ESALA THE MONTH OF SECOND GREAT ACHIEVEMENT OF THE BUDDHA

All Buddhists commemorate with great devotion, the significance of the Esala Full Moon Day when Buddha delivered his first sermon the Dhammachakka pavattana Sutta, to the Five Monks , Panchavaggiya Bhikkus, at the Deer Park in the region of Isipatana in Northern India.
This event marked the commencement of the noble mission of the Buddha to transmit to the world, the unique doctrine, which, as stated in the Satipatthana Sutta, “ is the only way for the purification of the minds of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the extinguishing of suffering and grief, for treading on the path of truth, and for the realization of Nibbana,“ as conceived by him along with the attainment of the supreme Buddhahood on a Wesak Full Moon Day just two months back.  
During this season, we always recall with gratitude, the numerous sacrifices made, and the hardships underwent by him, as the ascetic Siddahartha, over a period of six years to achieve the Buddhahood. Our devotion to this great leader will get further enhanced when we realize the extraordinary effort he had to make during the course of his first sermon Dhammachakka Pavattana Sutta to educate the Five Monks , Pancavaggiya Bhikkhus who had been among the numerous groups of contemporary hermits aimlessly wandering in search of happiness.  

" As explained in many instances in the Tripitaka, Buddha, in view of the depth of his doctrine had been fully aware of the possible difficulties likely to be experienced by many, particularly those attached to the worldly pleasures or those already under wrong understandings Miccaditti, to fully comprehend the subtleties of his doctrine"

 Hence, with a polite refusal of the requests to jointly lead their monasteries , he left both of them, and resolved to continue the mission on his own. He came across a serene and a peaceful location situated close to a river in the village of Senani, in the Uruwela region, where he adopted rigorous practices of self-tormentat, and virtual starvation, exerting pain and pressure on the body as a means of attaining enlightenment. Eventually he realized the futility of such an exercise and decided to slightly relax the hard practices and decided to partake some food just sufficient to maintain the strength of the body and the mind. The group of Five Monks, later known as Panchavaggiya Bhikkus who had hitherto been supporting him left him on this issue.   
 Ascetic Siddhartha however , continued with his lifelong search for the termination of suffering focusing on the elimination of feelings vedana and , perceptions sanna, and over a period of time, had made significant progress. Accordingly, on a Wesak full moon day, he commenced deep concentration at the foot of an Esatu tree, and by the first phase of the night, attained the dimension into past existence, Pubbenivasanussatinana, and in the middle phase of the night, attained the divine eye on the departure and reappearance of beings Chutuppatanana. Through a steady progress, and by the early hours of the morning, the culmination of his deep concentration resulted in the total elimination of all the cankers, Asavas, and attained the supreme Buddhahood, with the realization of the Four Noble Truths as detailed out in the Dvedavitakka Sutta in the Majjima Nikaya and the Dhammachakka Pavattana Sutta   
 Ariyapariyesana Sutta in the Majjima Nikaya vividly describes the reaction of the Five Monks when they saw him at a distance, since they were unaware of his attaining Buddhahood, and the dialogue between the Buddha and the Five Monks, and the manner in which he was able with some effort to successfully convince them of his spiritual achievement. It has been only after such a discussion, the Five Monks had agreed to listen to his first sermon the Dhammachakka Pavattana Sutta. Ariyapariyesana Sutta also states that after the conclusion of the sermon, Buddha had to engage himself in a continuous session of instructions and advise to the Five Bhikkus on the contents of his sermon. It is further stated that this intensive exercise lasted a number of days, during which period, two or three Bhikkhus out of the Five, take turns to beg for alms for the sustenance of all the six, facilitating a continuous session of instruction to all of them. The Dhammachakka Pavattana Sutta says that at the end of the sermon one Bhikku namely Kondanna attained Sotapatti, being just the initial stage of spiritual progress to attain Arahantship. 

"Ariyapariyesana Sutta in the Majjima Nikaya vividly describes the reaction of the Five Monks when they saw him at a distance"

 As explained in many instances in the Tripitaka, Buddha, in view of the depth of his doctrine had been fully aware of the possible difficulties likely to be experienced by many, particularly those attached to the worldly pleasures or those already under wrong understandings Miccaditti, to fully comprehend the subtleties of his doctrine. Hence Buddha would not have been surprised of the inability of the Five Monks to fully comprehend his doctrine by the end of his first sermon.   
 It appears that Buddha in his wisdom realized that, despite his long and continuous effort, the major constraint faced by the Five Monks preventing them from the realization of his doctrine was their deep rooted belief on a permanent self, Atma, the fundamental erroneous conviction common to almost all the sixty two misconceptions Miccadittis among the contemporary ascetics as detailed in the Brahmajala Sutta. and in many Suttas in the Samyutta Nikaya.   
 During this season of our grateful commemoration of the significance of the Esala Full Moon Day on which Buddha delivered his first sermon to the group of Five Monks, it wil be most appropriate for us to recollect and appreciate the two aspects of Buddha’s great contribution to the mankind. Firstly, the untold suffering he underwent during his six year long effort including rigorous ascetic practices for the realization of the ultimate truth for the termination of endless suffering of the human beings . Secondly, being led by his universal compassion to share his unique discovery of the ultimate truth with the rest of the humanity, the extraordinary effort he had to initially exert to transmit his Dhamma to the Pancavaggiya Bhikkus who represented a world hither-to misled by a mythical concept of a non existent Atma, preventing them from the realization of the ultimate truth for the cessation of the eternal suffering to which all living beings including all of us are subjected to.