The Life of the Buddha - The Enlightened One

What does Buddha mean?extreme from pleasure to pain and self mortification.
Buddha is an ancient Sanskrit word that translates "asHe posited Middle Way to bridge between those two
the enlightened one." A Buddha is a person who hasextremes.
recognized that personal enlightenment ends theHe learnt that the path of liberation was through
cycle of birth and death and which brings liberationdisciplining his mind and decided that instead of
from suffering.starvation, he needed food to build up his strength
The Present Buddhaon the quest. However when he accepted alms' bowl
Siddhartha Gautama was born in 583 BC in Nepal andof rice milk from a young girl, his disciples assumed he
was the son of King Suddhodana who was leader ofhad renounced the quest and left him alone.
a large family called the Shakya. Queen Maya, theThe Buddha's Enlightenment
mother of the future Buddha died shortly after hisHe sat beneath a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa),
birth.which would be known hereafter as the Bodhi Tree,
When he was a few days old, a revered holy manand began meditation.
prophesied the Prince would be either a great militaryBuddhist mythology represents this as a great battle
commander or a great spiritual teacher. His fatherwith demons symbolized by Mara a demon of
preferred the military option and raised his son withdestruction and was followed by an attempt to
this in mind. He lived a life great luxury and opulenceseduce him in his mind. However he resisted all these
and protected him from all knowledge of religion andchallenges and finally it is said Mara succumbed to the
human suffering. The future Buddha thus lived a lifegreater strength and discipline of the Prince - he was
up to the age of 29 ignorant of life outside thestilled and as the morning star rose as night ended he
palace wall.realised he had reached enlightenment and become a
The Four Passing SightsBuddha.
He had a curious and enquiring mind so one day heThe Buddha becomes a Teacher
asked the palace charioteer to take him on ridesInitially he was reluctant to teach as he felt his
outside the palace and into the surroundingknowledge was not communicable in words. Only
countryside. What he saw shocked him - first he sawthrough disciplining and focusing mind would delusions
an old man followed by a sick man and finally a deadfall away and Enlightenment could be directly
body. These stark and profound sights sickened andexperienced. To fail to do this would mean that pupils
shocked the cosseted Prince. Finally, he saw anwould be stuck in trying to conceptualise the
itinerant ascetic and his guide explained it was oneexperience and would misunderstand his
who had renounced the world and found releaseteachings.However compassion persuaded him to try
from fear of death and suffering.to achieve this goal.
The RenunciationHe travelled to the Deer Park in Isipatana, India and
When he returned to the Palace he found that thiswas reunited found his five disciples who had
current life had ceased to give him any pleasure.abandoned him and it was to this group he preached
Even the birth of his son failed to please him. So onehis first sermon. This focuses on the Four Noble
night he took to walking around the palace alone andTruths prescribing a path of actions and disciplines
the excesses of his former palace life now seemedthrough which followers can achieve their own
grotesque. The Prince looked upon the sight andenlightenment.
observed how old age and death would ultimatelyHe quickly attracted hundreds of followers and
turn them all to dust. He left the palace shaved hisbecame reconciled with his father, King Suddhodana.
head and adopted the robes of a beggar. Thus onHis estranged wife, Yasodhara, became a nun and
that night he began his journey for enlightenment.disciple and Rahula, his son, became an apprentice
The Search for Enlightenment Beginsnovice monk at the age of 7 and was to spend the
Firstly he sought out the most renowned teachers torest of his life with his father.
teach him about all the various religious ides of theThe Buddha's Last Words
time and also how to meditate - he still felt uneaseThe Buddha without rest travelled extensively and
and thus he and five disciples left to find their owntaught right up until his death at 80. His last words to
personal enlightenment.his disciples were;
They practiced extreme physical discipline - which"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All
included pain, holding their breath and fasting veryrelated things in the world are changeable. They are
nearly to starvation. This didn't satisfy the formerimpermanent. Work with diligence in order to gain
Prince and he surmised he had gone to the oppositeyour own salvation.