The Life of Buddha: Short Biography of Siddharta Gautama

August 6, 2021August 6, 2021MyInfo Basket.com 6 CommentsBuddha enlightenment story, Buddha means, Early life of Buddha, Gautam Buddha history, Gautama Buddha teachings, Siddhartha Gautama story, The Life of Buddha: Short Biography of Siddharta Gautama, When was Gautama Buddha born and died, When was Gautama Buddha born how many years ago

There was a man who was born in the sixth century B.C. in what is now modern Nepal. His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya people, and he grew up living the extravagant life of a young prince.

Tradition has it that he married at the age of 16 to a girl named Yasodhara. His father had an order for him to live a life of complete seclusion; but one day, he ventured out into the world and witnessed the reality of the suffering of life.

At the age of 29, he left his kingdom and newborn son to lead an ascetic life and identify a way to dismiss man’s suffering.

He submitted himself to severe ascetic practices for six years, studying and following various methods of meditation with different religious teachers. But he was never totally satisfied.

One day, he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and he took it. In that moment, he recognized that physical austerities were also not the means to attain liberation.

From then on, he encouraged people to follow a path of balance instead of extremism. He called this ‘The Middle Way.’

That night, he sat under the Bodhi tree, and meditated until dawn. He cleansed his mind of all desecrations and reached enlightenment at the age of 35, thus earning the title ‘Buddha,’ or ‘Enlightened One.’

An enlightened being, he has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering. For the remainder of his 80 years, the Buddha taught the Dharma (teaching or doctrine) to help others attain enlightenment.

This man is Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.

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In Buddhist texts, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) is also commonly addressed as ‘Bhagavat’ (often translated as “Lord”), and he refers to himself as the ‘Tathagata,’ which can mean both “one who has thus come” and “one who has thus gone.”

All types of Buddhism celebrate various events in the life of the Buddha Gautama, like his birth, enlightenment, and passage into nirvana. His birth is celebrated in April or May, depending upon the lunar date of a country. Not using a lunar calendar, Buddhists in Japan celebrate Buddha’s birth on April 8.

Activity:

After reading the short story, give your honest answer to the following questions.

1. Is Buddha’s life impressive?

2. Was his decision to leave his family justified?

3. What can you learn from his life?

4. Is Buddha comparable to Jesus Christ? Why or why not?

For other free lectures for students like this, visit Homepage: Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems

Copyright © by Jens Micah De Guzman

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