The life story of Shakyamuni Buddha and the prophecy for our times. Enlightenment Carrying out a predetermined mission: Spreading the Buddhadharma, compassionately saving sentient beings Buddha Shakyamuni's prophecies about the birth of a future Buddha Who is the Buddha? Who can become Buddha? Let's take a look at the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha, to understand that from a brave prince leaving the luxurious life in the palace, going through a difficult and arduous journey to find enlightenment. suffering, finally seeing the universal truth and spreading the Buddhadharma, leaving prophetic predictions to our present day... The dream heralds the birth of a great man In the kingdom of Kapila. Ve (Kapilavattsu), present-day Nepal, in the 6th century BC, Queen Ma Da (Mahamaya) was the wife of King Pure Sanskrit (Suddodana), when the birth of her first child was coming, had a special premonition dream. In her dream, she clearly saw a beautiful white light shining on her, and from the light appeared a very holy white elephant with six tusks. The elephant stepped closer and dissolved into her body. She told the dream to the king as soon as she woke up and that very morning, the king summoned the sages. They said that it was an auspicious sign that the queen would give birth to a great man. The king was extremely shocked. According to the custom at that time, Queen Ma Da would move to her mother's house to give birth. It is a full moon day according to the Indian calendar. When stopping to rest at Lumbini garden, She suddenly went into labor and so the prince of the Kapilavad kingdom was born into the earthly world gently. A light rain then washed both the mother and the child. On the same day, seven other beings were born, respectively, the Bodhi tree, the princess Yashodhara (Yashodhara), the horse Kien Trac (Kantaka), the chariot driver Sa Nac (Channa), the elephant Kaludayi (prince's childhood friend), and seven derelict treasures. The little prince was brought back to the capital that very night. Five days later, the prince was named Siddhartha, which means "one who will achieve his goal". Many wise men came to meet and wish for the newborn prince, among them Atita, who was the king's former teacher and an ascetic who had achieved many successes. achievements. The king felt very honored by the visit of the ascetic Asita, so he had him bring the child to the Taoist so that the child could pay respects to him. Immediately, Atita stood up and immediately recognized the lines on the prince's body that signaled a spiritual and religious inclination. With supernormal powers, he saw the future greatness of the newborn prince and greeted him with a tight squeeze. The prophecy of the prince's spiritual life and isolation from the world of suffering Queen Ma Da died suddenly 7 days later, leaving her place to her younger sister Kieu Dam Di (Mahaprajapati), who later raised the prince with love and care. When Siddhartha turned 12 years old, the king called in sages to predict the prince's future. They all said that Prince Siddhartha would decide to practice asceticism if he saw signs of old age, illness, death or met an ascetic. Completely not wanting his son to become a monk, King Tinh San wanted to arrange a way for the prince to succeed the throne to rule the kingdom as a wise king. He then ordered the palace to be strictly guarded and forbade the use of the word "death" or "suffering" in the palace, so as not to give the prince any concept of earthly suffering. He distanced the prince from anything that might suggest spiritual inspiration. Therefore, the prince could only enjoy the luxurious life in the palace. The prince grew up to be a strong man, trained in combat skills, and married a neighboring country's princess, Da Du Da La, at the age of 16. Painting of the wedding of Prince Siddhartha with Princess Yaśodharā, the wife of Buddha before he left home. People try to arrange everything, but God's will will ultimately decide everything. That is what we see through the life story of Shakyamuni Buddha. Despite being strictly isolated from anything that could inspire spirituality, in the end what was planned for the young prince's future was still in order to manifest... In the velvet palace life. Silk, Siddhartha began to appear a desire to explore the mundane world beyond the forbidden palace. He decided to go on a trip to see his kingdom and its people. With no good reason to prevent this wish, the king accepted and tried to arrange and prepare the best in advance. He carefully planned the trip and decorated everything on the route that the prince would take, making it all happy, rich and beautiful. Bad or sad scenes were removed to prevent the prince from seeing the four signs pointed out by the wise as the signs of Aging - Sickness - Death, or seeing an ascetic. But all the king's precautions were in vain when the prince went on an excursion with the charioteer Shana, who was scheduled to be born on the same day as Siddhartha. While traveling in a small town, Prince Siddhartha accidentally saw the deeply wrinkled face of an old man. That was the first sign in the predictions of the oracles: the sign of Lao. Siddhartha was surprised and asked Shana about the man. Then he saw a man who was sick and coughing, it makes people find it difficult to explain. That is the second sign that the prophets said: Illness. Finally, the prince encountered a funeral at the riverbank and an ascetic—who had given up all worldly pleasures in order to attain inner peace and eternal happiness. So the last two signs of Death and the presence of an ascetic appeared before Siddhartha's eyes. The peace and compassion on the monk's face made a strong impression on Siddhartha. The person asked Shana about the meaning of all this. The charioteer told the prince about the realities of life that should have been known long ago. Returning to the palace, Siddhartha asked his father's permission to leave the palace and became a beggar monk in search of the truth of life. With the hidden seeds planted in the prince's mind, when he met the social reality, who immediately understood that everything in the world is fleeting and illusory and that sometimes, the eternity of life is the real thing to look for. King Tinh San felt very miserable and disappointed, what he planned in the end did not work. The king then sent soldiers to strengthen the strict defense around the palace, and at the same time organize more entertainments to keep the prince, hoping to make his son forget what he has met in society. At this time, the prince's wife, Princess Yau Da La gave birth to his first child, whom he named Rahula (Rahula), meaning "bondage." Siddhartha saw a meaningless life and finally decided to run away on Kien Trac with the help of his trusted teacher, Sac Na. The prince got up in the night, looked at his wife and children one last time, and got on his horse, and run away. In front of the city gate, the prince cut off his thick hair and handed over the princely robe to Sac Na. Painting of Siddhārtha riding a horse Kanthaka leaving the palace, followed by the servant Channa (photo: Wikipedia). Siddhartha's arduous journey in search of the truth of life After leaving the palace, Siddhartha went to Vajradhara, the capital of the ancient Indian state of Mahayana, where he met several monks meditating in mountain caves. The prince became a disciple of the monk A La La Ca Lam (Alara Klama), and was taught how to cultivate. After a period of cultivation, the prince did not see any further progress, so he studied with a hermit named Udala La Ma Tu (Uddaka Ramaputta). However, after a while, he realized that no further progress could be made. Therefore, Siddhartha joined five monks in the forest of Benares to cultivate by mortification, eating very little, and experiencing austerity. From then on, people began to call Prince Siddhartha under the name Sakyamuni (Sakyamuni), which means "sage of the Sakya family". After practicing like this for six years, Shakyamuni discovered that he had not yet attained enlightenment but that his mortal body had become extremely exhausted. One day while he was meditating, he suddenly heard a conversation between two musicians on a boat. The seasoned musician tells the novice that the strings of the lute should not be too tight or too loose. If the ropes are pulled too tight, they will break; and if pulled too coincidentally, the sound output will not be correct. As soon as I heard this, Shakyamuni suddenly realized the principle of the middle (midway) and did not go to the extreme; then he left for a walk. On the way, he met a village girl named Sujata, and she expressed her wish to give rice cakes to Shakyamuni; which is now exhausted. Legend has it that Shakyamuni's body returned to normal immediately after eating it. Enlightenment He then sat under the Bodhi tree in the Urvela forest and vowed not to come out of his meditative state without attaining enlightenment. He faced interference from a demon named Mara, who used hundreds of tricks to harass him but could not change Shakyamuni's steadfast will. Upon witnessing Shakyamuni breaking free from the grip of desires and attachments, Mara became extremely angry and it sent dozens of armed demons to attack Shakyamuni, but he remained motionless. After being defeated and realizing that it would not interfere with Shakyamuni's extraordinary concentration, Mara mocked him and said that even though he had won, no one would witness. get this. Shakyamuni touches the ground with his hand, indicating that the earth will be the witness. The ground involuntarily shook as if in response that it would witness the glory of Shakyamuni. From that moment, Shakyamuni continued his meditation and finally attained enlightenment, his wisdom was opened, and he reached the realm of Buddha after 49 days of meditation. under the Bodhi tree. Carrying out the pre-determined mission: Spreading the Buddha Dharma, Compassionately saves sentient beings Immediately after attaining Buddhahood, he began his predestined mission to spread the Buddhadharma and save sentient beings. Shakyamuni gave his first Dharma lecture to his former initiates, five monks in Benares. Gradually, the number of his disciples increased to 80,000. When King Tinh San learned that his son had become a Buddha, he invited Shakyamuni to his palace and rebuked him for begging for food when he was so rich that he could feed thousands of followers. Shakyamuni explained to his father that it was a requirement of his cultivation system. During this time, Shakyamuni's half-brother Ananda (Ananda), who would be crowned crown prince and betrothed to Princess Ton Dali (Sundari), also decided to step into the path of cultivation and became a disciple of Shakyamuni. Later, Shakyamuni's son Rahula and his mother also became his disciple. However, harmful interference and jealousy were also present: Devadatta, Shakyamuni's cousin, tried to kill him many times out of jealousy, but the Buddha forgave him. for him with his compassion. Angulimal also tried to kill him, but in the end his compassion neutralized everything and made the bandit general submit and also become his disciple. We see a truth through the story: Buddha's compassion can dissolve all. On the night of the full moon in his birth month, 483 BC, Shakyamuni taught his disciples for the last time before entering Nirvana. Buddha Shakyamuni's Prophecies About the Birth of a Future Buddha In many of his teachings, Shakyamuni Buddha left doomsday prophecies about the birth of a Buddha. The future Buddha, 2500 years after his death, corresponds to our present day... The Buddhist scriptures record that "Longhua and three meeting together, after fifty million years, Maitreya Buddha came to earth, preaching the Dharma. Three variables, saving all sentient beings with predestined conditions." Book 8 of the "Hui Lam Yin Meaning" sutra mentions the birth of a Tathagata Buddha or a Wheel-turning-Holy King, and his birth will be accompanied by a sign in the world of Udumbara flowers. Ba La, a species of tiny white flower, the flower stem is as thin as a silk thread, transparent, white as snow, around radiating a faint light, capable of growing on any material that ordinary flowers cannot grow such as copper, steel, glass, glue, fruits, plants, and these flowers are also kept for years. does not fade… The Hue Lam Amitabha Sutra writes: “Uu Dam Hoa, is a mistranslation from Old Sanskrit. Correct Sanskrit is O Dam Bat La, which means auspicious omen. This is a heavenly flower, there is no such flower in the world. If the Tathagata is born, the Holy King Wheel-turning King appears in the human world, this flower will appear thanks to his great virtue and great grace." "Fam Hoa Van Cu" writes: "Uu Dam Hoa, which means good luck sacred luck. It only blooms once every three thousand years, when it blooms, the Golden Wheel King appears." The Buddhist scriptures also record that the Holy King is the ideal king who will rule the world not by force but by justice. Those who use kindness to treat others will have the opportunity to meet the King of Wheels, regardless of religion - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism or any other faith. Udumbara flowers, a tiny white celestial flower, the flower stem is as thin as silk, transparent, white as snow, around radiating a faint light... Photo taken by Dai Ky Times Raw, magnified size 400 times, clearly see the crystal-clear flower stem and each layer of thin glowing petals. The prophecy in the Buddhist scriptures has been fulfilled, the flowers of Udumbara have now bloomed everywhere, is the Holy King Wheel-turning already present in the human world and saving sentient beings? When the Buddha was in the world, we obtained the Dharma. When the Buddha rectified the Dharma, we were looking for the good fortune to meet this life.END=NAMO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.14/6/2021.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.