The fourth of these gracious teachers was born in India, a land of many races and classes, into the caste of kings. He was born a prince named Siddhartha in the highly civilized and prosperous kingdom of Kapilavastu. His father was the powerful and renowned King Suddhodhana. His mother was Queen Mayadevi, celebrated for the gentleness and love she bestowed on everyone. From his youth, Siddhartha loved his retinue and all his subjects as if they were his relatives and closest friends. He was always thinking about how he could help them and tried his best to fulfill their wishes. Around the age of nine he began his formal education, which included the arts and sciences as well as rigorous physical training in the martial arts. Whatever he was taught, he understood and mastered immediately. His intelligence was so great that even among geniuses he would be regarded a genius. His reputation extended well beyond the boundaries of his kingdom.

 

Though he was so distinguished, he wanted to remove the suffering of others and to bring them happiness. He constantly questioned why is it that people suffer, grow old, get sick and die. Convinced that the natural condition of humanity would be happiness without strife, he wondered how the suffering he saw could be overcome. This concern was always in his thoughts and close to his heart. He asked every spiritual master he encountered what was the source of peace and what was the source of discord.
 

According to the wishes of his father, the king, he married the beautiful young princess Yashodhara. His wife was brilliant and accomplished in all the physical arts and scholastic studies, and they were surrounded by all the luxuries the world had to offer. But he never ceased to ask about the meaning of life and he spent more time thinking about the well-being of others than about his delightful circumstances. He was convinced that his mission was to bring happiness to all beings, not only to his subjects. He decided he could never accomplish this within the confines of the palace, and so at age twenty-nine he walked away from the kingdom and lifestyle which were his by birth.
 

He knew that the solution to the human predicament could never be found externally, but had to be discovered as the nature of one’s own mind. Nor could the nature of mind be accessed forcibly, but only by abiding at ease within that natural state. Therefore, he meditated for six years. At the age of thirty-five, he realized his inner nature of loving-kindness, compassion and wisdom, and all his previous questions were answered. From then on he was known as the Fully Awakened One, the gracious teacher Buddha Shakyamuni. Until his mahaparinirvana at the age of eighty-one, he continually shared his deep realization with everyone without exception.

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The fourth of these gracious teachers was born in India, a land of many races and classes, into the caste of kings. He was born a prince named Siddhartha in the highly civilized and prosperous kingdom of Kapilavastu. His father was the powerful and renowned King Suddhodhana. His mother was Queen Mayadevi, celebrated for the gentleness and love she bestowed on everyone. From his youth, Siddhartha loved his retinue and all his subjects as if they were his relatives and closest friends. He was always thinking about how he could help them and tried his best to fulfill their wishes. Around the age of nine he began his formal education, which included the arts and sciences as well as rigorous physical training in the martial arts. Whatever he was taught, he understood and mastered immediately. His intelligence was so great that even among geniuses he would be regarded a genius. His reputation extended well beyond the boundaries of his kingdom.

 

Though he was so distinguished, he wanted to remove the suffering of others and to bring them happiness. He constantly questioned why is it that people suffer, grow old, get sick and die. Convinced that the natural condition of humanity would be happiness without strife, he wondered how the suffering he saw could be overcome. This concern was always in his thoughts and close to his heart. He asked every spiritual master he encountered what was the source of peace and what was the source of discord.
 

According to the wishes of his father, the king, he married the beautiful young princess Yashodhara. His wife was brilliant and accomplished in all the physical arts and scholastic studies, and they were surrounded by all the luxuries the world had to offer. But he never ceased to ask about the meaning of life and he spent more time thinking about the well-being of others than about his delightful circumstances. He was convinced that his mission was to bring happiness to all beings, not only to his subjects. He decided he could never accomplish this within the confines of the palace, and so at age twenty-nine he walked away from the kingdom and lifestyle which were his by birth.
 

He knew that the solution to the human predicament could never be found externally, but had to be discovered as the nature of one’s own mind. Nor could the nature of mind be accessed forcibly, but only by abiding at ease within that natural state. Therefore, he meditated for six years. At the age of thirty-five, he realized his inner nature of loving-kindness, compassion and wisdom, and all his previous questions were answered. From then on he was known as the Fully Awakened One, the gracious teacher Buddha Shakyamuni. Until his mahaparinirvana at the age of eighty-one, he continually shared his deep realization with everyone without exception.