alright one last time, i promise. stories in the canon?

[dhammastudier]

sorry guys but i cannot find these stories! i've been trying to find the stories of the buddha's birth, youth, quest for enlightenment, and death within the pali canon. i found the stories of the buddhas actual birth. i read online the one where he tells of the palaces his father built for him. then i found the ones about his quest for enlightenment where he becomes so thin and then eats the rice and reaches enlightenment. and i found the one about his death.

thanx to bodom and mikenz66

however i CANNOT find the story of his mother having the white elephant dream and the brahmins prophesies about his birth. i also can't find the stories about him as a young man, namely the story of his cousin firing an arrow at a goose and siddhartha saving the goose and also about his trips into the village where he saw the four images (old man, sick man, dead man, and a monk). and in the enlightenment stories in the canon does it say specifically the actions of mara (using his army, daughters, etc. to disturb siddhartha) while siddhartha was under the bodhi tree or is that a later development? i read where he goes over what stages he went through in each watch of the night and then how he felt after enlightenment but it didn't say anything about mara messing with him. if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it!

[tiltbillings]

Nanamoli's THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA has all the sutta stuff related to the birth and stuff of the Buddha. If it is not in there, it is stuff the was composed after the death of the Buddha, as Buddhists (not just Theravadins) tried to flesh out the Buddha's story. The name Siddhattha is an example of that as is much, if not all, of the stuff you are asking about.

. . . however i CANNOT find the story of his mother having the white elephant dream and the brahmins prophesies about his birth. i also can't find the stories about him as a young man, namely the story of his cousin firing an arrow at a goose and siddhartha saving the goose and also about his trips into the village where he saw the four images (old man, sick man, dead man, and a monk). and in the enlightenment stories in the canon does it say specifically the actions of mara (using his army, daughters, etc. to disturb siddhartha) while siddhartha was under the bodhi tree or is that a later development? i read where he goes over what stages he went through in each watch of the night and then how he felt after enlightenment but it didn't say anything about mara messing with him. if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it!

[dhammastudier]

Nanamoli's THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA has all the sutta stuff related to the birth and stuff of the Buddha. If it is not in there, it is stuff the was composed after the death of the Buddha, as Buddhists (not just Theravadins) tried to flesh out the Buddha's story. The name Siddhattha is an example of that as is much, if not all, of the stuff you are asking about.

. . . however i CANNOT find the story of his mother having the white elephant dream and the brahmins prophesies about his birth. i also can't find the stories about him as a young man, namely the story of his cousin firing an arrow at a goose and siddhartha saving the goose and also about his trips into the village where he saw the four images (old man, sick man, dead man, and a monk). and in the enlightenment stories in the canon does it say specifically the actions of mara (using his army, daughters, etc. to disturb siddhartha) while siddhartha was under the bodhi tree or is that a later development? i read where he goes over what stages he went through in each watch of the night and then how he felt after enlightenment but it didn't say anything about mara messing with him. if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it!

yeah someone already recommended that, i guess i'll just have to buy it. thanx.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings zac,

yeah someone already recommended that, i guess i'll just have to buy it. thanx.

Yes, it's well worth it. As much as anything else, so you can see just how little of what constitutes the stories surrounding the Buddha is actually from the oldest strata of the Pali scriptures.

Metta,
Retro.

[Sobeh]

Read the Acchariyabbhutadhamma Sutta (MN 123):

‘Venerable sir I have heard these words from the Blessed One himself and you acknowledged them. “Aananda, when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born in this world, before he placed a foot on earth, four gods accept him and placing him in front of the mother said, queen be happy, you have given birth to a powerful son.” Venerable sir, this I bear as something wonderful and surprising of the Blessed One .‘Venerable sir I have heard these words from the Blessed One himself and you acknowledged them. “Aananda, when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born, he was born pure uncontaminated with water in the passage, phlegm, blood or any impurity. As though a gem was placed on a Kashmire cloth. The Kashmire cloth is not soiled by the gem, nor the gem by the Kashmire cloth. This is on account of the purity of both. In the same manner when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born he was born pure uncontaminated with water in the passage, phlegm, blood or any impurity.” Venerable sir, this I bear as something wonderful and surprising of the Blessed One .

etc.

Then read this, perhaps.

[dhammastudier]

Read the Acchariyabbhutadhamma Sutta (MN 123):

‘Venerable sir I have heard these words from the Blessed One himself and you acknowledged them. “Aananda, when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born in this world, before he placed a foot on earth, four gods accept him and placing him in front of the mother said, queen be happy, you have given birth to a powerful son.” Venerable sir, this I bear as something wonderful and surprising of the Blessed One .‘Venerable sir I have heard these words from the Blessed One himself and you acknowledged them. “Aananda, when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born, he was born pure uncontaminated with water in the passage, phlegm, blood or any impurity. As though a gem was placed on a Kashmire cloth. The Kashmire cloth is not soiled by the gem, nor the gem by the Kashmire cloth. This is on account of the purity of both. In the same manner when the one aspiring enlightenment, was born he was born pure uncontaminated with water in the passage, phlegm, blood or any impurity.” Venerable sir, this I bear as something wonderful and surprising of the Blessed One .

etc.

Then read this, perhaps.

thanx i'll read that link! yeah the one you quoted i read when the majjhima came in the mail a few days ago.

[dhammastudier]

Greetings zac,

yeah someone already recommended that, i guess i'll just have to buy it. thanx.

Yes, it's well worth it. As much as anything else, so you can see just how little of what constitutes the stories surrounding the Buddha is actually from the oldest strata of the Pali scriptures.

Metta,
Retro.

cool, yeah i caved and went ahead and ordered it. although some of it is repeated because i have the DN, SN and MN. i'm happy to get all the stuff from the vinaya, anguttara, etc. that i don't have. that's it though! no more dhamma books for me for at least a few months! bad zac, bad! i justify it because my wife bought a video game for forty and the book was only twenty with shipping

[Agent]

that's it though! no more dhamma books for me for at least a few months!

Ha! If I had a dhamma book for every time I've said that...
Oh wait... I do.

[dhammastudier]

that's it though! no more dhamma books for me for at least a few months!

Ha! If I had a dhamma book for every time I've said that...
Oh wait... I do.

nice!