In about 565 B.C. Siddhartha Gautama was born, a young Indian prince born to the ruler of a small kingdom that is now known as Nepal. Gautama's birth is described as a miraculous event, his birth being the result of his mother's impregnation by a sacred white elephant that touched her left side with a lotus flower. The scriptures claim that when Gautama was born ¹"immeasurable light spread through ten thousand worlds; the blind recovering their sight, as if from desire to see his glory" After birth the future Buddha (Gautama) supposedly talked and walked while lotus leafs formed in his footprints. Gautama's father was said to have been told his son's destiny for greatness, either as an emperor or as a religious leader. Therefore Gautama's father decided to isolate his son from the outside world, where he might "see how the other

The "Four Noble Truths" can be summarized by saying, life is suffering (dukkha), the cause of suffering is desire (tanha) the way to end suffering is to overcome desire, and to overcome desire on must follow the "Eightfold Path" Buddha taught that man is a slave to his ego . That man wishes happiness, security, success, long life, and many other things for himself and his loved ones. However, pain, frustration, sickness and death are all inevitable and the only way to eliminate these evils is to overcome desire.

1. Evans, Allan E., Moynes, Riley E., Martinello, Larry

After a while of travelling as a holy man there was a great even that transformed Gautama into the Buddha (or the Enlightened One). It all began at dusk on Gautama's thirty-fifth birthday. While sitting under a tree it is said that he thought a break through was obvious and here again is where the legend takes over. It says that the evil one, Mara tempests him with beautiful Goddesses and attacked him with tempests, flaming rocks and other devices, all of which Gautama blocked himself from. Eventually at dawn Gautama finally realized the essential truth about life and about the path to salvation. Because of this Gautama then became the Buddha and remained this spot for many days while remaining in a trance-like state for many weeks. This experience made Gautama feel a desire to share his knowledge with others and he did so very well, as a preacher and a teacher until his death in about 483 B.C.

with a saffron-coloured robe, these three things all being traditional symbols of a Buddhist monk. For those who become monks it is a life of poverty and celibacy. Before gaining the admittance into the monastery a monk must proclaim his faith by saying ¹"I go to Buddha for refuge; I go to Dharma for refuge; I go to Sangha for refuge" by saying this a monk gives up his civil rights such as voting and being eligible f

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