or anyone to truly enjoy living, why should one wish to be born at all when ultimately in the end there was only suffering, sadness, loss and extinction (Ross 6). On another venture outside the palace walls he encountered an ascetic with calm eyes and a face expressing both purpose and detachment and then he knew what he had to do, he found his path. This was the fourth sign and like the wondering holy man he felt that he too must venture away from his home to seek the answers to the meaning of life.
             In India there were many sages, or gurus who lived apart from ordinary existence in quiet forests or lonely caves, all willing to share their spiritual explorations and conclusions with other seekers (Ross 9). Despite his sources of wisdom, he failed to find any deep satisfaction, or the answers to his most profound questions. After a period of wandering, he came upon a grove of trees with water flowing nearby, and this is where the future Buddha realized that it was he who had the instrument through which to achieve his goal. It was his physical body, the mind, heart, and entire human consciousness (Ross 10). Siddhartha took his seat under the grove of trees and proclaimed "Though my skin, my nerves, and my bones sho
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