My Man. My Buddha.

Happy Monday dear readers and also a very Happy Buddha Purnima, or Vesak as some like to address the day. This was the auspicious day when Lord Buddha was born and frankly speaking, to me it feels as if every day is Buddha Purnima -- I can’t explain why but ever since my childhood I have felt this inevitable attraction and love towards him. 

While reading about the Buddha somewhere I read that one of the main reasons for Buddhism not succeeding much in the later years was because all the young men of the society would renounce the world, in search of truth and no one would bother to make money -- thus the monasteries were filled with hermits with all of the inmates sans any desire for material possessions. Such was the glory and charisma of the Buddha that just by looking at him once, men and women would willingly renounce all that they had and follow his path. 

These things left me amazed too, not because I was highly convinced about Buddhism -- but this man the Buddha had cast his spell on me and now I am absolutely smitten by him. Why you may ask, well I for myself would never have such a concrete idea had it not been my direct tete-a-tete with him. I am unsure if it was his plan of bringing me closer to him, but whatever that was I was left bedazzled and awestruck. 

I was a student back then and we had to shoot a documentary when we decided to focus on the Buddhist scriptures available, and how could they be used contemporarily. We were given the address of the Mahabodhi Society in College Square, Kolkata, India and the building outshone the others with its tinge of yellow. We spoke briefly to the Manager inside who further took us inside and introduced us to the Lamas (Buddhist monks) stating that they would help us with our project. 

We had the fortune of interacting with great lamas -- both young and old and they acquainted us with their ways of living, what Buddhism stood for and how could we as normal beings strive to make every day better by following certain Buddhistic rituals. We were then escorted to the meditation hall inside, and I guess all the delights I was feeling had increased manifold when I saw the Buddha sitting right in the middle of the hall, with his half-closed eyes, lips bearing a slight smile, and posture as erect as a straight line. I could not help but gaze and gaze. And gaze. 

I had a lot of questions in mind -- but remained absolutely mum, just couldn’t get myself to speak. Or should I say that all my questions were answered already by this great man? It certainly felt so…

In the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Swamiji mentions at a place that in order to be successful in our spiritual pursuits, we must strive to be unselfish and think about the well-being of others. He cited the example of the Buddha and revealed that if there was any being truly unselfish on earth it was the Buddha, whose every breath was for the welfare of others. Swamiji further noted that we must be actively engaged in being unselfish without caring even a tiny bit about the results, or any kind of fame. The book mentions that this Buddha that we worship is the 25th Buddha and that there were 24 Buddhas before him, who remain unknown. They remained in the caves meditating and spreading this joy of happiness and peace to others. 

Such is the greatness of the Buddha, my Buddha, by looking at whom once one forgets his own existence, one who would give up his own life and thank the person that was responsible for it without the slightest remorse for him. 

This happened during the later stages of his life when Buddha wasn’t keeping well and was invited to have his meal at the house of one of his devotees. His disciples had warned him, but Buddha couldn’t bear the fact that the devotee would be gloomy in his absence and accepted the invitation. The food wasn’t fresh, some say it was poisoned and Buddha could see his last approaching. He went and sought refuge under a tree and asked his followers to join as he’d soon breathe his last.

The devotees of the Buddha began cursing the man who invited the Buddha, and the Lord said that he was the most grateful to him because he released him from his body… Tears rolled down my eyes as I read this portion with my love for him intensifying manifold! According to Swami Vivekananda day and night, we must repeat before the Lord -- “Whenever I sought for wealth, I found all the wealth in thee, O Lord and whenever I sought love outside, I found all the love in my beloved, I sacrifice myself to thee, thus.”

I do too. Wholeheartedly. To the Lord. To The Buddha. My Buddha. My man.

P.S: I share my birthday with him too, I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or his plot!

Image courtesy: Nick Fewings on Unsplash