According to what's written, sometimes the Buddha knew that he was what is called a Bodhisattva, a person destined to become a Buddha. Sometimes he knew, sometimes he didn't know. But as to his learning, his growing, as I understand, it wasn't like he had to start brand new. Everything was built upon. Just like we're sitting here; as I said a few minutes ago, it's more than likely every one of us has done a lot of this practice before in past lifetimes. That's why we're here. We don't have to learn everything brand new, it's kind of coming in. I'm sure every one of you recognized in your first retreat there were some things that just kind of went right in, right in, right in. You knew, you knew, you knew, right? It wasn't like Rosemary and I were taking you from scratch one, that sort of thing. So the Buddha didn't have to relearn everything, but we could kind of say it had to be refreshed.
One of the cutest Buddhist stories in regards to this, about our Buddha in an earlier life was when he did not know that he was a Bodhisattva. He did not know that he was destined to be a Buddha. He was reborn into the Brahma religion, the religion of the locals, and he was a very strong believer of this religion. It was at the same time when another Buddha was born, and established the Buddha Dhamma just like our Buddha did two and a half thousand years ago. That Buddha was still alive when our Buddha, as a Bodhisattva, was a young man. One of his best friends became a follower of the Buddha, and became partly enlightened already. He came to our Bodhisattva and said, "Hey, you've got to meet my teacher. He's really good, you know. Come on, let's go." And our Bodhisattva said, "Oh, no, no. That's a different religion. That's not my religion. I'm not going to go that way."
His friend was disappointed, but as he was already partly enlightened, he knew absolutely that the Buddha alive then was a super person. So he tried to convince our Bodhisattva to come and see the Buddha, but he won't go. Well, the friend tried again. Again he refused. Again the friend tried and tried. But the Bodhisattva would not go. Finally the friend got pretty desperate. Then one day they were off somewhere, maybe having a swim or something, they were not far away from where the Buddha was living and giving a teaching. This was strategically planned by the friend who was partly enlightened. When they got there, to this area, and they were talking, the friend said one more time, "You know, hey, come and see my teacher. He's not far away." Our Bodhisattva refused again; he was sincere in practicing only what he was doing.
Now in India, and Thailand as well, it's considered rude to pull your hair. To actually even touch you on the head is considered rude. This friend who was partly enlightened was so desperate - he knew that our Bodhisattva had to meet the Buddha - that he actually grabbed his hair and started pulling him! "You've got to meet my friend. Come on!" Our Bodhisattva getting his hair pulled by his friend realized, "My friend's really serious! This is something he would never ever do. He's really serious." So he decided, "OK, I'll go." As soon as he went to meet the Buddha, he listened to the teaching, and immediately he became a follower of that Buddha. OK, it was immediate that his direction was refreshed and he knew his true path.
So, for all of us, we can say it's been refreshed and we've got a direction. And I hope it keeps you going.