Siddhartha who?

Siddhartha Gautama

Available at; http://tiny.cc/nazycw

Feb. 15, 2010

The beginning, the legend, the journey.

There are billions of people in the world, only a select few know who he is. Ask yourself, do you know who Siddhartha Gautama is? A guess would say you probably don’t. Don’t be ashamed there is millions of people just like you who have the same answer. But do you know the legend? The journey?

If not, this will help.

Siddhartha Gautama. Who is this mystery man you may wonder? As legend says, before he was born his mother had a dream. The dream consisted of a six-tusked elephant who had came from the heavens and into the right side of her womb.

As it says, once his mother looked unto the heavens in the garden of Lumbini our precious little Siddhartha was born. It was said that he took seven steps in the direction of heaven. For each step a lotus flower grew. At that very moment, he stated that he would not be reborn again.

On a more personal level, Siddhartha Gautama lived about 2500 years ago. Siddhartha Gautama was a prince in India. He had an arranged marriage to his cousin. He and his bride had conceived a son together.

All this would seem like the perfect life. You’re royal, you have a wife, and a son. Life would seem to be filled with endless happiness, if you said yes. You’re wrong. He was very unhappy with his life.

This lead to his influential journey.

Gautama then encountered the four heavenly messengers; a crippled man, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and a holy man. These four messengers inspired Gautama to depart from everything he ever knew or had. Which included; his family, his home, his royal status, and all of his inheritance.

Crazy isn’t he? I bet you’re wondering why. Gautama wanted to reach this goal ; “Its goal is quite different; its goal is salvation from the suffering. That is what Gotama teaches, nothing else.” Hesse states in his book Siddhartha; An Indian Tale.To further explain, by ending his old life he wanted to start new with the hopes of ending the ever growing suffering of disease, death, and old age. And with ending it, he wanted to teach it so other people could reach enlightenment also.

After nearly starving to death, Gautama did not find that peace of mind he was searching for. Realizing what he really needed, he began to pursue it...again.

Leaving the holiness, the meditation, and the starvation behind Gautama centered in on The Middle Way. It is said to be a path from all extremes. Gautama forced himself to sit under the papal tree until he ultimately reached and discovered the truth and his goal. Six years into his path, he finally found enlightenment.

After he obtained this, he began to teach monks the path to enlightenment. He dared not to call himself a God, but more of an enlightened man who wanted to bring this to others. He continued to teach for quite a long time until he reached Parinirvana, which is the last and final state where you completely abandon your physical body.

To this day, Buddhism seeks as the fourth main religion of the world. It has over 360 million followers and growing. The path Siddhartha left behind opened many new doors into Buddhism and religion.