“But now, your great challenge is how to enable the majority of people to perceive and
feel this Buddha-mind as much as possible. Because whether they are paupers,
beggars, laborers, or multi-millionaires, kings, emperors, all are under the specific
rules of this world. Everyone is equally unaware of who they are, where they come
from, what they are doing, and where they will return,”

“Therefore, in your capacity as those who know, as those who have awakened from
slumber, as those who have shed their bonds, freeing your minds and experiencing joy,
you are now known as the enlightened ones. You are known to have attained the
highest truth because you are the Divine, you are Buddha. Nothing is higher than this.
From this moment on, if you choose to be merely enlightened individuals but do not
share this method of ‘being’ with others, you will be only solitary Buddhas, because
you cannot create new enlightened ones.”

“If you desire to be more than solitary enlightened ones, you must pass on what you
have received to others. Therefore, I present a new choice: will you choose to be
solitary Buddhas, or will you choose to be Buddhas who guide others? If you choose to
be Buddhas who guide others, let us collaborate in conveying this to the people of the
world, just as you have received it from me today.”

“I choose to be a Buddha who guides others, Lord,” Achita, who was sitting closest,
spoke first. After that, the others followed suit.

“I choose to be a Buddha who guides others, Lord! Lord! Lord!…” The voices of those in
the conversation circle rose together.

“Good, noble ones… Since you have declared this, from this day forward, I will call you
all ‘Bhikkhus,’ which means those who volunteer to reveal this knowledge of the
Divine, those who dedicate their entire lives to this work, those who are selfless,
renouncing physical pleasures to travel to various places to propagate the being of
Buddha. From now on, nothing will be more important than this. Matters of
sustenance, fame, honor, and praise will be secondary for the Bhikkhus.”

“From now on, may you be Bhikkhus with human bodies but hearts of Buddha,
Bhikkhus who have ceased seeking knowledge from the outside, Bhikkhus who have
realized the Buddha within, and who have the desire for everyone to be able to be
Buddha just as you are,” the Buddha said.

“Lord Phoche, is this the ordination ceremony of the Buddha’s time?” I interjected.

“That’s right. In the early days of ordination, it was just this – simply a vow to become a
Bhikkhu. On that night, over 200 people heard the Buddha’s conversation, but 98 of
them understood the essential meaning and attained realization. Most were leaders of
the ascetics, each with hundreds of followers. After that, all the leaders of the ascetics
conveyed this teaching to their respective followers. Some who still had doubts about the principles gathered to discuss and exchange ideas. Some groups came to see the
Buddha to ask about their doubts for a full week.”

“During that time, over 16,000 ascetics and 2,000 laypersons decided to choose to be
Buddha and decided to ordain as Bhikkhus with the Buddha, totaling 18,000 people.”

“During that period, King Asoka ordered a large quantity of yellow robes dyed with
turmeric to be prepared for the mass ordination ceremony, with the ruler of Vaisali and
King Asoka presiding over the ceremony. It was considered the first mass ordination
ceremony with the largest number of Bhikkhus in the history of Buddhism,” Lord
Phoche explained.

“Lord, in that ordination, everyone would not have shaved their heads as you
mentioned earlier, right? Because from the image I see, everyone still has hair,” I asked.

“That’s right. Because the objective of ordination in the early days of the Buddha’s
teachings was to travel to propagate the method of attaining truth through the Buddha
within, with the symbol of Buddhist monks being the change from wearing naturalcolored cotton robes to robes dyed with bright yellow turmeric and carrying a metal
alms bowl. In those days, most ascetics already had bowls for collecting alms and
shared them. As for shaving the head, as I mentioned before, it happened after the
Buddha’s passing. But this matter originated from a small point that expanded into a
tradition practiced to this day, stemming from the decision of a group of people during
the time of the Buddha’s passing.”

“What was the story?” I asked immediately.

“On the night before the Buddha’s cremation ceremony, the Bhikkhus who had
followed the Buddha at that time, along with Bhikkhus who heard the news of the
Buddha’s passing and were able to travel to attend the cremation ceremony, totaling
nearly five hundred, all wished to express their gratitude to the Buddha. One of them
was Mahakassapa, who was skilled in performing rituals from his days as a Brahmin.
He proposed that all the Bhikkhus present together show their final respects before the
Buddha’s body by shaving their heads and eyebrows. They agreed to maintain this
head-shaving practice for the rest of their lives. That very night, they helped each other
shave their heads and eyebrows. The next morning, the people who came to attend the
ceremony saw the sight of yellow-robed men with shaved heads sitting in neat rows
before the funeral pyre, which moved them deeply and made them see the gratitude
they had for the Buddha as never before.”

“And when such an event occurred, all the Bhikkhus who later heard the news, even if
they had not attended the funeral, voluntarily followed suit and maintained this headshaving practice to the present day,” Lord Phoche explained.

“Oh, I understand now. That’s how it came to be. And what happened after this?” I
asked.

“After Achita’s group’s ordination ceremony, the Buddha traveled on to Veluvana Vihara
near Rajagaha, which was on the return route to Savatthi. This place was the first
residence that King Bimbisara built for the Buddha before he permanently moved to
Jetavana Vihara in Savatthi, because at that time, a succession dispute and a change of
rulers occurred in Rajagaha,” Lord Phoche explained.

“Where are Veluvana Vihara and Rajagaha located?” I asked.

“The location of Rajagaha is at Tambon Thung Yang, Amphoe Laplae, Uttaradit
Province. Today, traces of the ancient city can still be seen, including the remnants of
the city walls and moats around the city.

As for Veluvana Vihara, it is located about 1 kilometer west of Rajagaha. Today, you
would know it as Wat Phra Thaen Sila-at,” Lord Phoche explained.

“Wat Phra Thaen Sila-at… is this the Veluvana Temple that was the first temple of
Buddhism?” I said.

“Yes.”

“Why did he travel there, and what indicates that this is Veluvana Temple?” I asked.

“Because the Buddha’s mission this time was to travel to mark important locations
related to his life, and Veluvana Temple was considered one of the important places,
King Asoka deemed it appropriate to enshrine the Buddha’s hair relics there as
evidence for later generations of Bhikkhus to know and pass on. Veluvana Temple in
those days did not have the appearance it does today. It was a bamboo forest of a local
species that was shady, with large, straight, and beautiful stalks. The groves looked
clean and not overgrown. The stalks had a white powdery coating. King Bimbisara
often used this area as a resting place before building a large wooden pavilion for
meetings and several dozen small houses for the Buddha’s residence. All the structures
at that time were made of wood and bamboo, which were not permanent. The only
permanent objects were a rectangular stone platform about 1 meter by 2 meters,
which the Buddha often used as a seat to talk with people who came to see him more
often than in the pavilion because it was amidst nature, and a simple square stone
cuspidor for betel nut spit.”

“A betel nut spittoon? Does that mean the Buddha chewed betel nut?” I interjected.

“In those days, whether they were men or women, young or old, poor or rich, everyone
chewed betel nut. The reasons they chewed betel nut were both cultural values and to
help solve oral problems such as gum disease, tooth decay, pyorrhea, bad breath, as
well as to relieve bloating, flatulence, and balance the body’s elements. Therefore, any
place that was a gathering place for people and required orderliness would have a
designated area for spitting betel nut and discarding chewed betel nut properly.”

“And there was another stone platform located on a nearby hilltop where the Buddha
often went to rest at night, especially during the hot season, because it was better ventilated than below. On this visit to Veluvana Temple by the Buddha and King Asoka,
the Buddha intended to create a symbol to indicate that this place was once Veluvana
Temple.”

“When the Buddha arrived, he was met with a disheartening sight. Veluvana Vihara
was deserted and neglected. The trees were overgrown and densely covered, but
fortunately, it was a bamboo forest, so weeds could not grow. However, the open areas
that were once crowded with people were now covered with layers of leaves and
bamboo leaves. The wooden pavilion was dilapidated, and the thatched roof was
decaying, leaving only the frame and wooden pillars that were still usable. The things
that were still in the most original condition were the stone platform and the square
stone betel nut spittoon. As soon as they arrived, King Asoka ordered the stone
platform area to be cleaned and prepared a pit to enshrine the hair relics, using laterite
stone that could be found in the vicinity as material. He ordered sandstone to be carved
into cylindrical pillars and stacked to a height of about 3 meters to serve as a marker
for future successors to know the importance of this place. After that, the Buddha
asked three Bhikkhus to volunteer to reside here to care for this temple as a center for
propagating the Buddha’s teachings. Then, the Buddha returned to Savatthi, parting
ways with King Asoka in Rajagaha itself.”

“Lord Phoche, what happened during that time? Why did the Buddha abandon
Veluvana Vihara and let it become deserted?” I asked.