Essay About Siddhartha Gautama And Era Of Great Brutality

Essay title: Llll
The word Buddha means “enlightened one.” It is used today as a title
to the one who has given us more religious beliefs than almost any other
human who lived in this world. However, he was not given this name at
birth; he had to earn it for himself by undergoing long, hard hours of
meditation and contemplation. Buddha has changed the lifestyles of many
cultures with new, never-before asked questions that were explained by
his search for salvation. He began an entirely new religion that dared
to test the boundaries of reality and go beyond common knowledge to find
the answers of the mysteries of life. India
During the sixth
century BC, India was a land of political and religious turmoil. It was
an era of great brutality with the domination of Northwest India by
Indo-Aryan invaders. Many people, influenced by the Aryan civilization,
began to question the value of life and its true meaning. Schools were
opened because of this curiosity where teachers would discuss the
significance of existence and the nature of man and held programs to
reconstruct ones spiritual self. (Pardue, page 228) Background
Near
the town of Kapilavastivu, today known as Nepal, lived King Suddhodhana
and Queen Maya of the indigenous tribe known as the Shakyas.
(Encyclopedia Americana, page 687) Queen Maya soon became pregnant and
had a dream shortly before she gave birth. In this dream a beautiful,
white elephant with six tusks entered her room and touched her side.
This dream was soon interpreted by the wisest Brahmin, or Priest of
Brahmanism, that she was to give birth to a son that would, if he were to
remain in the castle, become the wisest king in the world, but if he were
ever to leave the castle he would then become the wisest prophet far into
future generations. (Encyclopedia Americana, page 410)
In around the
year 563 BC, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a life of pure luxury.
(Wangu, page 16) His father wanted to make sure that his son was well
taken care of as he grew to prevent him from desiring to leave the
palace. Suddhodhana, listening to the prophecy, kept Siddhartha away
from the pain of reality so that he could follow in his fathers
footsteps in becoming a well respected leader.
As Siddhartha grew, he
became very curious about the world outside of the palace walls. He felt
a great need to undergo new experiences and learn the truth of reality.
Siddhartha was married to a woman named Yasodhara who gave birth to a
boy, Rahul. Even after his marriage, Siddhartha was still not completely
satisfied with his life; he decided that it was necessary for him to see
the lives of those outside the castle. The Four Meetings
One day,
Siddhartha called for his charioteer to take him to the park. When the
King heard of this, he ordered the streets to be cleared of everything
except beauty. As the Prince rode by, the people cheered and threw
flowers at him, praising his name and Siddhartha was still clueless to
the suffering of life until a god, disguised as a poor, old man stumbled
before the chariot. Siddhartha was curious to this mans condition and
he asked the charioteer about his appearance. The charioteer replied
that all men must endure old age and