-
 Founder
of Buddhism
- Prince Siddhartha
Gautama, was the original "Buddha" and founder of one of
the world's oldest religions. He was the son of a rajah of the Sakya
tribe ruling parts of northern India near Nepal.
- At age 29, wanting
to find a reason for all the pain and suffering in the world, he left
his wife and young son to join five ascetics wandering the Ganges
Plain.
Siddhartha experimented with abject poverty, extreme self-mortification,
and trance-like meditation. However, he realized that these ascetic
experiences could not lead him to what he sought, and following his
own path, he
- developed a
method of meditation based on human insight. Meditating one night
beneath a banyan tree, he achieved "enlightenment," and
became "Buddha," or enlightened being. He had discovered
Nirvana - the extinction of worldly desire, and an end to suffering.
For 45 years Buddha (Siddhartha) traveled through northern India teaching
his new philosophy. His "Eightfold Path" - rules for rightful
living - based on pacifism and loving kindness toward all things,
has endured worldwide for more than 2,000 years.
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