A. Siddhartha Gautama ca. 563-483 B.C. He is often called "Gautama" or "Gotama" and the later traditions of Buddhism call him Gautama Buddha. He was born at Lumbini (foothills of the Himalayas—now Nepal), of the Shakya clan. Born a prince -father the ruler of a small state - Warrior/ruler class.
1. Mother conceived without human intervention—died shortly after his birth—raised by aunt who later married his father
2. Brahmin (a priest) ascertained his future and predicted he would become a world ruler or a Buddha (an Enlightened One) and World Savior, i.e., a religious leader if he were ever exposed to human misery or the tranquility of a religious ascetic.
3. Father wanted him to be a world emperor-he protected him so he would not see suffering, disillusionment or a serene holy man and be led to a religious life
4. Gautama's father taught him the skills to be a secular ruler
5. Gautama married and had a son but grew tired of his privileged life becoming curious about what the world was like outside the walls. He traveled outside the protective walls surrounding his world to find answers
6. Outside the walls he saw four sights (The Four Sights)
- An aged man (aging)
- A diseased man (illness)
- A corpse (death)
- A Serene ascetic-wandering holy man (the religious life)
7. After being exposed to old age, illness and death (suffering) he was impressed with the holy man who he understood to have escaped all suffering that comes from the cycle of life and death (the cycle of life and death and rebirth is called "samsara" )
8. He forsook the life of a nobleman to find spiritual answers-especially how to end human suffering and death. Left his family and became a wandering ascetic seeking the meaning of life-he especially questioned about how one can escape the cycle of birth and death.
