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Religious Leaders: Buddha A statue of Buddha Courtesy of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Synopsis: Siddhartha Gautama, who would one day become known as Buddha, lived in Nepal sometime between the sixth and fourth century B.C. While scholars agree that he did in fact live, the events of his life are still debated. According to the most widely known story of his life, after experimenting with different teachings for years, and nding none of them acceptable, Gautama spent a fateful night in deep meditation. During his meditation, all of the answers he had been seeking became clear, and he achieved full awareness, thereby becoming Buddha. Early Years The Buddha, which means "enlightened one" or "the awakened," was born Siddhartha Gautama to a large clan called the Shakyas in Lumbini in the sixth century B.C. Today the area is in modern Nepal. His father was a king who ruled the tribe, which was known to be poor. His mother died seven days after giving birth to him, but a holy man prophesized great things for the young Siddhartha, whose name means "he who achieves his aim." The holy man said he would either be a great king or military leader, or he would be a great spiritual leader. To keep his son from witnessing the miseries and suffering of the world, By Biography.com Editors and A+E Networks, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.08.16 Word Count 982 This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

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Religious Leaders: Buddha

A statue of Buddha Courtesy of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Synopsis: Siddhartha Gautama, who would one day become known as Buddha, lived inNepal sometime between the sixth and fourth century B.C. While scholars agree that hedid in fact live, the events of his life are still debated. According to the most widely knownstory of his life, after experimenting with different teachings for years, and finding none ofthem acceptable, Gautama spent a fateful night in deep meditation. During his meditation,all of the answers he had been seeking became clear, and he achieved full awareness,thereby becoming Buddha.

Early Years

The Buddha, which means "enlightened one" or "the awakened," was born SiddharthaGautama to a large clan called the Shakyas in Lumbini in the sixth century B.C. Today thearea is in modern Nepal. His father was a king who ruled the tribe, which was known to bepoor. His mother died seven days after giving birth to him, but a holy man prophesizedgreat things for the young Siddhartha, whose name means "he who achieves his aim." Theholy man said he would either be a great king or military leader, or he would be a greatspiritual leader. To keep his son from witnessing the miseries and suffering of the world,

By Biography.com Editors and A+E Networks, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.08.16 Word Count 982

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

Siddhartha's father raised him in opulence in a palace built just for the boy and shelteredhim from knowledge of religion and human hardship. According to custom, he married atthe age of 16, but he lived in total seclusion for another 13 years.

Beyond The Palace Walls

The prince reached his late 20s with little experience of the world outside the walls of hispalaces. One day he ventured out and was quickly confronted with the realities of humanfrailty. He saw a very old man and questioned his chariot driver, who explained that allpeople grow old. Other questions about what he had not experienced in his sheltered lifeled him to take more journeys of exploration. On these trips he encountered a diseasedman, a decaying corpse and an ascetic. The chariot driver explained that the ascetic hadrenounced the world to seek release from the human fear of death and suffering. Asceticspractice strict self-denial for spiritual discipline. Siddhartha was overcome by these sightsand vowed to change. The next day, at age 29, he left his kingdom, wife and infant son tolead an ascetic life and find a way to relieve the universal suffering that he now understoodto be one of the defining traits of humanity.

The Ascetic Life And Enlightenment

For the next six years, Siddhartha lived an ascetic life and studied and meditated using thewords of various religious teachers as his guide. He practiced his new way of life with agroup of five other ascetics. His dedication was so stunning that the five becameSiddhartha's followers. When answers to Siddhartha's questions did not appear, heredoubled his efforts, enduring pain, fasting nearly to starvation and refusing water.

Whatever he tried, Siddhartha could not reach the level he sought, until one day a younggirl offered him a bowl of rice. As he accepted it, he suddenly realized that denying himselfwas not the means to achieve inner liberation or spiritual release. So he had his rice, drankwater and bathed in the river. The five ascetics decided that Siddhartha had given up theharshly religious discipline and they promptly left him. From then on, Siddharthaencouraged people to follow a path of balance instead of one of extremism, which hecalled the Middle Way.

The Buddha Emerges

That night, Siddhartha sat under the Bodhi tree. He vowed to not get up until the truths hesought came to him, and he meditated until the sun came up the next day. He remainedthere for several days, purifying his mind, seeing his entire life, and previous lives, in histhoughts. During this time, he had to overcome the threats of Mara, an evil demon, whochallenged his right to become the Buddha. When Mara attempted to claim theenlightened state as his own, Siddhartha touched his hand to the ground and asked theEarth to bear witness to his enlightenment, which it did, banishing Mara. Soon a picture

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2

began to form in his mind of all that had happened in the universe, and Siddhartha finallysaw the answer to the questions of suffering that he had been seeking for so many years.In that moment of pure enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha.

Armed with his new knowledge, the Buddha was initially hesitant to teach because whathe now knew could not be communicated to others in words. According to legend, theking of gods, Brahma, convinced Buddha to teach, and he got up from his spot under theBodhi tree and set out to do just that.

About 100 miles away, he came across the five ascetics who had left him. To them andothers who had gathered, he preached his first sermon, known as Setting in Motion theWheel of the Dharma, which explained the central teachings of Buddhism. The asceticsthen became his first disciples and formed the foundation of the Sangha, or community ofmonks. Women were admitted to the Sangha. Class, race, gender and previousbackground were ignored, with only the desire to reach enlightenment through thebanishment of suffering and spiritual emptiness considered.

For the remainder of his 80 years, Buddha traveled, preaching the Dharma, which is thename given to the teachings of the Buddha. He wanted to lead others to and along thepath of enlightenment, and when he died, it is said that he told his disciples that theyshould follow no leader.

The Buddha is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in world history. Histeachings have affected other religions, literature and philosophy, both within India and tothe farthest reaches of the Western world.

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Quiz

1 Read the following paragraph from the section "The Ascetic Life And Enlightenment."

For the next six years, Siddhartha lived an ascetic life and studied andmeditated using the words of various religious teachers as his guide.He practiced his new way of life with a group of five other ascetics. Hisdedication was so stunning that the five became Siddhartha'sfollowers. When answers to Siddhartha's questions did not appear, heredoubled his efforts, enduring pain, fasting nearly to starvation andrefusing water.

Which of the following can be inferred from the paragraph above?

(A) Siddhartha was guided in his meditation by the words of his fellow asceticswho were also religious teachers.

(B) Siddhartha believed that it was possible for him to get answers to hisquestions through his own efforts.

(C) Siddhartha endured pain and fasting in search of answers to his questionseven though his five followers did not.

(D) Siddhartha was not able to get answers to his questions because he had notyet endured enough pain or fasted long enough.

2 Which sentence from the biography BEST supports the idea that Siddhartha was interested inhelping all people escape the miseries of the world?

(A) To keep his son from witnessing the miseries and suffering of the world,Siddhartha's father raised him in opulence in a palace built just for the boyand sheltered him from knowledge of religion and human hardship.

(B) The chariot driver explained that the ascetic had renounced the world toseek release from the human fear of death and suffering.

(C) The next day, at age 29, he left his kingdom, wife and infant son to lead anascetic life and find a way to relieve the universal suffering that he nowunderstood to be one of the defining traits of humanity.

(D) Soon a picture began to form in his mind of all that had happened in theuniverse, and Siddhartha finally saw the answer to the questions of sufferingthat he had been seeking for so many years.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4

3 Which of the following sentences from the biography BEST develops a central idea of thearticle?

(A) While scholars agree that he did in fact live, the events of his life are stilldebated.

(B) The holy man said he would either be a great king or military leader, or hewould be a great spiritual leader.

(C) The five ascetics decided that Siddhartha had given up the harshly religiousdiscipline and they promptly left him.

(D) During this time, he had to overcome the threats of Mara, an evil demon,who challenged his right to become the Buddha.

4 Which option would be MOST important to include in an accurate and objective summary ofthe biography?

(A) Although the Buddha was a religious teacher, he did not use words tocommunicate with others.

(B) By accepting a bowl of rice from a young girl, Siddhartha was suddenly ableto achieve enlightenment.

(C) The six years leading up to Siddhartha's enlightenment were full ofincredible hardships and suffering.

(D) The Buddha's time under the Bodhi tree yielded the answers he sought tohis questions about suffering.

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