Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c8.148

c8.148

We cannot read the beginning of the narrative referred to without calling to mind the story in our gospels. There Jesus, before He begins openly to teach, spends forty days fasting in the wilderness, "and was tempted of Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him." So Buddha also, before he sets out to propagate his doctrine, remains four times seven days* fasting in the neighbourhood of the tree of knowledge, "enjoying the happiness of deliverance." The idea which underlies this is readily understood: after a severe struggle the victory has been won: it is natural that the victor, before he betakes himself to new conflicts, should pause to enjoy what he had won, that the delivered, before he preaches deliverance to others, should himself taste its happiness.