History of Buddhism and the Life of the Buddha

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History of Buddhism and the Life of the Buddha

'To speak no ill, to do no harm, to practice restraint according to

the fundamental preceptors, to be moderate in eating, to live in

seclusion, to devote oneself to higher consciousness, this is the

teaching of the Buddha'

When Siddhartha Gautama was born a wise man came to his father, the

king, and told him that his son would either be a great king or a

great holy man. The king was worried, he wanted his son to follow in

his footsteps and become king. So Siddhartha was raised in luxury and

his father made sure nothing would trouble him so that he would learn

to love all the earthly things and would not choose to give everything

up and become a holy man. He was married to a beautiful princess of a

neighbouring country and they had a son, but he was not happy. One day

he went out with his chariot to see the town. As he came near the town

he saw a frail old man, he was distressed by this as he had never seen

anyone who was old. He went back to the palace but the next day he

went out again. This time he saw a sick man. He had never seen anyone

who was sick, only healthy people were aloud into the palace, it

distressed him deeply, so he went back to the palace again but the

next day he went out again but this time he saw something that trouble

him a lot. He saw a grieving family carrying a corpse. He thought

about all he had seen. He thought about how much suffering was brought

on by death, sickness and old age. He went out once more but this time

he saw something which inspired him. He saw a holy man at peace with

everyone and everything around him. That night Siddhartha left his

wife, his son, his palace and all its luxury and went off to find the

answers to why people get sick, get old, die, and why people suffer.

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