The person that is revered by millions of people today as the Buddha, the Enlightened One, actually started life as a young prince named Siddartha around 450 BC.

Young Siddartha showed an interest in spirituality at an early age. This alarmed his father, who wished to install him as his heir and ruler of the kingdom, and he decided that the young prince must not come into contact with anything that would arouse his spiritual tendencies. Instead, he was to be kept surrounded by all the luxuries and earthly joys that life had to offer, and encounter no suffering whatsoever. He had three palaces built for him, one for each season. Any mention of death, sickness or old age was kept secret from the young prince, so that he did not even know what those words meant. Siddartha underwent military training to assume his role as a great leader and married Yasodhara; she gave birth to a son, Rahula.

At the age of 29, Siddhartha decided he wanted to see the outside world. His father meticulously arranged that all signs of suffering were removed from anywhere the prince was to go - however Siddartha managed to spot an old man, and was puzzled why someone would have such grey hair and wrinkled skin. His charioteeer Channa explained to him that all of us grow old sometime, and that one day even Siddartha will grow old too. Disturbed by this, Siddartha arranged to secretly leave the castle with Channa so he could see the world as it is, freed from his father's machinations. He very quickly found quite a different state of affairs than he was used to. He came across someone who was sitting down unable to get up, whose body felt very hot and was making very strange noises with his mouth. Channa explained that this man was coughing because he was sick; Siddartha did not know what sick was, and Channa explained that it is a state everyone goes through from time to time. Finally Siddartha saw a man who was not moving at all, no matter how much he tried to rouse him. Channa explained that that man was dead, that he would never move again. He sadly confirmed that, yes, we all end up like that someday, even you, my lord.

But then they came across someone seated under a tree, a look of serene bliss on his face. Channa explained that this man was a sage, who was trying to liberate himself from the cycle of birth and death. Siddartha immediately resolved to to the same, and not rest until he had conquered old age, sickness and death.

Leaving is wife and child behind, Siddartha went into the forest and received teachings from two meditation teachers, although he quickly outgrew them in capacity and left looking for something greater. With a group of five companions, Siddartha began to pursue a path of total austerity and mortification, restricting themselves to a morsel of food per day. Once in a severely weakened state, Siddartha collapsed in a river whilst bathing and almost drowned. He began to wonder if asceticism was the right course.

There are different version of the story of how Siddartha came across the idea of the 'middle path' - the idea that a spiritual life must not go either to an extreme of sensual indulgence or self-mortification, but lead a balanced course in between the two. One version says he realised that meditative experiences could be had without mortification when he remembered having a beautiful meditative experience during childhood watching his father at a ploughing festival. Another version says that at that same river where he almost drowned, he heard the voices of two musicians on a boat, master and pupil - the master was telling the pupil that if he strung his instrument too loose, there would be no sound, but if he strung it too tight, it would break. in any case, Siddartha decided to break his fast, accepting a bowl of rice from a girl called Sujata. His five companions decided that Siddartha had given up and left him in disgust.

Siddhartha then sat down underneath the famous bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya and vowed not to arise until he attained enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. After seven weeks in this one spot he attained his goal. Before he reached enlightenment he had to endure one last onslought from the forces of sensual attachment embodied by the demon Mara, but with his meditative concentration he broke free from those snares and attained the Goal. He realised the cycle of birth and death was all the cause of ignorance of one's true nature, and he could see how he himself had to go through many such births as a result of that ignorance. He realised the impermanance of all things and how we suffer because we cling to the ephemeral things in life. Most importantly, he realised the steps to liberate oneself from it - the teachings which have now come to be known as the eightfold path. He had now become the Buddha.

He still did not yet know whether he should tell this realisation to anyone, he thought that perhaps human beings were so enmeshed in greed and delusion that they would never understand, but then he had a revelation in his meditation that told him at least some people would understand. Thus he set out to illumine and free them from suffering just as he had been freed.

"I know, at last I know the Truth! I know the way. I know the way to end sorrow, to exterminate the tree of suffering. From today I shall serve humanity with my inner Light. I have seen the Truth, and this Truth every human being on earth will achieve. My Truth is for all. My Love is for all. My Realisation is for all. I am for all. This life of mine, this dedicated life of mine, is for humanity's use. Now that I have the Transcendental Light within me, I shall go out into the world to teach others."
(extract from Siddhartha becomes the Buddha, a play by Sri Chinmoy)

Photo: A Thai depiction of Buddha and the five sages, who later became his first five disciples, taken by Kedar Misani