Finally, at dawn or
the seventh day, Siddhartha's years of effort and striving came to an end with
a full and complete awakening to the truth.
From this moment on, he would be known
as Buddha, the awakened one. At the age
of thirty-five had realized the truth, without the benefit of another's
direction, achieving and absolute and full enlightenment -- an accomplishment
so rare that the next time this is expected to happen will be in more than five
billion years with the advent of the future Buddha Maitreya.
We must understand
that Buddhism does not provide access to something new or different. It does
not offer us something we do not have.
Takuan taught,
"You should not place your mind within yourself. Bracing the mind in the body is something
done only at the inception of training, when one is a beginner". If you
are only aware of yourself, you are not aware at all.
