Lindsey Winter

Siddhartha Gautama:
The Buddha
The life of the person we call the Buddha is basically covered up in legend and myth.
Although most historians believe this person existed, we know very little about him so its hard
to prove whether or not he truly did exist. His biography evolved over time by different people
and this what it ended up as. Before he was known as the Buddha, people knew him as
Siddhartha Gautama who was born in the 5th or 6th century BCE in Nepal. His father, King
Suddhodana, was the leader of a large clan called the Shakya. His mother, Queen Maya, died
shortly after his birth. When Prince Siddhartha was a few days old, a holy man prophesied the
Prince would be either a great military conqueror or a great spiritual teacher. Prince
Siddharthas father prepared him to become the great military conqueror. He raised him in a
luxurious life and kept him from knowledge of religion and human suffering. The Prince reached
the age of 29 with little experience of the world beyond the walls of his palaces. On day he had
a man take him on a ride to see what life was like on the outside, the Prince was shocked by the
disease, death and suffering of the people. Later on he got married and had a son but he had no
interest in that life so he left his family. Siddhartha did a 40 day dry fast and at the end of it he
was dying, his body was failing him. During this time he had a vision he was given rice and milk
along with the answer to his question. When he awoke he had found the truth. He became the
Buddha, the enlightened one.

Lindsey Winter

With his new knowledge of the truth, the Buddha knew he could done of two things. He could
either go to Hinyana (small circle) where he would go into the wilderness and keep his
teachings to himself or he could go to Mahayana (big circle) and become a teacher and give
himself to the people, and thats precisely what he chose to do.
The Buddha taught about Dharma, The Four Noble Truths
The word Dharma itself simply means The Truth. The Buddha believed that there were four
main truths about life: What is the meaning of life? Why do we suffer? What to do?
What is the goal? The first out of the four Noble Truths is What is the meaning of life? The is
teachings went something like this: Although nothing lasts, suffering is everywhere, and the
me that doesnt suffer isnt real. He taught that with life, there will always be a fight and
struggle and that is precisely what life is about.
The second noble truth is Why do we suffer? Accorfding to the Buddha we suffer due to our
own selfishness and greed, which perfect sense because life could be so simple if humanity
wasnt greedy and selfish. We want what we cant and dont have and this causes us to be
unhappy and ultimately feels like suffering when you know you dont have what you want. It
also plays into the part of death. Death its self makes people selfish. Two examples would be if
someone close to you passes away we become selfish and want more time with them, its hard
for us to accept the fact that they have left us and we simply wish to have them back with us.
The second scenario is suicide, suicide to me seems like such a selfish act. I myself have been in
place where it seems like the best solution but in reality it is not. Its a selfish act to take

Lindsey Winter

yourself away, by choice, from the people who love and cherish you. Leaving them with regret,
pain and suffering which makes me strongly agree with the Buddha on this perspective.
The third Noble Truth is What to do? The teachings of the Buddha tells us that we need to be
strong enough to say no to excessive pleasure. He believes that excessive pleasure leads to
suffering and without the excessiveness of pleasure life would be easier but that is not how it
works so we need to teach ourselves to be stronger to deny those temptations of pleasurable
things. He believed that we need to understand where our suffering comes from and that our
greed and suffering can be rooted out.
The fourth Noble Truth is what is the goal? The goal is to be liberated from any addiction
because addiction ultimately is slavery. When we become addicted to things it is our vice that
we need, crave and desire. We are willing to do things for that addiction that we normally
wouldnt do which make us slaves to it.
The Buddha also taught about the Vi Pashyana (The Eightfold Noble Path)
The eightfold path is made up of three components that are keys to release us from our
suffering. Panna, which means wisdom, is the first two steps. Sila is the right conduct and that is
for steps three, four and five. Steps six, seven and eight are the samdhi, which is the right
mental training.
1. Panna (wisdom); 1.) understanding 2.) purpose
2. Sila (conduct); 3.) speech 4.) behavior 5.) lifestyle
3. Samadhi (right mental training); 6.) effort 7.) mindfulness(awareness) 8.) meditation >self control.

Lindsey Winter

Along with step four, right conduct, the Buddha put into place five moral rules to abide
by:
FIVE MORAL RULES
1.) Do not kill
2.) Do not steal
3.) Do not commit adultery
4.) Do not use gossip
5.) Do not use drugs
The Buddha is personally my favorite philosopher. I feel that his teachings and wisdom are
correct. We suffer because of our own selfishness and greed. He is absolutely right, our
greed makes us unhappy because we are constantly wanting more than what we have. If we
were to be less selfish beings perhaps life would be easier, we would be happier due to the
fact that we would help others when needed which is an incredible feeling, knowing you
have helped or done something good for another individual. I also agree with the goal of
being liberated from an addiction because addiction is slavery. People who have addictions
are slaves to that addiction, they struggle without that addiction and it makes life more
challenging that it really needs to be. The Eightfold Nobel Path is very insightful. We need
wisdom, conduct and contemplation also, the moral rules placed by the Buddha are simple
guidelines to better life that make perfect sense. Without them there would be chaos and
the world would be in worse shape than it currently is. The Buddha was a very wise
individual whos teachings would change the lives of others but I feel most people are afraid

Lindsey Winter

to give up their most prized possessions or their addictions because they have become
reliant on them and crave them making it difficult to give them up but I feel that life would
be better and more simple if we could allow ourselves to let go. This is easier said than
done. Its nice to look at life the way the Buddha did. He was at peace for a long time,
always willing to help another person and his teachings will do great things for the lives of
those who are willing to follow his wisdom and advice. I admire the wisdom of the Buddha,
researching about him and learning more makes me want to be a better person, do good
for others and try to keep myself away from things that would lead to greediness and
ultimately end in my personally suffering. I love the saying, If you give, you have. Giving
opens our hearts and brings joy, happiness and love to us and those around us it also
reminds me of quote we have on the wall in my house, it goes like this, The heart that
gives, gathers. I feel this plays into the part of Karma, if you give out goodness, you will
receive it in return.