Life Story of Lord Buddha

Life Story Of Lord Buddha
In the year 624 BC, in Kapilawaththu (Nepal) Siddhartha Gautama was born as a prince.
His father was King Suddhodana and his mother was Queen Mahamaya. When he was
sixteen he finished his education and he married Princess Yasodara. King Suddhodana
handed over his kingdom to his son Siddhartha. They had a baby name Rahula. When king
Siddhartha was 29 years old he decided to renounce lay life. Siddhartha left from his
kingdom and went to several well-known teachers to study the ultimate nature of reality.
But their teachings didnt satisfy him and he set out to find his own path. Six years later he
went to Bodgaya near the Neranjana River and sat under a tree.
Siddhartha's mind was calm and relaxed. As he sat his concentration deepened and his
wisdom grew brighter. In this clear and peaceful state of mind he began to examine the true
nature of life. "What is the cause of suffering, he asked himself, and what is the path to
everlasting joy?" In his mind's eye he looked far beyond his own country, far beyond his
own world. Soon the sun, planets, the stars out in space and distant galaxies of the universe
all appeared to him in his meditation. He saw how everything, from the smallest speck of
dust to the largest star was linked together in a constantly changing pattern: growing,
decaying and growing again. Everything was related. Nothing happened without a cause
and every cause had an effect on everything else.
As he realized this, deeper truths appeared to his mind. He looked deeply into himself and
discovered that his life as Siddhartha the Prince was but the latest in a series of lifetimes
that had no beginning - and that the same was true of everyone. We are born, live and die
not one time, but again and again. He saw that death is only the separation of the mind
from its present body. After death the importance of Karma is central to the next journey.
When one life ends, another begins - and in this way the wheel of death and birth keeps
spinning around and around. He also saw one life to the next we are constantly changing
and constantly affecting one another. Sometimes we are rich and comfortable; sometimes
we are poor and miserable. Occasionally we experience pleasure, but more often we find
ourselves with problems. And Siddhartha also saw that as our conditions change, so do our
relations with others. We have all been each other's friend and enemy, mother and father,
son and daughter thousands upon thousands of times in the past.
Then he looked at all of the suffering in the world. And he saw how living beings create
their own misery and joy. Blind to the truth that everything is always changing, they lie,
steal and even kill to get the things that they want, even though these things can never give
them the lasting happiness they desire. And the more their minds fill with greed and hate,
the more they harm each other - and themselves! Each harmful action leads them to more
and more unhappiness. They are searching for peace yet find nothing but pain. Finally, he
discovered the way to end all this suffering. He was filled with a radiant clear light. He was
no longer an ordinary person. With a calm and peaceful smile, he arose from his
meditation. In the golden daybreak, so it is said, Siddhartha looked up and saw the
morning star. And then a great understanding came to him. He saw in his mind all the life
of the world and the planets; of all the past and all the future. He understood the meaning
of existence, of why we are here on this earth and what has created us. At long last he found
the truth; he attained enlightenment and established the principles of Karma. Now he was
the Lord Buddha, the fully liberated one, awakened and enlightened. The search of six long
years had ended. It was a day when the full-moon shone, casting a bright silver light on the
whole countryside, a day in the month of Vesak (May).
The Teacher
At first, the Buddha was reluctant to teach, because what he had realized could not be
communicated in words. Only through discipline and clarity of mind would delusions fall
away and the Great Reality could be directly experienced. Listeners without that direct
experience would be stuck in conceptualizations and would surely misunderstand
everything he said. But compassion persuaded him to make the attempt.
After his enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park in Isipatana, located in what is now the
province of Uttar Pradesh, India. There he found the five companions who had abandoned
him, and to them he preached his first sermon. This sermon has been preserved as the
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and centers on the Four Noble Truths. Instead of teaching
doctrines about enlightenment, the Buddha chose to prescribe a path of practice through
which people can realize enlightenment for themselves.
The Buddha devoted himself to teaching, attracting hundreds of followers. Eventually he
became reconciled with his father, King Suddhodana. His wife, the devoted Yasodhara,
became a nun and disciple. Rahula, his son, became a novice monk at the age of 7 and spent
the rest of his life with his father.
Last Words
The Buddha tirelessly traveled and taught until his death at age 80. His last words to his
followers:
"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are
changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

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