In ancient India there were many small states with different languages and traditions. South of the Himalayas, in the southern part of present-day Nepal, there was a state ruled by the Sakya clan. One year in the sixth century BC, the king of the state, who had been longing for a child for many years, happily got a son. The king named the boy Siddhartha, which meant “every wish fulfilled.”
Near the king’s castles there lived a prophet. He came and begged to see the child. On seeing him, he predicted that the prince might give up the court life and become a Buddha (the awakened one) to save the world.
One day when he was seven, the prince went out of the palace with his father. They were watching a farmer plowing a field when he noticed a bird come down to the ground and carry off a small worm turned up by the farmer’s plow. He asked himself, “Do all living creatures kill one another like this?”
He grew up to be a quiet young man, often lost in thought, taking on interest in the luxurious life of the palace. The king was worried, and tried in every possible way to cheer up his son up. When he was 19, the king arranged his marriage. The king also gave orders that the prince be entertained with all kinds of nice things and that he should be prevented from seeing any suffering of the people outside the palace.
But still he saw some suffering that accompanied life, such as an old
man who could not walk properly, a sick man about to die, and a dead man being carried to his grave. These sights made him think all the more deeply, and urged him to try to understand the true meaning of life.
When he was 29, his only son was born. Then one night he left the palace to become a homeless mendicant, determined to find a solution to his spiritual unrest. This was called the “great renunciation.”
He wanted from place to place and talked with many hermits and wise, learned men. While practicing asceticism rigorously, he had long mediations. Six years passed. Finally, he came to a forest and continued to meditate there, though he was very weak and was in danger of losing his life. One morning, the struggle was over. His mind was clear and bright like the day. He had at last found the path Enlightenment. He became the Buddha at the age of 35.
From then on he went all over the states to teach men the truth he had found. More and more people accepted it and became his disciples or followers. He was respectfully called Sakyamuni (the sage of the Sakyas).
He preached for 45 years until he was 80 years old. He was very ill and knew he would be passing into Nirvana, but he continued teaching his disciples in his last moments. After he died, his body was cremated. Several states wanted to have his relics, so they were divided into eight parts, each of which was given to a state. One of his teeth was later brought to China and has been kept in a pagoda in a temple neat Beijing.
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