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MOTHER OF BUDDHA

Queen Māyā of Sakya (Māyādevī) was the birth mother of the Buddha and sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha. "Māyā" means "illusion" or "enchantment" in Sanskrit and Pāli. Māyā is also called Mahāmāyā ("Great Māyā") and Māyādevī ("Queen, literally a female-deva, 'goddess,' Māyā"). Queen Mayadevi was born in Devadaha kingdom of Nepal.

Māyā married king Śuddhodana, the ruler of the Śākya clan of Kapilvastu. She was the daughter of King Śuddhodhana's uncle and therefore his cousin; her father was king of Devadaha.

The birth of the Buddha-to-be

Queen Māyā and King Suddhodhana did not have children for twenty years into their marriage. According to legend, One full moon night, sleeping in the palace, the queen had a vivid dream. She felt herself being carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. After bathing her in the lake, the devas clothed her in heavenly cloths, anointed her with perfumes, and bedecked her with divine flowers. Soon after a white elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and went round her three times, entering her womb through her right side. Finally the elephant disappeared and the queen awoke, knowing she had been delivered an important message, as the elephant is a symbol of greatness in . According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha-to-be was residing as a Bodhisattva, in the Tuṣita heaven, and decided to take the shape of a white elephant to be reborn on Earth for the last time. Māyā gave birth to Siddharta c. 563 BCE. The pregnancy lasted ten lunar months. Following custom, the Queen returned to her own home for the birth. On the way, she stepped down from her palanquin to have a walk under the Sal tree (Shorea robusta), often confused with the Ashoka tree (Saraca asoca), in the beautiful flower garden of Lumbini Park, Lumbini Zone, Nepal. Maya Devi was delighted by the park and gave birth standing while holding onto a sal branch. Legend has it that Prince Siddhārtha emerged from her right side. It was the eighth day of April. Some accounts say she gave him his first bath in the Puskarini pond in Lumbini Zone. But legend has it that deva_(Buddhism)s caused it to rain to wash the newborn babe. He was later named Siddhārtha, "He who has accomplished his goals" or "The accomplished goal".

Research in Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal shows that the details of the legendary account coincide exactly with the existing Indian mythology of fertility goddesses, Salabhanjikas, "breaking a branch of a Sala tree"), often depicted standing against trees with one leg bent up and one hand holding a branch. They are believed to be virginal and capable of making a tree bear flowers. Parallels to this myth may survive in early Christianity: according to the Dead Sea Scrolls, the chaste or "virgin" Mary was a much older woman who miraculously conceived of a child by the intervention of the Holy Spirit of Jehovah (See Luke 1:35).

Queen Māyā died seven days after the birth of the Buddha-to-be Bodhisatta and was reborn in the Tavatimsa Heaven, where the Buddha later preached the Abhidharma to her. Her sister Prajāpatī (Pāli: Pajāpatī or Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī) became the child's foster mother.

After Prince Siddhartha had attained perfection and become the Buddha, he visited his mother in heaven for three months to pay respects and to teach the Dharma.

Religious parallels

Referring to the prophetic dream Queen Maya had prior to conception, some versions of the life story of the Buddha say that he was conceived without sexual activity. This interpretation has led to parallels being drawn with the birth story of Jesus.

The story of the birth of the Buddha was known in the West, and possibly influenced the story of the birth of Jesus. Saint Jerome (4th century CE) mentions the birth of the Buddha, who he says "was born from the side of a virgin".^[2] Also a fragment of Archelaos of Carrha (278 CE) mentions the Buddha's virgin-birth.

Other parallels in the birth stories include:

• The similarity in the sounds of the names of Mary (Maryām) and Maya.
• Maya conceived during a dream, Mary conceived around the time of a visitation from an angel.
• Both women gave birth "outside" of a home.
• Heavenly wonders appeared in the sky.
• Heavenly beings (angels or devas; or in some Mahayana traditions, Samantabhadra) announcing the newborn as "savior" of the world.
• Sages came to visit the newborn and make prophecies of auspicious careers.

There are also parallels between the Buddha being born of Maya and the Greek messenger god Hermes being born of a mother with a similar name, the goddess Maia, since Hermes is associated with the planet Mercury, a planet called Budha in Sanskrit.

King Suddhodana was known as the "King of the Law" because of his just rule.

One night when the moon was full, while asleep in the palace, the queen had a dramatic dream in which she was carried away by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. The devas bathed her in the lake and clothed her in heavenly attire, anointing her with heavenly fragrances and adorning her with flowers. Soon after a white elephant, holding a white lotus flower in its trunk, appeared and circled her three times, upon which he entered her womb through her right side. The elephant then disappeared and the queen awoke. The next morning, the queen told the king about the dream. The king was puzzled and sent for some wise men to divine the meaning of the dream.

The wise men told the king that the devas had chosen the queen to be the mother of the “Purest-One” and that the child she bore would become a very great being.
The king arranged for a great feast, and gave generously to the poor in celebration. The whole kingdom waited in expectation for the birth of the new prince, and Queen Maya enjoyed a trouble-free pregnancy, all the while living a life of simplicity and purity for herself and her unborn child.

The Mahamaya-tantra, (Sanskrit:Mahāmāyā-tantra) is a tantra associated with Dream Yoga. It is considered by the shangpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism to be a seminal work and is one of their five principle tantras. Mahāmāyā-tantra is a tantric text concerning Mahāmāyā. Mahāmāyā (Mahā holds the semantic field: "total", "great"; Māyā holds the semantic field: "magic", "phantasmagoria", "illusion", "dream") is a deva or deity in Indian religions. Mahāmāyā, Māyā or Maya, is also a force and/or the principal deity who creates, perpetuates and governs the phantasmagoria, illusion and dream of duality in the phenomenal Universe. Stated simply, Maya is the goddess of dreams. mahamaya is also the name of shakyamuni Buddha's mother.

The point of origin of the Shangpa Kagyu lineage was the Mahasiddha Khyungpo Naljor of Shang, in west-central Tibet.^[1] The Shangpa Kagyu lineage propagates five tantras of the Anuttara yoga class, each tantra is considered the seminal expression of a principal sadhana:

• the Hévajra tantra is the zenith of candali (heat) yoga
• the Chakrasamvara tantra is the zenith of consort yoga (karma mudra)
• the Guhyasamaja tantra is the zenith of illusory body and clear light yogas
• Mahamaya tantra is the zenith of dream yoga
• Dorje Jigdzé is the zenith of enlightened action.

These tantras are communicated through the teachings of five early Indian masters: Niguma, Sukhasiddhi, Dorjé Denpa, Maitripa and Rahula. The Shangpa Kagyu tradition almost died out this century. It was preserved and restored through the vigorous activity of Kalu Rinpoché towards the end of his life.

Sinha (2007) outlines that the author of the Brhad-vimansastra quotes the Mahamaya-tantra:

Their magic spells sometimes had unexpected uses, as we read in the Brhad-vimansastra, a hitherto untranslated text on flying machines which is said to date ill from the medieval period:

"Only those who have had the knowledge of Mantra, Tantra (and twenty other skills here omitted for brevity) taught to them personally by a guru are fit and proper persons to pilot a flying machine."

The author quotes the Mahamaya-tantra and other Tantric texts as sources from which the secret doctrines may be learned. The Mahamaya-tantra does indeed contain spells for flying, taking a bird's shape and travelling to any place on Earth. It also promises the ability to espy holes in the ground, perhaps marking spots where other, less talented sky-striders came to grief.