The story of the one who would become a Buddha, the enlightened one. Siddhartha Gautama, a prince who had everything. He gave up luxury, his family, and power to try to understand the nature of suffering. This is one of several videos on Siddhartha and Buddhism. Active for English subtitles.

If you prefer to read it, we leave you the text:

“I was wounded by the pleasures of life, and now I go out seeing for peace”.

The story of the beginning of the path of Siddhartha, do you know him?

– Yes, I have Siddhartha Gautama here
– That is not Siddhartha
– Yes it is
– No it’s not
– Yes it is
– No
– This is the Buddha
– That is Budai, a monk of Zen Buddhism, he said that he was the incarnation of Maitreya, the Buddha of the future
– So Siddhartha wasn’t that chubby?
– He was rather skinny
– And what about rubbing the belly for good luck?
– That is Budai, and if he really existed, he is connected to what Siddhartha did, everything is connected

In the year 500 BC, that is, 2,500 years ago Siddhartha Gautama was born in a valley between the border of India and Nepal.

The story goes that prior to his birth, his mother had a dream which the sages interpret as saying that the queen would give birth to a boy, destined to be either a great ruler or a holy man. That he would one day conquer the world or become an enlightened being: the Buddha. 7 days after his birth, the queen died.

Siddhartha was a prince, son of a king in a clan of warriors. His father, taking into account the interpretations of the sages, always wanted Siddhartha to be ruler, emperor of India and to conquer the world and everything he wanted, and also, to get away from the other prediction, he filled Siddhartha’s life with all kinds of imaginable luxuries so that she would never know a life other than that. Some say that he was not allowed to leave the palace, others say that he did leave and when he did, the king would order that the path be cleared of anything that represents reality outside of luxury. He wanted his never to see that in life there is also pain and suffering.

“I wore the best clothes, I ate the finest foods, I was surrounded by beautiful women, it never occurred to me to leave”.

At 16 they married him to his cousin, they fell in love. And he remained immersed in pleasure until he was 29 years old.

It would be one day that Siddhartha left his palace to ride a carriage through his kingdom where 4 encounters would change his life.

1. He saw an old man and asked his charioteer: what’s wrong with him? the charioteer told him: that’s change, you don’t always stay young and perfect
2. Later he saw a sick man and did not understand what was wrong with him. The charioteer told him that this happens to all of us, we all get sick
3. Later he saw a dead man and recognized impermanence, suffering and death as something real and thought “this is my destiny too, how do I deal with this”. He had encountered inescapable existential situations, facts from which we cannot escape

After 2500 years, and if you read this book (Homo Deus), you will find out why these 3 unavoidable situations will become elusive

– We will live forever?
– Not you
– And you?
– Me neither
– What?

4. Finally, he saw a spirit guide who led a totally different life than Siddhartha, someone with the purpose of escaping from the other 3 encounters. That moment he knew that was what he wanted to achieve

Siddhartha was determined to understand the nature of suffering. He had to make a decision.

His wife had just given birth to Rahula, but Siddhartha thought that the baby would be what would keep him chained to that life.

So one day, Siddhartha entered his wife’s room, she was sleeping on a bed next to the newborn, he looked deeply at the scene and thought: If I take the baby in my arms, it will be very difficult for me to leave. He turned and climbed into the courtyard of the palace, his horse Kentaco was waiting for him, and as he rode he jumped high into the air and Mara, the god of desire, appeared. Mara told him: you are destined to rule a great empire, return and all power will be yours. Siddhartha refused and continued on his way.

Back in the palace there would be great suffering in his wife, his son, his father, his family. He went from having a home to having nothing.

And so begins the story of Siddhartha, who would find the way to become a Buddha, the enlightened one, a being who has fully awakened to the truth and who, in order to obtain something, had to first renounce and lose everything. Siddhartha Gautama would go on to become one of humanity’s most influential and important thinkers. His ideas, his teachings, Buddhism, his foundations remain alive to this day and are practiced by more than 500 million people. A path that we will see in the next videos, important things such as compassion, finding refuge in oneself, finding power in oneself and more. Very interesting things, so keep watching and remember. Everything is connected.

That was today’s saga .. See you next time.

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