About The Buddha
The Full Story:
Imagine you’re a prince or a princess, living in a giant, luxurious palace. There your parents make sure that you have everything you could ever want or need: lots of toys, fine clothes, and the best education. You’re surrounded by beautiful gardens and expensive things. You have servants to clean up after you, bring your food, and help with everything. When you’re not learning from private tutors, you spend your days swimming, practicing archery and swordsmanship, and riding horses. The palace is so massive, it’s your entire world and you never even need to leave.
Now imagine you decide to give that all up. You’re not happy with that life. You wonder if life has a greater meaning. You wonder if possessions can ever make people truly happy and content. This was the life Siddhartha Gautama found himself in. You might have heard of him: now, we call him Buddha.
What was the Buddha’s real name?
The story of how Siddhartha became Buddha begins even before his birth. Siddhartha’s father was king of a small kingdom in northern India in the sixth century BCE over 2,500 years ago! Several years before Siddhartha was born, the king was visited by sages, or wise men, who told him his son would be either a great king or a great holy man. Of course, Siddhartha’s father wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and be a great king. So when Siddhartha was born in 567 BCE, his father decided to shelter his son from the world, so he wouldn’t know about suffering and death. He thought that if Siddhartha never saw bad things in the world, he wouldn’t want to fix them, and so he wouldn’t want to become a holy man.
Buddha’s Early Life:
So Siddhartha grew up surrounded by all the comforts and privileges money could buy. When he became a young man, he married a woman named Gopa. He seemed to have it all, but the plan Siddhartha’s father made for him to become a great king was about to fall apart. Instead of accepting the life of luxury that he was given, Siddhartha grew restless living in the palace. One day, he asked his father to let him go on a chariot ride to see the city around the palace. His father agreed but told the chariot driver to stay in the richer parts of the city, close to the palace, to avoid letting Siddhartha see people who were poor or suffering.
Siddhartha set out in the chariot with his driver. Before long, they saw an old man, slowly hobbling along the road, looking as if he might fall over at any moment. Siddhartha had never seen such an old man, and he asked his driver what was wrong with him.
His driver replied, “He is very old. His body has grown weak with age. You too will grow old someday. All people do.”
Siddhartha was disturbed but asked him to drive on. Later in the ride, they saw a sick man lying by the side of the road. He was groaning and looked very unhappy. Again, Siddhartha asked what was wrong with the man.
His driver replied, “He is sick with a terrible disease. Everyone gets sick sometimes. Someday, you will get sick.”
Siddhartha felt terrible, seeing this man suffering, but they continued their ride through the city.
On their way back to the palace, they came across a funeral procession. People were crying and moaning. For a third time, Siddhartha asked his chariot driver what was happening.
Again, his driver replied. “Someone has died, and these people are his friends and family. They are mourning for him.”
Siddartha’s Personal Journey:
Once he realized these things, Siddhartha knew he could no longer live an easy life in the palace. So one day, he said goodbye to his family and set out to find the cause of suffering. He cut his hair and lived as an ascetic – someone who chooses to live in poverty and simplicity. He studied meditation with great holy men and discussed the problem of suffering with them, but after many years of living this way, he still didn’t know why it happened, or how he could prevent it.
Finally, he decided to sit and meditate under a Bodhi tree. He vowed not to leave until he had the answer to the problem of human suffering. Siddhartha sat meditating day and night, still and calm as a statue, for six days. On the sixth day, he opened his eyes and realized he understood the nature of suffering. He became Enlightened and from then on was known as Buddha, which means Awakened one.
Sources:
Fields, Rick. “Who Is the Buddha?” in: Tricycle, Spring 1997. https://tricycle.org/magazine/who-was-buddha-2/
Meyers, Rachel. Curiosity Chronicles: Snapshots of Ancient History. Little Monster Schooling, 2017.
Nagaraja, Dharmachari. Buddha at Bedtime.Watkins, 2016.
