January 20, 2025
The Life of Sakyamuni Buddha (3)
By Rev. Shinkai Oikawa
5. Studies in the olden times were 5. to learn by heart
Although Sakyamuni liked to escape from such a chaotic world, He could not avoid practicing such martial arts as archery and wrestling. Of course He studied, too. As for studies, they had neither letters nor written sutras in those days. Therefore, all they had to do for studies was to learn by heart, namely stuffing their heads with knowledge.
Letters appeared in the times of Emperor Asoka, around 300 B.C. We know this because there exist the rock edicts of Asoka that are a collection of inscriptions carved in a natural rock face. There still remain seventeen or eighteen such edicts in India. Researchers proved that these are the letters of King Asoka’s times, about 300 B.C. These cannot be called letters, because they are very plain and elementary.
Ordinary letters appeared in India about 2,000 years ago, around the beginning of the Christian Era, and sutras began to be written. Indian letters are phonograms that show only sounds, not ideograms like Chinese characters that show meanings from their own shapes.
Sutras were all memorized in the olden times, and people were reluctant to write sutras in letters because they would not be memorized if written in letters or characters. People worked hard to memorize sutras when there were no letters or characters. We do not try to memorize words or characters today because we have personal computers. Convenience makes us all degenerate.
Sutras were written in letters 2,000 years ago. Once sutras were written, people did not try to memorize them, though they memorized them very hard before. At first, they insisted that they would never write sutras. But sutras were written at last, because people who remembered sutras all died. This is absolutely true. Once an epidemic broke out in ancient times, many people died at once because medicine was not highly developed. There are a lot of records showing that 2,000 or 3,000 people died of an epidemic. They had no means to protect themselves against the disaster at all.
Only people who are alive can learn something by heart. Almost all died and no one could memorize anything, but the Buddhist teachings had to survive even in manuscripts. Therefore, people began to write sutras for this purpose. In the beginning they were not willing to write sutras but were obliged to do so as there was no other choice.
We have already degenerated so much that we could not even read written sutras. Human beings have kept on degrading little by little. If we do not use our brain we become senile easily, I am afraid. People used their brain very hard in ancient times. I have a good example. You know the terms such as Silk Road and Tripitaka masters, don’t you? It is said that they brought a lot of Buddhist sutras on camel backs on a very long journey from India to China with many difficulties. In the case of Hsüan-chuang (Genjo Sanzo), it took him 16 years to go to India and return. It is an extremely long journey, isn’t it? Nowadays we can travel there aboard an airplane and be back tomorrow. But it took sixteen years to go there and return in those days. What is more, with pieces of luggage, don’t you think it is very troublesome and painful?
In reality, however, it was not really so much. They did not have such a hard time. What did they do then? They memorized everything. Actually they put everything necessary for them in their brains, and came back with no heavy luggage. In fact, there are many such examples. There were some problems, of course. They sometimes forgot something important on the way home.This is true, too.
An example is a sutra in the “Shinkokuyaku-daizo-kyo (The New Japanese Translation of the Entire Buddhist Scriptures)” which I translated. There is no latter half of the sutra. It is written on its last page, “I cannot remember any more.” And then it is written, “People will come one after another to bring the same sutra as this one after me. Please add to this, then.” In other words, it is said, “I brought the sutra in my memory.”
Human brains are as excellent as this example. They are wonderful. For example, a pianist plays the piano without a musical score. We easily wonder how a pianist can play in this way. But it is quite possible. You all have had such a treasure as this since your birth. I hope you will do your best.
6. Sakyamuni’s ‘Leaving the Home’
As for Sakyamuni’s study, we can assume He studied many things till He was 20 years old because the Indian people study till they are 20 years old. Sakyamuni was married when He finished his studies. He married Princess Yasodhara from a neighboring country. He had a son named Rahula. He left them and became a priest, however. Although it sounds good to be a priest, in brief, He ran away from home.
Sakyamuni discarded His wife, child, father, mother, and throne, and left home when He was 29 years old. I cannot explain how, but I can easily guess that He embittered all members of His family as a result. Why did He run away from His family, make them sad and become a priest?
It is easy to understand why if we say that He sought after “spiritual enlightenment.” I suppose He was not satisfied to live in comfort in his royal palace, but was afraid He would completely degenerate soon if He continued to live such a life of luxury. He may have thought many things, I guess. At any rate,He must have thought what human beings were, and whether it was good or not that He had been living in comfort in order to save old people, sick people, dead people and people with problems living in the towns. Such thoughts may have driven Him to run away from home. This is the starting point of religion.
Nevertheless, it is a drastic decision for anyone to become a priest by discarding his family. Sakyamuni made such a drastic decision at the age of 29. Up until then Sakyamuni wore showy clothes, had three palaces to live in for summer, winter and the rainy season, and got away with doing everything in His own way with ladies in attendance around Him. And we can guess He had three wives, including well-known Yasodhara. He led such a happy life. Everything got changed one day suddenly.
Sakyamuni left his palaces on the back of His favorite horse named Kanthaka, waded across the Anoma River on the state border, shaved His own hair by Himself, took off all His clothes, put on the shabby clothes of a hunter, that is to say, rags of wandering around in the woods, and set out on a journey for Buddhist ascetic practices with the very least of personal belongings. As for the least of personal belongings, there are eight for a priest: three pieces of robes or “three robes,” that is to say, an outer robe, a middle robe and an under robe. And then comes an alms-bowl. Next, a belt and a razor for shaving the head. The seventh consists of needles and threads for sewing. The eighth, a water strainer to filter muddy river water before drinking it. These are eight pieces of personal belongings for a priest. Sakyamuni started on a journey for Buddhist ascetic practices with them.
(Trans. by Rev. Kanshu Naito)
(to be continued)