The name of Sakyamuni, the founder of the Buddhist religion, is familiar enough to most people. But few realize that "Sakya" is the clan into which he was born while "Muni" means a sage, so his name really means "the sage of the Sakya clan." Many Buddhists long to visit the land of Sakyamuni's birth, India.

Indian folk legends record many stories about the former existences and earthly life of Sakyamuni, which have been collected in a volume of "Stories of the Buddha's Life." Many anecdotes about Sakyamuni have been embellished and given a miraculous turn. At the same time these devotional stories not only describe Sakyamuni's sense of compassion and sacrifice but also illustrate Buddhist teachings about peace, mercy, devotion, forbidding cruelty, and non-indulgence in luxury. Sakyamuni's virtues as described in these stories provide real examples for others to follow.

This Indian prince, born in the sixth-century B.C., left his family and lived a life of hardship in order to understand the meaning of life. Eventually he realized that life's pain and suffering comes from man's desire, and to eliminate suffering it is necessary to eliminate all desire from your heart. Only when desire has been overcome can you attain the tranquil state known as nirvana.

It is said that Sakyamuni was born in the Tusita heaven and descended as a white elephant into the womb of Queen Maya, wife of King Sudhodhana. After ten months he was born from her side and was named Gautama Siddhartha.

The prince grew up in a royal court surrounded by wealth, pleasure and power. But under his father's close protection he discovered that no matter how wealthy or powerful a man may be, he cannot escape suffering old age and death. He then decided to abandon his wife, family and princely status, and cultivate the spiritual path.

At first he practiced meditation and followed a life of strict abstinence, growing weak and emaciated. Eventually he sat down beneath the Bodhi tree on the banks of the Nairanjana river and concentrated all his powers on meditating on the suffering of mankind. He did indeed attain enlightenment under that tree, and from that time on he was venerated as a Buddha.

During the 49 years between attaining Buddhahood and his ultimate extinction or decease, he preached over 300 times to every kind of person throughout the Ganges region including kings, merchants and prostitutes. His concept that all people possess a Buddha nature and that everyone can become a Buddha, regardless of caste or station, had a profound effect.

Sakyamuni was said to have an unusual appearance. The Sutras endow him with 32 unusual features, such as a golden body, a fleshy protuberance on the crown of his head, a tuft of hair between the eyebrows, and a swastika on his chest. He is usually depicted seated in a characteristic meditation posture with both hands resting in his lap, palms up, the right hand uppermost. To his right and left appear the bodhisattvas Manjusri, on a lion, and Samantabhadra, on an elephant.

The most popular Buddhist figures worshipped in Taiwan today are Sakyamuni, Amitabha and Avalokitesvara (Kuan-yin). As the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni is revered as a fundamental teacher, and his birthday is celebrated with the greatest solemnity.

This festival is also called "bathing the Buddha," which may derive from the legend of nine dragons spewing fragrant water over the Buddha at his birth. This is often thought of as being an Indian or Thai festival, but in China the Northern Wei Emperor T'ai-wu (r. A.D 424-451) is recorded as watching a procession pass by on the festival of bathing the Buddha.

After Sakyamuni's decease Buddhism gradually declined in influence in India itself, while establishing itself in China, Japan, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Whereas Buddhism was originally solely concerned with moral cultivation, it did not exclude folk gods and also took on board the Hindu concept of karma. This doctrine teaches that apart from a man's present life he also has countless previous existences in which he had countless other parents, brothers and sisters. By killing any living thing he may do harm to his kindred from an earlier existence, and this is why most Buddhists offer flowers and fruit at the temple and keep to a vegetarian diet.

[Picture Caption]

A statue of Sakyamuni adorns the entrance of the Yuan T'ung Temple in Chungho city, Taipei county. Standing on a lotus and with one hand pointing to heaven, he says: "In heaven above and below, only I am supreme." (photo by Wen Chin Yang)

These Buddhist images are displayed at the Fo Kuang Shan Temple, Kaohsiung. The central golden statue and the white figure in the foreground portray Sakyamuni. Their long, broad faces are typical of many Buddhist statues in Taiwan. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Many Buddhist wall paintings and vernacular texts have been preserved in the caves of Tunhuang. Most of these portray legends about the Buddha. (photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum)

These Buddhist images are displayed at the Fo Kuang Shan Temple, Kaohsiung. The central golden statue and the white figure in the foreground portray Sakyamuni. Their long, broad faces are typical of many Buddhist statues in Taiwan. （photo by Vincent Chang）

Many Buddhist wall paintings and vernacular texts have been preserved in the caves of Tunhuang. Most of these portray legends about the Buddha. （photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum）