I am the only one worthy of honor.

                                                  I will liberate mankind from

                                                  Birth, Old age, Sickness, and Death.” 

The verse was beyond comprehension for a child like me; I did not understand it at all, but resolved to memorize it nonetheless.

Growing up, I visited Buddhist temples on a few occasions.  In the temples I recognized pictures and statues that illustrated the birth of the Buddha. All of them depicted a child standing on one lotus flower and pointing his fingers to the sky and the ground. The scene did not strike me as odd, because I knew the story by heart and had seen similar images before. As I studied Buddhism further, I learned that Monk Gautama had reached enlightenment and become Buddha by his own worldly effort, unaided by any divine power; and that the Buddha had taught: “All sentient beings possess Buddhahood, all beings can become Buddhas.”  

The teaching puzzled me greatly. I came to realize that two thousand five hundred years ago, the Buddha had been a human, like me; and like me, he had also suffered from injuries, sickness and endured old age.

Later, I learned that the pronoun “I” in the gatha, which the baby prince had said at birth, did not indicate Prince Siddharta but implied the very profound doctrine of “Self” in Buddhism. Furthermore, the terms “Birth, Old age, Sickness, and Death” in the verse referred to the concepts of samsara and suffering.

What confused me most were the contents of the gatha. How could the baby prince, at birth, speak of such a profound doctrine of “The Self”, a doctrine he only discovered later at the age of thirty-five? And how could the prince, who was raised behind the imperial palace walls and shielded from human suffering for twenty-nine years, know and speak of the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death as soon as he had been born?

Suddenly, the picture of a child walking seven steps at birth rushed through my mind. It seemed foreign and mystical to me because it did not harmonize with the image of an aging monk on his deathbed, lying peacefully on his right side between two sala trees with his head to the north.

 * * *

I am sharing my childhood memories with my readers to describe the confusion that I experienced when I began to learn Buddhism at an early age.  Because I wish to spare my young readers the same confusion, I am telling the story of the birth of Prince Siddharta as any ordinary birth. I cannot verify the story of a walking and talking baby at birth in any source other than as stated in the sutras, and since I find that story irrational, I choose to leave it out of this book.

Some people recommended that I include the tale of a walking baby at birth, and call it a legend.  Why so?  It is my opinion that writing about a legend is pointless, because Buddhism centers upon the Truth. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha delivered his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths. Those Truths serve as the foundation for his teachings. Adding an unnecessary legend to a book on the Truth would represent an inconsistency that may instill in young readers doubt and mistrust of Buddhism.

Don, the author of the paintings of the Buddha’s life in this book, has researched extensively on the characters and objects in India twenty-five centuries ago. The paintings look real, because the artist strives to replicate every detail as true as it was. Since the story of a walking baby at birth cannot be verified to be true, he chooses not to paint the scene of Prince Siddharta’s birth. 

In most religions, the story of the founder’s life is often told with legends. The Buddha must have known that his life story would be no exception so he taught us to always use our wisdom to observe and analyze.  We should only accept things that are right and logical, and not blindly believe in things because they have been spoken by many, written in religious books, or handed down for many generations, as found in The Anguttara Nikaya, Kalama Sutra.

As stated in the Preface of this book, I do not ask my readers to accept my view, which includes the omission of the legend of a walking baby at birth. I do not reject the legend; neither do I wish to discredit books that narrate it.

Existing books about Buddhism are numerous. They all teach that the Buddha was a human being, like all of us; and if we follow the Path that the Buddha showed us, we will be enlightened and become Buddha. Some scholars go to great lengths to demonstrate, confirm and praise that Buddhism is compatible with science.

However, I have not encountered any book or paper that deals with the scientific merit of a walking and talking baby at birth. I am deeply grateful to anyone who could inform me of any such writing.

Most Buddhist literature tells the legend of “the First Seven Steps of Prince Siddharta”.  Interestingly, some sources even claim that the baby prince was born from his mother’s right side or from her armpit. I am certain that the Blessed One is kindly watching over our samsara, smiling and gently telling us: “That’s not really how it happened!”

 * * *

The story of Sakyamuni Buddha’s life is one of the most inspiring and beautiful stories of mankind, because it praises man’s personal effort and celebrates his achievement above all things in the universe. The story is beautiful in itself, and does not need to be embellished with any legend.

An excerpt from But Buddha Clearly Shows the Way, Du Yen, 2011

Illustrations:

“Lotus” in black ink by Du Yen

“Passage into Final Nirvana” in watercolors by Don Le,

the painting is one of eight illustrations in the book But Buddha Clearly Shows the Way.