Lesson-10

The Sermon at Benares

By Betty Renshaw

“The key to enlightenment is the way of the Buddha”

The Sermon at Benares Introduction

The Sermon at Benares sheds light on Lord Buddha's early life, as he was born as a prince in the royal family. When he was exposed to the world's sufferings, which he had previously been shielded from, he resigned from his priesthood and went in search of salvation, leaving all worldly pleasures behind. He gave his first sermon in the city of Benares after attaining spiritual awakening, making a lady named Kisa Gotami realise that men are mortal and that a wise person should not grieve at what is bound to happen because it only adds to pain and suffering.

The Sermon at Benares Summary

Gautama Buddha was born as a prince to a North Indian royal family and was given the name Siddhartha Gautama. He was sent to a faraway place when he was twelve years old to study Hindu sacred scriptures, and when he returned four years later, he married a princess. They both had a son soon after and continued to live the royal life for about ten years. The royals were shielded from all of life's unpleasant experiences until one day, on his way to hunt, the Prince encountered a sick man, an elderly man, a funeral procession, and a monk begging for alms.

These experiences opened his eyes, and he left all of the royalty behind to pursue a higher sense of spiritual knowledge. He began preaching after gaining salvation. In the city of Benares, he delivered his first sermon. Kisa Gotami was a lady whose son had passed away. She went from house to house, in excruciating pain, looking for medicine to bring her son back to life. People began to suspect that the lady had gone insane. One day, she met a man who directed her to Lord Buddha, who might be able to help her with her problem. Buddha instructed her to go in search of mustard seeds, which she was to obtain from a house that had never seen death.

Kisa Gotami, resurrected with hope, went house to house again, but to her dismay, she could not find mustard seeds from a house that would fulfil Buddha's condition. She sat at the side of the road, disheartened, realising how selfish she had been. She realised that men were mortal and that no one could escape the cycle of life. This was precisely what Buddha wished for her to comprehend. Grief and sorrow, according to Lord Buddha, only increase man's pain and suffering, thereby deteriorating his health. As a result, a wise person who understands how nature works should not be sad about something that is unavoidable; only then can he be happy and blessed.

The Sermon at Benares Lesson Explanation

GAUTAMA Buddha (563 B.C. – 483 B.C.) began life as a prince named Siddhartha Gautama, in northern India. At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and four years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the Prince, heretofore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while out hunting chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

• Sacred- embodying the laws or doctrines of a religion
• Scriptures- the sacred writings of a religion
• Befitted- be appropriate for; suit
• Chanced upon- came across by chance
• Alms- money or food given to poor people; charity
• Enlightenment- a state of high spiritual knowledge

Gautama Buddha was born as a prince to a North Indian royal family and was given the name Siddhartha Gautama. When he was twelve years old, he was sent to a distant land to study Hindu sacred scriptures, and when he returned four years later, he married a princess. They both had a son soon after and continued to live the royal life for about ten years. The royals were shielded from all of life's unpleasant experiences until the Prince encountered a sick man, an elderly man, a funeral procession, and a monk seeking alms. These experiences opened his eyes, and he left all of the royalty behind to pursue a higher sense of spiritual knowledge.

He wandered for seven years and finally sat down under a peepal tree, where he vowed to stay until enlightenment came. Enlightened after seven days, he renamed the tree the Bodhi Tree (Tree of Wisdom) and began to teach and to share his new understandings. At that point he became known as the Buddha (the Awakened or the Enlightened). The Buddha preached his first sermon at the city of Benares, most holy of the dipping places on the River Ganges; that sermon has been preserved and is given here. It reflects the Buddha’s wisdom about one inscrutable kind of suffering.

• Wandered- to move without a fixed course
• Vowed- solemnly promise to do a specified thing
• Preached- deliver a religious address to an assembled group of people
• Sermon- a talk on religious or moral subject
• Holy- sacred
• Dipping places- bathing
• Inscrutable- something which cannot be understood

Gautama Buddha sought enlightenment for approximately seven years before coming across a peepal tree and choosing to sit under it until he became awakened. When he attained salvation after 7 days, he renamed the tree the 'Bodhi tree' (which means the Tree of Wisdom), and he became known as 'Buddha' (which means The Awakened). He even began preaching his newfound understandings, and his first sermon was delivered in the city of Benares. Benares, which is located on the banks of the Ganges, is considered sacred. His first sermon has been preserved and is well-known to this day (It is given below as well). It sheds new light on man's never-ending sufferings.

Kisa Gotami had an only son, and he died. In her grief she carried the dead child to all her neighbours, asking them for medicine, and the people said, “She has lost her senses. The boy is dead.” At length, Kisa Gotami met a man who replied to her request, “I cannot give thee medicine for thy child, but I know a physician who can.” And the girl said, “Pray tell me, sir; who is it?” And the man replied, “Go to Sakyamuni, the Buddha.” Kisa Gotami repaired to the Buddha and cried, “Lord and Master, give me the medicine that will cure my boy.”

It's about a woman named Kisa Gotami, whose son died recently. Suffering from unending pain and sorrow, she took her son door to door, requesting a miracle drug that could bring his son back to life. Everyone assumed that the lady had lost her ability to think clearly. Going from door to door, she eventually came across a man who, while unable to provide any medicine, led her to Sakyamuni, the Buddha. With hope in her heart, the lady went to Gautama Budhha and begged him for a cure for her child.

The Buddha answered, “I want a handful of mustardseed.” And when the girl in her joy promised to procure it, the Buddha added, “The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.”

Gautama Buddha had a solution, just as the man had said. He requested a handful of mustard seeds from Kisa Gotami. Kisa Gotami, who had been restored with hope, thought it would be a simple task until Lord Buddha instilled the condition that "the mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent, or friend."

Poor Kisa Gotami now went from house to house, and the people pitied her and said, “Here is mustardseed; take it!” But when she asked, “Did a son or daughter, a father or mother, die in your family?” they answered her, “Alas! the living are few, but the dead are many. Do not remind us of our deepest grief.” And there was no house but some beloved one had died in it.

Kisa Gotami went door to door once more, but this time she was looking for mustard seeds. Many had mustard seeds to offer, but none could meet Lord Buddha's condition of no deaths in the family. When asked, people asked her not to remind them of their deepest sorrows. Unfortunately, she was unable to locate a suitable home to obtain mustard seeds for his son.

Kisa Gotami became weary and hopeless, and sat down at the wayside watching the lights of the city, as they flickered up and were extinguished again. At last the darkness of the night reigned everywhere. And she considered the fate of men, that their lives flicker up and are extinguished again. And she thought to herself, “How selfish am I in my grief! Death is common to all; yet in this valley of desolation there is a path that leads him to immortality who has surrendered all selfishness.”

Kisa Gotami had lost all hope, and in her anguish and pain, she found a place to ponder at the side of the road. She kept watching the city lights blinking and observing them until there was nothing but darkness around her. After much thought, she realised that man's fate was similar to the flickering and extinguishing of city lights. Nature's way of working is the cycle of birth and death. She suddenly realised how selfish she had been in her grief, and that one who was born must rest eternally. Men are mortal, and the immortals have walked a path free of all worldly pleasures.

The Buddha said, ‘‘The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching old age there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death. As all earthen vessels made by the potter end in being broken, so is the life of mortals. Both young and adult, both those who are fools and those who are wise, all fall into the power of death; all are subject to death.

According to Lord Buddha, mortals' lives are troubled because they have not come to terms with the fact that the one who is born must rest eternally. There is no way for a living being to avoid death. An aged mortal is doomed to die, just as ripe fruit is more prone to falling. Men, like all earthen vessels, break at some point. Death leaves no one alive, whether they are old or young, foolish or wise.

“Of those who, overcome by death, depart from life, a father cannot save his son, nor kinsmen their relations. Mark! while relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortals are carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. So the world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world.

• Kinsmen- a man who is one of a person’s blood relations
• Lamenting- express regret or disappointment about something
• Slaughter- killing of animals for food
• Afflicted- affect adversely

Death only works by removing a person from the living world, i.e. the person ceases to exist. No one has control over death; neither a father nor a relative can be saved. Death, like an ox, takes mortals to the slaughterhouse to be slaughtered, leaving no one behind. Thus, the one who understands this truth and does not lament his loss is referred to as wise by Lord Buddha.

“Not from weeping nor from grieving will anyone obtain peace of mind; on the contrary, his pain will be the greater and his body will suffer. He will make himself sick and pale, yet the dead are not saved by his lamentation. He who seeks peace should draw out the arrow of lamentation, and complaint, and grief. He who has drawn out the arrow and has become composed will obtain peace of mind; he who has overcome all sorrow will become free from sorrow, and be blessed.”

According to Lord Buddha, one should not grieve, weep, or be unhappy about something that is unavoidable because it will keep one from achieving peace of mind. It will only exacerbate the pain and suffering, leading to physical weakness, and no amount of grief will bring the dead back to life. It is critical to understand that moving past feelings such as sorrow and grief is the only way to the path of salvation.

About the Author

Betty Renstaw was a writer from the United States. She was born in the Renstaw family on October 2, 1921. On April 30, 1999, she died at the age of 77.