Life of the Buddha
“Life is difficult… limited by what others tell you to do. Then suddenly you are released. You are no longer controlled by others” - the Buddha on enlightenment
Siddhartha was born in Lumbini Nepal, in 563 BCE into royalty; he had everything he could ever want; however, his mother died within 7 days of his birth
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His life was restricted from the outside world by his father, who wanted to protect him from the suffering and hardships that existed beyond the palace walls. This is because the Seer Asita predicted that Siddhartha would either become a great king or a revered spiritual leader, prompting his father to ensure the young prince remained insulated from any form of adversity.
His father wanted to do everything possible to keep all of the knowledge of suffering and hardship away from him, preventing Siddhartha from experiencing any pain or discouragement that could alter his destined path. However, he eventually saw sickness, old age, death and a sadhu (peaceful monk). this led him to become relentless with luxury, and he left the palace with his wife and child behind.
He became obsessed with the idea that everyone suffers, and no one can avoid it, he was convinced he could overcome suffering by becoming a sadhu. He trained with two religious teachers and five ascetics for six years and went through deliberate starvation. They believed they could overcome suffering by suffering.
He soon realised that a life of luxury couldn’t protect him nor extreme asceticism did not lead him to enlightenment, but rather left him weak and disillusioned.
The Buddha (at age 35) sat under the Bodhi tree for 12 hours (49 days in some versions) until he reached enlightenment. at first he struggled with temptation to abandon his quest, which came in the form of a devil. he fought against doubts and reached enlightenment.
He came to realise the way everything comes into existence then to pass away again is tied to the principle of impermanence, illustrating that attachment to worldly desires only leads to suffering.
as the sun rose. he experienced nirvana