According to Buddhist myth, one summer night Siddhartha Gautama observed his wife and his son sleeping. He thought if he would embrace them, he would never be able to leave. He turned away and left the palace, to seek Enlightenment, to seek, Nirvana. “Siddhartha’s dissatisfaction with his luxurious existence reached a head when he was twenty-nine years old, when he made the decision to leave his family home and his life of luxury, and to become a wandering seeker after the truth, his only possessions a begging-bowl and a simple robe.”1
Siddhartha began practicing an ascetic lifestyle, having already left material possessions and mastering gurus’ teachings and yogic ways, he felt dissatisfied and unable to answer still the solution to pain and suffering. “On going forth, he avoided evil deeds in body. Abandoning verbal misconduct, he purified his livelihood.”2 Siddhartha subjugated himself to the elements, meditating many hours, and barely eating to stay alive, he brought his physical body to a near skeletal state. “Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems…. The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well…. My scalp shriveled & withered like a green bitter gourd, shriveled & withered in the heat & the wind.”3 Nearing death, and still not having attained truth, he remembered a day in his youth. “I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then—quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities—I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation.”4 He realized the beauty of nature as it is, and he found a pleasure in nature that did not take hold of the mind and body in a negative manner. Coming to the conclusion that he could not maintain this state without food, a girl offered him a bowl of rice. The five ascetics he associated with soon looked down upon him as they found him eating. Siddhartha was near awakening; he knew he could not look externally to find the answer to the end of pain and suffering; he knew he had to look internally to find the truth.5
“He sat down under a bodhi tree in the shelter of the natural world in all of its beauty and fullness, and he said I will not move from this place until I have solved my problem.”6 Siddhartha meditated under a Bodhi tree during a springtime night. Mara and his demons appeared and fired their weapons at the meditating Siddhartha; he remained at peace, and the weapons turned into flowers. Mara then used his three daughters to try to seduce Siddhartha. Siddhartha did not move at all from his position. For the final test of Mara, he asked Siddhartha who would be his witness for his worthiness to obtain Enlightenment. Siddhartha Guatama reached down and touched the earth. The earth tremored, and Mara’s demons vanished. “The Earth is my witness,” Siddhartha said. He meditated all night, able to see his previous lives and all the workings of life as it is, reincarnation and its place in the Universe. “Through the round of many births I roamed without reward, without rest, seeking the house-builder. Painful is birth again & again. House-builder, you’re seen! You will not build a house again. All your rafters broken, the ridge pole destroyed, gone to the Unformed, the mind has come to the end of craving.” Siddhartha Guatama had reached Nirvana, he had reached Enlightenment.7
Soon after, Siddhartha Guatama, now the Buddha, or “Enlightened One,” came across the five ascetics who had previously disowned him when they found him eating. To them he taught what he called “The Four Noble Truths.” “Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.”8 Buddha would continue to teach in the Deer Park at Sarnath about the beginning and end to,”stress”, or pain and suffering in life. Nevertheless, his enlightenment started a journey of teaching all the way to his death.9
- Chris Pauling, Introducing Buddhism (Birmingham: Windhorse Publication, 1990), 6. ↵
- Pabbaja Sutta, The Going Forth, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013), Sn 3.1. ↵
- Maha-Saccaka Sutta, The Longer Discourse to Saccaka, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013), MN 36. ↵
- Maha-Saccaka Sutta, The Longer Discourse to Saccaka, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013), MN 36. ↵
- “The Buddha,” PBS Documentary, directed by David Grubin (PBS, 2010), DVD. ↵
- Quote by Jane Hirshfield, in “The Buddha,” PBS Documentary, directed by David Grubin (PBS, 2010), DVD. ↵
- “The Buddha,” PBS Documentary, directed by David Grubin (PBS, 2010), DVD; Jaravagga, Aging, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013,), Dhp XI. ↵
- “The First Noble Truth: The Noble Truth of dukkha“, edited by Access to Insight Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 5 November 2013,(“dukkha” translates to “stress” or suffering). ↵
- Maha-parinibbana Sutta, Last Days of the Buddha,” translated from the Pali by Sister Vajira & Francis Story (Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013), DN 16. ↵
30 comments
Mason Meza
Siddhartha had to go through some tragic conditions to find what he really needed. Having to starve himself and being so close to dying is something that I could never do. He sat and meditated under a tree until he found his solution. He never gave in when the demons tried to get him to seduce women. The fact that he found peace in his life and gave all his riches up to do so is very fascinating and it takes a true man to do something like that.
Steven Hale
Some of Siddhartha’s sayings remind me of verses from Psalms; they are both poetic and have multiple potential meetings as well. I wonder at what point and why people began to depict Buddha as such a large being. There is clearly an emphasis on avoiding excess and only eating and owning the bare minimum needed for survival. The modernized-or perhaps just westernized-image of the Buddha seems really contradictory to the actual life of Siddhartha.
Honoka Sasahara
After reading this article, my image of Buddha or Buddhism has changed.
I could understand why he aimed to find out what suffering in life is through his way to be Buddha.
I was able to feel how important to know the founder’s life and character for far more understanding of the religion.
Buddhism has become more familiar with me thanks to this article.
Julian Aguero
Seeking enlightenment in the Buddha religion is very interesting. I would like to ask people searching or going the process of enlightenment so many questions about there process and what they have learned through the process. The teachings of pain and suffering in life are very interesting point of views in Buddha culture. It reminds me almost of a shaman in the way that you are teaching through experience. And the only way to truly understand and be enlightened is to go throw the process yourself.
Austin Pena
Great article! I am starting to see today in society that people are slowing trying to embrace the buddhist teachings and place them into their everyday lives. And while we may not all be able to reach enlightenment like Siddhartha, I see him as a great man and prophet who helped those in his time get a better understanding for not only the world around them but also for themselves. I believe that he set the example for mankind better themselves. He was originally wealthy man who gave it all up to live a simple but truthful life.
Angelica Padilla
I remembering learning about the process and journey to acquire total enlightenment like Siddhartha. There are many sacrifices needed to reach nirvana, and many rules that are needed. This is an interesting story and the things he did to reach enlightenment, and gave me some sort of insight about becoming Buddha. This is a new interesting religion that is interesting to learn and know more about.
Grace Bell
I like learning about the Buddhist lifestyle and what it’s like to seek Enlightenment. The Buddhist way of life seems like such a long journey and such a hard task, giving up so many of the things you love and care about is something I would never be able to do and I give a lot of credit to the people that are able to do these things. This is a great article, well done!
Thomas Fraire
This article was interesting, I learned so much about Buddhism and its roots. When I think of Buddhism demons weren’t what I though of, I though of harmony and trying to live this peaceful life. The research in this article was well done and its very evident, I loved the direct quotes from Buddha himself, this article was very well written.
Alexis Renteria
I find it insane how Siddhartha was starving to death, and when he was on the verge of dying, he decided to sit and meditate under a Bodhi tree until he found the answer to his problem. Another thing that astonished me was that Siddhartha did not succumb to the demons, when they were trying to seduce him with women and when they were firing their weapons at him. Overall, I enjoyed reading about Siddhartha’s journey to reach Enlightenment and learn about becoming the Buddha.
Maria Callejas
It is truly interesting to see how to attain total enlightenment Siddhartha had to go through a trial-and-error process, to realize what is that he really needed. I could never have imagined it was a hard task to accomplish for him, as he was the “enlightened one”. Quoting Buddha himself does great in your article, as it adds credible meaning to the work as a whole. Great job!