Life of Buddha

The birth of Pince Siddharth was a significant event in the

history of mankind. He was born in 563 B.C. to King
Suddhodana and Queen Maya in the royal grove of
Lumbini between Devadaha and Kapilvastu.
The royal family belonged to the Gautama Gothra of the
Sakya clan of the solar race. Their kingdom Kapilvastu
was between the Nepalese foothills and the river Raptu.
The Shakayas were priestly-warriors, wealthy knights and
landowners.
On the fifth day of the birth of the prince, the naming
ceremonies were performed and it was predicted that the
newly born was destined to be either a universal monarch
or a supreme enlightened one, a Buddha. King was
shocked by this prediction and enquired, "What will my son see that will be the occasion of his
forsaking the household life?" The soothsayers said, "Four signs" and described them as "a man
worn by age, a sick man, a dead body and a hermit".
The King provided his son with all luxuries, and ensured a comfortable and pleasure-filled childhood
with the best education. He took special care to protect him from any negative sight. In his youth,
Prince Siddhartha married Princess Yasodhara. She bore him a son. But all these worldly ties were
not able to stop him from forfeiting worldly pleasures.
During one of his few excursions, Siddhartha saw four things, which opened his eyes towards the
harsh realities of life. He saw an old man suffering from the frailties of age, a sick man suffering from
disease, a beggar suffering from hunger and he saw a dead body. All these events affected him
immensely and Siddhartha finally came to the conclusion that nothing is permanent in life. The
infirmities of old age, the pangs of hunger, the pain of sickness and end of life brought sufferings that
he had never experienced. All these events in his life forced him to search for truth that eventually
changed his life.
At the age of twenty-nine, he left his home in search of the answers to his questions, leaving behind
his wife and son, his father and a crown that held the promises of power and glory. After leaving his
homeland, Siddhartha made his way to the hermitage of renowned sages of that time. But found
these teachers' range of knowledge was insufficient to grant him that which was still unknown to him.
He followed the path of self-mortification and went on testing the truth of it for six years but could not
attain his desired goal.
Self-mortification could not lead to his desired aim. He came to death's door and realized the utter
futility of self-mortification. He gave up self-torture, extreme fasting and began to take nourishing
food. Gradually he regained strength and his original appearance. Then began an intense meditation
program until he came to know about the absolute truth. He meditated under the Bodhi tree in
Bodhgaya. At the end of his meditation, in just one night (C. 528 B.C.), Siddhartha came to know
about all his previous lives and the truth about cycle of birth and rebirth and how to end the cycle of
infinite sorrow. Siddhartha became the "Buddha" or "awakened one".
After two months the Buddha decided to impart knowledge and enlightenment to others. The first
sermon of Buddha was held at the deer garden in Banaras. Buddha called his teachings "the Middle
Way" because it was midway between asceticism and indulgence. His "Four Noble Truths", which
are the foundation of all Buddhist beliefs, are:

1.All human life is suffering.

2.All suffering is caused by human desire
3.An end of human desire is the end of human sufferings.
4.An end to all the desire can be achieved by following the "Eightfold Noble Path".
The Eightfold Noble Path is:
1.Right Understanding
2.Right Thought
3.Right Speech
4.Right Action
5.Right Livelihood
6.Right Effort
7.Right Mindfulness
8.Right Concentration
For the next forty-five years after his enlightenment, he taught as the Buddha or "Shakyamuni" (the
sage of the Shakaya). Buddha established an order of monks called the Sangha.
The Buddha attained Parinibbana (freedom from the cycle of birth and death) at the age of eighty.

Some of the fundamentals of the teachings of Gautama Buddha are:

The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an inherent part of existence; that the origin of
suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms of that ignorance are attachment and
craving; that attachment and craving can be ceased; and that following the Noble
Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of attachment and craving and therefore
suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action,
right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Dependent origination: that any phenomenon 'exists' only because of the existence of
other phenomena in a complex web of cause and effect covering time past, present and
future. Because all things are thus conditioned and transient (anicca), they have no real
independent identity (anatta).
Rejection of the infallibility of accepted scripture: Teachings should not be accepted
unless they are borne out by our experience and are praised by the wise. See the Kalama
Sutta for details.
Anicca (Sanskrit: anitya): That all things are impermanent.
Anatta (Sanskrit: antman): That the perception of a constant "self" is an illusion.
Dukkha (Sanskrit: dukha): That all beings suffer from all situations due to unclear mind.