563 B.C. WAS THE BIRTH OF SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA IN LUMBINI GARDEN NEAR KAPILAVASTU (NEPAL).HE WAS BORN A KSHATRIYA WARRIOR PRINCE,WAS THE SON OF SUDDHODHANA,THE CHIEF OF THE SHAKYA CLAN.
HIS MOTHER,MAYA,DIED WHEN HE WAS STILL A CHILD,SO HE WAS BROUGHT UP BY HIS STEP-MOTHER,GAUTAMI.
THE LEGEND SAYS,FROM THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH TO AGE OF 29 HE WAS GIVEN EVERYTHING ONE COULD POSSIBLY WANT : LOOKS AND RICHES,A BEAUTIFUL WIFE AND A HEALTHY SON.
THEN AT THE AGE OF 29 HE ENCOUNTERED SICKNESS,OLD AGE AND DEATH FOR THE FIRST TIME.OVERCOME BY WHAT HE SAW,GAUTAMA RECOGNIZED THAT ALL BEINGS WERE SUBJECT TO THESE THINGS ,NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY HAD OF WORLDLY GOODS AND SPLENDOR.THEN HE MET A SAMANA WHO HAD RENOUNCED EVERYTHING BUT APPEARED HAPPY NONETHELESS,SO,FOLLOWING HIS EXAMPLE,HE LEFT HIS HOME FOREVER,AND TOOK UP A BEGGING BOWL AND A STAFF OF THE SAMANA, TO SEEK THE END OF HIS SAMSARA,THE CONSTANT CYCLE BIRTHS ,DEATHS AND REBIRTHS.TRADITION REFERS TO THIS EPISODE AS THE "FOUR SUGHTS".
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| Four Sights |
FOR SIX YEARS GAUTAMA PRACTICED THE ASCETIC ARTS,TRAVELLING THROUGHOUT THE CITIES OF GANGES BASIN,STUDYING WITH THE TEACHERS WHO COULD IMPART THE DISCIPLINES THAT WOULD END HIS SAMARA.HE DEPRIVED HIMSELF OF FOOD UNTIL HE BECAME EMACIATED ,BUT CONCLUDED THAT THIS METHOD ONLY INTENSIFIED SUFFERING,IT DID NOT RELEASE ONE FROM IT.
HE REALIZED THAT NEITHER PLEASURES OF LIFE NOR THE ASCETIC PRACTICES OF THE SAMANA OFFERED HIM THE WISDOM HE SOUGHT. HE FOUNDED A MIDDLE WAY BETWEEN THE TWO EXTREMES-CALLED THE "MIDDLE WAY"
ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHIST TRADITION HE SAT BENEATH A HUGE PEEPAL TREE
(IN BODH GAYA ,BIHAR) WHICH WAS LATER CALLED THE BODHI TREE AND VOWED NOT TO LEAVE IT UNTIL HE ACHIEVED THE LIBERATING KNOWLEDGE HE SOUGHT.
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| The Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya |
HE BECAME "THE BUDDHA" OR "THE ENLIGHTENED ONE" AT THE AGE OF 35.
AFTER ATTAINING ENLIGHTENMENT HE WENT TO BENARES TO SEEK THE FIVE ASCETICS WHO HAD DESERTED HIM WHEN HE GAVE UP THE SAMSARA WAY. THEY RECOGNIZED THAT SOMETHING HAD CHANGED IN HIM, AND FOLLOWING HIS DHAMMA, BECAME THE FIRST ARAHANTS OF BUDDHISM.
BUDDHA TAUGHT FOR SEVERAL DECADES THROUGHOUT THE CITIES OF THE GANGETIC BASIN,BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF FOLLOWERS.
IN 410 B.C., AT THE AGE OF 80 HE BECAME MORTALLY ILL. HIS LASTS WORDS,TRADITION HAS IT BEING; "ALL COMPOUNDED THINGS SUBJECT TO DECAY, WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH DILIGENCE."
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