5. Ghoṣadatta

Overall Teaching

The Buddha advises Candraprabha that a practitioner must forsake worldly ties and home. He recounts the story of Buddha Ghoṣadatta, who received grand offerings from King Mahābala and his people, aimed at material future gains. Upon realizing this, Ghoṣadatta teaches the importance of abandoning worldly possessions and true offering. King Mahābala then becomes a bhikṣu, serves numerous buddhas across lifetimes, and ultimately attains buddhahood as Jñānaśūra. His subjects, also bhikṣus, become buddhas named Dṛḍhaśūra.

Summary

• In a distant, incalculable past, a Buddha named Ghoṣadatta appeared, who was revered with many epithets of enlightenment and wisdom.

  • During Ghoṣadatta's time, three significant assemblies took place, comprising eight billion, seven billion, and six billion arhats, respectively, who had all reached advanced spiritual stages and complete mental liberation.

  • Buddha Ghoṣadatta lived for forty thousand years in a time when the continent of Jambudvīpa was exceptionally peaceful and prosperous.

• Two powerful kings, Dṛḍhabala and Mahābala, ruled the land, each controlling half of Jambudvīpa, maintaining peace and abundance.

  • King Mahābala hosted Buddha Ghoṣadatta and his monks for a thousand years, providing them with all necessities which garnered great respect and admiration from the community.

  • Many householders and brāhmaṇas made extensive offerings thinking material wealth was the superior offering, not realizing the higher value of spiritual practices like observing precepts and renouncing worldly life.

    • Buddha Ghoṣadatta pondered the materialistic inclinations of beings who failed to appreciate the profound, spiritual offerings and were content with lesser joys of mundane offerings.

    • Buddha Ghoṣadatta delivered a gāthā emphasizing the superiority of spiritual practice over material offerings and the importance of renunciation to achieve higher spiritual states.

• Inspired by the gāthā, King Mahābala and eighty thousand followers renounced their worldly lives, seeking a deeper spiritual path directly from Buddha Ghoṣadatta.

  • To the newly renounced king and his followers, Buddha Ghoṣadatta taught the samādhi that reveals the equality of all dharmas, which led them to joy and ultimate renunciation.

  • Over subsequent kalpas, these practitioners did not fall into lower realms, met many buddhas, and ultimately attained Buddhahood themselves, benefiting countless beings before entering nirvana.

• This samādhi is praised for its ability to lead practitioners toward achieving supreme enlightenment, illustrating the transformative power of deep meditative states.

Commentary

Thrangu Rinpoche writes that the offerings of Mahābala's retainers accumulated great merit for him and his followers, although initially, their motivation lacked the depth necessary for attaining perfect awakening. Buddha Ghoṣadatta addressed this by emphasizing that while making offerings was commendable, it alone was insufficient without genuine Dharma practice. This teaching led Mahābala and his followers to a deeper understanding of the Dharma and training in samādhi, ultimately leading them to accomplishment. The chapter underscores the importance of correct and extraordinary motivation in Dharma practice, emphasizing the need for bodhicitta, or the resolve to achieve awakening for the benefit of all beings. This is framed within the preliminary practices, which involve taking refuge in the Three Jewels and the bodhisattva vow, aiming to cultivate an expansive and altruistic mindset as a foundation for achieving complete awakening. Thus, this chapter also encapsulates preliminary practices.

Discussion

• The chapter highlights the contrast between material offerings and offerings of spiritual practice. How do we balance these in our practice, and what might be the impact of prioritizing one over the other?

• Buddha Ghoṣadatta used a specific gāthā to inspire the king and his followers towards renunciation. What can we learn from his methods about how to effectively communicate Dharma teachings?