“The Life of Buddha” thangka, also known as the “Picture of Sakyamuni Buddha’s Jataka,” shows the 12 phases of Sakyamuni Buddha’s life: descent from Heaven, entering his mother’s womb on a white elephant, birthed beneath the branches of a tree, life as a prince, the four encounters, renunciation of the worldly life, six ascetic years in the woods, defeat of the demons, enlightenment, proclamation of the teachings, and entering nirvana.
The thangka was created during the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century. It has been passed down for more than 300 years and was bestowed with incredible blessing power. This extraordinary thangka was also personally blessed by Grandmaster JinBodhi and contains the great energy of compassion and light. Practicing meditation in front of this thangka can help you quickly connect with Sakyamuni Buddha and Grandmaster JinBodhi. If you have the opportunity to worship this thangka, you will receive blessings and protection from the Buddha and Grandmaster that will brighten your body and mind, help you acquire wisdom, eliminate disasters and negative karma, and perfect your merits and virtues.
◎ Birth and Growth
Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born more than 2,600 years ago in Kapilavas (present-day Nepal), a country north of India, to Śuddhodana Gautama (King Jingfan) and his wife Māyādevī (Maya).
According to records, when Sakyamuni Buddha entered the womb, Queen Maya dreamt that a bodhisattva riding a white elephant with six tusks entered her womb. When Queen Maya told the King about this dream, he summoned various sages to interpret the dream. They predicted the queen would give birth to a son destined to become either a great ruler who would conquer the world or a holy man who would become an enlightened being.
When Queen Maya was in her 40s, the prince was born under the branches of a sala tree in Lumbini Park. At that moment, the sky radiated great light. Dragon Protectors and all gods and deities gathered to celebrate, and nine dragons spit out water to bathe the infant prince. Soon after he was born on April 8th, the infant prince walked seven steps and with every step a lotus appeared. Then, with one hand pointing to Heaven, and the other pointing to the earth, he exclaimed, “In Heaven and on Earth, I am Supreme!”
Buddha’s father, King Jingfan, loved his son very much and named the prince Siddhartha Gautama, which means “accomplished in all merits.”
Queen Maya passed away on the seventh day after giving birth to the prince. The prince was brought up by his aunt Mahabata. Prince Siddhartha was extremely intelligent and well-loved by his father, aunts, teachers, and others around him. The prince quickly understood various skills such as martial arts, history, astronomy, and strategies of governing the country.
In order to prevent the prince from becoming a monk, as was predicted, and leaving no one to inherit the throne, King Jingfan built a magnificent palace for him. He also selected many beautiful young girls to sing and dance for the prince. He even selected Yasodhara as the prince’s wife. He provided all manner of enjoyment in order to keep the prince at court.
The prince was well-versed in both literature and military affairs and having lived in the palace since childhood, he enjoyed immense wealth. However, he did have profound feelings that troubled him. Through the eastern gate, he encountered an old man; through the southern gate, he saw a sick man; through the western gate, he came upon a corpse surrounded by mourners; through the northern gate, he met a holy man. He thought about the pain his mother endured giving birth to him and before her death. The pain, anxiety, sadness, and fear he felt in his heart caused him to think about the direction of his life: Search for an end to the suffering and misery of sentient beings.
In order to seek liberation and achieve his aspiration to save all sentient beings, Prince Siddhartha decided to leave the palace and become a monk in order to pursue the truth.
◎ Enlightenment and Becoming Buddha
When Prince Siddhartha was 29 years old, he left the city on a dimly moonlit night. To show his determination to become a monk, he shaved his hair and beard and vowed that once he achieved enlightenment, he would return to teach all sentient beings and free them from the suffering of life and death.
After the prince became a monk, he learned from ascetic beings in the forest, and then went to the snow-capped mountains for self-cultivation. Siddhartha’s practice was dominated by hardship, eating only one hemp seed and one grain of barley every day. He became so extremely thin that his eyes were sunken, his cheekbones jutted out, and his body reduced to skin and bones.
One day, after Siddhartha washed the dirt off his body in the Falgu River, he accepted a bowl of rice pudding offered by Sujata, a milkmaid. After accepting the rice pudding, Siddhartha ended six years of ascetic cultivation. He realized that while it was not easy to achieve liberation through over-indulgence, it was also difficult to reach enlightenment through blind asceticism. Siddhartha decided to forgo extreme practices that leaned towards suffering or pleasure.
About three months later, Siddhartha gradually recovered his strength and travelled to Gaya where he sat under a Bodhi tree to meditate and vowed: “I will not leave until I attain enlightenment!”
His incredibly deep meditative state set off a series of astonishing events. The demonic celestial evil god Mara sent witches to seduce and disturb Siddhartha, who was in the state of Samadhi, but the prince was not moved at all. Mara also sent evil Rakshasas to intimidate Siddhartha by throwing all kinds of deadly weapons, but because of Siddhartha’s compassion and fearlessness, these blades dropped like petals when they were about to reach Siddhartha and could not harm him.
While sitting upright and meditating attentively, Siddhartha finally fully comprehended the source of his heart, ridding himself of all delusions, attachments, and the last trace of troubling thoughts. On the seventh day, he saw the stars in the sky and suddenly realized he had achieved ultimate enlightenment. Siddhartha became one with the Universe, all sentient beings, birth, old age, sickness, and death, and the hearts of all mankind. He saw the origin of life and the reasons for the sufferings of sentient beings. Sakyamuni Buddha realized that the root of human error comes from the “heart.” The five poisons of the mind — greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt — can lead to negative behaviors, which include killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, foul language, and alcoholism. At that moment, the enlightened Buddha exclaimed: “Wonderful! All beings on Earth have the wisdom and virtues of Buddha, which cannot be attained only because of delusion and attachment.” Siddhartha, at 35 years old, was respectfully referred to as Sakyamuni Buddha.
◎ Establish a Sangha to Educate the Public
After reaching enlightenment, Buddha went to Sarnath and spoke to Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhadrika, Daśabala-kāśyapa, and Mahānāma about the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths. The five monks sincerely admired Buddha and from that moment they served him, becoming Buddha’s first disciples. Buddha’s first teaching in Sarnath is referred to as the “First Turning of the Dharma Wheel.”
In order to help all sentient beings, Sakyamuni Buddha centered on the three kingdoms of Magadha, Kosala, and Vatsa, and traveled throughout India to spread Buddhadharma. He even taught at the Jetavana in Shravasti City for 25 years, attracting disciples and many outsiders to convert to Buddhism. The Buddha also ascended to Trāyastriṃśa heaven to teach dharma to his mother and celestial beings. He also returned to his hometown to teach the Shakya people. In the end, even his father, King Jingfan, and his only son Rahulu became his disciples.
During his life, Buddha taught countless disciples for 49 years. Buddha saw that all beings were equal and that life was about reincarnation, the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara). He believed that not only were people equal, but also people and all things in this world were equal, and all things coexisted. From the highest Brahmin class, kings, and nobles, to wealthy businessmen and peasants, the Buddha treated them equally and taught them Buddhadharma whenever he had the chance. When he was 80 years old, the Buddha settled in Jiexia in the city of Vaishali, and declared to his disciples that he was about to enter nirvana. He passed away under the sala trees on the bank of the Bati River in Kushinagar.
