imf

Gautama Siddhartha was born around 560 B.C. in Lumbini Park near the city of Kapilavastu on the Indian borders of present Nepal. Siddhartha's father was Suddhodana, king of the Sakya. Buddha's mother was named Maya. Maya died seven days after her son's birth; therefore, the child was brought up by Maya's sister prajapati, who became its foster-mother.

Since King Suddhodana had long awaited a child, he and everyone else in the palace rejoiced at the birth of his son. The King immediately called a famous wise sage, Asita. Asita told the king, "If he remains at home, the child will become the Wheel-rolling King. If he leaves home, he will become the great teacher, the Buddha." "What shall my son see to make him retire from the world?" King Suddhodana asked the wise sage. "Four signs, a decrepit old man, a diseased man, a dead man and a monk - these four will make the prince retire from the world,” replied Asita.

When Prince Siddhartha was only a few years old, his father, King Suddhodana sent him to school. There were many children in his class; all of them were from noble families. He learnt languages, reading, writing, mathematics, history, geography, science, and many games like boxing, archery, wrestling and many others. He le

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

Suffering can only be freed by detaching the spirit imposed by the body. Jainism was considered to be the best in asceticism. He was never lazy, never misbehaved and never disobedient to the teachers. In particular, the king wanted to keep away from Siddhartha the “four signs” which would move him to enter into the ascetic life. Practicing austerities for six years, he was extremely tough to himself and did different things that no one could tolerate to do.

Whether the story of these trips is true or not is not significant, the four gates represent the state of mind of the prince with respect to the suffering of aging, illness and death. He was the wisest and the only one who asked many questions from his teachers and elders. He prepared a seat with soft grass under a Bodhi tree and meditated on his breathing in and breathing out on a full moon eve. Departing from the palace and the wearing coarse clothes, the prince chose to become a Sanyasan

Siddhatha went to Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha, which was the center of culture with many orthodox and unorthodox monks.

With his great compassion, the enthusiastic prince decided to give up his worldly glory and desires, and leave his home, wealth, dominion, power, father, wife and the only child. Attaining these states of mind did not ease his mental anxieties, and did not satisfy his hunger for the ultimate reality. Shall we get a beautiful girl for him to marry?" the sage’s replied.

Approximate Word count = 1512
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.