Lord Buddha story

All of us know that Gautama Buddha was the one who founded Buddhism .But do you know how he became Buddha from his real name 'Siddhartha Gautama'? To those who do not know his story, it will be interesting to read. You might just know that he was the one who spread the message of peace .But today I’m going to tell you his story from the time he was born in a simple way.

Gautama Buddha whose real name is Siddartha Gautam was born in Lumbini, Nepal. If you happen to visit Lumbini you would believe that he was born there. But since, he wandered different places to spread his preaching he spent a lot of his time in India too. That is why controversies still arise. But the fact is still remains the same, he was born in Nepal.This has also been proven by UNESCO.

His father was a King whose name was Suddhodhan. His father was the King of the clan Shakya whose capital was in Kapilvastu, Nepal. Gautama is actually the family name. His mother’s name was Maya-devi. Legend says that when Queen Maya-devi was conceived she saw a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side. After 10 months, Siddhartha Gautama was born beneath a sal tree. It is believed that Sidhartha Gautam walked seven steps after he was born which is quiet surprising.It is believed that there was a unique relation between Siddhartha Gautam and the number seven. Some believe that Queen Maya-devi passed away at his birth and some believe it was 7 days later. When a hermit who came all the way from the mountains saw Buddha, he predicted that Gautama would either be a great king or a great holy man who will be worshipped by all. By traditional account, King Suddhodhan invited eight Brahmin scholars on the naming ceremony of Gautama and asked them to read his fortune. All of them predicted that he would either be a great King or a great holy person.When they names him ,they gave him the name Siddhartha as it means “who achieves his aim”.

Gautama Budhha was always asked to stay in the palace. His father did not want him to go outside. Because it was also predicted that he would leave his family for the sake of others. But Siddhartha became more and more curious. He wanted to go outside and see the people. He didn’t know the real life of the people as he was a Prince. He wasn’t interested in the pleasures of the Palace. All he wanted was to see the real world outside.

Seeing him desperate like that King Suddhodhan decided to marry him to a beautiful girl named Yasodhara. They got married and she gave birth to a beautiful son named Rahul.At that time he was just 16 years old. However, he just stayed in the palace for 29 years.

The fact is, one day Sidhhartha secretly went out of the palace. He was with his charioteer Channa. He saw a diseased person at first. Siddhartha was puzzled because he had never seen a sick person before. He asked Channa the reason. Channa replied that since we are humans, all of us can fall sick. The next scene he saw was of an old person. He saw that the person was wrinkled and was walking with the help of a stick. Channa replied Siddhartha that the person has become old. The last scene that he saw was of a dead corpse being taken carried. Sidhhartha asked what that was. Channa replied that since we all are humans, all of us have to die. These three things made Siddhartha suffer. He wanted to know why humans had to be sick, old and die. He had a lot of questions in his mind. He knew that by staying in the palace, he could never get answers to those questions.

So one day, when his wife and his son were sleeping, he secretly left his palace at night. He felt sorry for them. But coming out of the Palace was the only way he could have his answers. Despite his father’s efforts to hide him from the sick, aged and dead ones, Siddhartha saw all of them. He then went far away. Accompanied by Channa and his horse Kanthaka, Sidhhartha quit his palace to live a new life.It is believed that the horse hooves were muffled by the Gods, so that the guards would not know of his departure.

He went to different places in India and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. Initially he went to Rajagaha , a place in India.After King Bimbisara's men recognized Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimisara offered Siddhartha the throne. But Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadhafirst, upon attaining enlightenment. He left that place and practised under two hermit teachers. However he was not satisfied by the practise and became the student of Udaka Ramaputta. From him, Sidhhartha learnt about meditation. He was even asked to be the successor but he denied.

He realized that meditative jhana was the right path to awakening and not that extreme asceticism.Gautama discovered what Buddhists call theMiddle Way-a path of moderation away from the extremes ofself-indulgence and self-mortification. It is believed that he found enlightenment after he meditated for a long period of time beneath a peepal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree.This happened in Bodhgaya in India. This tree is still worshipped by Hindus. He understood that since all of us have to die one day, the only thing that remains is the good things we do. He realized that we were born to love one another and spread peace; materialistic things wouldn’t last long so they are valueless. The only thing that will last is love, care and good things we do for one another. He attained this enlightenment after 49 days of meditation ,at the age of 35.From that time onwards he was called as ‘Buddha’ or ‘the Awakened one’ or ‘the enlightened one’.

According to Budhhism, at the time of his awakening he understood the reasons we suffer and how we could eliminate it. These discoveries were known as the four truths. It is believed that through the mastery of these four truths one could even attain ‘Nirvana’. ‘Nirvana’ is defined as the peace of mind free from any greed, hatred or wrong thoughts.He believed that once a person attains ‘Nirvana’ ,he doesn’t have to go through the cycle of death and rebirth. He was also concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp.But a person named Brahma Sahampati convinced him to teach others, so that at least some would understand it. That is how Buddha decided to spread his teachings.

You might say that Budhha did not love nis family.But the truth is he came back to Lumbini and met his son. He inspired his son to be like him. His son also followed his father's footsteps and became a helping hand to his father.

The world is in chaos now because we don't seem to understand Budhha. Everything is the result of our 'karma' which means 'action'. Our 'desire' leads to this action. This finally causes destruction. Our desire should be nothing else but to love one another and live in peace. Please comment below if you'd like to add more.

After the Buddha returned to his father's kingdom, uncertainty still existed about whether Gautama Buddha was really enlightened or not. In response, the Buddha allegedly displayed the Yamaka-pātihāriya or the "Twin Miracle". The twin miracle entailed Gautama Buddha producing flames from the upper part of his body and streams of water from the lower part of his body, alternating this, and doing similarly between the left and right sides of his body. It was believed that he gained those supernatural powers from his mediation. This is just one of the miracles he did. There are many miracles that are said to be done by him.

This is a short story of Lord Buddha. I would answer you if you have any queries. The next hub I will publish would be about the miracles he performed. I am also a Buddhist and I’ve visited Lumbini.Lumbini is one of the four holy places that Buddhists would always love to visit. You can see a lot of Buddhists there and the different places linked with him.I hope my hub gave you at least a little insight of who Buddha really was.:)