The 7 Steps of A Child Buddha

[Big Uncle]

I'm curious... was Siddharta actually enlightened already and manifested as a human or did he really gain enlightenment in that lifetime? I ask because when he was born, he had the marks of the Buddha already. Did that mean that he was a Buddha already? In which case, he was already enlightened. I read that Lama Tsongkhapa was the same. He was an incarnation of Buddhas so was he already enlightened?

I want to add to the above: Since Siddharta is already Buddha, why he is born? I thought Buddha cannot take rebirth? Lama Tshongkhapa is an incarnation or a manifestation of Buddha? Manifestation and incarnation is different. Please share and correct me if I'm wrong.

Prince Siddharta is Bodhisattva, a being who walked the path of the 6 perfection for a long time to arrive at the fateful moment where he would gain complete and full enlightenment. He had all the marks and signs to signify the accumulations of spiritual merit of innumerable lifetimes.

As for Lama Tsongkhapa, he is the incarnation of the Bodhisattva Manjushri. Manjushri is actually a fully enlightenment a long time ago but due to karma and affinity, he was able to manifest in our time as a high-level Bodhisattva. Due to his level, he is able to manifest many simultaneous emanations like Dorje Shugden, Mahakala and other deities and living Lamas as well. That is a power one attains when one is fully enlightened.

[dsiluvu]

Lama Tshongkhapa is an incarnation or a manifestation of Buddha? Manifestation and incarnation is different. Please share and correct me if I'm wrong.

1. Lama Tsongkhapa is an incarnation

Dorje Shugden is a Dharma Protector who is a manifestation of Je Tsongkhapa. Je Tsongkhapa appears as the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden to prevent his doctrine from degenerating. Of course, Je Tsongkhapa himself takes responsibility for preventing his doctrine from degenerating or from disappearing. He takes responsibility for his doctrine to remain from generation to generation.

2. Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature (generally a human)  who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial.

Manifestation is One of the forms in which someone or something, such as a person, a divine being, or an idea, is revealed.

Hope this helps....

[ratanasutra]

The 7 steps of a child buddha is refer to the 7 qualities which buddha has achieved to gain enlightenment.  I always see in the painting/poster when Buddha walk 7 steps after birth is all in one directions so i think it should be the meaning behind that.

i found some of text also said that it means that Buddha will spread buddhist in 7 directions which mean north, south, east, west, up, down and here.

[Midakpa]

Many explanations have been given as to the significance of the seven steps taken by the baby Buddha after he was born. At each step, a lotus sprang up. Then the Buddha announced this to be his last incarnation.

I'm sure many of you are still wondering what the seven steps represent. Do they carry any meaning? Personally I feel that since many books about the Buddha refer to this special event and most of these sources do not give any explanation, it might be useful to share what I've discovered regarding the seven steps of the Buddha.

Recently I found the answer in Alistair Sinclair's book entitled "Buddha, the Intelligent Heart". According to Sinclair, the seven steps symbolise the seven chakras or energy centres that are naturally open in Enlightenment. "In tantric Buddhism, the cakras are energy centres, generally seven in number, connected by channels (nadi). Subtle energies called "winds" (prana) and "drops" (bindu) travel through these channels, and it is believed that through meditation one can control their movements and cause them to remain in the cakras, which leads to the actualisation of blissful states of consciousness."

"The seven cakras are:
(1) muladhara cakra (located near the perineum)
(2) svadhisthana cakra (located at or below the navel)
(3) manipura cakra (located near the navel)
(4) anahata cakra (located near the heart)
(5) visuddha cakra (located near the bottom of the throat)
(6) ajnya cakra (located between the eyebrows)
(7) saharara cakra (located above the crown of the head)" (John Powers, "A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism"

It is clear from this explanation that the Buddha taught the tantra as well as the sutra. It is possible that the message given by the Buddha at his birth, is that enlightenment can be achieved in one life time through the practice of tantra, i.e. the mastery of the movement of the prana and the bindu.

[Midakpa]

Recently, I was reading a book by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey entitled "Tibetan Tradition of Mental Development". In the chapter on "The Twelve Principal Deeds of the Buddha", there is a reference to the Buddha's birth and a description of the seven steps in the four directions. He also looked down and at the sky.

Here is the description given in the book (pp. 4-5):

"One day, as the time of the child's birth was approaching, the queen took a stroll in the garden grove in Lumbini. Reaching up with her right arm, she grasped a branch of a royal priksha tree, and as she looked to the sky, the son emerged from her right side. The sky was suddenly filled with a magnificent array of offerings by the devas. Brahmins approached the child with offerings of exquisite muslin, but he arose and exclaimed, "Release me!". Then, taking seven steps to the east, he declared, "I shall attain the greatest of all Dharmas." Taking seven steps to the south he said, "I shall become the object of veneration of devas and men." With seven steps to the west he uttered the words, "I am supreme in the world. This is my final birth - I shall cast off birth, old age, sickness, and death." Finally taking seven steps to the north, he said, "I shall be the Unsurpassable One among all sentient beings." Then, as he gazed down, he declared, "I shall subdue the gathering of maras. I shall let fall the rain of Dharma, which will extinguish the fire of all sentient beings in the hells." And, looking to the sky, he said, "All sentient beings will look aloft."

Personally, I think Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey's description of the seven steps of the Buddha is the best so far. What do you think?