Buddha Biography

Buddha Biography

Full Name: Mr. Siddhartha Gautama
Date of Birth: circa 563 BC
Place of Birth: Lumbini, Nepal
Died: circa 483 BC
Place of Death: Uttar Pradesh, India
Classification: Leaders & Revolutionaries

Born and bread to be a king, Buddha left all his worldly pleasures and possessions to learn about the world and find the true meaning of existence. After being shielded from both religion and human suffering during his life, he had eye and mind-opening experiences through travel, meditation, and study that would lay the groundwork for one of the world’s most prominent religions.

A seer revealed to Siddhartha’s father, a prominent leader of his kingdom, that his son was to become a great holy leader. There was nothing his father could do to interfere with fate and destiny. Buddha’s mother passed away upon his birth, but his childhood was filled with anything and everything he desired. He was well taught and became well learned in both books and athletics – namely martial arts and chariot tactics. Buddha’s father never revealed the seer’s message; instead, he prepared his son for the throne. In doing so, he made Siddhartha marry. His wife bore one son, named Rahula.

After 29 years of serving as a prince over the kingdom and now married, Siddhartha wasn’t satisfied with life. After much meditation, he decided to leave his kingdom behind, strip himself of his worldly goods, and meet the people he might not ever have met if he were to become king.

Siddhartha walked amongst the people of his kingdom, watching, thinking, and meditating. He had never before seen suffering, and during the beginning of his travels, he realized old age, illness, and death were what made up life. From then on, he lived an ascetic way of life of self-deprivation of worldly goods and suffering in order to understand the true meaning of the universe.

Buddha meditated with great monks, attempted to overcome suffering through suffering itself, and would nearly starve himself and meditate for endless hours trying to reach higher levels of consciousness. He still wasn’t satisfied and felt that some other approach besides complete self-denial was the answer. He thought about his childhood, of sitting in nature and enjoying the world around him. Then, as he reflected on this while sitting under a Bodhi tree, he reached enlightenment.

Buddha concluded that human suffering was inevitable, but could be avoided if ignorance was destroyed so he developed and preached the dharma, which became the pillars of his newfound faith. Women, men, and all races of people had the potential to become enlightened. They could enter into complete liberation from worldly wants by attaining Nirvana. Telling his followers not to worship him and that he was not a god, he encouraged them to strive to lead a life of goodness and spiritual awakening. In doing so, he founded a faith that spread from the Indian sub-continent to the rest of the world