Buddhism is one of the major religions in the world. It began around 2,500
years ago in India when Siddhartha Gautama discovered how to bring happiness
into the world. He was born around 566 BC, in the small kingdom of Kapilavastu.
His father was King Suddhodana and his mother was Queen Maya.
Soon after Prince Siddhartha was born, the wise men predicted that he would
become a Buddha. When the king heard this, he was deeply disturbed, for he
wanted his son to become a mighty ruler. He told Queen Maya, "I will make life
in the palace so pleasant that our son will never want to leave."
At the age of sixteen, Prince Siddhartha married a beautiful princess,
Yasodhara. The king built them three palaces, one for each season, and lavished
them with luxuries. They passed their days in enjoyment and never thought about
life outside the palace.
Soon Siddhartha became disillusioned with the palace life and wanted to see
the outside world. He made four trips outside the palace and saw four things
that changed his life. On the first three trips, he saw sickness, old age and
death. He asked himself, "How can I enjoy a life of pleasure when there is so
much suffering in the world?"
On his fourth trip, he saw a wandering monk who had given up everything he
owned to seek an end to suffering. "I shall be like him." Siddhartha thought.
Leaving his kingdom and loved ones behind, Siddhartha became a wandering
monk. He cut off his hair to show that he had renounced the worldly lifestyle
and called himself Gautama. He wore ragged robes and wandered from place to
place. In his search for truth, he studied with the wisest teachers of his day.
None of them knew how to end suffering, so he continued the search on his own.
For six years he practiced severe asceticism thinking this would lead him to
enlightenment. He sat in meditation and ate only roots, leaves and fruit. At
times he ate nothing. He could endure more hardships than anyone else, but this
did not take him anywhere. He thought, "Neither my life of luxury in the palace
nor my life as an ascetic in the forest is the way to freedom. Overdoing things
can not lead to happiness. " He began to eat nourishing food again and regained
his strength.
On a full-moon day in May, he sat under the Bodhi tree in deep meditation and
said. "I will not leave this spot until I find an end to suffering." During the
night, he was visited by Mara, the evil one, who tried to tempt him away from
his virtuous path. First he sent his beautiful daughters to lure Gautama into
pleasure. Next he sent bolts of lightning, wind and heavy rain. Last he sent his
demonic armies with weapons and flaming rocks. One by one, Gautama met the
armies and defeated them with his virtue.
As the struggle ended, he realized the cause of suffering and how to remove
it. He had gained the most supreme wisdom and understood things as they truly
are. He became the Buddha, 'The Awakened One'. From then on, he was
called Shakyamuni Buddha.
After his enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park near the holy city of
Benares and shared his new understanding with five holy men. They understood
immediately and became his disciples. This marked the beginning of the Buddhist
community.
For the next forty-five years, the Buddha and his disciples went from place
to place in India spreading the Dharma, his teachings. Their compassion
knew no bounds, they helped everyone along the way, beggars, kings and slave
girls. At night, they would sleep where they were; when hungry they would ask
for a little food.
Whenever the Buddha went, he won the hearts of the people because he dealt
with their true feelings. He advised them not to accept his words on blind
faith, but to decide for themselves whether his teachings are right or wrong,
then follow them. He encouraged everyone to have compassion for each other and
develop their own virtue, "You should do your own work, for I can teach only the
way."
He never became angry or impatient or spoke harshly to anyone, not even to
those who opposed him. He always taught in such a way that everyone could
understand. Each person thought the Buddha was speaking especially for him. The
Buddha told his followers to help each other on the Way. Following is a story of
the Buddha living as an example to his disciples.
Once the Buddha and Ananda visited a monastery where a monk was suffering
from a contagious disease. The poor man lay in a mess with no one looking after
him. The Buddha himself washed the sick monk and placed him on a new bed.
Afterwards, he admonished the other monks. "Monks, you have neither mother nor
father to look after you. If you do not look after each other, who will look
after you? Whoever serves the sick and suffering, serves me."
The Last Years
Shakyamuni Buddha passed away around 486 BC at the age of eighty. Although he
has left the world, the spirit of his kindness and compassion remains.
The Buddha realized that that he was not the first to become a Buddha. "There
have been many Buddhas before me and will be many Buddhas in the future," The
Buddha recalled to his disciples. "All living beings have the Buddha nature and
can become Buddhas." For this reason, he taught the way to Buddhahood.
The two main goals of Buddhism are getting to know ourselves and learning the
Buddha's teachings. To know who we are, we need to understand that we have two
natures. One is called our ordinary nature, which is made up of
unpleasant feelings such as fear, anger, and jealousy. The other is our true
nature, the part of us that is pure, wise, and perfect. In Buddhism, it is
called the Buddha nature. The only difference between us and the Buddha
is that we have not awakened to our true nature. 
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