Rude Awakenings - Forest Sangha Publications

^0 L E AV I N G H O M E 06conversation changed, the monologue mostly revolved around the site.He pointed out the excavated walls of the old town, the red brick foundationsof entrance gates, and some excavated buildings, “And this wasKing Suddhodana’s palace, and this was a stupa, and how much did it costto fly from England to Delhi?” No wonder, I thought, the Buddha left totake up the life of a wandering ascetic if all his kinsmen were like this.There was not much to the site—it was never a big or important place,just a minor kingdom in the forested land beneath the foothills, but itseemed as if it could be a pleasant spot—given the chance. It was dottedwith mature trees, with strange pterodactyl-like birds occasionallylaunching themselves from one tree to another. They followed long concavepaths, down, gliding, and then up into another tree, while makingstrange cackling noises. I later realized the creatures were grey hornbills.On our way back to Taulihawa I quietly suggested we return in theafternoon but not to tell our guide.A J A H N S U C I T T OIn remembering his “going forth,” the Buddha referred to a protractedprocess of negotiating with the family. Reading between the lines, thefact that his arranged marriage had only produced one child after thirteenyears says quite a bit about where his interests really lay. Maybe havingproduced an heir, he felt he had fulfilled the obligations to thehousehold and kingdom and was free to follow his true inclination.However, the legend created later has it that Prince Siddhattha, havingseen an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man, decided that thehousehold life could not avoid eventual grief for everyone concerned.Would his son’s inheritance too be a transitory carnival climaxing in oldage, sickness, and death? He resolved to seek another dharma: gazingtenderly on his sleeping wife and child, Siddhattha set off secretly onenight on his horse “Kanthaka.” He rode as far as the border of the Sakyancountry, and then proceeded on foot in search of the deathless.5 7