The Twelve Deeds of the Buddha
- Coming into the world.
- Entering His mother’s womb in the incarnation of a six-tusked white elephant and making a divine manifestation of the scene in His mother’s dream.
- Choosing to have a viviparous birth (In fact, the Buddha could have appeared in the world miraculously, however, He chose to be born in a normal way from His mother’s womb like any ordinary people on Earth so as to demonstrate that every human possesses the Buddha-nature. Only if one cultivates Buddhism, one can be enlightened just like what He had attained.)
- Being proficient and skilled in all the cultures as well as the arts of the world (This denotes that the Buddha had attained excellent achievements in both the world and the spiritual world).
- The Buddha was once in a layman’s identity on Earth to go through family life and experienced worldly pleasures. He aimed at telling people on Earth that ‘nothing is permanent in life’. All happiness and joy in this present life only appear temporarily and do not last permanently. Cultivating Buddhism is the one and only one way to attain eternal peacefulness and happiness.
- Telling people on Earth that it is meaningless to overindulge in enjoying pleasures of the world. The Buddha set a good example Himself by leaving the joyful palace as well as His wife and concubines. He took His first step on the cultivation path by shaving His hair to become a Buddhist monk.
- The Buddha further knew that undue ascetic life could not lead to a thorough transformation. His experience in the six-year extreme ascetic life was to show people on Earth that undue torment to oneself is not a right approach of cultivation. The only way to enlightenment is to retrieve one’s Buddha-nature.
- Starting to practise cultivation in Bodhgaya.
- To overcome demons. Before His enlightenment, the Buddha had experienced enormous barriers and obstacles from the demons. All these hindrances were conquered by the Buddha in His deep meditation for He employed the great mercy to surmount greed, hatred and ignorance.
- After conquering the demons, the Buddha practised Vajrasamadhi (the last stage of the Bodhisattva) to get rid of all barriers and obstacles. He then became aware of the Perfect Wisdom and achieved the Supreme Samma-sambodhi.
- The three turnings of the Dharma Wheel (when the Buddha started preaching in the Deer Park) after Buddha’s enlightenment.
- Nirvana. This serves as an example to verify the saying of the Buddha that ‘life is impermanent’ and ‘the sufferings of birth, aging, illness and death’. This is to let Buddhist disciples realize that time is so limited and precious that they should forge ahead vigorously and dedicate themselves to their cultivation.
