Espejo Sideral

I believe that the life of the Buddha is a good way of explaining Buddhist teachings. It is perhaps easier for human beings to appreciate the value of the teachings when they are explained in the context of the life of another human being. In a very broad sense, I would say that the main aspects of the life story of the Buddha could be summarized as follows:

1. After many lifetimes, the future Buddha Śakyāmuni decided to do everything in his power to attain enlightenment.
2. Surrounded by extraordinary circumstances, he was born to a local king and was raised in a way that prevented him from perceiving human suffering.
3. He eventually realized that human beings are subject to illness, old age and death.
4. Upon seeing a wandering holy man, he set out to pursue liberation, or the end of suffering.
5. He was not satisfied by the teachings he received from several teachers and he decided to pursue a spiritual path away from the extremes.
6. After vanquishing many obstacles, he attained enlightenment.
7. He was then persuaded to teach out of compassion for sentient beings. 

In my opinion, the three most striking aspects of the life story of the Buddha are:

1. The fact that he was not satisfied with the teachings of several ascetic teachers he met.
2. That he discovered the path to enlightenment by following his own intuition and the recollection of a pleasurable state of mind that he had experienced in his youth.
3. Having attained enlightenment, he decided to disseminate his teachings out of compassion for all sentient beings.

I appreciate how Gethin deals with the issues of the historical Buddha. Gethin believes that there was probably an actual person whose teachings gave birth to Buddhism, but warns against seeking evidence for purposes of historical corroboration of the accounts of the Buddha’s life. I agree that failing to see that the story of the life of the Buddha has mythical and legendary elements is missing the point entirely. I also agree with his comments on the Buddha’s reluctance to speak about some metaphysical matters. Gethin suggests that perhaps the Buddha did not discuss these topics because they would probably lead beings to get tangled up in unavoidable linguistic problems and mental grasping that are not conducive to the cessation of suffering (the main concern of the teachings).

References

Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism, pp.7-27, 60-68. Oxford: Oxford University Press.