Blessing Buddha - Life Story

About Buddha

Gautama Buddha was born a prince of the powerful Sakya clan in northern India in 543 B.C. Cocooned in luxury during his youth, the “Three Great Sights” - the sight of a destitute man, a dead body, and an ascetic - shocked him into reflecting on man’s condition in the world. He renounced his wealth and family and became a seeker of the truth. After years of penance and meditation he gained enlightenment and came to be known as the Buddha or “The Enlightened One.”
Gautam Buddha was one of the greatest religious teachers that the world has seen. His teachings, expounded in Buddhism, are immensely popular all around the globe. Buddha never claimed to be a divine figure; in fact, Buddha is not even his name. Buddha means 'the enlightened one'. It is a title given to a person who achieves ‘Bodhi’ or enlightenment. Buddha’s original name was Siddhartha. He was also called Sakyamuni, i.e. the sage of the tribe of Sakya. He was born in the year 563 B.C. in the village of Lumbini near Kapila Vastu, within the present borders of Nepal.

He studied and practiced Hindu discipline initially, and later, Jainism. He roamed the country, meeting various sadhus and saints in his search for inner peace. He lived the life of a hermit and underwent rigorous 'tapasya' to achieve his purpose, but still could not understand the meaning of or reason for life and death. For several years he observed rigorous fasting along with extreme self-mortification. Eventually, he realized that tormenting his body would not bring him closer to true wisdom and he resumed eating normally and abandoned asceticism.