| Story of Lord Buddha | |
| There was once a king named Suddhodana
and a queen named Mahamaya who lived in the city of Kapilavastu in
the sixth century B.C.One day, as the queen was resting in her palace,
she dreamt that a white elephant carrying a white lotus in its trunk
entered her right side.A group of astrologers predicted that the young
prince would grow up to be either a great emperor, or that he would
turn his back on privilege and power to become a great spiritual leader.
Some time later, a baby was born to the queen. He was named Siddhartha
Gautama.Until one day, when Prince Siddhartha finally persuaded his
father to let him go outside the palace walls to see the city. What
Siddhartha did not know was that his father had ordered the city streets
cleared of anyone who was old or sick. So when Siddhartha and his
groom set out for their tour of the city in chariots they saw many
young and happy people. However, they also happened upon a feeble
old man who was lying at the side of the road. As this was different
from anything Siddhartha had ever seen before, he asked someone to
explain what was wrong with the man. It was only then that Siddhartha
learned about how people get old. Siddhartha was very moved by the
suffering of the old man. He journeyed out into the city three more
times and saw a sick man, a dead man and a sage. These visits led
to his realising the fundamental truths of life. Siddhartha left his
wife and son at the palace and set out to learn the way of finding
salvation and understanding.At the edge of the city, he took off his
princely robes, cut his hair and sent his groom back to the palace
with his horse. Siddhartha wandered through the forests seeking understanding
from wise men and ascetics. However, this did not bring him satisfaction
or greater understanding. Finally, Siddhartha settled under a tree to meditate.e |
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While he sat under the tree, demons came to tempt him. However,
he resisted them. After many days of meditating, Siddhartha achieved
Enlightenment. From that point, he was known as the Buddha. The Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath. In this sermon he
shared the knowledge he had gained through meditation and set the
Wheel of the Law in motion. For the rest of his life, the Buddha
travelled around sharing his teachings with many people. Upon his death he attained Nirvana. After his body was cremated, his ashes were divided up and taken to eight different sites.At each of these sites, a mound-like structure called a stupa was built to contain the ashes.Over time, many stupas were built and rebuilt, serving as centres of worship for the Buddha's followers. |
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