Laos and the story of Buddha

When the communist government took over Laos in 1975 they originally banned the practice of Buddhism. They quickly realized, however, that this was a futile attempt as most Laotian people continued to practice without hesitation. The government now maintains a neutral position in regards to the religion. In Laos, almost all men, at some point, practice as novice monks. Usually they will go to a Buddhist school for 3 months to 1 year for regular school classes, as well as specific classes in Buddhism and sandscrit. Our guide is no exception and attended a Buddhist school, as a novice, for 1 year when he was young. He has led us through many of the temples in Laos and given detailed descriptions of the wall mosaics that describe many of the stories believed by Buddhist people. According to him, Buddhism is more of a spirituality than an actual religion and most Laos Buddhist still practice some type of Hinduism or animism (belief in animal spirits). The stories are very similar to greek myths (in fact, according to our guide, the 1st Buddha image was created by Alexander the Great - a Greek!) in that they involve princesses and princes, monkey gods, bird gods, serpent gods and demons, all battling in a good versus evil universe. So, during our time exploring the Laos buddhist temples, the Pak Ou Buddhist caves and giving alms to the monks as they walked through the village at 6am this morning, we have learned the story of Buddha's last life (he had 7), as I will now relate.

A boy was born to a Hindu king and queen. The boy's mother died 7 days after his birth and the king was very upset. He called for 16 fortune tellers to come and declare the future of his son. Several informed the father that the son would become a great king and warrior. The king was very happy. When the boy was 7 years old, a hermit came into town and asked to see the boy. He read the boys fortune and informed the father that the boy would become a great spiritual leader, a buddha. The king was very disappointed and hid the boy from the world, never allowing him out of the kingdom. At the right age, the boy married, had a child, and took on responsibilities of a prince. However, he desired to see the outside world. So, one night he and a servent stole a horse and they rode out of the kingdom, into the outside world. The boy saw all kinds of human suffering - death, hunger, disease, poverty; and he decided he did not want to be human if this is what it meant. So, he left his family and his kingdom, cut off his hair, and moved into the woods to give up all earthly things and to learn everything he could. He was taught by a hermit. Once he learned everything he could from the hermit he traveled the world, continuing to learn, until he reached enlightenment. Once enlightened, he began to teach all over Asia and many people followed his teachings. When Buddha was in his 80's, he went to visit a blacksmith. The blacksmith went to cook Buddha's lunch and turned into a horse (I kind of missed why this happened, but for some reason he turned into a horse and then served the lunch). The lunch consisted of pork, and some poisionious mushrooms that the blacksmith didn't know where poisionious but Buddha, b/c he was enlightened, knew. And he knew it was his time to go to paradise. So, he told the people of the village not to eat the meal, it was just for him. He also said, "when I die, remember me in your hearts, not in life." Therefore, no image was made of buddha until Alexander the Great conquered India and was taught buddhism by a local princess. Being Greek, and fond of worshiping images, he fashioned the 1st buddha image. The buddha image has been worshiped ever since.