Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 17-minute teaching, His Holiness Sakya Trizin recounts the life of Śākyamūni Buddha, from his sheltered youth in the palace to his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. He traces Buddha’s encounter with suffering through four sights—a corpse, a sick man, an old man, and a wandering renunciate—which sparked his decision to renounce worldly life. The talk details his years of failed ascetic practice, his recovery through eating nutritious food, and his final determination at Bodhgaya, where he defeated the distracting forces of Mara through loving-kindness alone. Sakya Trizin emphasizes that Buddha’s greatest act was turning the wheel of dharma, giving teachings that allow sentient beings to subdue delusions and attain enlightenment. The talk concludes with practical guidance: the merit of remembering Buddha’s qualities is amplified during the Vaisakh month, and practicing compassion yields greater benefit than making offerings to all the Buddhas. This is pitched at general audiences celebrating Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 24 FfK.mp3
UUID: 01fc58ab-cef2-4061-a41f-3d660e6d81f9
Teacher: HH Sakya Trizin
Collection: Freedom from the Known (HH Sakya Trizin)
Date: 1988 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 17.0 minutes
Words: ~1,607
A dead body carrying, and he said, what is this? And he says he said, this is dead, this man has died, and we all die. Although at the moment that we are living a life and going everywhere and doing everything, But one day, that we will die and become like this. And then in the north northern door, he saw bhikṣu who was wearing a robe with a begging bowl and and with a shaved head. And he asked what it is, and he said, this is the one who has renounced the worldly pleasures and who is seeking liberation.
So then he thought now it is there he saw the sufferings of old age, sickness, death, and then also also how to renounce this suffering of saṃsāra, the way to renounce the suffering of saṃsāra. And then his mind — he has a very strong intention of renouncing the palace. And but in order to do so, one needs the permission of one’s father and mother. So one day that when he requested his father, although his father do not wish to say that you can renounce the world, Well, that is the the least thing that he wanted to say. But due to the the great power or the blessings of the Buddha that he just said, that it’s okay.
And in his heart, still he very much worry, and he put lot of bodyguards all over the palace to protect the Buddha renouncing the the palace leaving the palace. And so on the one on special on on the one special day that he ordered his servant to prepare his horse at night and at a set time. And so he was preparing. And then at the in the nighttime that he blessed that all the people will sleep, have a very deep sleep, and so that he could leave the palace with his horse and with his servant. And so that he on one night that he just looked at his queen who was also in deep sleep, and, also, he blessed everyone in deep sleep.
And with that at that time that he left with his horse and with his servant seeking for the liberation. And then they reached the the certain place where they met another monk where he exchanged his clothes, and he took off all his ornaments and clothes, and he put on on the these robes, the ordinary robe, and then seeking for the liberation. And then he sent back his horse with his ornament back to the palace. And when they reached there, of course, due to the blessings of the Buddha, they do not have a great sorrow. And then he was to explain to the world that the penance alone will not get liberation, that he was for six years doing penance at the banks of the river Nairanjana and become very skeleton, not eating anything.
Even then that he to say that one could not obtain enlightenment just by fasting, physically sort of torturing, physically keeping the physical penance, he will not gain. The main thing is to train the mind. So even though he stayed for six years like this, that didn’t get enlightenment. And there, at the end of the fasting time, one of the lady, I think, she is offered milk food prepared by many the milk came from many cows. It’s offered to the Buddha.
And by drinking this, that his body is is revived and became a lustrous golden color. And then again, that he was traveling back to Bodhgaya and where he met another man who was selling a grass and that he took the grass from this. This man offered to him, to the buddha grass, and it was very auspicious occasion. And that he took this grass and went to Bodhgaya and sat on the grass under the Bodhi tree and made a great determination that whatever happens that he’s not going to sit up from this seat. That until he able to to dispel and to turn the obscurations and attain the ultimate wisdom that he is going to remain there.
And so he sit there, and at midnight, so many Maras were disturbing to him that he defeated all those thousands of Maras with terrifying weapons attacked to him from every direction. Thousand hundreds and thousands of the Maras who are very afraid that if he gets enlightenment, then they will be defeated. So that they were attacking him, but he just by the one weapon, which is the loving kindness alone, defeated them all. Hundreds and thousands of Maras were defeated. And then at midnight, he was meditating, and at dawn, when the dawn arose, that he got ultimate enlightenment under the bodhi tree.
But then even then, he said as he have obtained the the great wisdom just like a nectar, but he could not give this to anyone because anyone will not understand. So he didn’t turn the wheel of dharma for some time. And then as he was traveling and came to Varanasi and then in Sarnath at the Deer Park, as requested by Brahma by offering a golden wheel with a thousand spokes is offered to him to turn the wheel of Dharma, and there he gave the the first teaching, the Four Noble Truths. The truth of suffering, the truth of cause, and truth of cessation, and truth of path. And then there became so many followers.
Everybody become his followers. And then he turned many wheels of Dharma, but generally speaking that there are three groups. The first wheel of Dharma is mainly the Hīnayāna sutras. And then the second wheel of Dharma in different places such as Vulture Peak. And the third wheel of dharmas in everywhere and also like Shri Dhanyakataka.
So in this way that although the Buddha has great activities, every action that Buddha take is for the benefit of sentient beings. But the greatest one, the greatest action is through the turning the wheel of Dharma. By turning the wheel of Dharma that we one can learn the teachings from, And through these teachings, that one will be saved from the suffering of saṃsāra. And through his teachings, that one can subdue the defilements. One can control the defilements.
Through his teaching that one can get the insight wisdom. And so with this set, one can get enlightenment. And then as he was still continuing in different parts of India, one is that he performed the great miracles in Shravasti that he performed the great miracles at the the first lunar month. During the first lunar month, from the first day up to the fifteenth, that each day that he performed many great miracles. And so there are so many different actually, each part actually, each part of the Buddha’s life has so many things to to describe.
But today, in a in a short limited time that I could not remember also everything, so I decided there’s not a way to describe. So and then finally, at Kushinagar, although in reality that he have obtained the immortal vajra-like body that has completely gone beyond birth and death. But for the sake of ordinary person, to show the impermanence and to speed up to his followers to to speed up their practice that even the the Buddhas who possess the immortal vajra body will have to eventually pass away. So so for this sake that in Kushinagar that he entered Mahaparinirvana. But he’s the so this particular part of the historical Śākyamūni Buddha’s physical appearance is end there, but the activities of the Buddha will never end.
The activities of the Buddha will remain as long as the the saṃsāra remains, and the activities of the Buddha will never cease one way or the other. So even just by remembering the one kind of the activities of the Buddha that one can accumulate a great merit, especially on occasions like this. It is much meritorious than normal days, particularly day like this that has generally the whole month. We consider the whole it is called the Vaisakh month. Vaisakh is, I think, actually a name of a star.
But on this Vaisakh month, the one full month is considered as that every virtuous deed that you do, it multiplies hundreds and thousands of times. And especially on occasions like this, that occasion that is the birth and Mahaparinirvana and the enlightenment day, on such occasion, by remembering the qualities of the Buddha to make offerings and to do prostrations, circumambulations, and anything, any virtuous deed that one does, it is much great merit. But more than that is that if we practice Dharma, if we do the practice the loving kindness and the compassion to sentient beings that as it is said to practice one session for one a short period of time to practice compassion is more meritorious than to make offerings to all the Buddha fields of Buddhas. So in this way that we must abstain from the non virtuous deeds and perform the virtuous deeds as much as possible according to the one’s own ability. So in this way that we gain much merit.
So therefore, I pray and wish everybody to be free from all the obstacles and that all the qualities will develop and have very successful spiritual path. And may the blessings of the lord Buddha be with you now and always. Thank you.