The birth of a child can be a joyous event. The further one goes back in history the more the likelihood that mother or child or both could die in the process. Siddhartha Gutama (The Buddha) was born around 563 BCE in what is now Nepal. Data suggests that in those days 50% of children died before puberty, 30% in being born with 25% of women dying in childbirth. The fertility rate was 5-7 births. People viewed births apprehensively.
The birth of Shiddharta was not recorded as there was no written language in the region. In ancient India, oral transmission was even considered more reliable and sacred than writing. Religious texts, including the Hindu Vedas, were intentionally not written down for centuries. The repetitive style found in many Buddhist sutras—often seen as “boring” by modern readers—was actually a mnemonic device designed to help monks remember and recite the texts accurately. The history was finally written in the First Century CE primarily in Pali Pali canon | Definition, Contents, & Facts | Britannica
Legends are full of symbolic phrasings, metaphors and poetic melding of the everyday interlinked with the vision or promises of a better way of life. So was the case for a mid-size kingdom of a clan (Shaki) of the Warrior caste in what is now Nepal. When one of the king’s wives was traveling to her parents home, which was the custom to give birth to a boy as forecast by the seers of the day. In a dream she had seen a majestic white elephant and imagined flowers at the birth of the child. This was seen as a boy, who would be either a king or a holy-man.
A few days after the journey began, Maya the mother went into labor in a beautiful deer park. The birth was said to have been through her side and the boy stood, turned, and proclaimed he was a seer. His mother lived for seven days and when she died her sister Mahapajapati agreed to be the mother for her nephew. These are the basics of the legend of the birth of Buddha. Over the years I have written often about this event. I suggest you review some of these in the link below. You may also use the archives to search a topic and see if I am some thoughts.
In Soto Zen Buddha’s birth is Hanamatsuri.
There are five points I’ll review in the Dharma Talk on April 27, 2026:
1. Legends are built by a culture to reinforce its view and meaning.
2.The importance of the women in the life and legend of Buddha
3. Birth as first form of suffering
4. The story of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha)
5. Living by vows
Please join us in person at the First Congregational Church of Falmouth or on Zoom at 7PM for service and 8PM for my talk. Zoom link: zoom.fszs.org (password: FSZS)