Click-a-Sermon 3:  "Birth of the Historical Buddha"

Buddhists celebrate Hanamatsuri or the "Flower Festival" on the 8th of April to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha. The historical Buddha was born at the foothills of the Himalayas in India 2500 years ago as a crown prince of a small kingdom of Shakya tribe. He is commonly known as "Gotama (Excellent Cow), Shakyamuni (Sage of Shakya tribe), or Siddharta (One who attained)." Also, many other distinguished names are given to the historical Buddha by his later followers indicating his uniqueness.

The question is "what is Buddha?" and "what is Enlightenment?" The term 'Buddha' means the 'Awakened One' i.e. awakened to the Truth. Also, the person who has attained 'Enlightenment' is called Buddha. Therefore, there are many Buddhas in the past, present and future. It is a Buddhist belief that every sentient beings possesses a potentiality or a seed to become a Buddha. There were many Buddhas before Gotama Buddha and probably there will be many more Buddhas in the future. Buddhas are as many as the pebbles of Ganges River.

Then, what is so-called 'Enlightenment' or 'Awakening'? Enlightenment or Awakening is often explained as the "Discovery of Interdependence", "Attainment of Nirvana", "Realization of the Middle Way", "Experience of Emptiness", "Discovery of one's own true nature", and "Ultimate Emancipation", and so on. There are numerous expressions and explanations are presented regarding this spiritual experience of Enlightenment.

Obviously Enlightenment is not a concept which we can intellectualize, but rather it is a human experience which opens our eyes to the Ultimate truth or true plight of our being. The tragedy of being human is that we are so deeply submerged in a distorted notion of reality believing it to be real and true. We are conditioned to accept this so-called "conventional world of reality" as the only reality without serious questioning.

Buddha raised many questions regarding our conventional notion of reality, since our inability to see true plight of our being is one of the bases of human sufferings. Buddha is the person who discovered the ultimate reality of human existence. A Buddha is a person who can see our existence without any distortion. A Buddha is a person who can truly understand the plight of human existence. A Buddha is a person who attained the true freedom and peace.

The Buddhist goal is to discover the true reality of our being and discover as well our own true nature. Buddhist Enlightenment is the ability to be able to see reality as it is without ego-centered distortions. When we open our true eyes of inner wisdom, we will be able to experience true emancipation and freedom. Let us celebrate 'Hanamatsuri' Flower Festival commemorating the birth of the Historical Buddha, whose message derived from his Enlightenment, continues to guide humankind today to spiritual awakening.

© Reno Buddhist Church