29. Seated Buddha, date unknown,

location unknown, coloured pencil on paper.

 

 

He practises extreme austerities in the forest:

“I thought: ‘Suppose that I, clenching my teeth and pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth, were to beat down, constrain, and crush my mind with my awareness.’ So, clenching my teeth and pressing my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I beat down, constrained, and crushed my mind with my awareness. Just as a strong man, seizing a weaker man by the head or the throat or the shoulders, would beat him down, constrain, and crush him, in the same way I beat down, constrained, and crushed my mind with my awareness. As I did so, sweat poured from my armpits. And although tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my body was aroused and uncalm because of the painful exertion. But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.

“I thought: ‘Suppose I were to become absorbed in the trance of non-breathing.’ So I stopped the in-breaths and out-breaths in my nose and mouth. As I did so, there was a loud roaring of winds coming out my earholes, just like the loud roar of winds coming out of a smith’s bellows; extreme forces sliced through my head, just as if a strong man were slicing my head open with a sharp sword; extreme pains arose in my head, just as if a strong man were tightening a turban made of tough leather straps around my head; extreme forces carved up my stomach cavity, just as if a butcher or his apprentice were to carve up the stomach cavity of an ox. There was an extreme burning in my body, just as if two strong men, grabbing a weaker man by the arms, were to roast and broil him over a pit of hot embers. And although tireless persistence was aroused in me, and unmuddled mindfulness established, my body was aroused and uncalm because of the painful exertion. But the painful feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.

“Devas, on seeing me, said, ‘Gautama the contemplative is dead.’ Other devas said, ‘He isn’t dead, he’s dying.’ Others said, ‘He’s neither dead nor dying, he’s an arahant, for this is the way arahants live.’

“I thought: ‘Suppose I were to practise going altogether without food.’ Then devas came to me and said, ‘Dear sir, please don’t practise going altogether without food. If you go altogether without food, we’ll infuse divine nourishment in through your pores, and you will survive on that.’ I thought, ‘If I were to claim to be completely fasting while these devas are infusing divine nourishment in through my pores, I would be lying.’ So I dismissed them, saying, ‘Enough.’

“I thought: ‘Suppose I were to take only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.’ So I took only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup. My body became extremely emaciated. Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems. My backside became like a camel’s hoof. My spine stood out like a string of beads. My ribs jutted out like the jutting rafters of an old, run-down barn. The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well. My scalp shrivelled and withered like a green bitter gourd, shrivelled and withered in the heat and the wind. The skin of my belly became so stuck to my spine that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine, I grabbed hold of the skin of my belly as well. If I urinated or defecated, I fell over on my face right there. Simply from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair – rotted at its roots – fell from my body as I rubbed, simply from eating so little.

People on seeing me would say, ‘Gautama the contemplative is black. Other people would say, ‘Gautama the contemplative isn’t black, he’s brown.’ Others would say, ‘Gautama the contemplative is neither black nor brown, he’s golden-skinned.’ So much had the clear, bright colour of my skin deteriorated, simply from eating so little.

“I thought: ‘Whatever priests or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever priests or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever priests or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practise of austerities I haven’t attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?’”

[MN 36]