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Talk on history of the Buddha's actions after his Awakening beneath the Bodhi Tree at Bodghaya
Following enlightenment, the Buddha remained for seven weeks around the Bodhi Tree, practicing walking meditation and interacting with village children, including Sujata and the buffalo boy Svastika. These interactions inspired the Sutra on Buffalo Herding, where eleven ways of taking care of water buffaloes are compared to eleven ways of being a monk. Traveling to the Deer Park, the Buddha reunited with five former ascetic companions who became his first disciples. The Sangha expanded with the ordination of Yasa, a wealthy young man weary of sensory indulgence, his parents who became the first lay disciples receiving the Five Precepts, and Yasa’s four friends: Vimala, Subahu, Punnaji, and Gavampati. Once the community reached sixty monks, they were sent out to share the Dharma, utilizing a simple ordination of shaving the head, donning a yellow robe, and taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
While traveling alone, the Buddha encountered a group of young men searching for a woman who had stolen from them. He asked whether it was better to search for the woman or to search for oneself, teaching that one can only see the true beauty of a tree or life when fully present and peaceful. Playing a flute to demonstrate that the highest level of art requires the highest level of spiritual development, he inspired the young men to ordain. The Buddha then engaged Uruvela Kassapa, a leader of five hundred fire-worshipping ascetics. Through dialogues regarding the essence of life, the nature of the Five Aggregates, and the reality of suffering, the Buddha challenged the efficacy of prayer, comparing it to standing on a riverbank asking the other shore to come over rather than using a boat or raft to cross.
Uruvela Kassapa, along with his brothers Nadi Kassapa and Gaya Kassapa and their one thousand disciples, cut off their hair knots and became monks. To this vast assembly, the Buddha delivered the Fire Sermon, proclaiming that everything—forms, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness—is burning with the fire of ignorance, hatred, and desire. Leading the new community to the capital of Magadha, the Buddha met King Bimbisara. The King rejoiced that his three wishes had been fulfilled: to be installed as king, to meet a good teacher, and to receive the teaching from that teacher. To support the large Sangha, the King offered the Bamboo Forest, Venuvana, establishing the first monastery.
Part of the following collection
Talk on early Sangha Events & Devadatha Schism at Vulture Peak