Before I share The Life Story of Gotama Buddha, whenever you come into a new space, it is always nice to look around and see if you notice anything that is familiar to you. Do you notice any symbolism here that you are already familiar with?
I will give you a hint, look upwards.
Do you see the wheel with eight spokes? Do you know what this symbolizes? If not, I definitely recommend you do one of the audio tours that I share for either Wat Tung Yu or Wat Umong.
Do you see the shape of the leaf on the eave of the building? This is the shape of leaf from the tree where The Buddha sat and contemplated for seven (7) weeks of whether to share his Teachings or not. The site of this tree, in northeastern India, is denoted as where The Buddha attained Enlightenment. The tree itself, and the leaf of the tree, is a symbol of Enlightenment and is frequently used in Buddhist artwork.
You will see the shape of this leaf regularly used in artwork and Temple construction as a symbol of Enlightenment.
Station #1 - The Birth of Siddhartha Gotama
The individual that we know as The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gotama, the first born son of a King and Queen. He was born in 563 BCE and died in 483 BCE. He was born in modern day Nepal.
His mother, being pregnant and close to delivery, was escorted back to her homeland by a caravan organized by the King. It was customary that a female would travel back to her homeland, when close to delivery, to be able to deliver the baby among her relatives for support.
A caravan was organized and she was being transported back to where she grew up to give birth to her first baby among her family.
On the way to her homeland, she went into labor pains. They stopped the caravan, she got out, went over to a tree, held onto a branch while standing, and attempted to deliver the newborn baby.
The baby was having difficulties coming out through the normal birthing canal so, the baby eventually breaks through the side of his mother’s stomach, and is why you see her holding her side. Due to this, she ends up dying seven (7) days later.
During this timeframe, they did not have the medical technology to save her life, as today, we would just do a cesarean section (i.e. C-section) and the mother and baby would be just fine. But, during the lifetime of The Buddha, they did not have that technology available so the mother ends up dying shortly after the birth of her baby.
Because death during child birth was not uncommon during this timeframe, either for the baby or the mother, there were cultural protocols in place that would help with the situation. If you died giving birth and the child lived, your siblings would adopt the child as their own and raise the new baby.
Siddhartha Gotama’s mother had an older sister who adopted him as her own child. Siddhartha Gotama’s aunt became his stepmother.
It is said that at the time of his birth there was a miracle, that he walked seven (7) steps, lotus flowers blossomed under his feet, and that he spoke and said “This will be my last birth”.
I do not think this part of the story is true because, if it were, the next part of the story would not be needed.
Sometimes, when someone as significant as a Buddha was in the world and his life story is handed down from one person to the next, there is an embellishment of the story in order to make the individual look better than they already were.
A Buddha has already done amazing things in the world, there is no need to embellish the life story of a Buddha. But, I suspect that is what occurred as his life story was transmitted from person to person over many centuries.
Because again, if this part of the story was true, that he immediately walked, lotus flowers were blossoming under his feet, and he spoke at the time of birth, the next part of the story would not be needed.
