2. Buddha, meaning 'one who is awake' in the sense of having 'woken up to reality' was the title first
given to Lord Buddha. It was about 2500 years ago when Prince Siddhartha Gautam left all the
worldly pleasures to attain the reality of life, and became the Buddha - the enlightened one. It was a
state in which the Buddha gained an insight into the deepest workings of life and therefore into the
cause of human suffering, the problem that had set Him on his spiritual quest in the first place.
Early Life
Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BCE in Lumbini, Nepal as a son of Shuddhodhana, the king of
Kapilavastu and his Queen, Mayadevi. Unfortunately, Mayadevi died only seven days after the birth
of Siddhartha and so, He was brought up by His stepmother, Gautami. It is interesting to note that
when Siddhartha was born, the astrologers had predicted that the prince would renunciate the
comforts of the materialistic world and instead, opt for a path of His own. When the King
Shuddhodhana came to know about the prediction, he naturally became extremely cautious and tried
to prevent a thing that was bound to happen, and he did not let Siddhartha even move out of the
palace. It was the deepest desire of the king that his son would fulfill his father's dream one day by
becoming a King.
The Turning Point
When Siddhartha had grown into an intelligent young man, He moved out of his palace one day, and
saw certain things that changed the entire course of His life. He first saw a very old man who could
barely walk, a sick man who was in A severe pain, and lastly a corpse. Since, He had never been
exposed to pain before, these sights affected him immensely, although His charioteer tried to explain
Him that pain and death - both were inevitable.
This entire episode turned His life and His heart compelled Him to evaluate His life completely and
then, He began the search for the reason of existence. King Shuddhodhana got perturbed by
whatever his son was going through and therefore, he arranged Siddhartha's marriage with a young
and beautiful princess, Yasodhara. For some time, Siddhartha again got involved into the worldly
pleasures, but somewhere at the back of His head, He had still not forgotten what He had seen! It
was soon after the birth of son Rahul, that Siddhartha on a starry night, left His wife and son in deep
sleep and left the palace.
A Quest for Light or Truth
Siddhartha was only 29, when He had left home. For some time, He moved around the entire country
meeting various sadhus and saints in His search for inner peace. It was during this period that
Siddhartha lived the life of a hermit and involved Himself in rigorous ' tapasya' in order to comprehend
the reason for life and death. A time came when He realised that it was useless to torture one's body
while finding the truth, and then, He denunciated the method of tapasya and fast.
Then one fine day as Siddhartha reached Bodh Gaya and being very exhausted, He took a seat
under the shade of a peepal tree and closed His eyes. It was then He felt a divine light coming within
Himself. This was the turning point in His quest as He realised that the truth is within every human
being and to search for it outside was baseless. After this incidence, He came to be known as '
Buddha' or the enlightened one.

3. The Right Path and Immortality
For 45 years, Buddha spread His message of spiritual life to not only His disciples but the common
people as well. He gave emphasis on the purification of mind, heart and ultimately, soul by following
the Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths and the Five Preceptions. This path included the right
speech, understanding, determination, deeds, efforts, awareness, thinking and living. As per
Buddhism, if one follows these paths, one could overcome desires, which were the reason for all the
grieves and miseries.
After spreading His message to the world successfully, Buddha died at the age of 80 years in 483
BCE. at Kushinagar, India. Today, Buddhism has a strong following in various Asian countries and is
gradually finding its feet in some of the western countries as well.
Five Principles of Panchsheel
After attaining the enlightenment, Gautam Buddha went to the holy city of Benares and
shared his new understanding with other fellows who became his disciples immediately.
This was considered as the beginning of the Buddhist community. Till his death, Buddha
with his band of disciples spread the gospel of the Dhamma among all the classes
comprised of beggars, kings and slave girls.
The Basic Teachings of Buddha which are core of Buddhism are-
Source of Buddha's Teachings
The Buddha's teachings have been reconstructed from stories, found
mainly in the Sutta Pitaka. Although some stories describe his
miraculous powers, others suggest that the Buddha tried to convince
people through reason and persuasion rather than through displays
of supernatural power. According to Buddhist philosophy, the world
is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; it is also soulless
(anatta) as there is nothing permanent or eternal in it. Within this
transient world, sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence. It is
by following the path of moderation between severe penance and
self-indulgence that human beings can rise above these worldly troubles. In the earliest
forms of Buddhism, whether or not god existed was irrelevant.
Buddhist Teaching of Re-Birth
The Buddha regarded the social world as the creation of humans rather than of divine
origin. Therefore, he advised kings and gahapatis to be humane and ethical. Individual
effort was expected to transform social relations. The Buddha emphasized individual
agency and righteous action as the means to escape from the cycle of rebirth and attain
self-realization and nibbana, literally the extinguishing of the ego and desire - and thus
end the cycle of suffering for those who renounced the world. According to Buddhist
tradition, his last words to his followers were: "Be lamps unto yourselves as all of you
must work out your own liberation."
Buddha's Teaching – The Way to Salvation
During the course of meditation, Gautam Buddha after attaining the enlightenment came
out with the certain principles which have become the pillars of Buddhism. These

4. teachings have also become the guidelines for the followers of Buddha. These principles
can broadly be explained under the following categories.
1. The Four Noble Truths
The teachings of Buddha can be summarized under the category of Four Noble Truths
which are as under:
a) Suffering is common - Birth, Sickness, Old age, Death etc.
b) Cause of Suffering - ignorance and greed.
c) End of Suffering – to cut off greed and ignorance.
d) Path to end Suffering - the Noble Eightfold Path is the way to end suffering.
2. The Noble Eightfold Path
The teachings of Buddha goes round and round like a great wheel that never stops,
leading to the central point of the wheel, the only point which is fixed, Nirvana. The
eight spokes on the wheel represent the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path which
are as follows: 1) Right View; 2) Right Thought; 3) Right Speech; 4) Right Conduct; 5)
Right Livelihood; 6) Right Effort; 7) Right Mindfulness; 8) Right Concentration.
The Panchshila
All the religions of the world are based on the fundamental principles of good conduct
and prohibit their followers to indulge in the misconduct and misbehavior that may harm
the society at large. So, the Panchshila of Buddha is comprised of the basic teachings of
conduct which are as under:
1. No killing Respect for life
2. No stealing Respect for others' property
3. No sexual misconduct Respect for our pure nature
4. No lying Respect for honesty
5. No intoxicants Respect for a clear mind