Life Leading Up to Siddhartha Gautama's Awakening It is thought by many that the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born having this title and did not have to endure any hardships throughout his life. Despite these thoughts, Siddhartha Gautama was not born the Buddha, but had to find his own way to achieve enlightenment and become the Buddha. Before and after Siddhartha's birth, Siddhartha's mother and father knew that their son was special and had two paths in life that could lead Siddhartha into being a great king or a Buddha, a remover in the world of the veil of ignorance. In an attempt to steer Siddhartha's life to the path of the great king, his father, King Suddhodana Gautama, used health and beauty to shelter Siddhartha from the outside world of suffering, pain, and death. Only after twenty-nine years did Siddhartha want to venture out beyond the walls of his sheltered world and into the city, but little was it known that Siddhartha would get his first glimpse of the world of suffering through the four sights (Smith 84). Once Siddhartha has renounced all worldly things, his begins his long, hard journey towards enlightenment, which ends while Siddhartha sits underneath the Bodhi tree. Before Siddhartha's birth, his mother, Queen Maya, had a dream where a radiant white elephant entered her womb as she sat on a divine couch prepared for the queen by the gods. Queen Maya awoke and summoned sixty-four eminent Brahmins and the Brahmins examine her dream and told Queen Maya, "A son is to be born to you. And if he lives the household life, then he become a universal monarch, but if he leaves the household life and retires from the world, he will become a Buddha, the awakened one (Mitchell ... ... middle of paper ... ...is wrong. This thought comes from misunderstanding other religions and/or trying to compare them to the religion of the person with that thought, which stem from them having a bias towards their own religion. The fact is Siddhartha was born with a destiny that consisted of two paths, to be a universal monarch or the Buddha. With one decision leading Siddhartha into becoming the Buddha. Bibliography: Works Cited Mitchell, Robert Allen. The Buddha: His Life Retold New York: Paragon House, 1989. Lopez Jr., Donald S. The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide To Its History and Teachings New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Incorporated, 2001. Carus, Paul. The Teachings of Buddha New York: St. Martins Press, 1998. Smith, Huston. The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Incorporated, 1991.
As depicted in the story of Buddha, Siddartha, born of a virgin, was destined to
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Siddhartha's path lead him through constant re-evaluations, keeping him focused on himself. He began as the son of a wealthy Brahmin, sheltered from the real world and any experience with it, but having the best education he could obtain. He began his life at home, as a thinker, possessing wisdom and thoughts he had yet to earn through experience.
Because of this, he is regarded as the greatest Buddha, and is simply referred to as ‘the Buddha.’ Before attaining Buddhahood, Siddhartha was born to a royal family in India. Siddhartha lived a sheltered life, and left to find enlightenment after seeing the suffering of the world. The Buddha achieves enlightenment after meditating under the Bodhi tree. Shortly after this, the Buddha preached his first sermon in Varanasi. When the Buddha’s life ended, he achieved Nirvana. These scenes in the Buddha’s life are commonly depicted in Buddhist art, with many of them being represented in Buddha Summoning the Earth as Witness.
Throughout the tale, Siddhartha strives to be one with Atman, or internal harmony/eternal self, but by his own attainment. Even when he is offered the insight of Gotama, the divine and perfect one, who is the embodiment of peace, truth, and happiness, he refuses following him and decides to attain Nirvana in his own way. In this, Siddhartha shows his prideful nature but also reveals a positive aspect: self-direction. He realizes that others' ways of teaching can only be applied to their past experiences, but is still reluctant to ac...
Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini, near the Nepalese-Indian border. Asita, a famous wise sage, predicted that he would become a great king or a great religious teacher. Siddhartha’s father, King Suddhodana, wished for his son to be a king so he shielded him from religious teachings or any knowledge of human sufferings. King Suddhodana evidently thought that any contact with unpleasantness might prompt Siddartha to seek a life of renunciation as a religious...
Buddha once said “As the great ocean has built one taste, the taste of salt, this Dharma has but one taste, the taste of freedom.” The Four Noble Truths sum up the basics of Buddha’s teaching, though he has left many things left unanswered. The Eightfold Path breaks down these four nobles into three different categories to help us further understand them. All over the world 300 million or about 6% of Americans practice Buddhism, which was established by Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the “Enlightened One”. Buddha who also known as Siddhartha of India in the 6th century was influenced by the prevailing beliefs of his time. It was said that he was born in 566 then passed away in 480 B.C. and was born in Nepal to a chief of the Shakya clan.
In this story of Buddhism, Siddhartha was a man that sought to find enlightenment by studying under different gurus and spiritual maters. After finding little spiritual development through the teachings of others, he sat under the Buddha Tree and meditated on his own life experiences and the pursuit of truth: “It begins with a man who woke up” (Smith, 2009, p.82). During this mediation, Siddhartha became the Buddha because he had become enlightened through a self-awareness of his own spiritual identity. In this manner, Siddhartha had become “awakened” from the slumber of ignorance in the world: “While the rest of the world was wrapped in the womb of sleep...one of their number roused himself” (p.82). This was how the Buddha came to be enlightened after meditating under the Bodhi Tree.
Bibliography: Religious Persons and Traditions Buddhism- Plain and Simple
In the beginning, Siddhartha is having trouble finding peace and discovering the path to enlightenment. Siddhartha’s interactions with his family, the samanas, and the Buddha help Siddhartha to realize that enlightenment cannot be achieved with the guidance of a teacher. In the very beginning, Siddhartha’s father is the one who teaches Siddhartha about his culture and spirituality. Siddhartha is very young when he masters all his father’s teachings and realizes that, “his father was to be admired, quiet and noble were his manners, pure his life, wise his words, delicate and noble thoughts lived behind its brow—but even he, who knew so much, did he live in bliss?” (Hesse 6). Siddhartha knows that ...
Siddhartha is the son of a Brahman otherwise known as the “Supreme”, who lives with his father in Ancient India. Siddhartha enjoys his life with his best friend Govinda always at his side. Siddhartha follows all religious rituals in order to grant himself true happiness however, he feels that something is missing. He follows the path of Samanas (monks) with Govinda to find the path of enlightenment. After following the path of the Samanas Siddhartha is still unpleased. Govinda convinces him to seek out to Gotama, the man who has attained spiritual enlightenment. After meeting Gotama Siddhartha initially pleased with Gotama afterwards becoming dissatisfied, again. Govinda is convinced and decides to join Gotama’s followers. Siddhartha leaves Govinda sadly and embarks onto finding the true meaning of
"What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre." What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
In 624 BC in what is now Nepal, Buddha Shakyamuni was born as a royal prince to Queen Mayadevi and to King Shuddhodana (“About Buddha”). Queen Mayadevi knew the individual that Buddha Shakyamuni would become as she dreamed that a white elephant descended from heaven and entered her womb (“About Buddha”). A Brahmin predicted that the child would become a Buddha, and” that his beneficial influence will pervade the thousand million worlds like the rays of the sun” (“About Buddha”). He studied not because he needed to but to please his father and to benefit others, mastering traditional arts and sciences, learning sixty-four different languages, and becoming skilled at mathematics and sports (“About Buddha”) even as he always conveyed spiritual meanings in his actions and encouraged the following of spiritual paths (“About Buddha”). The need for the principle on spirituality he cultivated early in life was underlined further when he encountered the sufferings of birth, sickness, ageing and death in his visits to the capital city. To fulfill his father’s wishes and to benefit the Shakya people, Prince Siddhartha married Yasodhara, the daughter of a respected Shakya family, even when he had no attachment to worldly pleasures (“About Buddha”). However, at 29, Prince Siddhartha escaped the life in the palace as he had a vision of all the Buddhas inspiring him to become a
The Queen's name was Maya. She was the daughter of the King's uncle who was also a king of the neighboring division of the same Shakya clan. For twenty years they had no children, then, after dreaming a strange dream of an elephant entering her side, Queen Maya became pregnant. The King and the people looked forward with joyful expectancy to the birth of a royal child. According to their custom the Queen returned to her own home for the birth, and while on the way, in the beautiful spring sunshine, she rested in the flower garden of Lumbini Park. All about her were Asoka blossoms and in delight she reached out her right arm to pluck a branch and the Prince was born. All expressed their heartfelt delight and extolled the glory of the Queen and her princely child; even Heaven and Earth manifested their joy. This memorable day was the eighth day of April. The joy of the King was extreme as he named the child: Siddhartha, which means, "Every wish fulfilled."
Born in 563 BCE in modern day India as prince Siddhartha Gautama, The Buddha devoted his life to eliminate the suffering of others. As the son of the king, Siddhartha was given every type of comfort possible, and was expected to inherit the throne. However, Siddhartha believed that he could do more than just serve himself. He believed that he could help people and that he could achieve something for a greater purpose. The Buddha became concerned about suffering when he saw a sick person, an old person, and a corpse all for the first time. His sympathy for the misfortunate motivated him to leave his life as a prince and find understanding on suffering. A hero must help and inspire others with their self-sacrifice and integrity. The Buddha is a revered hero today, not because he is the founder of a major religion, but because he lived a life of self-sacrifice to help others and acted with integrity toward everyone, not just wealthy and powerful