The Buddha
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| buddha temple statue, kathmandu, Nepal |
Opinions differ as to the dates of
Siddhartha Gautama's life. Historians have dated his birth and death as circa
566-486 BCE but more recent research suggests that he lived later than this,
from around 490 BCE until circa 410 BCE.
He was born into a royal family in
the village of Lumbini in present-day Nepal, and his privileged life insulated
him from the sufferings of life; sufferings such as sickness, age and death.
Discovering
cruel reality
One day, after growing up, marrying
and having a child, Siddhartha went outside the royal enclosure where he lived.
When he went outside he saw, each for the first time, an old man, a sick man,
and a corpse.
This greatly disturbed him, and he
learned that sickness, age, and death were the inevitable fate of human beings
- a fate no-one could avoid.
Becoming
a holy man
Siddhartha had also seen a monk, and
he decided this was a sign that he should leave his protected royal life and
live as a homeless holy man.
Siddhartha's travels showed him much
more of the the suffering of the world. He searched for a way to escape the
inevitability of death, old age and pain first by studying with religious men.
This didn't provide him with an answer.
A
life of self-denial
Siddhartha encountered an Indian
ascetic who encouraged him to follow a life of extreme self-denial and
discipline.
The Buddha also practised meditation
but concluded that in themselves, the highest meditative states were not
enough.
Siddhartha followed this life of
extreme asceticism for six years, but this did not satisfy him either; he still
had not escaped from the world of suffering.
The
middle way
He abandoned the strict lifestyle of
self-denial and ascetics, but did not return to the pampered luxury of his
early life.
Instead, he pursued the Middle Way,
which is just what it sounds like; neither luxury nor poverty.
Enlightenment
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| Bodhi tree next to Mahabodhi temple,the spot where Buddha achieved enlightenment |
One day, seated beneath the Bodhi
tree (the tree of awakening) Siddhartha became deeply absorbed in meditation,
and reflected on his experience of life, determined to penetrate its truth.
He finally achieved Enlightenment and
became the Buddha. The Mahabodhi Temple at the site of Buddha's enlightenment,
is now a pilgrimage site.
Buddhist legend tells that at first
the Buddha was happy to dwell within this state, but Brahma, king of the gods,
asked, on behalf of the whole world, that he should share his understanding
with others.
The
Teacher
Buddha set in motion the wheel
of teaching: rather than worshipping one god or gods, Buddhism centres
around the timeless importance of the teaching, or the dharma.
For the next 45 years of his life the
Buddha taught many disciples, who became Arahants or 'noble
ones', who had attained Enlightenment for themselves.
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