahmanism as well. After the fourth century, Buddhist sculpture was further refined and developed in the elegant Gupta style. It scarcely need be said that Indian Buddhist sculpture directly and indirectly exerted tremendous influence on the arts of China and Japan. (Page 144)

A number of legends surround Kosala and the actions of Shakyamuni there. For instance, both Northern and Southern Buddhism preserve the legend that in the seventh year after his enlightenment he spent the rainy season in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Devas, where he preached for the sake of his mother, Maya, who had been reborn there. The probable explanation for this story is that during the three months of the rainy season of this year Shakyamuni conducted seated meditation in a place far removed from everyone who knew him. The writings of primitive Buddhism tell us that for some weeks after his enlightenment Shakyamuni sat and meditated. It is known that at various times during his life he meditated for periods ranging from two weeks to as much as three months. This does not mean that he did not eat during these times. People served him the requisite food, but they were the only persons with whom he had any contact. None of his disciples or other followers of the faith saw him throughout these periods of meditation. Long stretches of isolation from other human beings no doubt gave rise to the legend of his having gone to the Heaven of the Thirty-three Devas. (Page 142)

After courteously greeting Shakyamuni in the monastery, King Pasenadi said, “Do you, reverend master Gotama, claim to be perfectly and supremely enlightened?”

“O king,” replied Shakyamuni, “If anyone can claim perfect, supreme enlightenment, it is I. I indeed am perfectly and supremely enlightened.”

Then the king said, “Reverend master, there are many Brahmans and samanas, such as the six non-Buddhist teachers, who are highly reputed as saviors among the people and who have large followings of disciples. None of them claims to be perfectly and supremely enlightened. Why do you, reverend master, who are younger than these men and who abandoned home and the secular world long after they did, claim supreme, perfect enlightenment.

Shakyamuni answered, “O king, it is wrong to despise things because they are young. There are four things that must not be looked down upon because of their youth: a mighty prince, a serpent, fire, and a Buddhist monk.”

Then, in lovely verses, Shakyamuni explained that a prince is not to be despised for his youth because, when he comes to the throne, he may take a despot’s revenge. A snake, even a young one, can bite, and fire, though young, can destroy. Injury to a Buddhist monk can blight the heritage of the injurer.

It is said that upon hearing this explanation the king was so deeply moved that he took refuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order and became a Buddhist. (Page 141-142)

Sudatta wanted [Shakyamuni] to come to teach his excellent religion to the people of this kingdom. Realizing that a monastery where Shakyamuni and his followers could spend the rainy season was necessary, as soon as he returned to the city, he began to look for a suitable piece of ground that would not be too far away from the city but would be sufficiently remote that city noise would not disturb the meditations of the monks. He found a place south of the capital that he thought was just right. It was a grove belonging to Prince Jeta, with whom Sudatta discussed the possibilities of a purchase. Unwilling to part with the land, the prince said in jest, “If you want it all that badly, cover the ground with gold. That is my price.” Jeta never dreamed that Sudatta would go so far to acquire the land. But he did. So deep was his faith in the Buddha that he was willing to part with his entire wealth. To his way of thinking, wealth could always be acquired a second time, but there would be no second opportunity to hear a Buddha’s teachings if this first opportunity were allowed to slip by. He therefore had gold brought from home and began to cover the grove with it.

Prince Jeta was startled. By the time he had come to himself, most of the ground of the grove was already covered with gold. He asked Sudatta why he was so determined and learned that a truly rare Buddha had appeared in this world. He then proposed that they use all of this gold to erect part of the buildings for a splendid monastery. Sudatta could then add to them as was necessary. Together the two of them would build what, in honor of the prince, came to be called the Jetavana Monastery. Though it is possible that the entire compound was not completed all at once, even during the lifetime of Shakyamuni, Jetavana became the largest of all the Buddhist monasteries in India.

People who have known only happiness and are suddenly confronted with grave difficulties sometimes are so at a loss to know what to do that they aggravate their condition. The meaning of strife must be remembered even in times of peace. In other words, one must not give in to hard times. One must be trained in faith and in physical strength to remain stable no matter what conditions are encountered. Each new unpleasant experience resolutely faced will further strengthen faith and make it all the more unshakable.

The truth of this statement applies not only to individual human beings but to groups and nations as well. Stimulation is important. Like stagnant water, a person who lives in constant security becomes complacent and, figuratively, goes stale. Flowing water stays bright and clear because of the many obstacles it encounters. In a similar way, a human being who is frequently stimulated to find ways to solve new difficulties grows gradually stronger. (Page 134)

Though we must remain calm and stable in bad times as well as good, when things are going well, human beings not infrequently tend to be complacent or proud. Buddhism teaches that there are many different kinds of pride: in family background, in health, in youth and power, in good reputation, in influence, in wealth, in personal beauty, in knowledge, in strength, in technical or artistic skills, and so on. Pride in one’s sense of compassion and in merciful works indicates immature faith and lack of understanding of the true nature of compassion. Although it is wrong to be proud of powers and abilities, it is still worse to be proud of powers and abilities that one does not even possess. Nonetheless, many people make this mistake.

Pride causes a person to lose modesty and the sense of sympathy with others. Buddhism has long recommended the life of poverty and suffering not for its own sake but to serve as a precaution against pride in happiness and good fortune, to stimulate a constant feeling of modesty and humility, and to awaken a feeling of compassion and protection for unfortunate people through actual knowledge of what it means to be unfortunate. (Page 133-134)

As long as peoples’ interests coincide, they can generally work together in harmony: one will usually attempt to ingratiate himself with the other. But when interests conflict, suddenly one turns on the other with hatred, antagonism, and malice. Such things happen when people are completely controlled by the things of the world and strive to satisfy only their own egoistic, narrow aims. People who understand the truth about the nature of all things neither think nor act in this egoistic way, since they see everything from a high, all-encompassing standpoint enabling them to fuse their own interests with those of everyone else. In a society composed of such people there would be no fighting, no discord, no distrust, and no suspicion because everyone would know the joy of union with his fellow human beings.

[I]n the Suttanipata (stanza 267) we find: “To remain unshaken by contact with the things of the secular world, to be free of anxiety, to be undefiled, and to be tranquil. This is the highest blessing.”

The following eight matters are the things of the world referred to in this stanza: gain and loss, fame and disgrace, praise and slander, and pleasure and pain. We are made happy when we gain and grow wealthy; we suffer and are disappointed when we lose property and become poor. We are elated at good reputation but distressed or filled with hatred for others when we are spoken ill of or are ignored by the world. Praise lifts us to the heights of joy; slander or criticism makes us resentful or hateful. We rejoice at health and the free life, but we become despondent when we are ill or fall on hard times. These ways of being moved by the eight things of the world are common to all mankind. The person who lacks true independence is always tossed here and there by these matters and ends his life in a weak, unstable condition. Hatred, fights, bloodshed, despondency, desperation, and suicide are some of the outcomes of being swayed by the eight things of the world. Buddhism teaches that we must not be moved or suffer when we come in contact with these things but must live in tranquility. This does not mean that we must attempt to avoid such contact. It does not mean that we must retire to remote mountainous regions to be free of the things of the world. The teaching of Buddhism is that, remaining part of society and facing the eight things of the world and all they imply directly, we must nonetheless be unmoved by them.

To do this we must maintain in our hearts something transcending these things. Doing this raises us to a position of high independence from which we must observe all things coolly, judge them accurately, and deal with them correctly. The transcendent something that enables us to live in this way is the correct Buddhist view of the world and of human life and the Buddhist understanding of the truth about all phenomena. Unbreakable faith in the Three Treasures, too, is essential. These views and this faith give human beings the ideal, rational critical attitude called right mindfulness and right knowledge. Because of this attitude, the believer is enabled to keep in mind always the basic Buddhist tenets that all things are impermanent, that nothing has an ego, and that nirvana is quiescence. This in turn makes it habitual to remain undisturbed and calm in all considerations and actions. (Page 132-133)