Blog Your Blessings: Buddha's Birthday

Last Sunday afternoon we marked the birthday of the Buddha at the Dae Yen Sa International Buddhist Temple and Meditation Center in New Hartford, Connecticut, with our friend, Buddhist Priest Brian Vaugh, who shared some ideas about the significance of the birthday. It was a well-spent afternoon.

Brian began by asking if there really was a baby Buddha, if it mattered that there ever was, and if it might matter if a real baby Buddha were brought into the temple there and then. The point: Why do we care and, if we do, what are we doing to show we care? Buddhists, he said, are defined by what they do, not by what they believe.

Brian told the story of the young man who became the Buddha from the time of his extraordinary birth to the moment he realized he must spend his life alleviating the suffering of others in the world. Buddha forewent a life of comfort, ease, and luxury in favor of a life and of service. In fact, when he woke up to the needs of the world, he walked away from everything in favor of service.

This was despite his father's attempts to keep this son inside the palace, to shield him from all pain and suffering in the world that the young man might focus on continuing his father's legacy of conquest, power, and wealth. The young man thought for himself and made his own choices.

Though I have heard this story many times before, Brian's telling brought to me a new insight. Though the ancient stories of the Buddha's birth often freight that moment with portentous signs, the Buddha did not become the Buddha until he chose to. This enlightenment was an active, conscious, thoughtful choice informed by a full and open heart.

That, as Brian pointed out, is the choice any one of us can make. The various accidents of fate that combine to make each of our lives distinct shape our hearts and our minds and may effect the likelihood of our choosing a life of giving or of taking, but the choice is the same for each of us, regardless of who we are. The Buddha story comes to us again and again in our literature. Most recently, Brian would argue, in the likes of Harry Potter. Farther back, I would argue, in the likes of Jesus Christ.

I believe the power of the Jesus story is the same as the power of the Buddha story; though Jesus was poor and obscure, he made a choice that shook the world with kindness. The power of the story is in the nature of the choice. To say that Jesus had no choice is to miss the point that the Son of Man is the Son of God is the heart of goodness is a Bodhisattva.

This of course leaves it up to each of us to become the Buddha. Rather than outsource compassion, become it.

What's your story, Buddha baby?