Life of Buddha

Buddha

Religious Figure (c. 600 BCE-c. 300 BCE)

Historians believe he was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in the 5th or 6th Century BC in Nepal.  In his 20s, the prince experienced realities of the outside world that led him on a quest for enlightenment. He left the palace to search for it and eventually attained enlightenment.

It was then that he became Buddha.

Until he died at the age of 80, Buddha taught many people how to achieve enlightenment. His doctrines eventually became what is known as Buddhism.

Early Years

The Buddha, or "enlightened one," was born Siddhartha (which means "he who achieves his aim") Gautama to a large clan called the Shakyas in Lumbini, (today, modern Nepal) in the 6th century B.C. His father was king who ruled the tribe, known to be economically poor and on the outskirts geographically. His mother died seven days after giving birth to him, but a holy man prophesized great things for the young Siddhartha: He would either be a great king or military leader or he would be a great spiritual leader. To keep his son from witnessing the miseries and suffering of the world, Siddhartha's father raised him in opulence in a palace built just for the boy and sheltered him from knowledge of religion and human hardship. According to custom, he married at the age of 16, but his life of total seclusion continued for another 13 years.

Beyond the Palace Walls

The prince reached his late 20s with little experience of the world outside the walls of his opulent palaces, but one day he ventured out beyond the palace walls and was quickly confronted with the realities of human frailty: He saw a very old man, and Siddhartha's charioteer explained that all people grow old. Questions about all he had not experienced led him to take more journeys of exploration, and on these subsequent trips he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse and an ascetic. The charioteer explained that the ascetic had renounced the world to seek release from the human fear of death and suffering. Siddhartha was overcome by these sights, and the next day, at age 29, he left his kingdom, wife and son to lead an ascetic life, and determine a way to relieve the universal suffering that he now understood to be one of the defining traits of humanity.