THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA

Roughly 2500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, born as Prince Siddhartha and a prince of the Shakya clan in Northern India, abandoned his royal heritage to seek the source of human suffering.

The Buddha, who is thought to of lived from 563 to 483 BCE, was the heir to a ruling family, but gave up this rich pursuit, much to the dismay of his father, the king at the time, in his search for human suffering.

The Shakya clan lived in the part of Northern India which borders the present day kingdom of Nepal. The clan's leader, King Shuddhodana, was very unhappy because he did not have a son as an heir to the throne.

One night, his wife, Queen Maya, had a dream in which a pretty, white, six tusked elephant appeared in front of her and "dissolved" into her body. This has led some traditions to believe that Siddhartha achieved Buddhahood (complete, supreme enlightenment) during a previous life, possibly the elephants. Another explanation is that Siddhartha definatly did begin his spiritual journey before his lifetime, and achieved significant levels of realisation, but did not complete his journey until he sat under the Bodhi tree at the ages of 35. The final other explanation offered is that Siddhartha was an ordinary human being just like us, and this version suggests that anyone can attain enlightenment in a human lifetime.

Anyhow, the Queen later woke and she found that her body and mind were filled with much greater bliss than ever before. The wise elders at court recognised the Queen to be pregnant with a child that would someday grow up to be a great leader.

Towards the end of her pregnancy, she left the palace to her parent's home to give birth (a custom still followed by many expectant mothers to this day).
As they passed the gardens of Lumbini, she realised that she could give birth at any moment. She went into the gardens and gave birth to her son with the help of the branches of a tree.

Her child was beautiful, so his father named him Siddhartha, meaning "he whom everything wonderful is accomplished."

A short while after the birth, Asita, a widely respected religious hermit came to inspect the child. The King greeted him with great courtesy and had the child brought to him, and he burst into tears.

Surprised by the hermit's reaction, the king demanded to know what was wrong. The hermit replied that nothing was wrong and that the child would grow to be a greater ruler than his father,

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