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The Life and Teachings of Lord Buddha!
By Dr Joshua David Stone

Siddhartha Gautama was born abound 563 BC. When the child was born, a holy man prophesied that he would either become an emperor or renounce the material world for a great spiritual destiny. His parents gave him the name Siddhartha, which means, "He, whose purpose in life has been attained."

Siddhartha tried to live a life trained to become the emperor, however, his compassion for the suffering of others led him on his spiritual path. His spiritual path led him on the life of extremes. He first led the spoiled, pampered life of the emperor’s son, and then left this life for the life of the ascetic. It was these experiences that molded his philosophy of following the "middle way", the life of moderation, rather than extremism.

Most people know the basic story of His life, so I am going to go to the age of 40 when he became the "Buddha". It was near the city of Gaya where he found a tranquil spot under a sacred fig tree, folded his legs, and prepared himself for meditation. It was at this time he took this solemn vow, "Come what may - let my body rot, let my bones be reduced to ashes, I will not get up from here until I have found the way beyond decay and death." Thus determined, full of peace, Siddhartha passed into deep meditation. At the full moon of May in 544 BC. He no longer was Siddhartha, the finite personality. He was the Buddha, "He, who is awake."

The tree under which He sat burst forth into blossom and a fragrant spring breeze showered Him with blossoms. He had achieved nirvana. Now, Djwhal Khul told me that He had achieved the fourth initiation at this time. This is the first state of nirvana, and is liberation from the wheel of rebirth. It is complete soul realization.

The Buddha remained at that spot, as the story is told, for four weeks or more immersing Himself in this experience of illumination. It was during this time that His future teaching was worked out. Buddha’s decision to now return to the world and serve is much like that of Moses returning from Mount Sanai, and Jesus leaving the river Jordan after being baptized by John.

When He was greeted by the first initial group of people on His return back to the world, they saw His dazzling radiance and said, "Are you God, or an Angel?" He said, "No, I am awake." which is the literal meaning of the word Buddha.

Thus with His first five disciples, the Buddha began the next forth year stage of His life of teaching the dharma, or path that leads to liberation, and the end of sorrow. It was here that Buddha elucidated his four noble truths.

The Four Noble Truths
Buddha teaches the four noble truths:

The first of which states that suffering and frustration comes from our difficulty in facing the basic fact of life that everything around us is impermanent and transitory.

"All things arise and pass away."

The second deals with the cause of suffering which is clinging or grasping of wrong points of view. Out of ignorance, we divide the perceived world into individual and separate things and thus attempt to confine the fluid forms of reality into fixed categories created by the mind.

The third noble truth states that suffering and frustration can be ended. It is possible to free oneself from bondage and reach the state of total liberation.

The fourth noble truth is Buddha’s teaching to end all suffering through the path of self-development which leads to enlightenment. This is done through right seeing, right knowing, right action, right awareness, and right meditation.

One More Remarkable Passage
There is one more remarkable passage of the Buddha that I would like to share with you. That is a quote from His experience meditating under the fig tree where He obtained His illumination. "I roused unflinching determination, focused my attention, made my body calm and motionless and my mind concentrated and one-pointed.

Standing apart from all selfish urges and all states of mind harmful to spiritual progress, I entered the first meditative state, where the mind, though not quite free from divided and diffuse thought, experiences lasting joy.

By putting an end to divided and diffuse thought, with my mind stilled in one-pointed absorption, I entered the second meditative state quite free from any wave of thought , and experienced the lasting joy of the unitive state.

As the joy became more intense and pure, I entered the third meditative state, becoming conscious in the very depths of the unconscious. Even my body was flooded with that joy of which the noble ones say, "They live in abiding joy, who have stilled the mind, and are fully awake."

"Then, going beyond the duality of pleasure and pain and the whole field of memory-making forces in the mind, I dwelt, at last, in the fourth meditative state, utterly beyond the reach of thought, in that realm of complete purity which can be reached only through detachment and contemplation. This was my first successful breaking forth, like a chick breaking out of its shell…"

The Buddha
Buddha embodied the divine quality of wisdom. He was the manifestation of light, and the teacher of the way of enlightenment. Christ, the next great divine teacher who came 500 years later embodied even a greater divine principle, that of love.

Christ, embraced within Himself all that Buddha brought forth of light, and added divine love. Buddha predicted his brother, the Lord Maitreya’s coming, and called Him the future Buddha Maitreya. Buddha has left the planetary Hierarchy and has moved on to the council levels of evolution, although He still works with the planet earth.

His lifetime on earth as Lord Gautama was His last. In that lifetime He completed His series of lives as a Boddhisatva. Boddhisatvas are enlightened beings on Their way to, or already arrived at the state of Buddhahood in which They voluntarily postpone Their own nirvana while striving to help all forms of sentient life attain supreme release. They are also Beings who have forever freed Themselves from all ideas of "I", "mine", "yours", or in other words, have no longer any sense of separateness.

The Wesak Festival
The Wesak Festival has been held every year down through the centuries in a valley in the Himalayas. It has often been called the "Festival of the Buddha", for each year it occurs at the time of the full moon in May. It is at this time that the Christ, the Manu, and the Mahachohan stand in triangular formation in front of an enormous flat stone on which stands a large crystal bowl with water. When the moon rises above the horizon, at the moment of the full moon in Taurus, the Buddha appears. Gautama Buddha comes from Shamballa and hovers over the stone, over the crystal bowl, and transmits to the Christ, the energy which is called the Shamballa force.

The force is the great first ray of Will or Power. This force is circulated by the Christ through Himself, the Manu, and the Mahachohan, and then gradually released to the world.

Although most are not aware of it, the Wesak Festival might be considered one of the holiest days of the year. Part of the purpose and meaning of this festival is to prove the factual solidarity of the Eastern and Western approaches to God, for both the Christ and Buddha are present. It salsa serves as a rallying point and meeting place annually for all those that serve the kingdom of God and humanity.

Buddha’s Teachings
The teachings of the Buddha are extraordinarily beautiful. Part of the reason I am presenting this material is to demonstrate the universality of all the religions within the actual teachings. You will find the teachings of Buddha, Sai Baba, Jesus and the Lord Maitreya, Djwhal Khul, and all the great Masters almost exactly the same.

One of the first precepts of Buddhism has to do with a simple three part formula which Buddhists all over the world recite. It states:

I take my refuge in the Buddha

I take my refuge in the dharma (teaching)

I take my refuge in the sangha (spiritual community)

One of the keys to Buddha’s teaching was the need to let go of all attachments. For it was Buddha that said that all suffering comes from wrong points of view, and the clinging to deep ego-clinging attitudes. In Buddhism the idea of a separate self, and ’ego’ is considered mere intellectual invention of the mind which has no basis in reality.

Buddha stressed the importance of living what we have discovered to be true. In the Dhammapada, which is like a chapter in the bible of the Buddhist’s literature, Buddha states: "A man, who talks much of his teaching but does not practice it himself, is like a cattle man counting another man’s cattle." Buddha also states in the Dhammapada: "All that we are is the result of our thoughts." One of the famous aphorisms of the Buddha was; "Look within, thou art the Buddha."

The Three Major Divisions of Buddhism
There are three major divisions within Buddhism in the world today. There is the Hinayana path, the Mahayana path, and the Tantrayana or Vajrayaba (Tibetan Buddhism).

The Hinayana Path
The Hinayana ideal is embodied in the term arhat. An arhat is a Buddhist follower who, by his own strenuous effort, has reached the stage of enlightenment, and has attained nirvana. When you have the status of being an arhat, you have extinguished greed, anger, and delusion. The arhat’s heart and mind hence dwell in peace and love. The Hinayana conception of nirvana is merely the extinction of false ideas and in particular the false belief in a separate ego.

Integral to all forms of Buddhism is the ideal of helping one’s fellow man. Buddhism teaches us to free ourselves from the distortions of self-centeredness through the developing of "mindfulness". In Buddhism it is ignorance not sin that gives man his difficulties, and ignorance can, by specific teachable techniques, be modified and overcome. Self-knowledge is one sure, indisputable path by which we can extricate ourselves from the suffering of human life. The four noble truths, and eight fold path, and Buddha’s middle way, serve all Buddhists.

Another very interesting part of this path is that they did not see Buddha as supernatural or divine. This was held to strengthen one’s faith in personal effort, and to intensify the belief that the goal of heightened consciousness can be reached. One other integral part of Buddhist thought is the goal of achieving a state of desirelessness. One of the real keys in Buddhist thought is the development of "character". This comes through the development of the mind and control over the emotions. It is only then that the disciple can demonstrate "Loving Kindness" to all sentient beings.

Tibetan Buddhism
The seeds of Tibetan Buddhism can be clearly seen in Djwhal Khul’s teaching, for in His last life as Djwhal Khul, He was a Tibetan Buddhist Master and one of the basic teachings of Tibetan Buddhism is that each seeker must work out his or her own salvation by their own efforts.

The famous chant of Tibetan Buddhism is "Om Mani Padme Hum", which has been translated as "Hail to the jewel in the lotus". This mantra is probably our most universal of all mantras after the Aum mantra. I, personally, feel that this is one of the most powerful mantra I have ever found.

Among the most fundamental beliefs of Tibetan Buddhism is that of reincarnation. As a part of this belief there is the belief in the recognition of tulkus. Tulkus are children who are identified when still quite young, as specific reincarnations of noted past life religious figures. The Dalai Lama is the most famous of the tulkus. The discovery of a tulku comes often between the ages of two and five of the child. On the death of the incumbent Dalai Lama, the "State Oracle" (a channel) is consulted for a preliminary reading on the geographic region where His successor should be sought.

In the case of the present Dalai Lama, He is the fourteenth in succession of His line. As a child He was found by a search party and immediately ran to greet the visitors with open arms. Traditional tests were then put to the child. From among the rosaries shown Him, he chose, without hesitation, the one that belonged to His predecessor. In actuality His predecessor was Himself in His past life. He also selected unerringly from among a number of counterfeit personal walking staffs, and drums.

Further to every one’s amazement, he was able to recite a certain six syllabled mantra sacred to the Boddhisatva of Compassion (Avalokitesvara, also known as Kuan Yin). In each case, the child passed every test, which offered impressive proof of His identity. The state oracle was consulted several more times before a final binding decision was made.

Also well known to the Tibetan Buddhist teachings is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The chapter on Death and Dying and the Science of the Bardo, in this book, is based on channelings of Khutumi, who was also a Tibetan Buddhist, and Djwhal Khul’s teacher.

There are actually four branches of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama heads what has been termed the Gelugpa or yellow-hats school of thought. This is the youngest of the four schools dating back to the fourteenth century.

Another fascinating aspect to the Tibetan form of worship is that they do not necessarily confine their homage to their more familiar forms. They will bow as naturally before a crucifix as they would at the feet of the Buddha.

On the prime importance of meditation as a means of comprehending reality, all Buddhists agree. The meditation tools of the Tibetan Buddhists are the Mandala, Mantra, and a great deal of elaborate visualization. One of the keys to Tibetan Buddhism teaching is to see "all beings as the Buddha." This practice leads the practitioner hence to experience loving kindness, compassion and respect to every one and everything that crosses his path.

One other practice of a similar, but different nature, is to "hear all sounds as mantra." One other practice of Tibetan Buddhism is the importance placed on finding a responsible guru or spiritual teacher. This was so important that they actually added this precept to the three part formula of finding refuge in the Buddha, teachings, and the spiritual community.

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