Prince Siddhartha sees death for the first time

Siddhartha Gautama's Early LifeSiddhartha Gautama, the man who became the

Buddha, was born in northern India about 2500 years ago.Siddhartha’s father, King Sudodana, was a rich and

powerful ruler. His mother, Queen Maya, died shortly after Siddhartha’s birth.

When Prince Siddhartha was a few days old, a holy man read his fortune. The holy man said that the Prince would be either a great military conqueror or a great spiritual teacher. King Sudodana wanted Siddhartha to be the next king, so he trained the Prince to be a warrior and military leader.

Siddhartha grew up surrounded by luxury and protected from suffering. The King protected his son so completely that Siddhartha grew up not even knowing that pain, disease, poverty, and death exist.

The Four Passing SightsSiddhartha was a naturally curious person. He wanted

badly to learn about the world outside of the King’s palace. One day, Prince Siddhartha asked a wagon driver to take him on a series of rides through the countryside.

On these journeys he was shocked by the sight of four things: first, an old man, then a sick man, and then a corpse. The terrifying realities of old age, disease, and death shocked the Prince.

Finally, he saw a wandering ascetic1. The wagon driver explained to Siddhartha that the ascetic was one who had given up all interest in the world and was searching for release from the fear of death and suffering.

Siddhartha Rejects Luxury and ComfortPrince Siddhartha returned to his life in the palace, but

he suddenly he saw his life of luxury and comfort in a different light.

One night Siddhartha was unable to sleep. He wandered around the palace alone. The luxuries that had once pleased him now seemed ugly and meaningless.

In the King’s enormous dining room Siddhartha saw the leftover food and wine from a celebration earlier in the evening. Handsome princes and beautiful princesses were sleeping on the floor of the dining room. Looking at them, Prince Siddhartha realized that, despite their wealth and beauty, they would all eventually grow old, get sick, and die, and that their bodies would inevitably rot and turn to dirt.

He realized then that he could no longer be happy living the life of a prince. That very night he left the palace, shaved his head, and exchanged his prince's clothes for the rags of an ascetic.

Then he began his quest for enlightenment.

The Search for EnlightenmentSiddhartha began his quest by seeking out religious

teachers, who taught him everything they knew. But after Siddhartha had learned all they had to teach, his questions remained. So he and five disciples 2 decided to find enlightenment by themselves.

The six friends attempted to understand suffering through physical discipline. They pushed their bodies to the limit, enduring pain, holding their breath, fasting 3 nearly to starvation. Yet Siddhartha was still unsatisfied. He realized that he knew the cause of suffering, but not how to escape suffering.

Around this time, Siddhartha remembered how peaceful he felt when, as a young boy, he would do nothing but sit in front of a fountain and watch the water. He realized that peace came to him when he cleared his mind of all thoughts and focused on nothing but the water.

It came to him that the way to enlightenment was to develop this level of calm focus and concentration at all times. He realized that instead of starvation, he needed nourishment to build up his strength for this effort. But when he accepted a bowl of milk from a young girl, his companions assumed he had given up the quest for enlightenment and abandoned him.

The Enlightenment of the BuddhaAfter his companions left him, Siddhartha sat beneath

a sacred tree, known ever after as the Bodhi Tree. He swore to himself that he would not stand up until he discovered how to achieve enlightenment.

In his mind, Siddhartha struggled against desire and distraction. He visualized these feelings as Mara, a demon whose name means "destruction.” In Siddharta’s mind, he imagined Mara bringing armies of monsters to attack him and beautiful women to seduce him.

Despite all of Mara’s efforts, Siddhartha remained calm. Siddhartha understood that Mara, his monsters and his beautiful women were all illusions that only existed in Siddhartha’s imagination. And as the sun rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realized that if he controlled his own mind, he could achieve enlightenment for himself. Realizing that, he became the Buddha—the Great Teacher.

Buddha the TeacherAt first, the Buddha didn’t want to become a teacher,

because it was so difficult to explain the “great truth of life” to other people. He was unsure how to put into words all of the experiences he had gone through in order to achieve enlightenment. Nevertheless, he felt that it was his mission to try.

After he left the Bodhi Tree, the Buddha traveled to northern India. There he found the five companions who had abandoned him, and to them he preached his first sermon4.

This sermon was where the Buddha first explained the Four Noble Truths5, his most important teaching. By understanding and living by the Four Noble Truths, he said, people could achieve enlightenment.

Buddha’s Last WordsThe Buddha devoted the rest of his life to teaching

people how to find enlightenment for themselves. He traveled and taught until his death at age 80. His last words to his followers were the following:

My friends, this is my last advice to you. Nothing in the world lasts forever. Everything that is born will die; everything that is made will be destroyed. Accept this and live your life accordingly to gain your own peace.

Word Bank1. Ascetic: A holy man who rejects all material possessions and who wanders around begging for food and teaching people about religion

2. Disciples: People who follow a religious leader

3. Fasting: When a person chooses not to eat for a long period of time, usually as a religious sacrifice

4. Sermon: A religious message, usually spoken to a group of people

5. The Four Noble Truths: The most important teachings of Buddhism

Life is suffering: Everyone suffers during their lives, and life always ends in death

The cause of suffering is desire: Suffering comes from wanting  “worldly” things that come and go, like wealth, power, and relationships

It is possible to end desire and suffering: We can stop our own suffering, and we can do it ourselves, without help from other people--or even gods

The solution to suffering is enlightenment: If we understand the real truth about life, and learn to stop wanting things, we will stop suffering