The History of Buddhist Thought c19.49

c19.49

The attaining of enlightenment is told several times in the actual words of the attaining of the four trances and the destruction of the *āsavas*, as in the *Sāmaññaphala-sutta* (p. 47). It is quite abstractly put, and neither the fight with Māra nor even the tree is mentioned. But in the *Ariyapariyesana-sutta* (*Majjh.*, i, 160) there is a long piece of narrative, telling how he left his weeping parents, how he visited Āḷara and Uddaka and left them dissatisfied, and how he sought for the peace of Nirvāṇa and attained it. No details of the Enlightenment are given here. The narrative continues with his doubt whether to preach the doctrine, and his consent, which he gave when Brahmā came and implored him, next his intention to preach first to his old teachers, and his visit to Benares, where he found the five disciples, and convinced them that he was an arahat and fully enlightened, but there is no mention here of the so-called First Sermon.