Buddha's life-key events

3) The four sights

An old man, a dead man, a sick man and a holy man: realises that there is suffering in the world i.e sickness and death and is strongly inspired

1) Birth

Born in 563 BC near the Nepalese-Indian border. Mother dreamt that she would give birth to a white elephant (good omen) and she had a painless birth but died 7 days after birth.

5) Enlightenment

Buddha found a Bodhi tree which he meditated under for many days vowing not to get up until he found enlightenment, during this time Mara (the demon) tempted him (with dancing ladies and food) and when Mara attempted to claim the enlightened state as his own, Siddhartha touched his hand to the ground and asked the Earth to bear witness to his enlightenment, which it did, banishing Mara.And soon a picture began to form in his mind of all that occurred in the universe, and Siddhartha finally saw the answer to the questions of suffering that he had been seeking for so many years. In that moment of pure enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha ("he who is awake").

After the enlightenment

Buddha taught what he'd experienced and learnt (encouraged by Brahma) to his disciples (the 5 ascetics being the first) including women (his aunt and being the first) his aims was to teach anyone, regardless of background his teachings. Buddha's cousin rebelled against Buddha in a plot to kill him with a few monks because his cousin wanted more power

4) Ascetic life

Buddha was inspired by what he saw and on the night of his 29th birthday he ran away to live the ascetic life (strict religious practices to seek answers in life) with 5 other members, who became his followers. However he couldn't reach his answers so when a girl offered him a bowl of rice he accepted realising that living under harsh physical conditions (i.e he was starving himself) was not helping him achieve spiritual release and his 5 followers left him thinking that he'd given up

Buddha's cousin

Devadetta

Buddha's father

King Suddhodana

Buddha's mother

Queen Mayadevi

Buddha's name

Siddhartha Gautam (the one who obtains success and prosperity)

Middle Path

a balance between health and work (to achieve goals)

Buddha's wife

Princess Yasodhara

2) Childhood

Seers predict that Siddhartha will either become a Universal Monarch or a Buddha. Buddha is raised within the palace learns the skills of a warrior and in spiritual disciplines and becomes proficient in the art of archery. Marries at 16 to his cousin and has a son in early twenties