The Life of Shakyamuni Buddha - Teaching
After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha remained seated for seven days. In all, it was forty-nine days before he would first teach the true path that he had discovered.
Finally, he left the Bodhi tree and travelled to the deer park at Sarnath, where his five former followers were living. On the way he passed two merchants, Trapusha and Bhallika with a caravan of five hundred bullocks and their merchandise. Seeing the Enlightened One's glowing countenance, the two merchants bowed before him and offered him the choicest food they had, which he accepted to break his fast. The merchants went on their way, greatly uplifted by the encounter.
Travelling northwards, along the river Ganga, the Buddha reached the city of Varanasi and went directly to the deer park at Sarnath to find his five disciples. The disciples had previously left the Buddha on the banks of the Niranjana river, after becoming disillusioned with him for forsaking the practice of austerities. When they saw him once again they decided to shun him, but were overwhelmed by his serenity and tranquillity and invited him to sit, accepting to hear his teaching.
The teaching at Sarnath was the Buddha's first turning of the 'Wheel of Dharma'. He taught the Four Noble Truths, which have remained the basis of all traditions of Buddhist doctrine to this day. The Buddha talked all through the night and when morning came, the five disciples embraced his teachings and took refuge in the three Jewels of Buddhism; the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. They, with the Buddha, became the first five members of the Sangha, the community of monks who follow the teachings of the Buddha.
The next individual who accepted the Buddha's path was a young nobleman named Yasa. Like the Buddha himself, Yasa had been born into an affluent family and surrounded by luxury, yet he left his home and family in search of the truth. Yasa's father, coming in search of his son also listened to the Buddha and was so struck by his teachings that he and his household also converted to the Buddha's path. He became the first of many lay followers who accepted the teachings but did not give up their worldly lives to become monks.
Many more young monks joined the Sangha and were taught by the Buddha. When they had understood the teachings, they would go out in different directions, to spread the Dharma for the welfare of all living beings, just as the Buddha himself was doing.
The Buddha travelled back to Uruvela, near Gaya, where he gathered many other followers. King Bimbisara came to hear the Buddha teach and became a lay disciple. He offered the Buddha and his followers a bamboo grove in which to live, and the Buddha accepted the gift. Thus the Buddha and his followers travelled through the Gangetic plain, returning to the bamboo grove to meditate during the monsoon rains.
For the next forty years and more, the Buddha and his disciples travelled from one village and town to another and spread their message to the world. Buddha also returned to his home of Kapilavastu, where his father, King Suddhodana greeted him with jubilation and invited him to teach. Hearing his teaching, the King along with Suddhodana and their son Rahul also embraced the Dharma, with Rahul taking vows and becoming a monk.
The Buddha's travels took him to Vaishali, Sravasti, Rajagriha and Kushinagar. Wherever he went, he gave teachings that would most benefit the listener. The Sangha grew and flourished in the villages of the Gangetic basin, and word of the Buddha's teachings spread far beyond. Scriptures recount many miracles and great works performed by the Buddha who at one point created a thousand Buddha images in the sky depicting the postures of meditation and teaching. In this way his critics were silenced and all doubts set aside.
