Mandala - Thanka - Life of Buddha

Product description Mandala - Thanka - Life of Buddha

The Life of Buddha
Many years ago, in the city of Lumbini, King Shuddhodan lived with Queen Mayadevi. The king and queen had not been able to have children for some time, and this made them very sad. One evening a white elephant appeared to Queen Mayadevi in a dream. The Buddha in the form of a white elephant entered her womb and the queen became pregnant. One day the queen went to visit her parents. On the way she wanted to rest and stopped at a lovely grove near Lumbini, where she gave birth to the Buddha. Immediately after his birth, he took seven steps forward. Gods and goddesses appeared in the sky, filled with joy at his birth. On the seventh day after his birth, Mayadevi's mother died.

Because he was born a prince, his father taught him many skills such as horse riding, swordsmanship, archery and swimming. Buddha had a very kind nature. He always thought very seriously and deeply and never aspired to anything material or worldly. However, the king wanted his son to become a great king, even better than himself. So, to please him, he had many seasonal gardens built and arranged for great musical and dance performances to be held there for the Buddha's entertainment. In due course the Buddha married the beautiful princess Yasodhara, who bore him a son, Rahul. However, none of these joyful experiences made him happy.

One day he longed to leave the confines of the palace and venture out into the world. As he wandered through the countryside, he saw an old man. He had never seen such an old man before, he realized that old age was inevitable and that he too would one day grow old. This realization made him very sad. In his wanderings he also saw many sick people and those who had died. Then he met a monk and learned that he was seeking enlightenment. He too wanted to find enlightenment and the cause of suffering. The Buddha could no longer enjoy life in the palace, he saw too much suffering and had to find its cause. He went far away from the country, practiced meditation and learned many things from many teachers. But he still had not found the knowledge he was looking for, and yet he had already tried many forms of meditation. After six years of meditation, he had become very weak and was just skin and bones. From this he learned that he had to follow the middle path, because he found that he needed strength to do what he needed to do. So he started eating again. Eventually he attained enlightenment or awakening (Buddhahood). After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha traveled to many places and preached to people. One day he reached parinirvana, absolute enlightenment, left this world and returned to heaven.

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