Buddha
     With the birth of the Buddha, being chosen as the “awakened one” at age thirty-five, his journey through life, and even in his death. Buddha has guided many to discovering the truths of life.
     Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha at age thirty-five (Graves 1). The Buddha was believed to have been born in 563 B.C. in what now is Nepal but at the time was a part of India (1). The founder of Buddhism was the son of a chief of the hill tribe of the shakyas, who gave up family life, became an ascetic when he was some twenty-nine years old (Bary 3).
     Legends say that as Queen Maya, Buddha’s mother, reached her father’s house, got out, and Buddha emerged from her right side. Without any help he took seven steps in each direction on the compass. Where he had steeped, lotus flowers sprouted everywhere, though it was not the season. He announced, “No further births have I to endure, for this is my last body. Now shall I destroy and pluck out by the roots the sorrow that is caused by births and deaths.” Seven days after his birth, his mother passed away (Wangu 19).
     "One day, the Buddhist tradition holds, Siddhartha realized that his years of penance had only weakened his body." (Wangu 22). His body got so tired he couldn't meditate properly. Scriptures say he went to bathe in the river and the trees bent down to help him. Buddha sat under a tree and would not arise until he found the answer he had looked for (Wangu 23).
     The Buddha had an act of self-sacrifice. He had discovered the way to end suffering, so he wanted to share his enlighment with others (Wangu 24). The basic condition of life is suffering. Suffering is caused by cravings and desires. There exists nirvana, an end to suffering. The way to get to Nirvana is to follow the "eight fold path." (Graves 2).
     " The eightfold path is a series of eight stages that leads to the end of desire."(Wangu 26) About 300 million practice Buddhists (Wangu 6). After Buddha had found the answered he was looking for he set off for the towhist Saranth. There he thought people of his teachings. He drew the whole of life, which stand for his teachings (Wangu 24).
     One day a blacksmith gave Buddha a meal, which caused him to become ill (he was about eighty). He walked to the village of Kushinagara, and lay down to rest on his right side in a grove of shala trees. Thought it wasn’t the season for blooming, the trees sprouted up around him and showed blossom upon him. (Wangu 30).
     He told Ananda (his cousin) "I am old and my journey is near its end. My body is like worn out cant held together only by the help of leather straps." (Wangu 31).
     Then he asked the people gather around him there tines if thy had any more questions, everyone remained silent. Buddha's final words were "every thing that has been created is subject to decay and death. Everything is transitory. Work out your own salucter with diligence." After passing through several stages of meditation the Buddha passed away- or as Buddhists, he reacted his Parinirours. (Wangu 31). Tradition says that Buddha past away in 544 B.C, but most of the authorities believe that it is sixty years too early. (Wangu 7).
     During his life long journey Buddha influenced more than a million people and walked more than 250 miles. Today his teachings are still used 2500 years after his death.

Works Cited

Bary, Theodore and Hakeda, Yoshito. The Buddhist Tradition. New York:
Modern Library Edition, 1969.

Graves, Thomas. “Buddha’s Day, Twenty-Five Centuries later.” Baltimore Sun. 12 May 1998: 2A.

Wangu, Madhu. Buddhism. New York: Fiction file, 1993.