Man, Myth and Legend

001. WITHIN EVERYONE

“In this fathom-long body with its thoughts, feelings and perceptions lies the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way that leads to the ending of the world.”

THE SAMYUTTA NIKAYA SUTTA

002. COSMIC ENERGY

“Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation.”

JOSEPH CAMPBELL (1904–1987), USA

003. A MOTHER’S DREAM

According to legend the Buddha’s conception was miraculous. His mother Queen Maya dreamed that she was transported to a high plateau, where she lay under a tree and a bodhisattva in the form of an immaculate white royal elephant walked around her three times before entering her right side.

004. BORN IN A GARDEN

When the time for Queen Maya’s confinement was drawing closer, she set out to visit her parents in the company of her sister. On the way they stopped at the Lumbini Garden and, grasping the branch of a tree, the queen gave birth painlessly from her right side to the future Buddha. The Lumbini Garden remains one of Buddhism’s four holiest sites, along with the sites of the Buddha’s enlightenment, first sermon and death.

005. MANY NAMES

At birth the Buddha was named Siddhartha Gautama, “the one who obtains success and prosperity”. After his enlightenment, he was called Gautama Buddha or Shakyamuni Buddha (meaning “The Awakened One, Sage of the Sakyas”). The Buddha was also known as the Tathagata (“He who has come and gone”). In Buddhist sacred texts, the Buddha is also referred to as the “World-honoured One”, the “Blessed One” and the “great physician”.

006. A SPECIAL MAN

Neither god nor prophet, nor supernatural being, Siddhartha Gautama was born, lived, taught and died as a mortal man. He was an exceptional person, who revealed a way of achieving true wisdom, compassion and freedom from suffering. According to Buddhist tradition, he was not unique – there were previous Buddhas, and there will be future Buddhas. However, it was this one who rediscovered the path to enlightenment.

007. FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANY

“An extraordinary man arises in this world for the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, benefit and happiness of gods and men. Who is this being? It is the Tathagata, the Exalted, the Fully Enlightened One.”

THE ANGUTTARA NIKAYA