[HedgeYourBets]

Gautama buddha (Siddhartha)
________________________

Siddhartha Gautama was born about 583 BCE, in or near what is now Nepal.
His father, King Suddhodana, was leader of a large clan called the Shakya. His mother,
Queen Maya, died shortly after his birth.

The Prince reached the age of 29 with little experience of the world outside.

One day, overcome with curiosity, Prince Siddhartha asked a charioteer to take him on a
series of rides through the countryside. On these journeys he was shocked by the sight of
an aged man, then a sick man, and then a corpse. The stark realities of old age, disease,
and death seized and sickened the Prince.

The Renunciation

For a time the Prince returned to palace life, but he took no pleasure in it. Even the news that his
wife Yasodhara had given birth to a son did not please him. The luxuries that had once pleased
him now seemed grotesque.

That very night he left the palace, shaved his head, and changed his prince's clothes for a beggar's
robe. Then he began his quest for enlightenment.


The Search

Siddhartha began by seeking out renowned teachers, who taught him about the many religious
philosophies of his day as well as how to meditate. But after he had learned all they had to teach,
his doubts and questions remained. so he and five disciples left to find enlightenment by themselves.

The six companions attempted to find release from suffering through physical discipline--enduring pain,
holding their breath, fasting nearly to starvation. Yet Siddhartha was still unsatisfied. It occurred to him
that in renouncing pleasure he had grasped pleasure's opposite--pain and self-mortification. Now Siddhartha
considered a Middle Way between those two extremes.

He remembered an experience from his childhood, when his mind had settled into a state of deep peace. The path of liberation was through discipline of mind. He realized that instead of starvation, he needed nourishment to build up his strength for the effort. But when he accepted a bowl of rice milk from a young girl, his companions assumed he had given up the quest and abandoned him.

The Enlightenment of the Buddha

Siddhartha sat beneath a sacred fig (Ficus religiosa), known ever after as the Bodhi Tree, and settled into meditation.

The work of Siddhartha's mind came to be mythologized as a great battle with Mara, a demon whose
name means "destruction' and who represents the passions that snare and delude us. Mara brought vast armies of monsters to attack Siddhartha, who sat still and untouched. Mara's most beautiful daughter tried to seduce Siddhartha, but this effort also failed.

Finally, Mara claimed the seat of enlightenment rightfully belonged to him. Mara's spiritual accomplishments were greater than Siddhartha's, the demon said. Mara's monstrous soldiers cried out together, "I am his witness!" Mara challenged Siddhartha--who will speak for you?

Then Siddhartha reached out his right hand to touch the earth, and the earth itself roared, "I bear you witness!"
Mara disappeared. And as the morning star rose in the sky, Siddhartha Gautama realized enlightenment
and became a Buddha.

The Teacher

At first, the Buddha was reluctant to teach, because what he had realized could not be communicated in words. Only through discipline and clarity of mind would delusions fall away and the Great Reality could be directly experienced. Listeners without that direct experience would be stuck in conceptualizations and would surely misunderstand everything he said. But compassion persuaded him to make the attempt.

After his enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park in Isipatana, located in what is now the province of Uttar Pradesh,
India. There he found the five companions who had abandoned him, and to them he preached his first sermon.
This sermon has been preserved as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and centers on the Four Noble Truths.
Instead of teaching doctrines about enlightenment, the Buddha chose to prescribe a path of practice through which
people can realize enlightenment for themselves.

The Buddha devoted himself to teaching, attracting hundreds of followers. Eventually he became reconciled with
his father, King Suddhodana. His wife, the devoted Yasodhara, became a nun and disciple. Rahula, his son,
became a novice monk at the age of 7 and spent the rest of his life with his father.

Last Words

The Buddha tirelessly traveled and taught until his death at age 80. His last words to his followers:

"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not
lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

http://buddhism.about.com/od/lifeoft...buddhalife.htm