{"id":2332,"date":"2012-05-08T09:05:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T13:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=2332"},"modified":"2012-05-08T09:05:24","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T13:05:24","slug":"happy-birthday-buddha-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/05\/happy-birthday-buddha-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday Buddha"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Around this time and around the world, the Buddha’s birthday is celebrated. I’ll take this occasion to reflect on the Buddha and what he means to me.<\/p>\n

Archeological evidence suggests he was an actual person. The year’s of his existence are approximately 2500 years ago. The traditional time frame was adjusted \u00a0forward 8o-some years after\u00a0Professor Richard Gombrich discovered an error in the historical record. Regardless, it was a long time ago. Little is known about the actual life of the Buddha. Most of the information comes from self-references made during his discourses, and these were few and far between.<\/p>\n

The legend of the Buddha appears to be more myth rather than actual. It astounds me that many Buddhist writers take the story literarily rather than as a parable. It is preposterous to assume that he had somehow been shielded from sickness, old age, and death until he was twenty-nine years old. Yet, this is the linch-pin of the story–when he first encountered these sufferings, he was motivated to find a path to end suffering.\u00a0I rarely see this assumption questioned. It’s fatuous at best. He had relatives and servants who no doubt aged, got sick, and died.\u00a0Gautama likely lived in the world and probably went away to college in Taxila along with other members of the ruling class.<\/p>\n

Another feature of the myth was his princely status. Apparently, his father was more of a magistrate than a king. Still, Siddhartha did hang out with royalty like Prince and later King Pasenadi. He did refer to multiples palaces in the discourses and this is where his royal heritage is linked. I think it’s safe to assume that he lived a life of privilege.<\/p>\n

As a parable, his life is instructive–he found a path between the extremes of indulgence and denial. After leaving the palace, he become a forest ascetic for a period of years. Nearly starving himself to death with severe practices, he abandoned that path to practice mindfulness under a pipal tree (now known as the Bodhi tree).<\/p>\n

When we strip away the prophecy, embellishments, and preposterisms, the Buddha’s story is a story of renunciation and redemption. The Buddha was an exceptional man who showed us our potential as human beings. He was an exceptional, yet natural human. He was not superhuman. At least this is the image represented in the sutras. Centuries later he was portrayed as supernatural and worshipped as a god-like figure.<\/p>\n

I find the Buddha’s secularity, the most appealing. I can investigate my buddhanature without beliefs, without doctrine, and without elevating the Buddha to a god. Buddhanature is psychological and empirical–testable in your own experience.<\/p>\n

The image of the Buddha is a reminder of our potential to be in the world as happy human beings free from suffering, anguish, and pervasive dissatisfaction. I find that the methods that he taught–conscious living and meditation–work. If you try them, you just mind find that they work too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2332"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2365,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332\/revisions\/2365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}