| Born
in Kapilavastu, India, now present-day Nepal, Buddha was the son
of the head of the Sakya warrior caste, with the private name of
Siddhartha. In later life he was known also as Sakyamuni (Sage of
the Sakyas). The name Gautama Buddha is a combination of the family
name Gautama and the appellation Buddha, meaning “Enlightened
One.”
Surviving accounts of Buddha's life
were written many years after his death by idealizing followers
rather than by objective historians. Consequently, it is difficult
to separate facts from the great mass of myth and legend in which
they are embedded.
Buddha apparently showed an early
inclination to meditation and reflection, displeasing his father,
who wanted him to be a warrior and ruler rather than a religious
philosopher. Yielding to his father's wishes, he married at an
early age and participated in the worldly life of the court. Buddha
found his carefree, self-indulgent existence dull, and after a
while he left home and began wandering in search of enlightenment.
One day in 533, according to tradition,
he encountered an aged man, a sick man, and a corpse, and he suddenly
and deeply realized that suffering is the common lot of humankind.
He then came upon a mendicant monk, calm and serene, whereupon
he determined to adopt his way of life and forsake family, wealth,
and power in the quest for truth. This decision, known in Buddhism
as the Great Renunciation, is celebrated by Buddhists as a turning
point in history. Gautama was then 29 years old.
Wandering as a mendicant over northern
India, Buddha first investigated Hinduism. He took instruction
from some famous Brahman teachers, but he found the Hindu caste
system repellent and Hindu asceticism futile. He continued his
search, attracting but later losing five followers. About 528,
while sitting under a bo tree in Buddh Gaya, in what is now the
state of Bihar, he experienced the Great Enlightenment, which
revealed the way of salvation from suffering. Shortly afterward
he preached his first sermon in the Deer Park near Benares (Varanasi).
This sermon, the text of which is preserved, contains the gist
of Buddhism. Many scholars regard it as comparable, in its tone
of moral elevation and historical importance, to Jesus Christ's
Sermon on the Mount.
The five disciples rejoined Buddha
at Benares. Accompanied by them, he traveled through the valley
of the Ganges River, teaching his doctrines, gathering followers,
and establishing monastic communities that admitted anyone regardless
of caste. He returned briefly to his native town and converted
his father, his wife, and other members of his family to his beliefs.
After 45 years of missionary activity Buddha died in Kusinagara,
Nepal, as a result of eating contaminated pork. He was about 80
years old.
Buddha was one of the greatest human
beings, a man of noble character, penetrating vision, warm compassion,
and profound thought. Not only did he establish a great new religion,
but his revolt against Hindu hedonism, asceticism, extreme spiritualism,
and the caste system deeply influenced Hinduism itself. His rejection
of metaphysical speculation and his logical thinking introduced
an important scientific strain heretofore lacking in Oriental
thought. Buddha's teachings have influenced the lives of millions
of people for nearly 2500 years. By following these teachings
countless people have experienced a richness and peace of mind
and true inner happiness knowledge in ‘the way of Buddha’
can bring.
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