(Symbolic telling of the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, who would become in his lifetime, an

Awakened One, a Buddha.)

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Having carried the Boddhisattva in her womb for precisely ten lunar months, Maya knew it was near
time for His birth so as was the custom, told her attendants to come with her to her mother’s home in
the next city.
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On the full moon in May, passing by the Lumbini grove (in modern day Nepal), she was captivated by the
beauty of the flowering sala trees and stepped down from her palanquin to walk among the trees in the
grove. As she reached for a branch of a sala tree, which bent itself down to meet her hand, the stirrings
of birth came upon her.
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The Bodhisattva easily fell from His mother's side into the swaddle held by an attendant.
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It is said that as soon as the Bodhisattva was born He took seven steps to the north and each time His
feet touched the earth, a lotus flower appeared, as He proclaimed a teaching:
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Lotus Flower One: All conditioned things are impermanent.
Lotus Flower Two: Why grasp at that which can never last?
Lotus Flower Three: Look to the faults in your own mind, not the minds of others.
Lotus Flower Four: Helping anyone in need loosens both of your ties to suffering.
Lotus Flower Five: There is no independent, separate self to cherish. All are interconnected.
Lotus Flower Six: Let go of worries and love one another.
Lotus Flower Seven: Being asleep to these truths brings suffering. Wake up!
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As the words of this Wise Child reverberated throughout the forest, the trees bent their limbs in
adoration, all the flowers burst into their most astounding beauty, and all creatures dropped whatever
they were pursuing and hurriedly came to the Blessed One. They knew in their heart of hearts that
before them was the freedom from suffering for which the whole world longed.
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The Bodhisattva was thus born among the Shakya people into the Guatama family. The child was named
Siddhartha - "He whose purpose is accomplished."
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And with His birth was born the opportunity for every sentient being to awaken to their true nature,
free of suffering, in an imperishable peace, a Bodhisattva with the potential to also become a Buddha and
thus bring peace to all sentient beings.
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Oṃ Muni Muni Mahāmuniye Svāhā!
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<3to every being on earth, a Buddha in their own heart. <3