Many of the events described in the story of the Buddha contain elements of the supernatural and the fantastical that do not fit with our modern understanding of the world for example the mythical elements surrounding the Buddha’s birth. Whilst at first glance one could argue that these events should be understood literally as they form the basis of the Buddhist faith, on closer inspection it could be claimed that these events are not designed to be interpreted literally, and instead should be interpreted symbolically as allegories or metaphors.
One such example is the birth narrative of the Buddha, in which it is claimed that immediately after birth the Buddha stood up and took four steps in each of the four directions of the compass. It could be argued that this is not supposed to be understood literally, but rather that this is a metaphor to show that the Buddha’s teachings will spread across all four corners of the globe. This is a strong argument because it was common for religious authors to exaggerate and elaborate stories in order to make them sound more appealing to new followers, and in order to emphasise the significance that the Buddha would go on to have on the world. This would therefore suggest that the story of the Buddha is not meant to be taken literally.
Another example of an event from the Buddha’s life that perhaps was not meant to be understood literally is the story of the four sights. According to Buddhist texts Siddhartha was kept totally sheltered from all suffering and had no experience of sickness, old age, and death until he left the palace as a teenager. Clearly this is not realistic; the Buddha was an educated young man and therefore would have at least some knowledge of the process of old age and death, even if he had not had direct personal experience of it. Therefore it seems likely that this too is meant to be understood symbolically. This is a strong line of reasoning because a Buddhist can still learn a great deal from the story if it is interpreted as an allegory rather than as a literal truth. It could be argued that the story is designed to represent the shocking nature of being confronted by extreme suffering of a very personal nature and the direct impact this has on our happiness, rather than necessarily being a literally true story. Therefore it is reasonable to say that the literal truth of the story is not as important as the message behind it.
It could however be argued that the stories of the Buddha should be taken literally because they are written in the Pali Canon which is the holy Buddhist scripture. However this is a weak argument because unlike other religions such as Christianity, Buddhists do not see the Pali Canon as being the word of God, but rather a collection of stories and teachings written down by the Buddha’s followers. The Buddha himself even rejected the concept of blind faith stating that people should use their reason to work out what is true. Clearly it is more reasonable to understand stories such as the Buddha’s birth as metaphors rather than as being literally true, which further strengthens the argument that the stories should not be taken literally.
In conclusion, it is clear that there are strong arguments to support the claim that the stories of the Buddha’s life are not intended to understood as literally true. It is likely that some stories were exaggerated for dramatic effect, and others may have been modified in order to further support a moral message. Most Buddhists would argue that the message and teachings behind the story are more important than the literal truth of the story.
At time of the Buddha the increase in Monarchy and the increase in religious pursuits as a result of increase in leisure time led to a conflict between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins which had reached it’s peak at the time of the Buddha. So it no coincidence that the Buddha so easily rejected the authority of the Brahmins and embarked on his pursuit of religious truth. Urbanisation which had brought people in close proximity of each other would have also contributed to his rejection of the caste system. Urbanisation may have also led to the Four Sights, the Four Sights was when the Buddha escaped the palace with his charioteer and he saw four different kinds of people which would provided him with insight on the human condition and set him on his path to seek religious truth, the Four Sights were also key in Buddha’s teachings in that it demonstrates some of the core concepts of Buddhism such as Anicca(impermanence) and the Dukkha(suffering).
Some on the other hand may argue that the Dharma (the Buddha’s teachings or more literally the eternal truth) could not have been influenced by sociological and economic conditions at the time of the Buddha seeing as he did not create the Dhamma he simply revealed to the world. This view however takes the Hagiography of the Buddha literally and the fact that Buddhist beliefs closely resemble that of the contemporary religious ferment at the sign shows that the Buddha would have been influenced by his surroundings
The Buddha rejected many ideas associated with Hinduism of his time, which included the dominant religions of Brahmanism along with the samana movements of the time. He rejected the idea of a permanent entity within oneself or even the existence of a permanent entity in the universe, so for example the idea of atman in brahmanism, the idea of Jiva with the Jains, or the concept of niyati. He was similar to the Jains in that he rejected the caste system and the vedic sacrifices however he did also reject the extreme aesthetic practices undertaken by the Jains and instead believed in the Middle Path as the best way to achieve spiritual enlightenment.
It would be unfair to say that the Buddha completely rejected Hinduism of his time as he did keep some aspects such the existence gods and the idea of Samsara, although much less important in Buddhism gods were still present in the world of Samsara, he also did believe that meditation was the way to eventually achieve enlightenment; something shared by all facets of Hinduism. He also modified some aspects of Hinduism such as reincarnation which was reinterpreted as rebirth because reincarnation implied the existence of permanent entity, he also modified Kamma so that it also include the intention behind the action and not just the action itself was important in determining future rebirths. In conclusion it is clear that the Buddha only rejected the Hinduism of his time to a certain extent but not fully as he include similar concepts in Buddhist teachings
The Buddha’s awakening is extremely relevant to modern day Buddhists because it is the foundation upon which the whole religion is built.
The first reason to support this is that the Buddha’s awakening shows Buddhists a way that they too can reach enlightenment. Reaching enlightenment is the ultimate goal for a Buddhists as they attempt to find a way to escape from the cycle of samsara that Buddhists believe they are trapped in and end their suffering. The Buddha himself left home on a journey to seek enlightenment for this reason. This is a strong line of reasoning because ultimately enlightenment is the main goal for all Buddhists and therefore learning how the Buddha reached enlightenment must be significant.
Secondly, the Buddha’s awakening is important for modern day Buddhists because the Buddha is one of the three refuges. The three refuges are the three main sources of comfort for a Buddhist who is attempting to navigate their way through life’s sufferings and also includes the Buddha dharma and the sangha. Therefore learning more about any aspect of the life of the Buddha is going to be significant for a Buddhist. This is a strong argument because the 3 refuges are often known as the 3 jewels of Buddhism which shows their fundamental value to all Buddhists.
On the other hand it could be claimed that the story of the Buddha’s awakening is not significant to all Buddhists because for some schools of Buddhism e.g. Theravada Buddhists, enlightenment is not the immediate goal. Theravada Buddhists believe that only monks and nuns can reach enlightenment in this lifetime, and so for the average lay Buddhist the immediate goal is to focus on living an ethical life and therefore achieving good karma and having a good rebirth. However, this is a weak argument because even for Theravada Buddhists enlightenment is still the ultimate goal even if they are not working directly towards it in this lifetime.
Another claim against my thesis would be that the story of the Buddha’s awakening cannot be all that significant because there are so many historical and logial inconsistencies in the Buddha’s story. For example it is unrealistic to believe that an educated young man in his twenties would have no experience of suffering whatsoever and so the story of the four sights, which provided a catalyst for the Buddha’s journey to enlightenment, is unrealistic. However, this is a weak argument because most academics would argue that the Buddha’s life story is not meant to be understood literally, and instead should be interpreted as a hagiography, meaning that the literal truth of the story is less important than the meaning behind it. Therefore, the meaning of the story of the Buddha’s awakening is more important than the historical truth.
In conclusion, the Buddha’s awakening is extremely relevant to modern day Buddhists because it is the foundation upon which the whole religion is built. Without the Buddha embarking upon his journey for enlightenment, and ultimately achieving this goal there wouldn’t be a religion at all.