Siddhartha Gautama :: essays research papers

Siddhartha GautamaSiddhartha Gautama was born(p) about 563 BC in what is now modern Nepal. Hisfather, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya peck and Siddhartha grew upliving the extravagant life on a preteen prince. According to custom, he marriedat the young age of 16 to a girl named Yasodhara. His father had orderedthat he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out intothe knowledge base and was confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering oflife. The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and new-bornson to lead an modest life and tick off a way to relieve universal suffering.For six years, Siddhartha meditated under a bodhi tree. But he was never fullysatisfied. One day he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and heaccepted it. In that moment, he realized that physical hardships were not the path to freedom. From then on, he encouraged people not to use extremes intheir life. He called this The Middle Way. That night Siddhartha sat underthe bodhi tree, and meditated till dawn. He cleared his mind of all worldlythings and claimed to get enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earningthe title Buddha, or "Enlightened One." For the remainder of his fourscore years,the Buddha preached the dharma in an effort to help other people reachenlightenment. When Siddhartha is a Brahmin, he believes in the existence ofmany gods, and performs sacrifices to them. After a maculation he realizes this ismeaningless and decides to leave his family and community and become a Samana.As a Samana, he tries to destroy himself in may ways. He feels if he killshimself, with its passions and emotions, he will find the great secret.Siddhartha doesnt spend much eon as Buddha, although he has an importantrevelation. He discovers he cant find peacefulness by learning from a master. Hefinds the only way to induce peace with the world is by finding it for himself.When Siddhartha leaves Buddha, he is enth ralled with the world. He startspaying more attention to the world because he knows he mustiness get experience forhimself. As he walks he comes upon a town. He stays and becomes a merchant.At first he looks at his actions as a game. After a while he becomes moreserious. He starts drinking and gambling and becomes lazy. Siddhartha seesthis and decides to leave the town.He wanders through a forest and comes upon a