Siddhartha Gautama
Life of Siddhartha Gautama
Dr. C. George Boeree
Shippensburg University
There was a small country in what is now southern Nepal that was ruled
by a clan called the Shakyas.& The head of this clan, and the king
of this country, was named Shuddodana Gautama, and his wife was the
Mahamaya.& Mahamaya was expecting her first born.& She had
a strange dream in which a baby elephant had blessed her with his
which was understood to be a very auspicious sign to say the least.
As was the custom of the day, when the time came near for Queen
to have her child, she traveled to her father's kingdom for the
But during the long journey, her birth pains began.& In the small
town of Lumbini, she asked her handmaidens to assist her to a nearby
of trees for privacy.& One large tree lowered a branch to her to
as a support for her delivery.& They say the& birth was
painless, even though the child had to be delivered from her
After, a gentle rain fell on the mother and the child to cleanse them.
It is said that the child was born fully awake.& He could
and told his mother he had come to free all mankind from
suffering.&
He could stand, and he walked a short distance in each of the four
directions.&
Lotus blossoms rose in his footsteps.& They named him Siddhartha,
which means "he who has attained his goals."& Sadly, Mahamaya died
only seven days after the birth.& After that Siddhartha was raised
by his mother’s kind sister,& Mahaprajapati.
King Shuddodana consulted Asita, a well-known sooth-sayer,
concerning
the future of his son.& Asita proclaimed that he would be one of
things:& He could become a great king, even an emperor.& Or
could become a great sage and savior of humanity.& The king, eager
that his son should become a king like himself, was determined to
the child from anything that might result in him taking up the
life.& And so Siddhartha was kept in one or another of their three
palaces, and was prevented from experiencing much of what ordinary folk
might consider quite commonplace.& He was not permitted to see the
elderly, the sickly, the dead, or anyone who had dedicated themselves
spiritual practices.& Only beauty and health surrounded
Siddhartha.
Siddhartha grew up to be a strong and handsome young man.& As a
prince of the warrior caste, he trained in the arts of war.& When
it came time for him to marry, he won the hand of a beautiful princess
of a neighboring kingdom by besting all competitors at a variety of
Yashodhara was her name, and they married when both were 16 years old.
As Siddhartha continued living in the luxury of his palaces, he grew
increasing restless and curious about the world beyond the palace
He finally demanded that he be permitted to see his people and his
The king carefully arranged that Siddhartha should still not see the
of suffering that he feared would lead him to a religious life, and
that only young and healthy people should greet the prince.
As he was lead through Kapilavatthu, the capital, he chanced to see
a couple of old men who had accidentally wandered near the parade
Amazed and confused, he chased after them to find out what they
Then he came across some people who were severely ill.& And
he came across a funeral ceremony by the side of a river, and for the
time in his life saw death.& He asked his friend and squire
the meaning of all these things, and Chandaka informed him of the
truths that Siddhartha should have known all along:& That all of
get old, sick, and eventually die.
Siddhartha also saw an ascetic, a monk who had renounced all the
of the flesh.& The peaceful look on the monks face would stay with
Siddhartha for a long time to come.& Later, he would say this
that time:
When ignorant people see someone who is old, they are
and horrified, even though they too will be old some day.& I
to myself:& I don’t want to be like the ignorant people.&
that, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with youth anymore.
When ignorant people see someone who is sick, they are
and horrified, even though they too will be sick some day.& I
to myself:& I don’t want to be like the ignorant people.&
that, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with health anymore.
When ignorant people see someone who is dead, they are
and horrified, even though they too will be dead some day.& I
to myself:& I don’t want to be like the ignorant people.&
than, I couldn’t feel the usual intoxication with life anymore. (AN
III.39, interpreted)
At the age of 29, Siddhartha came to realize that he could not be happy
living as he had been.& He had discovered suffering, and wanted
than anything to discover how one might overcome suffering.& After
kissing his sleeping wife and newborn son Rahula goodbye, he snuck out
of the palace with his squire Chandara and his favorite horse
Kanthaka.&
He gave away his rich clothing, cut his long hair, and gave the horse
Chandara and told him to return to the palace.&&& He
for a while with two famous gurus of the day, but found their practices
He then began to practice the austerities and self-mortifications
by a group of five ascetics. For six years, he practiced. The sincerity
and intensity of his practice were so astounding that, before long, the
five ascetics became followers of Siddhartha.& But the answers to
his questions were not forthcoming.& He redoubled his efforts,
food and water, until he was in a state of near death.
One day, a peasant girl named Sujata saw this starving monk and took
pity on him.& She begged him to eat some of her milk-rice.&
Siddhartha
then realized that these extreme practices were leading him nowhere,
in fact it might be better to find some middle way between the extremes
of the life of luxury and the life of self-mortification.& So he
and drank, and bathed in the river.& The five ascetics saw him and
concluded that Siddhartha had given up the ascetic life and taken to
ways of the flesh, and left him.
In the town of Bodh Gaya, Siddhartha decided that he would sit under
a certain fig tree as long as it would take for the answers to the
of suffering to come.& He sat there for many days, first in deep
concentration
to clear his mind of all distractions, then in mindfulness meditation,
opening himself up to the truth.& He began, they say, to recall
his previous lives, and to see everything that was going on in the
universe.& On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning
star, Siddhartha finally understood the answer to the question of
and became the Buddha, which means “he who is awake.”
It is said that Mara, the evil one, tried to prevent this great
occurrence.&
He first tried to frighten Siddhartha with storms and armies of
Siddhartha remained completely calm.& Then he sent his three
daughters to tempt him, again to no avail.& Finally, he tried to
Siddhartha in his own ego by appealing to his pride.& That, too,
Siddhartha, having conquered all temptations, touched the ground with
hand and asked the earth to be his witness.
Siddhartha, now the Buddha, remained seated under the tree -- which
we call the bodhi tree -- for many days longer. It seemed to him that
knowledge he had gained was far too difficult to communicate to
Legend has it that Brahma, king of the gods, convinced Buddha to teach,
saying that some of us perhaps have only a little dirt in our eyes and
could awaken if we only heard his story.& Buddha agreed to teach.
At Sarnath near Benares, about one hundred miles from Bodh Gaya, he
came across the five ascetics he had practiced with for so long.&
There, in a deer park, he preached his first sermon, which is called
“setting
the wheel of the teaching in motion.”& He explained to them the
Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.& They became his very first
and the beginnings of the Sangha or community of monks.
King Bimbisara of Magadha, having heard Buddha’s words, granted him
a monastery near Rahagriha, his capital, for use during the rainy
This and other generous donations permitted the community of converts
continue their practice throughout the years, and gave many more people
an opportunity to hear the teachings of the Buddha.
Over time, he was approached by members of his family, including his
wife, son, father, and aunt.& His son became a monk and is
particularly
remembered in a sutra based on a conversation between father and son on
the dangers of lying.& His father became a lay follower.&
he was saddened by the departures of his son and grandson into the
life, he asked Buddha to make it a rule that a man must have the
permission
of his parents to become a monk.& Buddha obliged him.
His aunt and wife asked to be permitted into the Sangha, which was
originally
composed only of men.& The culture of the time ranked women far
men in importance, and at first it seemed that permitting women to
the community would weaken it.& But the Buddha relented, and his
and wife became the first Buddhist nuns.
The Buddha said that it didn’t matter what a person’s status in the
world was, or what their background or wealth or nationality might
All were capable of enlightenment, and all were welcome into the
The first ordained Buddhist monk, Upali, had been a barber, yet he was
ranked higher than monks who had been kings, only because he had taken
his vows earlier than they!
Buddha’s life wasn’t without
disappointments.& His cousin, Devadatta,
was an ambitious man.& As a convert and monk, he felt that he
have greater power in the Sangha.&& He managed to influence
a few monks with a call to a return to extreme asceticism. Eventually,
he conspired with a local king to have the Buddha killed and to take
the Buddhist community.& Of course, he failed.
Buddha had achieved his enlightenment at the age of 35.& He would
teach throughout northeast India for another 45 years.& When the
was 80 years old, he told his friend and cousin Ananda that he would be
leaving them soon.& And so it came to be that in Kushinagara, not
a hundred miles from his homeland, he ate some spoiled food and became
very ill.& He went into a deep meditation under a grove of sala
and died.& His last words were...
Impermanent ar
Strive on with awareness.
Copyright 1999 by C. George BoereeLife on Mars: How a One-Way Martian Colony Project Could Work
Artist's concept of Mars One astronauts and their habitat on the Red Planet. The nonprofit Mars One announced on Aug. 5, 2014 that it's starting a program called "Mars Exchange" to answer questions and spur dialogue about its ambitions colonization plans.
Credit: Bryan Versteeg/Mars One
LONDON & It's a one-way ticket, but don't worry: You'll live there longer than back home on Earth, says Bas Lansdorp. After all, on Mars you can't get hit by a car. And everything you'll eat will be organic & no pesticides, just fertilizer made from, well, recycled human waste.
As he addresses a room full of entrepreneurs, Lansdorp & founder of the &looks as excited as a child. He is here at a recent International Space Commerce summit to promote his out-of-this-world idea, a one-way trip to the Red Planet, and possibly spark the interest of investors.
&There's no good answer to the question why exactly we want to go to Mars. But it will happen because exploration is what we humans do,& Lansdorp says enthusiastically. []
Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp addresses the Million Martian Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 3, 2013 to discuss plans for a Mars colony mission in 2023. Credit: /Tanya Lewis
Wanted: Mars colonists
The audience of suited-up men and women watches Landsorp speak, every now and then a sarcastic question pops up. &And have you thought about ?& asked one listener.
Lansdorp has. He explained that the water the crews will carry to Mars will serve as shielding against deadly solar particles and cosmic rays. And once on the Red Planet, the habitat's roof will have some two meters of Martian soil for protection. You'll just have to make sure not to wander outside too much and you'll be okay. []
Lansdorp has also thought through the entire time scale of what will happen when. More than 200,000 candidates have applied already, and sometime this month Landsdorp is expected to announce who's made it into the second round of selection.
The first unmanned mission to pave the way will leave in 2016, followed by a first rover in 2018. This vehicle will start scouting for a perfect spot for the human outpost. In 2023, it will be joined by the very first Martians-to-be.
&What about you, will you go there?& asked another listener. It seems to be an unexpected question, which makes the Mars One founder pause momentarily.
&I started
because I wanted to go, and I still want to go to Mars, but I had my first son a few weeks ago,& Lansdorp answered. &But it's not even the main reason. I am just not that kind of person who can be locked up in a small room for 30 months with other people without hating each other.&
&But I really hope I will be able to take my family to Mars one day,& he added.
Interior view of a possible habitat on Mars by the Mars One project.Credit: Bryan Versteeg/Mars One
Martians forever
Lansdorp's vision evokes the image of a
story &The Million-Year Picnic& in the book &The Martian Chronicles.&
In the story, a father takes his family to Mars in the midst of war on Earth, duping them to believe it's only for a short vacation. When they arrive, he blows up the rocket and takes his wife and sons to meet other Martians. They go to a canal (on Bradbury's Mars, it is full of water), and see their reflection. That's the point &&they are&Martians. []
Lansdorp's plan is very similar, except that in real life the
won't have canals filled with water when they reach their destination. Nor will there be any breathable atmosphere. &The rovers will activate life support systems, they will feed them with Martian soil, which has ice crystals in it. This water will evaporate, and to make oxygen, we'll take nitrogen from the Martian atmosphere. We'll create an atmosphere,& Lansdorp said.
That may work, technology permitting, and Lansdorp is sure it'll happen. But he is also certain that the Mars One colonists who leave Earth will be just like the folks in Bradbury's tale: They'll be Martians.
There may be more than
(those who applied to the Mars One project online) but those that actually do make the trip, will never be coming back & even if they manage to build a rocket to return. &They will lose bone mass and muscle mass to such an extent that it will be extremely difficult for them to gain it back to survive a return trip to Earth and then the re-entry into the Earth&s atmosphere.
&They'll be Martians for the rest of their lives,& Landsdorp said.
Mars One is a not-for-profit organization that will establish a human settlement on Mars through the integration of existing, readily available technologies from the private space industry.Credit: Bryan Versteeg/Mars One
Live from Mars: Red Planet reality TV
To get his venture up and running, Lansdorp needs money.
Initially, he plans to finance it by , with people back home on Earth watching in real time the departure, the several months long trip, the arrival and the life at the first human outpost away from Earth.
So how much will it cost? About $6 billion to get the first four people on Mars and $4 billion for every crew that follows, says Lansdorp. But that's feasible, he added, because &the Olympic Games in London made about $4 billion in just three weeks of broadcasting, just because the world was watching. But this will be a lot bigger.&
Of course, the world won't be watching forever, and at some point viewers' interest will dwindle & unless everything on the Red Planet starts going topsy-turvy. And if it doesn't, Lansdorp is certain that money will still be flooding in, to support the human outcasts far, far away.
&There is a small group of people in the world who have a lot of money,& Lansdorp said with a cheeky smile. &There are 200 billionaires who can finance the trip from their net wealth. And if you have $6 billion in the bank, what are you going to do with it? You can buy a house, an island & but you'll still have $6 billion.
&Well, we offer you to buy immortality.&
That may be well and good for Lansdorp's idealistic vision. After all, he isn't headed for Mars anytime soon.&
But for those Mars One colonist hopefuls, assuming they make it, survive and even have kids, there may well be another reality TV show in a few decades from now: one about the first few Martians desperately trying to get back to Earth, wondering whether their parents made a wise choice.
One thing is certain: Those kids would have one heck of a story.
Follow Katia Moskvitch on Twitter . Follow us . We're also on
and . Original article on <.
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“Once there was a piano player in a bar（酒吧）。…”阅读答案
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Once there was a piano player in a bar（酒吧）。People came just to hear him play. But one night，a lady asked him to sing a song.
“I don't sing，”said the man.
But the lady told the waiter，“I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing！
The waiter shouted across the room，“Hey，friend！If you want to get paid，sing a song！'
So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time！Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully！
He had talent（天赋）he was sitting on！He may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But once he found，by accident，that he could sing well，he went on working hard and became one of the best-known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.
You，too，have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great，but it may be better than you think. With hard work，most skills can be improved. Besides，you may have no success at all ff you just sit on your talent.
1. The lady asked the player to sing a song because _____.
A. she had paid him for this B. she knew him very well
C. she wanted to have a change D. she enjoyed his singing
2. Nat King Cole succeeded because _____.
A. the lady helped him a lot B. he caught the chance
C. he continued to play in the bar D. he stopped playing the piano
3. The words “sit on” in the passage probably mean“
A. fail to realize B. forget to use
C. try to develop D. manage to show
4. From the story we know if you have some talent，you should _____.
A. hide it and wait B. ask others for help
C. pay no attention to it D. work hard to improve yourself
5. Which could be the best title （标题）for the passage？
A. Sing in the Bar B. Achieve Success in Life
C. Never Lose Heart D. Find Your Hidden Talent
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