Question

Briefly outline the key events in Siddhartha’s life before he became known as the Buddha. What experiences in his early life helped him to formulate the idea of a “Middle Way?”

Answer 1

Buddha was born in 563 BC in a place called Lumbini. It is located somewhere along the borders of present-day Nepal and India. He was born to a royal family and was the heir to the Sakya Throne. His father gave him all the luxuries suited for a future king including training in martial arts, ruling a kingdom and a formal education. However, Siddhartha was always drawn to philosophical thoughts and would often be very bogged down when contemplating the suffering of the world.

He was married at age 16 and his wife had a son. During this time, he went through a few experiences that changed the way that he thought. These experiences made him think about the inherent decay of human life, the suffering of existence, the need for liberation from death and the possibilities of a spiritual life beyond the realm of the materialistic world.

His teachings of the Middle Way or the "Eight-fold Path" is rumored to have originated when he experienced what Buddhists now call the "Four Noble Signs"