Buddha
Stories Retold
Sep 12, 2020
Martin Goodson

From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment | Martin Goodson

A symbolic exploration of the Buddha's life-story

These articles explore the symbolism of the mythic story of the founder of Buddhism to reveal mythic themes that reflect truths about the nature of the human condition.

How the Buddha's life-story is our life-story.

An examination of concepts and symbols embedded in the Buddha's life-story which act as a mirror for a deeper understanding of the meaning of one's own individual life.

Queen Maya's Dream

From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment
It starts with a dream. In the little Himalayan kingdom of the Shakya clan, King Suddhodana rules with his wife Queen Maya. We continue our series exploring the symbolism of the Buddha's life-story.

Life in the Palace - From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment

Childhood - the 'age of innocence' - is a protected period where our identity is formed. But sooner or later this bubble is ruptured, an event that can arise due to the inner prompting of the Heart's own nature.

Four Fateful Trips Beyond the Palace

From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment
The bubble of security bursts for Prince Gautama when he leaves the palace on four trips. Suffering is often the way into the spiritual life once we realise that we have been living in blind ignorance of the truth. This trauma can cast us into despair or set us upon a new path.

The Great Renunciation

From Miraculous Birth to The Buddha's Enlightenment
A husband and father leaves in the dead of night, abandoning his family and his responsibilities. The Great Renunciation is a problematic part of the Buddha's life-story, it is only the Great Vow of Compassion that he took to return to share his discovery of the cause of suffering that gives it meaning. 

Two Teachers, Two Lineages

From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment
The pre-training of the Great Bodhisattva is an important lesson for practitioners not to to just make up a personal practice. The Wisdom of tradition is the cumulative experience of those who go before us and helps make the training a more 'rounded' experience.

Retreat to the Forest & The Five Ascetics

From miraculous birth to The Buddha's Enlightenment
Having learned all he could from his spiritual teachers the Ascetic Gautama retreats to the forest. Here he realises the middle way which is not about relinquishing 'things' but the letting-go of attachment to things, a difference that the ascetic life can conflate.

Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree

From Miraculous Birth to The Buddha's Enlightenment.
Our story moves into its final act when the Great Bodhisattva, having now abandoned the ascetic life, makes his seat under the Tree of Awakening. It is a time of great challenges where the power of the Buddha-Heart can be realised.

The Great Awakening!

From Miraculous Birth to the Buddha's Enlightenment
We take a look at the symbolic meaning of the three temptations of Mara which led to the Buddha's final awakening.

Topics

BUDDHA
CH'AN
DHARMA ASSORTMENTS
DHARMA TALKS
FUNDAMENTALS
MAHAYANA
SCRIPTURES
STORIES RETOLD
THE WAY OF DEVOTION
ZEN

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Further reading

Verses from the Dhammapada 114

Why are we so easily carried away by the tides of the heart-mind and what awaits us on the other side?

Taking the Medicine: The Noble Eightfold Path

The Four Noble Truths
The fourth and final Noble Truth (the way out of suffering) is not a theory or philosophy, it is a call to practice.

The Great Medicine of the Buddha

The Four Noble Truths
Unless we can practice what we have learned, we do not have the means of understanding it or an ability to make it a lived experience.
Series

The Four Noble Truths | Dr. Alan Sidi

Dr. Alan Sidi explores the way out of suffering by bringing to life The Four Noble Truths, the first set of teachings given by the Buddha.