Did the Bodhisatta walked the path for many lifetimes?

[kenteramin]

I've listened to a talk by Ajahn Brahmali where he explains his perspective on the Buddha's path to awakening from EBT point of view.

My impression of the talks is that the path to buddhahood is not steady work over many many lifetimes but more of a single lifetime achievement of the right man in the right time and place. Is it the case from EBT perspective? That the buddha is not a being that had been on the path to awakening for eons.

It was pretty disheartening to hear

[Inedible]

It was 3 immeasurable eons for the purpose of gathering up the 10 Paramitas. And it is due to his generous teaching that we don't have to spend that kind of time.

[kenteramin]

It was 3 immeasurable eons for the purpose of gathering up the 10 Paramitas. And it is due to his generous teaching that we don't have to spend that kind of time.

Yes, but is any of that found in the Nikayas?

[Inedible]

It's the number I hear everyone saying. I don't remember any specific source in Pali. I'm doing good if I can make a commitment for a few days or weeks. I can't imagine committing to a Bodhisattva path and cultivating virtues for longer than the universe has been around. I think the problem is that so many people felt a need to make Buddha into a version of God.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

See The Great Chronicle of the Buddhas

[ToVincent]

The path that Buddha discovered and transmitted, is the ancient path, given in SN 12.65/SA 287.
https://legacy.suttacentral.net/en/sn12.65
https://legacy.suttacentral.net/en/sa287

Now, did He walk the ancient path in other lives, does not seem to be clearly stated in the Nikayas, afaik.

However, we might wonder if Paticcasamuppada was a new path added to the ancient path, or if the ancient noble ones had also discovered it, through the mandatory noble eightfold path?
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[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

My impression of the talks is that the path to buddhahood is not steady work over many many lifetimes but more of a single lifetime achievement of the right man in the right time and place. Is it the case from EBT perspective?

Yes.

That the buddha is not a being that had been on the path to awakening for eons.

It was pretty disheartening to hear

Turn that frown upside down. Shouldn't the viability of enlightenment and the power of the Dhamma to deliver enlightenment in this very life be cause for rejoicing and inspiration? Why would you want it to be more laborious?

Metta,
Paul.

[kenteramin]

Turn that frown upside down. Shouldn't the viability of enlightenment and the power of the Dhamma to deliver enlightenment in this very life be cause for rejoicing and inspiration? Why would you want it to be more laborious?

If I need to get to the second floor I prefer stairs to a rope in a window

[santa100]

My impression of the talks is that the path to buddhahood is not steady work over many many lifetimes but more of a single lifetime achievement of the right man in the right time and place. Is it the case from EBT perspective?

It is not the case from any perspective. There're tons of Sutta instances where the Buddha used the common stock phrase "before enlightenment, while I was still an unenlightened Bodhisatta". Had His path to Buddhahood been accomplished in a single lifetime, He'd have replaced the phrase "unenlightened Bodhisatta" with: "unenlightened Puthujjana"!

[Ontheway]

My impression of the talks is that the path to buddhahood is not steady work over many many lifetimes but more of a single lifetime achievement of the right man in the right time and place. Is it the case from EBT perspective?

Yes.

What?! Theory of pure chance?!
The Buddha taught a teaching of cause and effect. Not random chances.

If EBT really taught that, it is a lost cause indeed.

[kenteramin]

What?! Theory of pure chance?!
The Buddha taught a teaching of cause and effect. Not random chances.

There is also a more conventional meaning of cause & effect. Like in everyday life and physics. When a person wins a lottery it is kind of pure chance from his perspective but there is nothing random from a general point of view. There was a winning ticket so there must have been a winner

[Joe.c]

It is not the case from any perspective. There're tons of Sutta instances where the Buddha used the common stock phrase "before enlightenment, while I was still an unenlightened Bodhisatta". Had His path to Buddhahood been accomplished in a single lifetime, He'd have replaced the phrase "unenlightened Bodhisatta" with: "unenlightened Puthujjana"!

Did you read the sutta completely such as MN 36, MN 19, MN 26, MN 85 when he said:

before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta

He was referring to his current life at that time (from Prince Siddhartha up to be awaken as Buddha Gotama). He was not referring to multiple lives before that.

But his true path start when he met Buddha Kassapa on MN 81 Gathikara Sutta. If one read this sutta, they will understand the meaning that he was an ariya by then. But he didn’t manage to finish the job.

This is also implied in DN 14 Mahapadana Sutta.

It’s not easy to find an abode of sentient beings where I haven’t previously abided in all this long time, except for the gods of the pure abodes.

This implied he didn’t get into non returner or higher.

That is how I understand.

So if one put effort, one can be awakened here and now. But one needs to understand the conditions for ending of dukkha, otherwise it may just be a dream.

[robertk]

Greetings,

My impression of the talks is that the path to buddhahood is not steady work over many many lifetimes but more of a single lifetime achievement of the right man in the right time and place. Is it the case from EBT perspective?

Yes.

This is an amazing divergence not only from Theravada but even from other Buddhist sects.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Robert,

This is an amazing divergence not only from Theravada but even from other Buddhist sects.

There is nothing in the Sutta Pitaka that says the Buddha was on any sort of "Buddhist path" before being born.

He was born a puthujjana and "died" an arahant.

You're welcome to show actual Sutta that shows otherwise, but the hagiography that traditions often base their understandings around is not actually found in the Buddha's discourses - it resides solely in their own literary works.

Metta,
Paul.

[robertk]

Greetings Robert,

This is an amazing divergence not only from Theravada but even from other Buddhist sects.

There is nothing in the Sutta Pitaka that says the Buddha was on any sort of "Buddhist path" before being born.

He was born a puthujjana and "died" an arahant.

You're welcome to show actual Sutta that shows otherwise, but the hagiography that traditions often base their understandings around is not actually found in the Buddha's discourses - it resides solely in their own literary works.

Metta,
Paul.

Well Venerable Pesala gave a reference to the Buddhavamsa - which is a section of the Khuddaka Nikāya, a part of the Sutta Pitaka , for one.

But can you confirm - are you saying when the Buddha to be was born, he had no background going back many lives developing the path to Buddhahood?