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"Buddhism begins with a man. In his later years, when India was afire with his message, people came to him asking what he was. Not 'Who are you?' but 'What are you?' 'Are you god?' they asked. 'No.' 'An angel?' 'No.' 'A saint?' 'No.' 'Then, what are you?' Buddha answered, 'I am awake.' His answer became his title, for this is what Buddha means. The Sanskrit root budh means to awake and to know. While the rest of humanity was dreaming the dream we call the waking human state, one of their number roused himself. Buddhism begins with a man who woke up."("Buddhism" The Worlds Religions p.60) Buddha was born a prince named Siddhartha Gautama in a small kingdom in what is now Nepal in 563b.c.e. 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 "immeasurable light spread through ten thousand worlds; the bl!ind recovering their sight, as if from desire to see his glory" ("What Man Believes" Evans p.141) Shortly after his birth, his father consulted with a number of astrologers, all of whom declared that the newborn prince would become a great king and that he
r or she finds the power to speak well of others (Right Speech), to obey Buddhism's moral commands or abstentions (Right Action), and to avoid making his or her living through an occupation that breaks the moral precepts of Buddhism (Right Livelihood)." ("Buddhism Halverson pp.58-59) The basis of Buddhism's ethical conduct were to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, committing indecent sexual acts or consuming of intoxicants. This is the Buddha's Dharma, or body of his teachings. According to tradition, Buddha taught strict allegiance to the Four Sacred Truths, and insight through the practice of meditation. His teachings also stressed avoidance of ill will, lusting, incorrect talk, and destruction of any living thing. The Buddha's path was one of strict meditation, in which one seeks Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of emptiness or bliss. Those who finally achieve nirvana are spared from the suffering of rebirth, or reincarnation. They are made one with the sea of nothingness, ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ d of the sick or the infirm, that the prince not be allowed to see any of the corpses or the world renouncers. Despite the kings efforts, at one point the path of the royal chariot was blocked by a sick man. He found that the man had only grown old and that such afflictions were the result of age. Siddhartha was amazed to find that most people see such sights every day but persist in short-sighted pursuit and mundane affairs, apparently unconcerned that they will become sick, grow old, and die. In two other journeys outside the palace, Siddhartha saw a man stricken with disease and a corpse, and when he learned that eventually his young healthy body would become weak he fell into a deep depression. On the fourth trip, Siddhartha saw a world renouncer, a man who stood apart from the crowd, who owned nothing and was unaffected by the petty concerns of the masses, and who radiated calm, serenity, and a profound inner peace. This man had nothing, yet he had obtained happiness. Thi! would rule the world in truth and righteousness. Among these astrologers, there was one who declared that if the prince were to see a sick person, an old person, a corpse, and a worl
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