Siddhârtha Gautama – The First Buddha
Buddha's Early Life and Leading to Enlightenment
The word “Buddha” simply means one who has attained enlightenment and has experienced Nirvana. And most Buddhist do not believe that Siddartha has been or will be the only Buddha.
His Early Years
The story of Siddartha is quite intriguing. He was born in the 6th century B.C. in what is now Nepal. His father was Suddhodana the ruler of the Sakya people. Little is known about his mother. Some stories say she died while giving birth to him, some stories say five to seven days after she died her sister, Mahapajapati, was also married to Suddhodana and became Siddartha’s foster mother. At his birth, an astrologer predicted that Siddartha would become a great and well known man no matter which path in life he would take. They predicted that if he stayed in the kingdom, he would be a great ruler. If he went out into the world, he would become a great teacher and save mankind but live a life of poverty. His father would not have his son live his life in poverty.
Siddartha grew up as a prince. He was given everything he ever wanted. His father, the king, made him live a sheltered life though. He was forbidden from traveling behind the palace walls to prevent the boy from seeing any suffering in the world. In some of his teachings, Buddha said on a few occasions that 3 palaces were built for him: one for the cold season, one for the hot season, and one for the wet season. At the age of sixteen, Siddartha was married to a girl named Yasodhara. After a few years, they had a son named Rahula.
He Leaves the Palace Walls
One day before his 29th birthday, Siddartha ventured out of the palace walls. While on a path with one of his servants, they encountered an old man. This man was wrinkled, hunched over, and decrepit. From this he learned that we all will become this way one day. The next person he encountered was wrought with disease and sickly. From this he learned about the loathsome nature of disease. The third sight he saw was a funeral procession and he could see the body on display. These three sights troubled Siddartha deeply and one faithful servant explained to him that this was how human life was like: we live, we get old, we get sick, and eventually die.
He Encounters a Monk
Before his time ended on his walk, Siddartha encountered a monk sitting in a meditative state looking as peaceful as he had seen anyone in his life. This monk had renounced all pleasures of the flesh. Siddartha decided at that moment, he too would be like the monk and find a deeper meaning to life then material possessions.
In the middle of the night, he went to his wife’s and son’s room, while they were sleeping he said his goodbyes and left. He gave away his silk robes, cut his hair, and decided to fast until he was enlightened.
Buddha Statue from Cincinnati Art Museum
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