Life of the Buddha

1. Life of the Buddha

2. Context • Prince Siddhartha Gautama • Part of the Shakya Clan (hence name Shakyamuni) • Born Kapilavastu in Northern India, 563BCE • Indian religion at time was Hinduism

3. Siddhartha’s Birth • Queen Maya’s dream: elephant in side • Born in garden at Lumbini • Trees bent down to support Queen Maya • Born out of her side (no pain) • Golden Skin • Walked seven steps and lotuses grew at his feet • Declared this was his last rebirth

4. Siddhartha’s Early Life • A seer called Asita told his father King Sudohanna that he would either grow up to be a great king, or a holy man. • To make sure he became a king like him, the King kept Siddhartha in the palace for his whole life. • He was surrounded by youth, beauty, pleasure and wealth, and had no idea that life could be any different.

5. The Great Renunciation (The Four Sights) • However, Siddhartha was still not happy, and wanted to find out what was beyond the palace walls. • He convinced his charioteer Channa to take him outside 4 times. • On these occasions he saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and lastly a holy man (saddhu). • The first three sights depressed him, but the fourth gave him hope that he could find happiness • He decided to leave his family to become a wandering holy man in search of the truth

6. Asceticism • Siddhartha joined some yogins who taught him the art of meditation. He stayed with them for a couple of years, then moved on to join a group of ascetics. • Ascetics deny themselves things in order to ‘force’ the mind to see clearly. For example, a lazy person might force themselves to stand all the time. • Siddhartha decided that since he had lived a life of material luxury, he would starve himself. • Legend has it that he reduced his food until he was living on 3 grains of rice a day and almost died. • He eventually realised that this was not helping him realise the truth, and (with some help from a local girl) made himself better.

7. Enlightenment • Then, Siddhartha sat under a bodhi tree and decided he would not move until he had an answer to the world’s suffering. • For many days Siddhartha meditated, facing Mara and all of his temptations. • Eventually Siddhartha came to realise the truth about reality and became enlightened. • He was now the Buddha (this means enlightened one) • He spent the rest of his life travelling and teaching what he had learned.

8. Watch the following clip • http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/buddhist-beliefs-about-suffering/3789.html

9. In your jotter • Convert the story of the Buddha's life into 10 key bullet points with a picture to illustrate each point.

10. In the back of your Buddhism jotter put the heading GLOSSARYThen add the following terms with their meanings: • Buddha • Enlightenment • Ascetic • Siddhartha Gautama • Seer • Renunciation • Yogi

11. Watch the following clips • http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/decaying-fruit/862.html • http://vimeo.com/19360936http://vimeo.com/19360936http://vimeo.com/19360936

12. So is the story true? • Probably not, there is no historical evidence to verify the story of the Buddha’s life. • Especially the more miraculous parts like his mother giving birth through her side and feeling no pain!

13. What would a Buddhist say? • Well a Buddhist would say that whether it’s true or not isn’t the point. • The point is what the story means, what does it teach us or help us to understand.

14. What does it all mean? • The Buddha's life story is full of symbolism • What do you think the ‘four sights’ were trying to tell the Buddha? • What does this tell us about the human condition?