For twenty years, the rulers of the Kapilavastu Kingdom (located in present day Nepal), King Suddodana and Queen Maya, were unable to conceive a child.  Sometimes during 566 BC, Queen Maya conceive a child after an auspicious dream.  In it, a white elephant with six tusks touched her right side with a brilliant jewel on the blossom of a lotus flower.

When the queen awoke, she described the dream to her husband.  Asked to interpreted the dream, the court advisors predicted that it foretold the coming of a savior.  They predicted that "A son will be born to the queen.  If the new prince stays in the court, he will become a great king.  If the prince leaves to seek the truth and become a holy man, he will become the savior of the world."  They added,  "There will be four sights: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a seeker of truth.  After the prince had seen these sights, he will leave the kingdom to live the life of a holy man."

King Suddodana was dismayed by the prediction for he did not want his son to become a holy man.  The holy men of India/Nepal were often wandering teachers who begged for food.  The king felt it was an  unfitting life for his son, and he decided to prevent his son from seeing these four sights by surrounding him with worldly luxuries.

• A Prince is Born

The joy over the new prince's birth was tempered when the queen died seven days later due to complications from the birth. The queen's sister took care of Siddhartha and raised him as her own son.

At a young age, the prince exhibited great compassion and sensitivities to his surroundings.  Although living in comfort, the prince was not carefree.  He often pondered about the true meaning of life.  Every spring, the Kapilavastu kingdom held a plowing festival.  A race of bulls pulling the plows was part of the celebration.  The prince was dismayed.  He saw the suffering of bulls which were severely whipped to run faster.  He wondered, "Do all living creatures hurt each other?"

The prince excelled in both martial and academic studies including archery, languages, math, science, debates, and others subjects.  His tutors did not stay long at the court because Prince Siddhartha quickly mastered their materials.

When the prince was sixteen, he won the hand of Yasodhara in a great competition of mental and physical skills.  King Suddodana rejoiced because he thought Prince Siddhartha was on the path to become a great king and not a holy man.

At around twenty-nine years of age, the prince was tired of his sheltered existence and he was curious about the outside world.  He told his charioteer to take him outside the palace.  For first time in his life, the prince saw human suffering.  He saw an old man, a sick man, and a dead man.  The prince was disturbed by the suffering.  He asked his charioteer, "Do we all become sick and old?  Do we all die?  What's after death?"  The charioteer told him, "We all die."  The prince was perplexed, "How can people live in happiness knowing that eventually they would all die?"

Later on, the prince saw a man in a saffron robe who seemed completely tranquil.  The prince inquired, "Who are you?"  The man replied, "I am a seeker of truth, of life over death.  To find it I have given up everything on this earth."  The prince thought, I also must seek the truth over death, if I am to find peace and alleviate the suffering of the world.

Princess Yasodhara gave birth to a son on the night that Siddhartha planned to leave the kingdom.  Prince Siddhartha was torn between his emotions as a father and his aspiration to find the ultimate truth of human existence.  Weighing his duties to his family and humanity as whole, he abandoned his worldly possessions and chose the quest for the Truth.

• The Seeker of Truth

A monk appeared as Prince Siddhartha prepared for his new life.  The monk offered the prince the necessities of a holy man, the saffron robe and a begging bowl.  After accepting the offer, the prince cut off his hair, threw away his own garment and put on the saffron robe of the monk. Then, he embarked on his journey..

The prince passed the land of King Bimbisara who was impressed by the wisdom and abilities of the young monk.  The king offered the prince a high ministerial post and co-rulership if the young monk would stay.  Siddhartha refused stating that he had already given up everything on earth to become enlightened.  But, Siddhartha did promised to return if he become enlightened and teach King Bimbisara.

The prince sought wisdom from the holy men he met along his journey.  None could teach him how to reach the state of ultimate peace and victory over death.

In a town named Uruvila, Siddhartha met five ascetics.  They told him that truth can be obtained only by denying the body and rise above earthly concerns.  He spent six years training with the ascetics, starving his body and practicing ascetic rituals.  The training caused Siddhartha to become extremely thin and weak; yet, the prince found himself no closer to the truth.  When Siddhartha stepped into the nairanjana river to bathe, he found himself too weak to get out of the river.  A tree branches around him bent down to help him out of the river.  Realizing the truth cannot be found by excessive self-denial and indulgence, he determined to stay on a middle path.  He accepted a offering of milk by a village girl.  His five ascetics companions were disgusted by the sight of Siddhartha accepting food from a maiden.  They thought he was weak and had abandoned the quest for the Ultimate Truth, so they left him.

With his energy renewed, Siddhartha sat down under large bodhi tree.  A cow herder came and offered some hay stacks to serve as a seat.  The prince accepted the hays and vowed to remain in his seat until he found the truth over death.  

Mara, the evil one, was disturbed by the prince's determination to reach the state of enlightenment.  Mara planted doubts and fear in Siddhartha's mind, but the prince remained undeterred..  Mara's minions tried to harm the prince to no avail.  Mara's daughters tried to seduce the prince but were knocked unconscious.  Then, Mara challenged Siddhartha for the "seat of virtue," demanding the prince to rise and return the seat to Mara.  Siddhartha touched the ground with the fingers of his right hand and called forth the guardian of earth to served as his witness.  The guardian of earth said, "I have witnessed the prince's noble deeds in his previous lives and this one.  He is the rightful occupant."  Rebuffed, the Mara finally retreated.

At dawn when the first ray of light appeared on the horizon,  Siddhartha "opened his eyes and saw a star to the east" (This is an allegory describing the final stage of the Siddhartha's meditation before enlightenment).  At that moment, he had attained enlightenment.  At the age of thirty-five, he had achieved buddhahood.

• The Buddha

1.  Life is suffering, for all life ends.
2.  The cause of suffering is desire.
3.  The end of desire leads to the end of suffering.
4.  The way to end desire and hence to end suffering is to follow the Eightfold path.

The Eightfold path

1.  Correct view (The view based on understanding the Four Noble Truths and the nonindividuality of existence).
2.  Correct thought (Thoughts that uses the Four Noble Truth as its foundation.)
3.  Correct speech (Truthful speech free from lies, abuses, and foolishness)
4.  Correct livelihood (Earning an honorable living without engaging in taking of lives, stealing/fraud, and prostitution)
5.  Correct action (Obey the laws and live according to the Four Noble Truths)
6.  Correct effort (Use true wisdom to practice and understand the Four Noble Truths).
7.  Correct mindfulness (Be mindful of the true wisdom and avoid devious thoughts).
8.  Correct concentration (Use the principles of Four Noble Truths to cultivate a focused mind)

Delighted by what they heard, the five ascetics became the Buddha's first disciples.

Wherever the Buddha went, he taught the truth of life over death.  He also taught the Eightfold Path is the path to enlightenment.  The buddha taught meditation that purified body, speech, and mind.  The power of his ultimate peace was so great that even wild animals were tame in his presence.

In time, the Buddha returned to the kingdom of King Bimbisara.  He taught the truth to King Bimbisara as promised.  The king offered the bamboo grove to the Buddha and his disciples which became the site of the first buddhist monastery.

The Buddha and his follower were constantly on the move, never staying at a place for long.  This is done so the followers would not become attached to anything.  Temples and books were not necessary to follow the Buddha's path to enlightenment, for the way was found in the heart.

Shakyamuni Buddha preached for forty-five years.  Teaching all sentient beings that: Existence itself is continuously changing (in flux);  All beings in samsara suffers.  These sufferings arise from greed, hatred, and ignorance known as the three poisons.  There is no individual self in the dharma.  Peace and tranquility is the ultimate happiness.

After eighty years on earth, the Buddha entered into nirvana.  His physical passing was a lesson to prompt buddhists to "seize the day" and achieve enlightenment themselves.