Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapuraya,Sri Lanka (link)

What Happened Under the Bodhi Tree?

By Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

(courtesy by Mallika Rajapaksha)

“What happened during the night on the Vesak Full Moon Day under the Bodhi Tree?” is a question that many people like to discuss. Generally, most of us talk about Siddhartha Gotama’s Great Renunciation and his six year long practice of self-mortification. We may ask, “Did he really practice self-mortification for six long years without doing anything else?” This entire paper focuses on this simple question. With the limited amount of time and space available in this paper, it is not really possible to delve deeply into this important subject, but I will attempt to cover briefly and succinctly the most salient points relevant to the topic.

When we read many of the writings about what happened to Siddhartha Gotama Bodhisatta under the Bodhi tree, the texts often do not include every detail of the things that he did. We are very familiar with the reports that he went to the Bodhi Tree, that he sat there and, during the first watch of the night he gained the knowledge of seeing into his own countless previous lives, and then, in the second watch of the night he saw living beings dying and taking rebirth in numerous places according to their kammas.  And finally, during the last watch of the night, he directed his mind towards the destruction of influxes and then attained full enlightenment. It was during this time that he searched for the cause for taking repeated births and deaths for himself and for other beings. Through this, he discovered the Law of Dependent Origination.

It is really impossible for these three events to have taken place in just one night. Behind all three of these events there is a much larger storehouse of information not chronologically arranged or listed in the life of the Buddha. These three events are really the climaxing, or the crowning moments of his vast accumulated experience. He previously had almost endless experiences in Samsāra. In the Mahāsaccka Sutta he said that there had not been any form of life that he had not been born into except the pure abodes where Anāgāmins are born. Since he had not previously attained the Anāgāmi state or even the Sotāpanna state he had not ever taken birth in the Pure abodes. Had he been born there, we would not have a Buddha today, because he would not have ever come back to this earth again. (anāgāmi means “never returner.”)

From the descriptions that the Buddha gave in several other discourses, we can begin to gather information as to what he really did before he finally attained enlightenment. Although we are very grateful to those ancient, dedicated disciples of the Buddha who have collected his discourses and brought them down to us, first orally, and finally in writings, it is regrettable that what Siddhartha Gotama Bodhisatta did before he attained final enlightenment has not been systematically codified to give us an easy reference. We have to go through many discourses to find all of the relevant information.

Nonetheless, even a casual reader of the five Nikāya texts—Pali or Chinese—of the Sutta piṭaka can discover those things that the future Buddha had done before that night when he finally attained full enlightenment. When we carefully examine these Suttas, we come across many things that we may not have ever even thought about that he practiced in preparation for his final liberation.

When we take all of them into account, we can see that we cannot conclude that he attained enlightenment very suddenly—sitting as the unenlightened Bodhisatta one evening and then getting up from his seat the next morning as the fully enlightened Buddha. Nor can it be seen as only a mystical experience, as some people unfamiliar with the gradual training (anupubba sikkhā) gradual working (anupubba kiriyā), gradual progress (anupubba paṭipadā),[i] gradual attainment (anupubba samāpatti) and of liberation as taught by the Buddha. These stages apply even to the Buddha. Even he had to go through all three stages—the stage of learning theory (sacca), the stage of action (kicca) and the stage of accomplishment (Kata)—as he described in his first sermon.

“So long, bhikkhus, as my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was not thoroughly purified in this way, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence.’”[ii]

So, we can see that all of this did not happened only on that one night. During his search for enlightenment—from childhood through the completion of his training in morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā) he had been strengthening and perfecting these three phases and the twelve aspects of the Four Noble Truths as well. It was only when he consolidated all of them under the Bodhi Tree and attained full enlightenment did he declare to the world that he had completed the first phase of his mission—attaining enlightenment, the second phase being bringing this message to the world in a very clear, direct and unambiguous teaching.

But even so, you might still wonder: “What exactly did he do to attain enlightenment?”

To answer this question we have to examine only those few suttas where he explicitly mentions the practice that he undertook to attain enlightenment. We don’t need to read the entire Tipiṭka in order to discover what he actually did to attain enlightenment.

He was a Genius:

Siddhartha Gotama Bodhisatta was a genius, not just an ordinary person. He took even the tiniest things into serious consideration and pondered upon them deeply in order to understand their true nature (yathābhūtañāṇadassana). His entire endeavor was to completely understand the truth of life. As a young man, even while enjoying the luxurious life of a Prince, he still experienced the subtle suffering of missing something in his life, which would have made him perfectly happy. He could not just sit back and perfectly enjoy the pleasures forced upon him by his worried father, Suddhodana. He began to see his father’s growing anxiety, restlessness, worry and the craving to keep him at home to make him his successor after his death. The more luxuries his father brought to Siddhartha’s life, the deeper became Siddhartha’s concern about his father’s worry. He saw the anxiety his father was going through as being caused by the thought that he was going to lose his most precious son, Siddhartha. This gave Siddhartha a clear clue about clinging and desire, which he found to be the cause of the suffering that his father was going through by separating from his beloved son. The greater the security Suddhodana provided to protect his son, the deeper Siddhartha’s wisdom became of the cause of this suffering – attachment. He saw clearly that only liberation from attachment to impermanent things could bring about the total and perfect happiness. While his father was endeavoring to increase his pleasure by tightening his attachment to his son, Siddhartha was perfecting his practice of gaining perfect happiness by giving up attachments. Said another way, while the father was trying very hard to cling to the son, the son was working very hard to get rid of all clinging. This is the cord he wanted to sever completely in order to attain enlightenment. He collected and observed data to help establish his theory of gaining full and perfect happiness. His theory states that only by giving up craving one can become happy. He observed how his father’s suffering increased by degrees every day, his fear and anxiety growing each day with the thoughts that he would someday lose his son. Siddhartha on the other hand was developing and strengthening his trust in his theory that by simply giving up craving he could liberate not only himself and his family but anyone who would put this theory into practice. He strengthened and matured his wisdom everyday, foreseeing that someday, he would be fully liberated from all suffering by following this theory and that he would have to leave the luxury of the palace, and the attachments to his family, his country and everything else to test his theory. When Siddhartha’s son Rahula was born and he saw how his attachment to his son, and bondage began to get a grip of his mind, his theory finally crystallized and Siddhartha finally left the palace.

During this time, he observed perfect morality. He purified his thoughts, words and deeds. He adopted right livelihood. He made right effort, although at first it was in the wrong direction—self mortification, until he finally realized sometime later that he should direct his right effort in right direction.

Logically he reasoned, according to Ariyapariyesana Sutta, how could he, being subject to birth, growth, ageing, affliction, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair ever gain lasting happiness by being attached to another who also is subject to birth, growth, ageing, affliction, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Since his childhood he had been investigating the Dhamma (Dhammavicaya sambojjhanga). Birth, growth, ageing, affliction, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are the intrinsic nature of all impermanent things. This is the nature of the established law of truth. Searching, investigating and thinking and then pondering over and over again to find if there were anything to contradict this established law of truth, he found nothing that could contradict it. This was his continuous meditation. Can you think of anything else that a genius would need to attain full enlightenment? Even just this alone was sufficient for a genius like Siddhartha Gotama Bodhisatta to attain full enlightenment.

Three periods:

The Mahā Saccaka Sutta and the Mahā Sīhanāda Sutta give a full account of the period of his self-mortification. Even though self-mortification is described in these two discourses, nowhere in any of these discourses or any others is it mentioned for how long he really practiced self-mortification. The tradition tells us that he practiced self-mortification for six years.

We can divide this six-year-period between the time he left the palace and the time he attained full enlightenment into three parts. (i) The first period is between the time he left home and the time that he met his two teachers, (ii) The second period is between the time he started self-mortification and ending it, (iii) And the third period is when he began to take food again, gained sufficient strength and attained enlightenment.

(i) The first period:

The first period is between the time he left home and the time that he met his two teachers, Ālārakālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta. He revered them and learned from them the way to attain the state of nothingness and neither-perception-nor-non-perception respectively.

However, their ultimate goal was not his ultimate goal. He followed his own theory of the middle path that he later promulgated and strongly advocated to his followers.

(ii) The Second period:

Once he began taking food again, and met his two primary teachers, he still was meditating even though it is not specifically mentioned what kind of meditation he was practicing during that period.

He gradually entered into the practice of self-mortification after he left his two teachers. During this period, as he was gradually decreasing the quantity of food he took, he continued meditating. It is impossible to imagine that during this period that he was simply practicing self-mortification of the body. As the Mahā Saccaka Sutta mentions, he was also practicing breath meditation. This may be Yogic meditation. It is a meditation with the intention of attaining enlightenment.

(iii) The Third Period:

The third period was the period when he left his teachers and attained enlightenment. This is the time that he strengthened his practice of the Middle Path. Having experimented with everything and seeing the meaninglessness of everything he had practiced before, he slowly began to realize the real benefit of the Middle Path. The practice of the Middle Path includes Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. These three belong to the concentration category of the threefold division of the Middle Path. It is unthinkable that he could have followed the Middle Path without developing these three aspects of the path.

During the third period, too, after giving up self-mortification, he certainly had been meditating. The Dvedhāvitakka Sutta and the Mahā Saccaka Sutta give good accounts of what he practiced during this period. Cultivating thoughts of renunciation to overcome craving:

He divided his thoughts into two types: unwholesome thoughts and wholesome thoughts. The unwholesome thoughts were of greed, thoughts of hatred and thoughts of cruelty. Those thoughts that were wholesome thoughts were the thoughts of renunciation, of loving friendliness and of compassion.

When a thought of sensual desire arose in him he thought: ‘This thought of sensual desire has arisen in me. This leads to my own affliction, to others’ affliction, and to the affliction of both; it obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbāna.’

He repeated this kind of thinking whenever a thought of sensual desire arose in him. When he thought this way, any thoughts of sensual desire subsided in him. This is the way that he learned to abandon them, remove them, and do away with them.

When thoughts of ill will or cruelty arose in him he used the same technique to overcome them.

From these experiences he realized that whatever he frequently thought and pondered upon, that became the inclination of his mind. So he decided not to think unwholesome thoughts at all so that they eventually abandoned his mind completely.

Knowing that sense desire was dropped from his mind, he remained diligent, ardent, and resolute. He remained mindful and whenever any unwholesome thought attempted to sneak into his mind he used his mindfulness to push it away. His mindfulness was so well established that it was always present in him effortlessly as he described here:

“Just as in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn, when the crops thicken, a cowherd would guard his cows by constantly tapping and poking them on this side and that with a stick to check and curb them. Why is that? Because he sees that he could be flogged, imprisoned, fined, or blamed [if he let them stray into the crops].”

So he saw danger, degradation, and defilement in unwholesome states, and the blessing of renunciation in wholesome states. He noticed the cleansing aspect of renunciation.

As he stayed with mindfulness, diligent, ardent, and resolute, a thought of renunciation arose in him. Then he understood that the thought of renunciation had arisen in him. He knew that the thought of renunciation would not lead to his own affliction, or to others’ affliction, or to the affliction of both. He saw that it aids wisdom, does not cause difficulties, and leads to Nibbāna.

He became deeply engaged with this thought and pondered it for twenty-four hours, knowing that there was nothing to fear from it. But because of this excessive thinking and pondering his body became tired. As his body became tired, his mind became more tense. And his tense mind broke his concentrated state. So finally, he steadied his mind internally, quieted it, brought it to singleness, and concentrated it once again. He did the same thing when thoughts of loving friendliness and compassion arose in him.

As we learn later in the suttas, he had been meditating since his childhood. He had even attained the first Jhāna as a young child once when his nurses had left him under cool shade of a rose apple tree. Even at that tender age his concentration was so powerful that he was not disturbed by the noises that people made during the plowing festival.

Practising the Four Foundations of Mindfulness:

His practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness was so strong that it not only resulted in attaining full enlightenment but it also stayed with him very clearly. He spoke of it in the Mahāsīhanāda Sutta:

“I am now old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and have come to the last stage: my years have turned eighty. Now suppose that I had four disciples with a hundred years’ lifespan, perfect in mindfulness, retentiveness, memory, and lucidity of wisdom. Just as a skilled archer, trained, practiced, and tested, could easily shoot a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree, suppose that they were even to that extent perfect in mindfulness, retentiveness, memory, and lucidity of wisdom. Suppose that they continuously asked me about the four foundations of mindfulness and that I answered them when asked and that they remembered each answer of mine and never asked a subsidiary question or paused except to eat, drink, consume food, taste, urinate, defecate, and rest in order to remove sleepiness and tiredness. Still the Tathāgata’s exposition of the Dhamma, his explanations of the factors of the Dhamma, and his replies to questions would not yet come to an end, but meanwhile those four disciples of mine with their hundred years’ lifespan would have died at the end of those hundred years. Sāriputta, even if you have to carry me about on a bed, still there will be no change in the lucidity of the Tathāgata’s wisdom.” [iii]

He was born with Three wholesome Roots: (Tihetuka):

He was born with this wisdom and gradually it matured as his mindfulness kept gaining strength. He frequently thought about, pondered and cultivated thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of friendliness, and thoughts of compassion until he perfected them. Frequent practice made him perfect. It was very natural for him to let go of his desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt.

He stated in the Mahāsaccaka Sutta that even when he was practicing self-mortification his mindfulness remained intact.

When he was cultivating right thought and right effort his mindfulness was so well established that it continued to flow steadily and effortlessly in him.

Mindfulness in Previous lives:

In the “Wonderful and Marvellous Discourse” it is stated that the Venerable Ānanda once said in the presence of the Buddha that the Buddha (as the Bodhisatta) was born in Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness, that he lived in Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness, that he passed away in Tusita heaven with mindfulness and full awareness, that he entered into the queen Mahāmāyā’s womb with mindfulness and full awareness, that he stayed there for ten months with mindfulness and full awareness, and that finally he was born with mindfulness and full awareness. It was this unbroken mindfulness that he maintained throughout his entire life through self-mortification and the attainment of full enlightenment.[iv]

He was so mindful and clearly aware of his mind and its contents that he knew very precisely that he has lived long enough in Samsāra and there would be no more rebirth and this would be his last birth.

“I am the highest in the world; I am the best in the world; I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being for me.”’[v]

His mother who was already observing the eight precepts at the moment Bodhisatta conceived in her womb. His mother, Mahāmāyā continued to observe morality while he was in her womb. So, the Bodhisatta, in addition to his own practice of the noble moral principles also inherited his mother’s influence as well. And so, observing all these moral principles was an innate quality of Bodhisatta.

According to the Ānāpānasati Sutta, one who practices mindfulness naturally develops seven factors of enlightenment. In fact in that discourse the Buddha mentions that when one practices the four foundations of mindfulness one develops the seven factors of enlightenment four times.

He also mentions in the opening statement of the Mhāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta, that the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness is the only way to attain Enlightenment. So, this is what he had been doing before he attained enlightenment. He practiced it not once, twice, or even three times, but three entire lives. Is that not enough to attain enlightenment?

It is this mindfulness together with the other steps including right concentration of the Middle Path or the Noble Eightfold Path that brought him to enlightenment.

“Tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was tranquil and untroubled, my mind concentrated and unified.[vi]

The Bhayabharava Sutta gives a very powerful and vivid description of how he overcame fear and dread before sitting under the Bodhi tree.

The Bodhisatta had purified his mind and verbal conduct, (right Speech), and he purified his livelihood (Right Livelihood). Having well purified his thoughts, words, and deeds he sat under the Bodhi Tree.

Abandoning Sensual Pleasure (Kāmarāga)

“So too, Māgandiya, formerly when I lived the home life, I enjoyed myself, provided and endowed with the five cords of sensual pleasure: with forms cognizable by the eye…with tangibles cognizable by the body that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. On a later occasion, having understood as they actually are the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of sensual pleasures, I abandoned craving for sensual pleasures, I removed fever for sensual pleasures, and I abide without thirst, with a mind inwardly at peace. I see other beings who are not free from lust for sensual pleasures being devoured by craving for sensual pleasures, burning with fever for sensual pleasures, indulging in sensual pleasures, and I do not envy them nor do I delight therein. Why is that? Because there is, Māgandiya, a delight apart from sensual pleasures, apart from unwholesome states, which surpasses even divine bliss. Since I take delight in that, I do not envy what is inferior, nor do I delight therein.”[vii]

Referring to the time he gained this understanding the Buddha says, “On a later occasion.” Undoubtedly by this, he meant that this understanding occurred to him before his enlightenment. Under the Bodhi Tree he destroyed sensual desire completely.

He purified himself in bodily conduct, verbal conduct, and mental conduct and then found great solace in dwelling simply in the forest. He had overcome covetousness, ill will, cruelty, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry and thoughts of self-praise and the disparagement of others, and had practiced the four Brahamavihāras. He had very few wishes. He was energetic in body and mind. He was established in mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.

He trained himself to deal with fear by facing it.

This is how he trained himself to face Māra under the Bodhi Tree.

“Perhaps I might encounter that fear and dread.’ And later, on such specially auspicious nights as the fourteenth, the fifteenth, and the eighth of the fortnight, I dwelt in such awe-inspiring, horrifying abodes as orchard shrines, woodland shrines, and tree shrines. And while I dwelt there, a wild animal would come up to me, or a peacock would knock off a branch, or the wind would rustle the leaves. I thought: ‘What now if this is the fear and dread coming?’ I thought: ‘Why do I dwell always expecting fear and dread? What if I subdue that fear and dread while keeping the same posture that I am in when it comes upon me?’

“While I walked, the fear and dread came upon me; I neither stood nor sat nor lay down till I had subdued that fear and dread. While I stood, the fear and dread came upon me; I neither walked nor sat nor lay down till I had subdued that fear and dread. While I sat, the fear and dread came upon me; I neither walked nor stood nor lay down till I had subdued that fear and dread. While I lay down, the fear and dread came upon me; I neither walked nor stood nor sat down till I had subdued that fear and dread.” [viii]

Under the Bodhi Tree:

Not only did he practice Right mindfulness but he also practiced Right concentration. In the discourse that he delivered to Mahā Saccaka the Buddha relates how using his mindfulness and concentration he attained enlightenment with three kinds of knowledge.

“I considered: ‘I recall that when my father the Sakyan was occupied, while I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I entered upon and abided in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. Could that be the path to enlightenment?’ Then, following on that memory, came the realization: ‘That is indeed the path to enlightenment.’

“I thought: ‘Why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures and unwholesome states?’ I thought: ‘I am not afraid of that pleasure since it has nothing to do with sensual pleasures and unwholesome states.’

“I considered: ‘It is not easy to attain that pleasure with a body so excessively emaciated. Suppose I ate some solid food— some boiled rice and porridge.’ And I ate some solid food—some boiled rice and porridge. Now at that time five bhikkhus were waiting upon me, thinking: ‘If our recluse Gotama achieves some higher state, he will inform us.’ But when I ate the boiled rice and porridge, the five bhikkhus were disgusted and left me, thinking: ‘The recluse Gotama now lives luxuriously; he has given up his striving and reverted to luxury.’

After he had eaten solid food and regained his strength he attained the four Jhānas. This was the second time that he had attained the first Jhāna, having attained it once before as a child. This time he attained all four Jhānas and was able to describe the qualities of each of them.

He enjoyed seclusion, from which arose rapture and pleasure. Since his mind was not being invaded by unwholesome thoughts he was not afraid of this pleasant feeling that arose in him. The suttas describe the way he used the fourth Jhānic mind-state to gain the three kinds of knowledge under the Bodhi Tree:

“When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives.

“This was the first true knowledge attained by me in the first watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who abides diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

“When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I saw beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and I understood how beings pass on according to their actions.

“This was the second true knowledge attained by me in the middle watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who abides diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.

“When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. I directly knew as it actually is: ‘This is suffering’; ‘This is the origin of suffering’; ‘This is the cessation of suffering’; ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’.

In the first discourses he said that he knew perfectly well these four truths as theory, their function and fulfillment of their function.

In the way he realized: ‘These are the taints’; ‘This is the origin of the taints’; ‘This is the cessation of the taints’; ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of the taints.’

“When I knew and saw thus, my mind was liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance. When it was liberated there came the knowledge: ‘It is liberated.’ I directly knew: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.’

“This was the third true knowledge attained by me in the last watch of the night. Ignorance was banished and true knowledge arose, darkness was banished and light arose, as happens in one who abides diligent, ardent, and resolute. But such pleasant feeling that arose in me did not invade my mind and remain.”[ix]

He spoke with full authority:

He found this theory; he followed his own theory; and he attained his goal. Then he was in the best position to teach and guide the world with authority how to attain liberation from suffering.

“So long, bhikkhus, as my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was not thoroughly purified in this way, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. But when my knowledge and vision of these Four Noble Truths as they really are in their three phases and twelve aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment in this world with its devas, Māra, and Brahmā, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its devas and humans. The knowledge and vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence.’”

All the while he was striving and even mortifying his body his mindfulness and clear comprehension was so powerful that he remained very clear, and was never confused. So he said,

“There are, brahmin, some recluses and brahmins who perceive day when it is night and night when it is day. I say that on their part this is an abiding in delusion. But I perceive night when it is night and day when it is day. Rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone: ‘A being not subject to delusion has appeared in the world for the welfare and happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans,’ it is of me indeed that rightly speaking this should be said.”

Never was his unremitting energy weak.

“Tireless energy was aroused in me and unremitting mindfulness was established, my body was tranquil and untroubled, my mind concentrated and unified.”

Mahāparinibbāna sutta:

Before attaining enlightenment the Bodhisatta had practiced the four foundations of mindfulness, the four roads to power (Iddhipāda), the four right efforts (Cattāro sammappadhānā) the five spiritual faculties (Pañcindriya), the five kinds of spiritual strength (Pañcabala), the seven factors of enlightenment (Sattabojjhanga) and the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariyo Aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo).

In spite of the fact that he practiced all thirty-seven factors of enlightenment in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he said that if someone practiced the four roads to power he could live for a century without any problems:

“Ānanda, whoever has developed the four roads to power, practiced them frequently, made them his vehicle, made them his base, established them, become familiar with them and properly undertaken them, could undoubtedly live for a century.”[x]

Attaining Magga-Phala:

One may ask: “When did he attain Stream Entry Path and Fruition[xi], Once Returners’ Path and Fruition,[xii] Never Returners’ Path and Fruition[xiii] and Arahant Path and Fruition[xiv]?”

He definitely had destroyed all of the ten fetters in order to attain enlightenment. Although he did not mention specifically when he attained all four of the Paths and Fruitions, it is clear from the fact that he destroyed all of the remaining cankers in the third watch of the night that he attained enlightenment using pure mind as he said:

“When my concentrated mind was thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, I directed it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. I directly knew as it actually is: ‘This is suffering’; ‘This is the origin of suffering’; ‘This is the cessation of suffering’; ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering’”, as above.

The Buddha was the one who developed all of them in this manner for his entire life before he attained enlightenment. He practiced all thirty-seven factors of enlightenment before he ever sat under the Bodhi tree. He simply consolidated all of them for the final attainment of full enlightenment. All this did not happen in one night.