Buddha (Siddhãrtha Guatama)

Born: Aprox. 563 B.C.

Place of birth: Kapilavastu, India

Major works:The Sutras (part of the Tripitaka)

    Siddhãrtha Guatama was born during a time when India was going through its iron age, an event which brings widespread social change. The Vedas had degenerated into ritual, and smaller states and republics were falling prey to the larger imperialistic states around them. He was born to a chieftain of the Shakãya tribe, and as such was considered a prince.

Being a prince in his tribe meant growing up surrounded by luxury, and being sheltered from the world in general. He had no knowledge of what "normal" life was like outside the palace walls. In the tradition of the area, his marriage was arranged to a woman named Yashodharã. She bore Guatama a son, whom they named Rãhula.

In spite of his father's efforts to keep him sheltered, Gautama would take rare visits to the world outside of the palace, as he grew older. Upon one of these he came across an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. He saw that age, sickness and death highlight the inevitable suffering human's face. He started to wonder if there was a way of life that could lead to tranquility and cessation from pain.

Here, legends state, is where his path truly began. He denounced kingdom and family, becoming a wandering ascetic. He tried Yogic meditations, finding nought what he sought with them, even though reaching high levels of consciousness. He began severe austerities, so severe they almost cost him his life. In the end he came to a Bhodi Tree, sat facing east, and determined not to rise until he had found enlightenment. During the last hours of a full moon, one night, he achieved Bodhi (enlightenment).

In brief, I will lay out for you the Four Noble Truths, and the Three Characteristics of Being that the Buddha outlined:

Four Noble Truths:

• The world is full of painful sensations. This is part of living.
• What leads to pain is the pursuit and want of pleasure and riches. The attachment we have to material things.
• What releases us from pain is the releasing of ourselves from such material considerations.
• The way to release ourselves from the attachment to material things is the following of the eightfold path. The eightfold path consists of:
  • Right Views
  • Right Intention
  • Right Speech
  • Right Action
  • Right Livelihood
  • Right Effort
  • Right Mindfulness
  • Right Concentration

The three Characteristics of being are:

• All constituents of being are transitory.
• All constituents of being are lacking an ego.
• All constituents of being are painful.

With these in mind one should find the Dhammapada more understandable, though one can gain wisdom from it without such a background.