Moved by compassion to take birth among man

Before the Buddha was born into this world, he was a bodhisattva in the heavens - a
being destined by his karma for full Enlightenment. From here he witnessed the dark
ages engulfing the human realm, leading to its spiritual poverty. Moved by compassion,
he vowed to take birth in the world and relieve mankind from their sufferings.

Queen Maya's Dream

When it was time for his rebirth in the human realm, he chose Suddhodana and his
wife, Mayadevi, rulers of the Sakya clan, as his future parents. This generous couple was
well known throughout the land for their just and noble bearing. The bodhisattva's
descent from the heavens occurred as a dream to Mayadevi. In this dream, a white
elephant approached and touched her right side with its trunk. During this night, the
bodhisattva entered the womb of Mayadevi and she became pregnant. The palace
fortunetellers explained that the dream announced the queen's pregnancy, and that the
newborn would possess exceptional traits of character.

The Birth of Siddhartha

Mayadevi successfully carried her pregnancy
for the full term without any complications or
pain. Near the end of her pregnancy, she
decided to travel to her parental home to
have the baby there with her mother, an
ancient custom that is still practiced today. It
was the day of the full moon in the month of
May. The weather was turning warm and so
when she came upon a pleasant grove near
the village of Lumbini, she saw the gardens
overflowing with a rich profusion of green
leaves and flowers and decided to rest. The
queen instructed her party to camp among
the shady trees. She stepped out of her
palanquin and reached to grasp one of the
branches of a flowering tree. No sooner had
she done so than she felt the throes of birth.
Standing thus, with her hand to the branch,
she delivered her child, and the the baby
destined to be the Buddha was born in the gardens.

Present to witness this momentous birth were the deities and gods. The advent of the
newborn was accompanied by many miraculous events and a great cry of rejoicing rose
through the heavens and were heard in the surrounding lands. The joyful father gave
the baby the name 'Siddhartha,' meaning 'accomplisher of aims.' He was also called
'Gautama,' which was his clan name. Later he would also be called Sakyamuni or the
sage of the Sakya clan.

A Youth Dedicated to the Mastery of Learning and Athletics

A week after giving birth, Mayadevi died, and her sister Mahapajapati raised the prince.
As the son of the king, Siddhartha was provided with the finest upbringing and the
greatest luxuries. He received the finest education and mastered all lessons taught to
him. In his younger years, he excelled in sports and other contests of skill. The vigorous
training befitted the grooming of a future monarch. He was said to particularly excel on
the horse and with the bow. He enjoyed all the pleasures of youth but even so he was
already known for his wisdom and compassion.

At the early age of sixteen, he married his beautiful cousin of equal age, Yasodhara. For
nearly thirteen years, after his happy marriage, he led a luxurious life, blissfully ignorant
of the vicissitudes of life outside the palace gates. Of his luxurious life as prince, he
states:

"I was delicate, excessively delicate. In my father's dwelling three lotus-ponds were
made purposely for me. Blue lotuses bloomed in one, red in another, and white in
another. I used no sandal-wood that was not of Kasi. My turban, tunic, dress and cloak,
were all from Kasi."
"Night and day a white parasol was held over me so that I might not be touched by heat
or cold, dust, leaves or dew."

"There were three palaces built for me -- one for the cold season, one for the hot season,
and one for the rainy season. During the four rainy months, I lived in the palace for the
rainy season without ever coming down from it, entertained all the while by female
musicians. Just as, in the houses of others, food from the husks of rice together with
sour gruel is given to the slaves and workmen, even so, in my father's dwelling food with
rice and meat was given to the slaves and workmen."

With the progress of time, he gradually realised that life is always accompanied with
sorrow. He thought to himself:

"Why do I, being subject to birth, decay, disease, death, sorrow and impurities, thus
search after things of like nature. How, if I, who am subject to things of such nature,
realize their disadvantages and seek after the unattained unsurpassed, perfect security
which is Nibbana!" "Cramped and confined is household life, a den of dust, but the life
of the homeless one is as the open air of heaven! Hard is it for him who bides at home
to live out as it should be lived the Holy Life in all its perfection, in all its purity."

His contemplative nature and boundless compassion no longer permitted him to spend
his time in the mere enjoyment of the fleeting pleasures of the Royal palace. He knew no
personal grief but he felt a deep pity for suffering humanity.

The Renunciation of Worldly Life

Having made the decision, Siddhartha requested his father to allow him to proceed in
his quest for truth. On hearing of the prince's resolve, his father became extremely
anxious and entreated him to revert his decision. However, when Siddhartha heard that
a child had been born to him, he decided to make a final break. He left the luxurious
palace of his father, leaving behind his devoted wife and son.

The first thing Gautama did after leaving his father's palace was to cut off his long and
beautiful hair with his sword. He also exchanged his princely clothes for robes of rags
and set forth into the wilderness for a new life in a quest for liberation.

The Six Years of Austerities

Wandering in his search for Enlightenment, Siddhartha came to a pleasant hermitage
by a lovely river, where, for six years, he joined five other ascetics in a way of discipline
based on progressively severe fasting. Consequently, his bones stuck out like a row of
spindles, and when he touched his stomach, he could almost feel his spine. His hair fell
out and his skin became withered.

But all this was in vain. However severe his austerities, he gained no real insight into the
mysteries of life. He had to face the fact that asceticism had failed to advance him in his
quest. He was exhausted from his practice, but one day he heard a passing musician
tuning his lute, the strings of which were pulled neither too tight nor left too slack. It
dawned upon him that even as he has enjoyed the extreme of sensual pleasure, physical
austerity is the other, and that the 'Middle Way' between these two extremes is the path
to Enlightenment.

He thus slowly rose, and went to bathe in the river. He crossed over to the far bank
where a village girl offered him a bowl of milk rice. It was the first rich food he had
accepted in a long time and it instantly restored his body to strength.

Thus nourished, Siddhartha sat under the great and shady bodhi tree near the village of
Gaya, just south of the great Himalayas, to make his last bid for liberation. Absorbing
himself fully in meditation, he vowed not to move from that spot until he had fulfilled
his quest.

The Enlightenment
Hearing this solemn vow, Mara,
the manifestation of death and
desire, felt threatened. Mara's
power over sentient beings
originated from their attachment
to sensuous pleasures and the
consequent fear of death which
leads to intense suffering.
Enlightenment would free
Siddhartha from Mara's control
and provide an opportunity for
others to free themselves also by
emulating him.
Mara first sent his three beautiful daughters named Desire, Hatred and Lust. However,
Siddhartha had already disengaged himself from these defilements of the mind and thus
remained unmoved. This prompted Mara to attempted to intimidate Siddhartha with
fear by generating an army of wrathful and hideous creatures, the very personifications
of death. But all through these tribulations, Siddhartha sat calm and unflinching, and
Mara's weapons fell uselessly before Siddhartha. Mara had no other recourse than to
withdraw. Thus was cleared the final hurdle on the way to Siddhartha's enlightenment.
As Siddhartha meditated under the bodhi tree, he came to understand the nature of
existence and discovered a path that led to release from the inherent suffering we all
experience. He also recalled his past lives and saw that we are all born many times and
the conditions we are born into are dependent on our thoughts and actions. Finally on
this full moon night in the month of May he broke through the bonds of ignorance and
delusion and attained to unsurpassed liberation of the mind - full Enlightenment. As he
was alone with no one to witness this momentous event, he called the Earth itself to be
his witness by touching the ground with his right hand

"In the world including gods there is no rival to me. Indeed an Arahant am I in this
world. An unsurpassed teacher am I; alone am I the All-Enlightened. Cool and appeased
am I. To establish the wheel of Dhamma, to the city of Kasi I go. In this blind world I
shall beat the drum of deathlessness. ~ Ariyapariyesana Sutta"

The Proclamation of the

Teachings
Having gained Enlightenment,
Gautama came to be called the
Buddha; the Awakened One,
indicating the unique quality of his
mind. Initially he was hesitant to
teach others of his achievement,
doubting that people would be able to
realise or understand the deep and
profound nature of his realisations.
But the god Brahma entreated him to
teach saying that there were beings 'with little dust in their eyes' who would be able to
understand his teachings. He first went up to Sarnath where he met the five disciples
who were his previous companions. Though they had deserted him after he had given up
the practice of asceticism, the awesome aura from the Buddha now attracted them.
Here, he gave his first sermon setting in motion the wheel of the Dhamma as he
expounded the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Hearing his
discourse, they became his first followers. Kondanna, one of the five was the first to
destroy the lesser fetters in his mind and became the first saintly disciple of the Buddha.

"But when Awakened Ones arise in the world, bringing light to the world, they proclaim
the Dhamma leading to the stilling of stress.~ Vippalasa Sutta"
Over the next 45 years, the Buddha traveled great distances traversing the Ganges valley
and teaching people from all classes of society. These were princes, noblemen, warriors,
beggars, prostitutes, traders and children. Following the Buddha's instructions
thousands were ordained as monks and nuns. These monks and nuns as well as many
lay people, following the Buddha's instructions were able to purify their mind of
delusion and also attain to Enlightenment, thus liberating themselves from the bonds of
existence.

"Just as the ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, even so, this Dhamma has one taste
too, the taste of freedom ~ Udana 56"

The Final Passing into Parinibbana

After a career that brought him to the
age of 80 Buddha finally reached the
city of Kusinara, where he asked his
disciples to spread a couch for him in a
grove of trees. He laid there, reclining
on his right side, facing west, with his
head supported by his hand.
He realised clearly that death was
approaching. Towards midnight of the
same day, the event known in
Buddhist terminology as the
Parinibbana, or "Final Nirvana," took
place. It was another full-moon night.
The Enlightened One brought his
mind through various planes of
meditation until he passed away into final liberation from this existence. The trees burst
into full bloom even though it was out of season, and showered the entire grove with
their flowers. And the world was like a mountain whose summit has been shattered by a
thunderbolt; it was like the sky without the moon.

"Open to all are the doors to the Deathless. Let those who will hear respond with faith.
~ Ariyapariyesana Sutta"

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