The Story Of Buddha

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The story of Siddhartha Guatama and how he became who we now know as the "Buddha". Buddha taught the path to truth and enlightenment and so "Buddhism" began.

The Story of Buddha

Buddhism began in India when Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born, some 2,500 years ago.

In 566BC, in the small kingdom of Kapilavastu near the Himalayas, lived King Suddhodana and his wife, Queen Maya. Queen Maya was expecting a child and one night had a vivid dream– that a white elephant came to her and touched her with its trunk. She told her husband and they decided to consult the wise men to find out what it meant. The wise men told them that this was a clear sign that their unborn son would be a supreme leader of mankind. They said that he could become one of two things – either a great king or a great saint - one who would guide humanity to enlightenment.

King Suddhodana was happy with the news that his son would become a great man, but he did not want him to follow a religious path. He was determined that his son would be a king.

When their son was born, King Suddhodana and Queen Maya named him Siddhartha, which means "one who brings much good". King Suddhodana decided that he would not let Prince Siddhartha to come into contact with any suffering in case this provoked him to choose a religious life. He would keep Siddhartha inside the palace grounds and provide everything he might wish for so that he would not need to venture beyond.

And so, for sixteen years, Siddhartha new nothing of old age, sickness, or death. His time was spent developing his naturally great physical strength, training as a warrior and winning many contests. His jealous cousin, Devedatta, challenged him on several occasions, but never beat him. Here was a rivalry that would continue for some time during their lives.

The time came for Prince Siddhartha to marry, and a contest was arranged to win the hand of the beautiful Princess Yasodhara. Siddhartha won and Princess Yasodhara came to live in the three palaces that King Suddhodana had had built for them as a wedding gift.

Siddhartha and Yasodhara were happy for some years and had a son. But Siddhartha began to feel frustrated with his life and curious to know what lay outside the palace grounds. He arranged for one of the royal charioteers to accompany him on his secret venture. They made four trips and he was amazed at what he saw. On the first, he saw an old man and having never witnessed old age before, asked the charioteer what was wrong with the man. The charioteer explained that all people get old eventually. On the second trip, he saw someone curled up in agony by the side of the road and again had to consult the charioteer. The charioteer explained that illness was something that befell everyone at some time or other. On the third trip, they passed a funeral procession. The charioteer told Siddhartha that death was also inevitable among men.

On the fourth trip, Siddhartha saw a wandering monk and was struck by his peacefulness and radiance. The charioteer explained that the monk had renounced all pleasures of the flesh and was devoting his time to searching for the meaning of existence.

Siddhartha was deeply moved by each of these experiences and after much consideration, he came to realise that he would never be happy with his life of riches amidst all this pain. All he had known until that point became unimportant. He knew he had to leave it behind in order to answer the question that persisted in his mind: Why is there so much suffering in human life?

So one night he kissed his sleeping wife and son goodbye and went out of the palace grounds to become like the wandering monk he had seen. He would search for the answer to his question for as long as it took.

He gave away his robes, cut off his hair and called himself Gautama. First, he went to study with teachers who were considered to be the wisest of his time. But he found no answers with them.

Then he met a group of five ascetics and joined them, living in the forest, thinking that this may lead to enlightenment. He was able to endure much more hardship than the others, often not eating for days and continually meditating. He was so severe with his practice that the others began to follow him.

But after six years of this, and almost starved to death, Siddhartha decided that purging himself would not satisfy his quest. He began to eat nourishing food again and regained his strength. The other ascetics abandoned him, believing he had lost his way.

Continuing alone, Gautama came to the town of Bodh Gaya and decided that he would sit under a fig tree and he would stay there until the answer to his question came to him. This tree is known as the Bodhi Tree.

For many days he remained seated in deep concentration and then meditation. It is said that in this time he was able to recall all his past lives and see everything that was going on in the whole of the universe.

On the night of the full moon in May, the evil force of Mara decided to attack Gautama. Seeing that a great change was about to take place, Mara was threatened and tried to frighten Gautama with storms and armies of demons.

Gautama did not react. Mara then sent his three beautiful daughters to tempt Gautama. Again, he remained completely calm. Lastly, Mara tried to trap Gautama with his own ego and appealed to his pride. This also failed and Mara retreated.

After this event, Gautama finally understood the reason for suffering and what could be done to prevent it. It was then he became the Buddha, "The Awakened One", and was henceforth called Shakyamuni Buddha.

With his newfound knowledge and wisdom, Buddha stayed under the Bodhi Tree for a few more days, before leaving in search of the five ascetics. When he found them, they could see instantly that he was enlightened. After Buddha explained what he had learned, the others knew that he was right and became his disciples there and then. Thus the Buddhist community began.

Buddha and his disciples travelled India for the next forty-five years, spreading the Dharma - his teachings. Everyone was welcomed into their community, including women and others who would not previously have been accepted into religious groups because of their lower status. Buddha and his disciples survived on donations of food and shelter from those who listened.

Buddha told people that they should not simply accept his words, but they should look within themselves to decide whether or not they believed what he taught. If they believed it to be right, then they should follow his practice.

What he taught is that in order to reduce the suffering we experience, we must understand that its cause lies within ourselves - in ignorance and in greed. We continually crave and seek the things which are harmful to us and consequently we are never satisfied, even when we find or achieve these things. There is far too much want in the world that blinds us from what is truly valuable and obstructs our path to happiness and enlightenment. We must learn to understand karma - the simple scientific notion of cause and effect - and how to conduct our lives in natural, simple, and respectful ways.