- The
story of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) is that he was born the son of a prince of
the shakya tribe. The legend says that his mother Mya dreamt that a white
elephant entered her side and that was how Siddhartha Gautama was conceived and
born from her side. Siddhartha’s mother died a week after she gave birth and
Siddhartha was raised by his aunt. A sage then inspected Siddhartha and noticed
that he had special marks on his body meaning that he would be an illustrious
person. During his naming ceremony the priest said that his life could go two
ways either he would follow into his father’s footsteps and become a great king
or he would be exposed to the sight of suffering and would become a great
spiritual leader. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps so to keep
him from suffering he kept him in a large walled palace and Siddhartha grew up with
luxury and was married at a young age and had a son. Siddhartha eventually
disobeyed his father’s rules and left the palace. He then witnessed the
suffering of ordinary life he saw what was called the Four Passing Sights. The
four Passing Sights were an old man crooked and toothless, a sick man wasted by
disease, a corpse being taken for cremation, and a sannyasin who had no
possessions but seemed to be at peace. After leaving the palace he realized
that had been a pleasant prison and then questioned the human experience and it
caused him to go into a depression. Siddhartha decided to leave and took a last
look at his family and rode to the edge of the palace grounds gave his horse to
the servant, removed his jewels and cut off his long black hair. He went off
into the world with simple clothes and questions which is now called the Great
Going Forth. Siddhartha went from teacher to teacher learning about meditation
and philosophy but he was still unsatisfied. He was begging for food and
sleeping outdoors, he spent six years to finding his answers. He eventually
collapsed from weakness under a sacred tree and was revived by Gaya who gave
him food. When he woke up he realized that the five seekers had abandoned him.
Siddhartha decided to adopt a path of moderation and went to another tree now
called the Bodhi tree. He sat under the tree meditating until he had the
understanding he needed. Evil spirits Mara and his daughters tempted Siddhartha
with sensuality and fear but he resisted all temptation. One night he entered
states of awareness where he saw his past lives and the laws of karma and
achieved insight into release from suffering and rebirth. When dawn finally arrived he reached a state
of profound understanding which is now called his Awakening or Enlightenment. He spent the rest of his life traveling
teaching his insights and his way of life. He died at the age of 80 by being
offered food from the blacksmith but since the food was spoiled he became ill.
He reminded everyone before he died that to trust our own insights and use
self-control to reach perfection and inner peace. After he said that he turned
on his right side and died.